242 



GARDENING. 



May /, 



flowering wood is left. It is always un- 

 satist'actorj' here, suffering more or less 

 ever>' winter, but Fortune's forsythia is 

 alive to the tips. 



Erica carnea is slightly damaged and 

 B. vagans is badly scorched Jasminvm 

 nudiflorum and J. officinalis under ])ro- 

 tection, if not entirely killed, are killed 

 back to the ground line. Parrotia Persica 

 under protection appears to be all right. 

 Calycanthus occidentalis is killed down 

 to the ground. Syringa oblata has come 

 through in good form. Cliionanthus 

 retusus is sound to the tips. 



Buddleia curviflora under a good mulch- 

 ing has been killed back a little. The 

 chaste shrub (]'itex Agnus castus) and 

 V. incisa appear to be s-ound at the base. 

 They are always killed back with us here. 

 Forestiera acuminata has wintered 

 splendidly, it never appears to suffer from 

 the cold here. 



Rhus succedanea and R. rerniciferahave 

 wintered well. The tips ot Euonymus 

 radicans are killed back a little. B. 

 angustifolius, B Sieholdiana, E. verruco- 

 sus, and B. Bungeana under heavy mulch- 

 ing are all in good form. Pfiotinia arbuti- 

 folia and P. serru/ata with inverted boxes 

 over them, have suffered considerably. 

 Osmanthus Hicifolius with a box over it 

 has come through all right. 



Blxagnus fongipes has wintered well, 

 and Dapline Blagayana, DaphneCneoruni 

 and D. alpina are all in good condition. 

 European broom (Cytisus Scoparius) 

 under cover is now in good condition. C. 

 purpureus has come through all right 

 without any protection and C.elongatus, 

 C. liirsutus', and C. nigricans, with a little 

 protestion, are all right. The European 

 gorse {Ulex Europieus) has suffered 

 badly under heavy protection, but it 

 seems to have been covered too much, as 

 a number of plants we had in a cold frame 

 with much less protection than those in 

 the open ground have servived the winter 

 well. 



Coronilla emurus has killed back a little 

 on the tips and Indigofera Dosua to the 

 ground. The last named is always killed 

 back to the ground with us. 



Coniferous evergreens such as Abies 

 Nordmanniana. A. Cilicica, A. Orientalis 

 and A. Switliiana seem to have wintered 

 well. Some of them are browned a little 

 on the northwest sides but they will soon 

 grow out of it. The Cephalonian fir (.4. 

 Ceplialonica) always gets killed back a 

 a little in a young state and until it 

 attains some age and size. Two or three 

 specimens of the Lawson's cypress in this 

 neighborhood still hold their own. The 

 Japanese retinosporas such as R. squar- 

 rosa, R. obtusa, and aurea Alifera with 

 boarded wind breaks and some evergreen 

 branches over them have wintered well. 

 Mr. E. Perkins of East avenue, an 

 enthusiastic lover of flowers, and a student 

 of Gardening, has a fine collection of 

 Catawbiense hybrid rhododendrons that 

 have come through the winter splendidly, 

 in fact in better condition than any others 

 we have seen in Rochester. We believe his 

 success lay with giving them sensible pro- 

 tection without coddling them. They are 

 well budded and will make a fine display 

 of bloom. John Dunbak. 



Rochester, N. Y., April 22, 1896. 



TREES AND SflRUBS IN FLOWER IN flPRIL. 



Cold weather continued here without 

 intermission until the 10th inst. The in- 

 dications were for a late spring, but an 

 unusually warm spell set in about the 

 12th inst., with a temperature in the 

 shade on some days of 84°. A number 

 of things rushed into bloom quite sud- 

 denly. 



Our first visitor was the Japanese 

 witchhazel. It was in full bloom on the 

 9th inst. and is now past. Erica carnea 

 has been in good bloom for the past eight 

 or nine days. Corylopsis spicata opened 

 its pretty yellow flowers on the 10th and 

 is now quite pretty. Leather leaf (Cas- 

 sandra calyculata) has been showing its 

 small white flowers since a few days. 

 Leatherwood (Dirca) and spice bush, 

 with their small inconspicuous yellow 

 blossoms, are now in lull bloom, and the 

 Cornelian cherry (Cornus mascula) has 

 been very showy for the past four or five 

 days. Although the individual flowersof 

 this cherry are small, good flowering spe- 

 cimens are very conspicuous in bloom. 

 The aromatic sumach has been showing 

 its small yellow flowering catkins since a 

 few days. Lonicera fragrantissima came 

 into bloom on the 20th; what a delicate 

 fragrance the flowers havel Some of the 

 different varieties of Japan quince have 

 been in bloom for two or three days. As 

 a rule we don't have Japan quince in 

 flower before the first week in May. 



The shad tree (^me/anc/ijcr) has come 

 into bloom. We usually don't look for 

 its blossoms before the 5th or 6th of May. 

 Fortune's forsythia and Forsythia viri- 

 dissiwa are coming into bloom. The 

 former is much the better one of the two. 

 Thunbetg's spir^a has been showing a 

 few flowers for the past two or three 

 days. The native hazels are about past 

 blooming and so is the sweet gale, with 

 its brownish catkin. Some of the early 

 flowering willows are past. The goat 

 willow (Salix Caprea) is perhaps the 

 most showy of any of them in bloom; it 

 is now entirely past. In some warm and 

 sheltered situations Magnolia stellata 

 came into bloom on the 20th, and what 

 a lovely thing it is! Magnolia conspicua 

 in some positions has been in good bloom 

 for the past two daj's. M. Soulangeana 

 is just opening. 



The silver maple was in bloom about 

 the 10th and the red maple followed it in 

 three or four days. They appeared to 

 flower more close closely together this 

 year than we ever saw them do before. A 

 few Norway maples are no v in bloom 

 and the sugar maple will be in bloom in a 

 day or two. 



Prunus tomentosa has been very 

 showy for the past two days and a few 

 stray flowers that have escaped the win- 

 ter's cold are open on Berberis Japonica 

 (Mahonia Japonica ). Daphne Mezereuni 

 is now pretty well past. 



John Di'Niiak. 

 Rochester, N. Y., April 22, 1896. 



DfllHflGE TO SttflDE TREES B/ CflTERFILLflRS 



The following timely and sensible 

 remarks underdateof April 9, 1896, were 

 prepared by Mr. Wm. McMillan of 

 Rochester as an appeal to the people. 



"The damage done each season by 

 caterpillars to the foliage of the trees in 

 the streets of the city and in private 

 grounds is increasing from year to j^ear 

 at an alarming rate. I'nless it can be 

 checked by some more effective measures 

 than have yet been attempted, nearly all 

 our trees are doomed to speedy destruc- 

 tion. A simultaneous attack against the 

 common enemy is necessary all along the 

 line. To secure this concert of action our 

 citizens must be aroused to seethe danger 

 that confronts them. The egg-clusters and 

 cocoons are visible in great numbers on 

 nearly all our trees in every section of the 

 city. The cleaning of occasional lots, or 

 even blocks, here and there, while inter- 

 vening parts remain foul, will only invite 

 the worms to the fresh pastures when 

 food in the home lots gets scarce. There- 



fore, everyone who realizes the danger 

 must stir up his neighbors to join with 

 him in exterminating the pests. 



"The species of caterpillar which in 

 recent j'cars has done the greatest dam- 

 age, and which is increasing most rapidly, 

 is the larva of the "Tussock" moth. Its 

 eggs are usually laid in a mass on the 

 outside ofthe empty cocoons. They adhere 

 closely to the cocoon, so that the removal 

 and destruction of the nest is usually all 

 that is necessary. To accomplish this the 

 simplest method is to get aladder of suit- 

 able size, and, getting within arm-reach 

 of the cocoons, brush them off with the 

 stub of a worn out whisk broom, or sink 

 brush. As the latter is made of f^ne steel 

 wire or splints, it is the best tool, but a 

 broken table knife or any small scraper 

 of handy shape will do nearly as well. 

 When a tree has thus been cleaned the 

 spoil should be gathered up and burned 

 or crushed by stamping it under foot on 

 the pavement. 



"Every tree-owner in the city should 

 examine his trees at once and take imme- 

 diate measures to remove both eggs and 

 cocoons wherever found. They are most 

 abundant on the lindens, horse-chestnuts 

 and elms, because the foliage of these 

 trees is the favorite food of the caterpil- 

 lar. The crevices in the rough bark of 

 these trees afford many places where the 

 cocoons can be securely fastened and be 

 well screened and sheltered. Butthey are 

 distributed more or less on other trees, 

 and also on an3' rough posts, walls or 

 fences. The under side of fence rails is a 

 common hiding place. 



"After the trees come into leaf the eggs 

 are not so easily seen, and there is notthe 

 same freedom of movement in brushing 

 them off. If nothing be done until the 

 worms get to work on the foliage their 

 ravages cannot be checked except by 

 spraying with poisonous liquids, such as 

 London purple and Paris green, which 

 require a special apparatus and expert 

 skill in application. In favorable seasons 

 from the cocoons spun in June, eggs are 

 produced in July, and from these a second 

 brood of worms is hatched in August. 

 But as far north as Buffalo this seldom 

 happens. The rapidity with which they 

 multiply if only one brood hatch may be 

 judged from the fact that as many as 600 

 eggs have been counted in one patch 



'Besides tte Tussock moth larvfe there 

 are several otherkindsof caterpillars that 

 feed on the foliage of our trees. The most 

 common of these is called the tent cater- 

 pillar. It weaves its tent in such large 

 masses that they are sure to be seen in 

 good time to destroy the whole brood in 

 a bunch while in the caterpillarstage,but 

 it often happens that the position is on 

 the highest or outermost branches of the 

 trees, and very difficult to reach. 



"Cotton bands or rings of tar around 

 the stems ot the trees are of little use, and 

 are very unsightly. Only such worms as 

 may be hatched on adjacent buildings 

 and fences have an3' occasion to climb the 

 trees. Pick off the cocoons that may be 

 found so easily in such exposed places and 

 there will be no need forcotton or tar." 



TUB NORWAY SPRUCE WAS WINTER KILLBD. 



Last spring we planted some Norway 

 spruce on the west side of our place; they 

 grew all summer and looked fine all fall 

 and winter, and till a week or two ago, 

 but now they all look red and rusty, and 

 the needles are falling off. Can anything be 

 done to save the trees? Why has this 

 happened? They have had no protection 

 whatever from the sweep of the wind in 

 winter. Had a board fence been put up 

 on the west side to protect them from the 



