272 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[September, 



Flowers, small yellow, in dense racemes, very 

 fragrant. The fruit is a violet color, and is pro- 

 duced in large quantities. It is about the size of 

 cherries. The Russian thornless acacia is a 

 beautiful dwarf tree or shrub. The leaves, when 

 they first put forth, are a rich silver color. Bark, 

 green. Flowers in droops, a bright golden color. 

 It stands shearing and makes a beautiful orna- 

 mental hedge." 



It is hard to say whether this statement is to 

 be classed among humbugs or not. It depends 

 on whether v/e are to justify the wholesale coin- ] 

 ing of English names by any one and on any 

 occasion. We will simply say that the "Russian I 



mulberry" is one of the numerous and well- 

 known varieties of the common white mulberry, 

 Morus alba; the "Russian olive" is the common 

 oleaster of Eastern gardens, Elseagnus angusti- 

 folia; and the "Russian thornless acacia," the 

 still more common Siberian pea, Caragana ar- 

 borescens. If you already have these things 

 under the old names, and buy them again under 

 the new ones, possibly you may feel " hum- 

 bugged:" but if you have not, and should get 

 them, you will find them very good things to 

 have. The statement that they will endure the 

 severest weather in the North-west, we believe 

 to be strictly correct. 



Forestry, 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Eucalyptus in California.— At Los Angeles 

 are trees of the Blue Gum of Australia, sixty 

 feet high in seven years from seed. We should 

 like to know more about the value of this wood 

 as timber in California, than we have as yet seen 

 reported. 



Forests of Maine.— We have before ug No. 15 

 of the Census Forestry Bulletin with a map of 

 the State of Maine, showing the distribution of 

 the pine and spruce forests, by Prof. C. S. Sar- 

 gent. Maine seems to be acting more judiciously 

 than some other timber districts. Pine has been 

 cut in every township, and the largest spruce 

 has been removed except from inaccessible re- 

 gions ; but the second growth is carefully pro- 

 tected, which allows the forest to be again profit- 

 ably worked every fifteen to twenty-five years. 



Forest Fires. — The following is one of the 

 many samples oT newspaper paragraphs running 

 through our daily papers at this time, as they do 

 about this season every year : 



" The forest fires are raging fearfully, extend- 

 ing from Glen Dam to within a mile of Tawas 

 City. At the Miners' farm, a few miles from 



Tawas City, the farm products are burning, and 

 C. W. Carrie's place is on fire. The farmers are 

 driving their cattle to the shore and sending the 

 children to town. On the East Tawas road 

 many of the farmers' fences and much hay and 

 grain are aflame, and three dwellings burned. 

 The loss is very great. Travel is cut oft' in many 

 directions. Strenuous efforts are being made to 

 save Glen Dam." 



And yet we must not have laws compelling 

 the clearing out of the gun-powder-like dead 

 wood with which the underbrush of so many 

 forests are burdened, because it may interfere 

 with the second growth of the forest when the 

 original is cut down. 



Of what use is a second growth if it is to be 

 burned up every once in a while ? 



Lumber Resources of the United States.— A 

 special bulletin, prepared by Prof C. S. Sargent, 

 has been issued by the Census Bureau upon the 

 lumber interests of the United States. Accord- 

 ing to this statement there were in active opera- 

 tion at the time of taking the census 25,708 es- 

 tablishments, with an invested capital of $181,- 

 188,122. The total number of hands employed 

 was 147,956, and the annual disbursement for 

 wages $31,845,974. The total value of all pro- 

 ducts from this source was $233,317,729. Although 



