228 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



\August, 



If as handsome as the Purple Beech they are 

 destined to become more widely known." 



[They will never grow to the size of the Blood- 

 leaved Beech. It is probable they are rather 

 strong shrubs than trees and " twenty to thirty 

 feet" will probably be their utmost limit. — Ed. 

 G.M.] 



Insects OK Elm Trees. — Rev. J. I., Salem, 

 N. J., writes : " I was deploring in Philadelphia 

 the other day to a friend the probable loss of 

 some beautiful elm trees in our church yard, 

 when he said at once, ' why do you not write to 

 the Gardener's Monthly? The editor will 

 tell you all about it.' Adopting his suggestion, 

 I write. These trees are large and for two or 

 three years have been sickly. The first evidence 

 of disease is seen in the bark of the trunk which 

 leaks the sap in large quantities. The bark be- 

 comes saturated from the upper part, from five 

 or six feet from the ground, to the breadth of 

 six or eight inches. Then the leaves wilt, droop, 

 and drop. They re-leave, but show signs of 

 weakness. The ends of the limbs die and so do 

 our hopes. Two or three of our trees are in this 

 condition, and this Spring another one is be- 

 ginning to leak. If you can suggest any remedy, 

 you will confer a very great favor upon our con- 

 gregation as well as upon all the people of our 

 little city vyho admire beautiful things. I shall 

 be very glad to hear from you, and whatever 

 suggestions you niaj' make shall be carried into 

 effect if within our power." 



[We are not able to help our correspondent 

 much on this occasion. The exudation is pro- 

 bably from the work of some wood-boring in- 

 sect. In this case it may be traced b}'^ running 

 in wire and crushed. The falling of the leaves 

 in Summer, after they have been skeletonized 

 by the elm slugs is another matter, and there is 

 no known remedy for it.— Ed. G. M.] 



Injury to Trees. — H. W. S. saj's : "I send 

 you enclosed a few specimens of this year's 

 growth of Deodar Cedar, Scotch Larch, Golden 

 Norway Spruce and the American Hemlock, 

 and also Mahonia, as representing more or less 

 almost every evergreen and many deciduous 

 trees on my place, the result of some unsual at- 

 mospheric or electrical effect from the hot 

 weather recently. Even trees in the shade 

 and fruit trees (plums especially) under glass are 

 equally effected. I have one large Norway 

 Spruce sixty to seventy feet high in a group of 

 three, perfectly drab in color, while its two com- 



panions are untouched. Many "White Pines and 

 entire Hemlock and Norway hedges are more 

 or less scorched or blasted, and of course dis- 

 figured for the season. Abies Parsonsi or las- 

 ciocarpa seems particularly sensitive. Every 

 year this neighborhood is liable to this attack, 

 and of course it is impossible to contend against 

 it. I write this simply to know if other persons 

 are similarly effected. With me it has become 

 such a serious matter that it is a source of great 

 discouragement. 



In connection with this annual misfortune, 

 there is another disheartening thing. The sud- 

 den and inexplicable dying oflf of fine healthy 

 plants of Clematis. You leave them at night 

 in perfect health, apparently, to find them next 

 morning dead or dying. A prominent nurser}-- 

 man wrote me this fatality in Clematis made a 

 difference of $500 a year to him. W. Jack- 

 man writes me they sufier equally in Eng- 

 land. It seems equally uncertain to plant 

 Clematis in pots or the ground, they are sure to 

 go sooner or later. I should say a third, cer- 

 tainly a quarter of every collection disappears 

 every year in the Summer, no matter what 

 treatment they receive whether coddled or ne- 

 glected. 



We have this year had a curious epidemic in 

 Arbor vitse hedges. Most of the hedges whether 

 old or young, are killed or nearly so, while the 

 more tender evergpeens are uninjured." 



[It will certainly be intei'esting to know if 

 others have suffered as H. W. S. has. In this 

 part of the world, Philadelphia, we have noth- 

 ing like it. In past years hedges of Hemlock 

 and Arbor vitse severely pruned, have had their 

 leaves mildewed, the appearances being much 

 as in the specimens sent; but the remedy to let 

 the hedge off with less ' pruning the next year 

 has been successful. But it is said that this 

 trouble comes from unpruned trees in our cor- 

 respondent's case. 



The Clematis trouble is an old one, and has 

 before been noted in our pages, but it was not 

 known to exist also in England. There are two 

 enemies to it here ; one is an insect very similar 

 in its eftects to the phylloxera. The roots are 

 all granulated and destroyed as they grow, as in 

 grape vines similarly infested. The plants 

 " dwindle away" in this condition. The sudden 

 deaths come from a huge borer. Some years 

 ago the Editor sent specimens to Prof. Riley ; 

 but does not remember what Mr. Riley made of 

 them.— Ed. G. M.] 



