276 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[September, 



of plants, both from the seeds and the cuttings" 

 Most of them I threw away, as I did not care to 

 grow more than a few. One tree I still have, 

 bearing its curious balls in June, and also a tree 

 on my son's farm, near Maytown, this county, 

 also bearing these seed balls in profusion. The 

 balls are about the size of a small hulled walnut 

 but stuck all over with little red stamens about 

 half an inch long. When in this condition the 

 tree looks curious and beautiful. I kept none 

 of the male variety, as at that time the male 

 trees were a regular street tree in towns along 

 the sidewalks, but are now almost extinct. I 

 would not know where to find a single specimen 

 at the present time. 



[The many friends of Mr. Garber will be very 

 glad to read something from his pen again. Few 

 men have given more freely of their time and 

 knowledge to the general information fund than 

 Mr. Garber has in his day, and we are glad to 

 take the present occasion to draw attention to 

 this fact. 



In regard to the Paper Mulberry, we must not 

 lose sight of the fact that it is not a native of 

 Texas,*but of China and Japan. It is of great 

 interest to know that fruiting specimens were 

 thirty years ago — but the question still remains, 

 was this tree introduced from Japan or Chinese 

 seed, or is it a development from the male tree 

 already under culture? The only reason for sug- 

 gesting the latter possibility was from analogy. 

 Mr Isaac C. Martindale, of Camden, has seen an 

 Ailantus of one sex produce flowers of another 

 sex. It is rather common to find Silver Maples 

 which for years produce female flowers only, 

 have branches wholly bearing male ones. Still, 

 as Mr. Garber suggests, this is not the proof that 

 the Paper Mulberry has done the same. We 

 should rather agree with him that the actual 

 evidence that it has changed would be more de- 

 sirable, and if any one can find the two kinds of 

 flowers on the same tree, we should be glad to 

 see the specimens. — Ed. G. M.] 



NOTES FROM ARIZONA. 



BY MR. J. C. LEMMON, FORT HUACHUCA, ARIZONA. 



Your invaluable journal follows us down here 

 from our home in Oakland and tempts us to 

 devote an hour from out our busy, tired life to 

 writing an item for your columns. 



We find here in these very particularized 

 mountains two species of wild potatoes, each 

 bearing tubers as large as a boy's marble. The 



plants grow in lately disturbed soil, generally on 

 the overflow of a mountain stream, and they 

 attain a height of about a foot. One species? 

 called scientifically Solanum Jamesii,has whitish 

 flowers, narrow leaves, and produces whitish 

 tubers; the other, Solanum Thurberi, has bluish 

 flowers, broader leaves, and dark blue tubers — 

 this species, in fact, being very near to our cul- 

 tivated potatoes. Now we read that the original 

 Solanum tuberosum from Peru was a hard little 

 tuber, and that all we know of its many varie- 

 ties of form, color, quality, hardiness, &c., comes 

 from cultivation. 



Also, we know that in some varieties the pro- 

 cess of changing the nature of the tuber has 

 been carried too far; that weakness of constitu- 

 tion is the result; that disease sets in, or the in- 

 sect world overpowers the plant, &c. 



Hence, would it not be well to find out other 

 native, and consequently strong species, and 

 bring them also into cultivation? Has any at- 

 tempt ever been made to cultivate these native 

 species? Will any of your readers give them a 

 trial — if the tubers can be had ? 



The plants are just in bloom now and forming 

 tubers, two to five to each plant on rather long 

 subterranean stems or stolons. We remain here 

 botanizing the Huachuca range of mountains 

 until the first of November, so we can gather 

 tubers, if desired, and forward to applicants. 

 In regard to our success in collecting here, we 

 can report some excellent finds already, and the 

 belated rainy season has just set in, after which 

 the whole country will put on new garments, 

 and then another harvest is in prospect. It is . 

 very satisfactory lo scour these ravines or steeps* 

 and every day adds to our bales of plants cer- 

 tain species not seen since the boundary com- 

 missioners in '46 carefully explored these moun- 

 tains and added so many new species to the then 

 known flora of North America. 



Occasionally we spy out a new one and then 

 there is great rejoicing in the camp. The latter, 

 by the way, is at present a deserted cabin in a 

 lonely caiion many miles from the fort; but we 

 ! seem to be in no danger of being cut off" and 

 annoyed by the fear of an attack by Apaches, as 

 was our case last year in the Chirricahua moun- 

 tains. 



This botanizing in the land of the Apaches 

 and cowboys is very risky business to be sure, 

 but then its results are most satisfactory. Some 

 discoveries we were enabled to make last season 

 concerning four large timber trees of this coun- 



