60 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[February, 



"insane root" of Shakespeare (Macbeth) is the 

 Mandrake. Mandragora officinarum is the full 

 name. 



In our country •' Mandrake pills" are made 

 by the quacks from Podophyllum peltatum, a 

 plant of the Berberry family; the May-apple 

 of the woods. The Skunk weed is of the Arum 

 family. Mandragora officinarum is a native of 

 the south of Europe— Greece, &c. 



The Salisburia again.— In a long course of read- 

 ing on horticulture and arboriculture, the writer 

 recollects of no allusion in the English books 

 to the peculiar use mentioned in these columns 

 of training it to shapes and on walls. " You can 

 do anything with it," is a true remark. If any 

 reader can point out notices, or even a notice of 

 this we should be glad to have the reference. 



Grouping. — Nothing perhaps in the way of a 

 small group can excel the Dogwood and Judas 

 tree planted almost in contact. They bloom 

 early and together, the one nearly white and 

 the other red. 



The Eucalyphis, as it is more and more planted 

 and studied, continues to prove a success. In 

 Algeria the best results are found, malaria dis- 

 appearing wherever the wonderful tree is 

 planted. On the Campagna around Rome, at a 

 place called the Three Churches, a place aban- 

 doned every night because of the disease pre- 

 vailing, it is found suflBciently healthy and the 

 monks sleep there with impunity. What a 

 blessing this proves, and how sad to think that 

 the world has been so long deprived of the bene- 

 fit. With quinine and Eucalyptus, a new era in 

 medicine, nay, in the world, begins. 



Ants. — A new traveller in Africa has come 

 across a part of the country where ants are found 

 as large as roaches, and prove themselves masters 

 of man and beast. They make every known 

 animal disappear, infesting the napes of cattle 

 and killing them outright. Dr. McCook, we 

 hope, will not endeavor to introduce them for 

 examination. 



Sir John Lubbuck, who is a minute observer of 

 nature's doings, says : " The flower of the little 

 Linaria of our walls pushes out into the light 

 and sunshine, but as sure as it is fertilized it 

 turns round and endeavors to find some hole or 

 cranny in which it may remain safely until the 

 seed is ripe." See his curous articles repub- 

 lished in the Popular Science Monthly. 



Virginia and the Grape. — It appears that Vir- 



ginians in the neighborhood of Charlottesville 

 have turned their attention, successfully, to rais- 

 ing wine grapes, and that an American Bur- 

 gundy they make is in greater demand than the 

 supply. Thus far the great enemy of the grape 

 vine has not appeared there. 



UNDER THE WILLOWS AT LICHFIELD. 



BY WM. T. HARDING, MOUNT HOLLY, N. J. 



An able and pleasant writer, much impressed 

 with the grandeur of arboreal beauty, thus feel- 

 ingly alludes to his leafy favorites. " Trees seem 

 almost human in sociability, and in isolation." 

 And while acknowledging the truth of his ob- 

 servations, your correspondent has often thought 

 there could be little that was human in the bi- 

 pedal creature, in whose bosom there is no love 

 for either flower or tree. 



History informs us, that from the first man 

 made, to the wisest of men, trees and flowers 

 were duly valued for their relative uses, and pic- 

 turesque beauty. And that the modern man of 

 refinement and taste, greatly enhances his happi- 

 ness in their cultivation and care, is obvious, to 

 all who see and understand. 



That certain biblical trees were justly regarded 

 with feelings akin to. reverence, by the pastoral 

 patriarchs of old, the sacred writ frequently testi- 

 fies ; and that we, in our day, should love them 

 for their own sakes, is not to be wondered at. 



A grand and stately old tree is a living monu- 

 ment of the creative power of the Great Archi- 

 tect of the universe, who made it '' a thing of 

 beauty," to make glad the heart of man, who 

 wisely appreciates the good our Father sends. 

 Setting aside their mercantile, economic or do- 

 mestic uses, there are many other reasons why 

 we should encourage their presence, which add 

 so much to our health and comfort in making 

 the world more beautiful wherever they grow. 

 Their aesthetic, sanitary and humanizing influ- 

 ence around our domiciles, are undoubtedly 

 many, as every day's experience proves. 



The recorded associations of great men and 

 trees are numerous, and their authentic history 

 often reads more like the pages of romance than 

 of fact. But the writer's intentions are not to 

 dilate upon the many interesting narratives, 

 legends, reminescences, or traditions, our ances- 

 tors give of past events, connected with memora- 

 ble men and trees, otherwise than a brief allu- 

 sion to Dr. Johnson and his willow. 



