280 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[September, 



have collected round it eagerly, refusing the na- 

 tive grasses in luxuriant growth near them, so 

 long as a blade of Doub grass remained. As to 

 the nutriment contained in these two grasses 

 there can be no doubt, as many squatters across 

 the Murray could testify. Respecting their dur- 

 ability the same may be said, as during sea- 

 sons of excessive drought, when scarcely a 

 blade of them could be seen, so tenacious of 

 life were they, that when the weather broke they 

 sprang up in rich luxuriance, and when native 

 grasses were totally destroyed by the drought 

 these two species were the only ones that with- 

 stood it." 



QUERIES. 



Frkezing of the Sap of Plants.— W. B. says : 

 "I would like to take the Editor of the Gar- 

 dener's Monthly out in Massachusetts when the 

 mercury indicates 20° below zero, and help cut 

 down some trees frozen so as to be brittle." [Our 

 correspondents forget what has been said of this 

 subject in our past pages. We have seen plenty 

 of frozen wood, without going to Massachusetts 

 to find it. There is no reason that we know 

 of why liquid that has not been prepared for 

 plant life should not freeze. Trees in these parts 

 often freeze so that they split by frost. But this 

 is from the moisture in the dead xvood. What is 

 called heart wood in plants can absorb moisture. 

 In winter there is not much in this wood ; some- 

 times there is, and if it freezes, it expands. In 

 most trees the living cells are those in the few 



outer woody circles. It is these living cells 

 which prepare their peculiar material, the leaves 

 at certain seasons assisting, and it is these living 

 cells that do not freeze ; or, when they do freeze, 

 they die.— Ed. G. M.] 



PopuLus Canescens, Ait. — E. P., Delaware 

 County, Pa. — " I enclose leaves of a species of 

 Poptdus which is planted in Philadelphia a good 

 deal, to ask if thee would name it for me through 

 the columns of the Gardener's Monthly. I have 

 none of the aments, but they (thestaminate) are 

 very similar to those of P. alba, appearing a cou- 

 ple of days before them, stamens about twelve, 

 scales lacerate-fringed. The leaf-buds are not 

 viscid, and the leaves, later in the season, become 

 smooth on both sides. The bark is similar to 

 that of P. alba, but rather more yellowish than 

 that. I have puzzled over this a good deal,and con- 

 cluded that it must be a variety of P. alba ; but 

 at the Centennial the other day, in the Swedish 

 school-house, I saw dried specimens of P. tremula 

 which resemble this considerably ; but I think 

 young leaves were present with the catkins, 

 which is not the case with this." 



[Popidus caneceyis. It is not uncommon as a 

 street tree in Philadelphia, but is a worse suck- 

 erer than P. alba.— Ed. G. M ] 



Western Tannin Plant.— N. N., Louisville, 

 Ky., says : " Can you give us any information of 

 the so-called Western Tannin Plant, and whether 

 the same is in practical use in this country ? " 



[The plant is Polygonum amphibium, abound- 

 ing in the East as well as the West. Our opin- 

 ion, from all we can learn, is that it is a fair sub- 

 stitute where bark is scarce ; but we cannotlearn 

 that much is being done with it. — Ed. G. M.] 



ITERATURE, ^IrAVELS & If ERSONAL ^MOTES. 



COMMUNICA 7 JONS. 



NOTES UPON THE GROUNDS OF SMITH &. 

 POWELL, SYRACUSE, N. Y. 



BY F. R. ELLIOrr. 



Recently, in the absence of other occupation, 

 I visited the nurserj' grounds of the Messrs. 

 Smith & Powell, at Syracuse, N. Y. They have 



in real estate about 1,240 acres, of which say 

 540 are u^ed as nursery grounds. Ere I write 

 more of the trees, &c., that I saw in the grounds, 

 I shall speak of Mr. Wm. Brown Smith's labors. 

 As near as I can learn, without too pertinaceous 

 and impudent questions, it is somethitig over 30 

 years since he joined Mr. Thorp, who had estab- 

 lished a nursery on four acres of ground, issued a 

 hand-bill catalogue of trees for sale, &c. Time has 



