1876.] 



AND HOBTIGULTURIST. 



339 



by a magazine, of which he is himself the editor. 

 It was a much greater effort than most persons 

 imagine to place in first-class condition and pro- 

 perly name on large labels so large a collection of 

 trees, and no other person attempted it. We have, 

 however, much pleasure in placing on record that 

 the London Gardener's Chronicle complimented 

 them highly ; the New York Tribune regarded 

 them as " offering an opportunity of study and 

 comparison rarely to be enjoyed in this coun- 

 try;" and the Rural New Yorker had a good 

 word for them as " 750 kinds of deciduous trees, 

 &c., mostly hardy," which was kindly intended, 

 but they are not all "deciduous" — one-third 

 being evergreens. Other newspapers have kindly 

 referred to their existence and commercial 

 worth. 



History of the Catalpa. — Field and Forest 

 for August, a very interesting scientific serial 

 of the more popular type,published by Mr. C. R. 

 Dodge, of Washington, has an article on the Ca- 

 talpa, to prove that it is not an introduced tree. 

 We have read the arguments carefully, but think 

 it does not take in the point fully. There is no 

 doubt it was here when the white man found the 

 country, but there are many reasons for doubt- 

 ing it is an aborigine, in the sense that other 

 trees are. The probabilities favor the idea that 

 it and the Honey Locust are wanderers in the 

 far away past from Asia. How they got here we 

 have as yet no means of knowing. 



The Catalpa timber. — As sound, solid, durable 

 timber, there seems to be no doubt of the value of 

 the Catalpa. But it must be borne in mind that 

 in the Northern and Western States, it is liable 

 to have its terminal bud destroyed in winter, and 

 then the stem grows crooked — a defect in a tim- 

 ber tree. This may be remedied by cutting a 

 seedling down when it is three years old. A new 



tall strong stem results. In Virginia we leam 

 it proves very satisfactory. 



The Locust Tree Slug. — The Yellow Locust 

 through large districts of our country is being 

 " skeletonized " as bad as the Elm. Prof. Rath- 

 von says it is done by the larvae of Hispa sutur- 

 alis, a small beetle. 



The German Forests. — If the accounts we 

 hear of the change in the climate of Germany 

 during the last fifty years be true, it cannot be 

 on account of the disappearance of the forests. 

 The Department of Agriculture says : 



" In the distribution of the kinds of wood the 

 pine and fir are found in the south of Germany, 

 oak and beech in the west and south-west, and 

 the Scotch fir in the north and north-east, while 

 Central Germany, to a greater or less degree, 

 contains all these varieties. 



" Since 1831 the forest area of Prussia has di- 

 minished about 5 per cent.; in most of the other 

 German States a barely appreciable diminution 

 has taken place, while there has been a steady 

 increase in Bavaria, Baden and Saxony. On the 

 whole, Germany has wood enough to meet do- 

 mestic demand for many years to come." 



Tree- Planting. — A correspondent in Livings- 

 ton, Illinois, reports that the planting of trees in 

 groves and shelter-belts, and for ornamental 

 purposes, has become very general in that 

 county. Ten years ago 95 per cent, of the area 

 of the county was treeless ; but now a farm with- 

 out a grove is an exception to the general rule. 

 Black walnut has the preference for profit and 

 ease of cultivation ; but elm, soft maple, willow, 

 Cottonwood, European larch and ash are com- 

 mon, while evergreens are popular for orna- 

 mental purposes,and occasionally are planted in 

 groves and shelter-belts. — Dep. of Agriculture. 



Natural mistory and fSciENCE. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



TRITELEIA LAXA;— OR SEUBERTIA LAXA ;— 

 WHICH? 



BY MR. Vs\ WEBSTER, ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



The communication by W. C. L. Drew in the 

 September number of the Monthly is not only time- 

 ly, but an exceedingly interesting one to me. The 



flower which he introduces to your readers by 

 the name of Triteleia laxa, is a very familiar 

 one to me. The plant but not the name. And 

 it recalls to my mind very vividly, the great de- 

 light I experienced on first discovering it grow- 

 ing in all its perfection of bloom on the hillsides 

 in California. 



Some time during the month of May last, 



