2l8 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[July. 



they are hatched, and destroy the fruit ; when in 

 the cultivated, they are laid in the wrong place, 

 and therefore the progeny never develop. But 

 they do an important work, for they carry with 

 them into the cultivated fig, which usually has 

 only female flowers, the male pollen, and thus 

 cause the formation of seeds. Those who have 

 been consumers of the delicious fig in its dried 

 state cannot fail to have observed that connected 

 with the best fruit there is very often a worm-hole 

 in the end of each specimen, and this is the work 

 of the insect alluded to. — Journal of Chemistry. 



Our Tulip Tree in China. — Mr. Maries says 

 in the Garden : " I continued on down the 

 other side of the mountain into the valley to a 

 large dilapidated temple, and with great difficulty 

 obtained permission to live in it. The priests were 

 a sect called Tauists. What a sight was here in 

 the temple yard, surrounded with large trees of 

 Larix Kasmpferi, and in front two of the largest 

 Cryptomerias I have ever seen, one measuring 

 9 ft. in diameter, and the other over 8 ft. and quite 

 200 ft. high. Just below were growing lots of fine 

 trees of Magnolia conspicua in full flower, and the 

 Liriodendron tulipiferum, hitherto only known 

 from North America. It was in flower, and I 

 gathered dried specimens to send to England. I 

 consider it to be a different species from the 

 American, though very near it. It is not so large 

 as the American tree. The ones I saw were prob- 

 ably 70 ft. high, and leaves very small compared 

 with the American variety. The priests said the 

 trees were planted by the old Bhuddist priests, 

 together with the Magnolias, Cryptomerias, and 

 Larix. I think it very probable that both the 

 Salisburia, Liriodendron, and Podocarpus will some 

 day be found wild in the mountainous portion of 

 Chinese Thibet, from whence they were probably 

 brought by the old Bhuddist missionaries, just the 



same as the Cryptomeria was taken by them to 

 China, for I believe the Cryptomeria does not 

 grow wild in any other country but Japan. It cer- 

 tainly is not wild in China, as is generally sup- 

 posed. I might say that I did not find young 

 seedling trees of Liriodendron, Cryptomeria, and 

 Magnolia ; if they were indigenous, one would 

 think that there would be plenty of young seed- 

 lings as with other trees. These sacred trees of 

 the old Bhuddists are mysteries still, and will be 

 till the unknown recesses of Thibet be opened up. 

 They may be the remains of old forest trees." 



Uses of Structures. — Much attention has 

 been given of late to noting' the behavior of plants 

 and seeds in connection with what seems to be 

 their own immediate good ; and a free rein has 

 been given to the imagination in pursuing this 

 path in natural science. In Geranium, Stipa and 

 some others, the dry styles or long awns are 

 hygrometric, and twist or untwist according to the 

 humid conditions of the atmosphere. This has 

 been regarded as an adaptation for screwing the 

 seed into the ground. In falling to the earth the 

 feathery apex will, of course, cause the heavier 

 seed to fall perpendicularly to the ground. But 

 just how the coiling of the awns could screw the 

 seed into the ground without something denser than 

 the atmosphere for the end of the spiral to press 

 against has presented a difficulty to the mechani- 

 cal mind, and has led some to doubt whether the 

 real secret of the adaptation has been exposed. If 

 correct, it would seem that Dundreary's idea, that 

 the " tail might wag the dog," is not unreasonable. 

 However, Prof. Beal has recently published an 

 account of some experiments with Stipa sparta 

 seeds. He finds that the seeds set perpendicular 

 to the surface do bury themselves in the earth. 

 The exact mode of their doing it is not explained. 

 — Independen t. 



LiTERAWM, Travels and Personal Notes. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



GARDENING IN KANSAS. 

 BY JOHN BUCHI, SALINA, KANSAS. 



I received your welcome Monthly for March, 

 and found it full of interesting news. I gather 



from it that gardening in the East is advancing 

 very much. Out here we are getting along nicely 

 too, and although living near the desert — as you 

 were pleased to call it last year — you could not 

 find a finer landscape than we have at present. 

 It would rejoice the heart of any lover of flowers 



