316 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



Mr. H. J. Smith, superintendent to R. R. Conklin, 

 Rosemary Farm, Huntington, N. Y., sails for a month's 

 vacation to England on the 25th. This is Mr. Smith's 

 first visit to his home country in twentv-two years. 



Mr. Robert Bottomley, of New Canaan, Conn., is visit- 

 ing the nursery firms inspecting stock in contemplation 

 of an active spring on his estate. 



The many friends of Mr. Jas. Bell will be grieved to 

 learn that he again is in the hospital undergoing an opera- 

 tion. At this writing physicians advise he is resting easily 

 with chances favorable for recovery. 



Mr. Arthur Smith, who has just joined the association, 

 is superintendent of the George B. Horst estate, at 

 Reading, Pa. We are publishing a short article from Mr. 

 Smith in these columns and ne.xt month's issue will con- 

 tain an interesting article on the "Principles and Practices 

 of Pruning" by Mr. Smith. 



Mr. John Canning, of the Adolph Lewisohn estate, 

 "Heather Dell Farm," Ardsley, N. Y., sails on February 5 

 on the .S". .S". Lnsitania for a short vacation in "good old 

 Scotland." He will return in time to be heard from at the 

 International Flower Show. 



Another of the eastern gardeners to "go West" is Mr. 

 Donald McNaughton, formerly of Alassachusetts. He 

 now presides over the estate of E. S. Moore, Lake Forest. 

 111., as superintendent. 



G. A. Sellenthin has recently accepted the position as 

 gardener on the estate of Mrs. jMarcus Daly, Hamilton, 

 Mont., going there from La Crosse, Wis. 



Mr. Chas. H. Knight has resigned his position as 

 superintendent of the Carraington estate at North 

 Greenwich, Conn. The position is now occupied by 

 Mr. C. W. Guernsey, formerly of Cornell LTniversitv. 



QUERIES and ANSWERS 



We believe the greatest good can be accomplished for the greatest 

 lumber, by instituting a query column; or an exchange of expe- 

 'iences, on practical propositions, by our readers. 



You are minted to contribute questions, and answer others. 



Each question as received will be giz'en a number, the question- 

 rr's name will not be published, but the source of the answer will 

 )e given unless otherwise requested. 



We all have something we would like to know more about. Here 

 s your opportunity to ascertain somebody's experience in fust thati 

 natter. 



Nothing mil tend to belter fellowship than helping each other. 



Take advantage of this "Question Box." 



The following question came in our query box, and 

 caused quite a lot of discussion: Which part of the 

 tree is the youngest, the center, or the part nearest the 

 bark? Maybe it will help us to hear from some of 

 your readers. A. A. F., Pa. 



In answering the above query it is but necessary to 

 refer to any elementary book on Botany where the 

 structure of stems are explained. 



In the olden time before the present classification of 

 plants was in vogue plants were divided into two great 

 classes, the Exogenous and the Endogenous, now 

 synonymous with Dicotyledones and Monocotyledones 

 and the dictionary gives as the meaning of an Exogen 

 a plant whose stems grow in thickness by successive 

 additions to the outside of the wood, and that of an 

 Endogen a plant whose stems increase by additions de- 

 veloped from the inside, so therefore we have plants 

 that are developed in both ways. The Monocotyle- 



dones or Endogens, however, do not make timber — ex- 

 amples of this class are the Palms, Yuccas and Dracae- 

 nas, etc. ; all our broad-leaved trees and shrubs belong 

 to the first class, Dicotyledones. The principal part 

 of the stem is made up of bundles called the fibro 

 vascular bundles ; these bundles are made up of the 

 following : Xylem or wood. Phloem or bast, between 

 these two is a layer of tissue called the Cambium. 



If a transverse section of a very young stem be made 

 and examined under a high-power microscope these 

 bundles will be seen to be arranged in a circle with 

 the Xylem nearest the center ; growth takes place from 

 the activity of the Cambium layer, adding to the 

 Xylem, or wood, to the outside and additions to the 

 bast on its inner side. 



That the wood is formed on the outer side should 

 be apparent to everyone who has ever examined the 

 cross-section of a live tree or branch; there will be 

 seen the different kinds of wood, the heart wood and 

 the sap wood. The heart wood dry, hard, dead and 

 solid and good timber, whilst the sap wood looks new 

 and alive and taking part in the conveyance of the 

 sap. W. H'. W.. X. Y. 



Regarding the discussion as to whether the center 

 of a tree or that nearest the bark is the younger wood, I 

 would say the center is the older wood, since we often 

 see a tree with its center almost decayed and yet the 

 tree, to all appearances, may be in good health, where- 

 as if the decay were to set in the bark the flow of sap 

 would cease and the tree would immediateh" die, as in 

 the case of the Chestnut disease. 



Another proof would be that the center of an aged, 

 sound tree is always the harder wood. 



\V. H. Mc.K., Conn. 



Why must the shoots of cultivated plants be pruned ? 

 How does summer pruning dififer from winter prun- 

 ing? 



To what extent does scion and stock mutually influence 

 one another in grafting? D. F., N. Y. 



My bay trees are affected with some trouble which is 

 causing the leaves to turn red on the back, and curling 

 them up. \\'hat is this caused by, and what can I do for 

 them? ■ T. B., MASS. 



Would anybody tell his experience with shredded 

 cow manure? Fresh cow manure is hard to get nowa- 

 days. Are the results with shredded cow manure 

 equal ? X^. Y. 



I should like to get some advice as to what crop will 

 make the est sod for growing roses. Can you get any 

 information for me? T. M. C, Mass. 



ORCHIDS 



We are specialists in this kind of plants. We 

 collect, import and grow orchids from ail parts of 

 the world where orchids grow. 



We will be glad to fill your order for one plant 

 or a thousand ■ccording to your requirements. 



Our beauliful Catalogue and special list? on 

 application. 



LAGER & HURRELL 



Orchid-Growers and Importers 



SUMMIT, N. J. 



