336 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[November, 



ment of what are known to botanists as suber or 

 cork cells. It is this development which destroys 

 the bark of trees, and causes what we know as 

 ■' rough bark." It is not the mere cracking by 

 growth, as the development of these cork cells 

 which gives the rifts to trees. Something of 

 this growth we believe to be connected with the 

 production of russet in fruits, but some one should 

 take in hand the demonstration of the fact before 

 this belief is accepted as pure horticultural gospel. 

 —Ed. G. M.] 



Kalamazoo Celery. — We are indebted to 

 Messrs. Van Hampton & Co. for several stalks of 

 Kalamazoo celery. It was received on the 25th 

 of September, so we suppose has not yet finished 

 its growth. It was trimmed in marketable condi- 

 tion, and weighed I lb. 8 oz. The eatable length 

 was about 20 inches. We suppose this is farm, or 

 as we should say, market garden produce, and for 



that is very superior. It is of course not equal to 

 the produce from a first-class amateur's garden. 

 The stalks are few, but solid and crisp. Later in 

 the season it will probably part with its slightly 

 bitter taste. 



Fruit of the Japan Chestnut. — T. Brothers, 

 Orleans, France, write : " Please say through the 

 Gardeners' Monthly whether the statement in 

 an American catalogue that the Japan chestnut 

 will produce seven nuts in one burr is correct?" 



[The Editor has but one tree of bearing age. 

 The fruit does not perfect on this, probably through 

 some deficiency in pollenization. The largest 

 specimen under cultivation that we have any 

 knowledge of is on the grounds of Messrs. Parsons 

 & Co. This is 18 feet. In this case the burrs have 

 not been found to yield any more than the com- 

 mon chestnut, that is, three, but sometimes only 

 two or one. — Ed. G. M.] 



Forestry. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



THE CORSICAN PINE FOR TIMBER. 

 BY ROBERT DOUGLAS. 



We have had many inquiries lately for Corsican 

 pine trees, and one of our patrons has taken us 

 rather severely to task for not keeping up with the 

 times, and growing so few kinds. Our experience 

 with this tree, if published in the Monthly, may 

 prevent parties from importing the seedlings, as 

 threatened by the party referred to above. Our 

 experience is as follows. Between twenty-five and 

 thirty years ago, the Corsican pine was lauded 

 very highly in Europe, as growing more rapidly 

 than the larch, etc. I imported the seeds in large 

 quantity, and at a large price. It germinated 

 readily, and grew very rapidly, but the first year 

 after being exposed to the weather, the foliage 

 browned early in winter, proving that it was not 

 suitable for this climate. Hoping that the tree 

 might stand the climate further south, I offered 

 them to parties in the southern trade. We sent a 

 large quantity to a large nursery firm in St. Louis, 

 selling them at the price of Scotch pine. They 

 browned there nearly as badly as with us, so we 

 destroyed our whole stock of them. Again, about 

 seven or eight years ago, Mr. Jos. S. Fay, owner 



of the large plantation on Cape Cod, wrote me 

 that he had planted the Corsican pine, and it grew 

 more rapidly than other pines. As we furnish 

 more pine trees for forest planting in New England 

 than in the West, we again imported Corsican 

 pine seeds for that market. While these seedlings 

 were making their first year's growth, I was down 

 on Cape Cod, examining Pitch pine plantations of 

 twenty to thirty years growth, and went to Mr. 

 Fay's to examine the Corsican pines. He told me 

 that he had been sadly disappointed in them. We 

 went and examined them, and they were as com- 

 plete a failure as in Northern Illinois and St. 

 Louis. And it was a surprise to me to learn from 

 your August number, that the foliage would stand 

 at Philadelphia, but many trees stand at Philadel- 

 phia that fail 3° further south, when away from 

 the seashore. 



I am even more surprised reading in the 

 Monthly the dimensions of this tree at thirty-six 

 years of age, where it has had room to develop in 

 rich garden ground, and where the climate must 

 be adapted to its growth, or it could not have pre- 

 served its lower limbs tiU'thirty-six years old. 



Now after all the boasting in Europe about the 

 rapid growth of this tree, it cannot compare with 

 our own White pine. True, it will grow faster the 

 first few years, just as all our native scrub pines — 



