1883. 



AND HORTICUI.TURISI-. 



"hi 



less rapid in growth. Few people complain that 

 they are too large for the streets. 



Thk SPKiNfi BKArrv of Conh-kruis rKKi:s.- 

 Some one having stated in the Gardeners' CZ/r^i///- 

 ^/i? that coniferous trees were monotonous, Mr. D. 

 T. Fish comes to their defence, and says : " Mo- 

 notony of color indeed I It is all very well to bring 

 this charge against Conifers in the autumn or win- 

 ter, when their leaves have reached maturity or 

 have begun to enter the sere, if not yellow stage. 

 But not our best deciduous trees can ri\ al the rich 

 interest and variety of Conifers in the springtide. 

 Take for example such a Silver Fir as P. Pinsapo ; 

 its catkins glow almost with the brilliance of coral, 

 and its grey shoots are soft and rich with verdure 

 that must be seen, as it is beyond description. 

 Then such Spruces as the Smiths and Douglas are 

 of the richest shades. The cones, too, of these 

 and many other trees, such as Pinus excelsa and 

 others, add a new feature of interest and beauty. 

 These added to the catkins, the showers of golden 

 pollen, the curious growing points of the wood, 

 soft and apparently as succulent as juicy Aspar- 

 agus at times, also; as in the case notably of P. Sa- 

 biniana, contrasted with the brown-grey masses of 

 sere and falling leaves, form a combination of light 

 and shade, interest and beauty, that can scarcely 

 be found among deciduous trees. And the odors 

 given out by Conifers are among the sweetest, and 

 perhaps the most wholesome in nature." 



Mr. Fish's point is a very good one. The purple 

 male flowers of Table Mountain Pine, and the red 

 or scarlet of the Lawson Cypress are very attract- 

 ive, while the reddish brown of the new growth of 

 Alcock's Spruce may truly be characterized as gay. 

 There are few flowering plants more beautiful. 



The Sack or Bac; Worm. — The time is coming 

 when that fearful enemy to the Arborvita; especially 

 will make its appearance. Though we have kept a 

 continual warning against suffering it to eat on, 

 without molestation, it will do good service by 

 again referring to it. The following good sketch 

 is from the pen of Prof. Rathvon in the Lancaster 

 Farmer. Hand-picking is the cheapest remedy : 



"The spindle-shape cocoons you sent us some 

 weeks ago — e\idently taken from an v\.rbor\itce 

 tree — are the habitacula of a Lepidopterous insect 

 known under- the names of ' Sack-worm,' ' Basket- 

 carrier,' ' Drop-worm,' ' Sack-trager,i and other 

 names, but in scientific language it is called Thry- 

 ridoptery xephemreriformis, a name almost 'as long 

 as the moral law.' Perhaps if it knew the space 

 its name occupies in natural history, it would be 

 better mannered than it is. It is notorious as a 

 tree defoliator, especially cone-bearing trees, and 



most especially, perhaps, the Arborvita;. It may 

 have a choice, but it is by no means restricted by 

 that choice, and will attack almost any kind of a 

 tree. We ha\c known it to be abundant on lin- 

 den, maple, elm, apricot, plum, locust, apple, pear, 

 various species of pine, quince, oaks — in short on 

 nearly all kinds except the peach, and we have 

 heard that it has been known in a 'strait' to attack 

 the peach. Many of the follicles now found on 

 trees are the deserted habitacula of the males of 

 last season, but a goodly number are those of the 

 female pupa filled with eggs, and now before the 

 trees ha\ e put forth their leaves, is the time to col- 

 lect and destroy them. If the season is favorable, 

 between the ist and 15th of May, the young will 

 be hatched from the eggs that have remained in 

 the sacks or baskets of last summer. If they are 

 left undisturbed until the last of May or the begin- 

 ning of June, the trees will be in full foliage, and 

 for a month or two the foliage will be tod dense to 

 see them. Each female deposits one hundred or 

 more eggs, and these eggs possess the possibilities 

 of the same number of caterpillars. These cater- 

 pillars are never nakedly seen, for as soon as the 

 young are excluded from the eggs they begin to 

 form their sacks, and these they carry with them 

 wherever they go, only protruding the head and 

 the three thoracic segments of the anterior part of 

 the body. No liquid' or powdered remedy can 

 reach them, nor can birds dislodge them from their 

 habitacula. If these insects are permitted to con- 

 tinue on the trees to their injury, the responsibility 

 must rest with those who own the trees they infest ; 

 for we know of no insect that is more accessible, 

 especially during late fall, winter and early spring." 



NEW OR RARE PLANTS. 



A Nl-:W Haw [HORN — CRAT.ECiLS brachvacax- 

 XHA. — In 1832, Drummond collected in the Red 

 River region, a hawthorn which has never been 

 properly made out. Mohr and Sargent also col- 

 lected imperfect specimens, and recently the fruit 

 has been collected by Letterman. These trees 

 looked at a distance like plum trees, with small 

 blue fruit; the ground under them (August 19, 

 1882), was covered with fallen leaves. 



It is a tree twenty to thirty feet high, in very old 

 trees with rough bark, spines usually about six 

 inches long, curved. Leaves about two inches 

 long, lanceolate oblong, short petioled, leathery, 

 serrate, shining, with ribs almost obliterated. 

 Flowers among the smallest of the genus. 



Canna Ehem.\nni. — There are few things more 

 beautiful in American decorative gardening than 

 the various forms of cannas, and good service is 

 done by those who endeavor to improve them. 

 Mr. H. A. Dreer sends us the following account 

 of a new one just intrcKluced : 



