1876.J 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



2t9 



line, and is without any leaves in its whole 

 length ; it grows from sixteen inches to two feet 

 in height. 

 The flowers are of various shades of blue, 

 ^varying from pure Victoria blue to deep pvirplish 

 blue. They are slightly fragrant and altogether 

 magnificent. 



CULTURE. 



The TrieteUa laxa improves wonderfully by cul- 

 tivation. The bulb should be planted in the fall 

 of the year, about October ; it should be planted 

 in good, rich soil, which should be in good con- 

 dition, for, although they will do well in any sit- 

 uation, a little favor makes them wonderful. 

 Set the bulb from four to five inches deep, never 

 less. Never water them, only what nature gives 

 them. Plant in as dry a place as possible. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



ECCENTRICITY IN WOOD GROWTH. 



BY MR. T. S. GOLD, 



SECRETARY OF THE CONNECTICUT STATE BOARD OF AGRICtJI/- 

 TUEE, WEST CORNWALL, CONN. 



I notice in the Gardener's Monthly the subject 

 of eccentricity in wood growth. I have had 

 two remarkable illustrations on my grounds. 



A choke cherry sprang from seed in front 

 of my piazza, close to it, and could only be moved 

 by the Avinds laterally. The section of the trunk 

 was elliptical, the longer diameter being nearly 

 double the shorter. Since the tree has grown 

 above the roof of the piazza the trunk is be- 

 coming less elliptical. 



A young plum tree standing close by the side 

 of an out building was killed by mice, and the 

 sprouts were allowed to grow\ These were all 

 elliptical like the cherry, and made most wood 

 on the two sides. It appeared to me that the 

 trees made wood where it was most needed, on 

 the sides where the strain of the wind came. 



Sometimes the eccentricity is produced by 

 large branches or large roots on one side of the 

 stem, and in other cases these seem to have little 

 influence. 



[In connection with Mr. Gold's interesting ob- 

 servations it may be noted, that the celebrated 

 horticulturist, Thomas Andrew Knight, believed 

 that the winds often had an influence in the way 

 suggested here. In regard to the influence of 

 large branches or roots in particular cases, the 

 red cedar affords famiUar illustrations. — Editor 

 G.M.] 



Seeding of the Trailing Arbutus. — The Bos- 

 ton Cultivator says : " What we would like to 

 learn from our readers in the sections of New 

 England where it abounds, is, does it fruit? 

 Who Avill send specimens to Prof. Asa Gray, 

 of Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., as he 

 desires? In collecting and preserving fruiting 

 specimens, care should be taken not to de- 

 tach the style. Prof. Gray is studying the hetero 

 morphous condition of this plant. Whoever 

 will help Prof. Gray to settle what is supposed 

 to be abnormal will aid in advancing botanical 

 science. 



Mite Parasites of the Colorado Potato- 

 Beetle. — Prof. Riley exhibited a specimen of 

 Doryphora 10-lineata, that was so completely cov- 

 ered with a mite parasite belonging to the Gam- 

 asida;, and apparently the Gamasus coleopteratorum 

 that the point of a needle could not be placed 

 on any part of the beetle's body without touching 

 one of the parasites. He estimated that there 

 were over eight hundred of the mites, and they 

 had killed their victim. Aside from the toad 

 and other reptiles, the crow, rose-breasted gros- 

 beck and domestic fowls among birds, which 

 prey on the potato pest, he had, in his Reports, 

 figured or described no less than twenty-three 

 insect enemies that attack and kill it. Only one 

 of these is a true parasite, and the mite exhibited 

 made the second, or just two dozen insect enemies 

 in all. — Proceedings of the St. Louis Academy of 

 Science, June 19th. 



The Bermuda Grass. — This grass, which was 

 brought to our attention by Col. Hillyard, of 

 Mississippi, as one of the most valuable of all 

 introductions for that State, is also attracting 

 much attention in Australia, as Ave find by the 

 following notice from Dr. W. R. Guilfoyle in his 

 annual report of the Melbourne Botanical Gar- 

 den : 



"The Doub Grass {Cynodon dactylon), often er- 

 roneously called ' Doob,' is a native of Bermuda, 

 and in my opinion ranks next to Buffalo Grass 

 {Stenotaphrum glabrum) as a hardy pasture grass 

 for arid climes, though as a lawn grass it is infe- 

 rior, presenting in the Avinter a broAvn and rusty 

 appearance. I can state from experience, how- 

 ever, in NcAV South Wales and Queensland, that 

 where it has been introduced round a station hut 

 horses and cattle, when left to feed as they chose, 



