716 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



"The process in its simplest form appears to be to 

 decapitate the buds with a penknife as soon as the sap 

 begins to circulate in the spring. In a few days two 

 new buds appear at the base of the bud thus operated 

 on, and the vegetation of these is easily equalized by 

 expert trimming, or pinching ofT when necessary. The 

 equilibrium once established, these two buds may be 

 similarly treated, and as each will produce two more, 

 any number of branches may be obtained, and a thick, 

 full head developed on the top of a single stem. To 

 make branches shoot in different directions, the ter- 

 minal bud of the main branch is pinched at one side or 

 the other, according as the direction required is to the 

 right or left; and the new buds being pinched in turn, 

 perfect control is established over each branch from 

 its verv earliest growth." — The Garden. 



SOME INTERESTING PLANTS. 



The tea tree is a small evergreen from South America. 

 It is used in preference to tea — its foliage is prepared, by 

 the way, in much the same fashion — by millions of South 

 Americans, and Brazil alone in one year exported $10,- 

 000,000 worth of the "mate," as it is called, for "tea." 

 The leaves and small twigs of the little evergreen are 

 scorched, dried, and powdered, and are said to contain, 

 as well as stinuilating alkaloid, oils that make the prepara- 

 tion really less harmful than tea. Another visitor from 

 Brazil is the soap tree, which grows to a height of thirty 

 or forty feet, is found along clearings in Brazil, and bears 

 a small, berrylike fruit, rich in a principle known as 

 "saponin" and useful for cleansing purposes. 



Then there is the ink tree, which is also worth import- 

 ing as a producer of varnish and of an edible fruit. The 

 name of the ink tree is Semecarpus anacardium, and it 

 comes from ^Mauritius, where it is commonly known as 

 the "marking nut." The acrid, viscid juice of the tree 

 furnishes a varnish, the pericarp of the fruit gives off an 

 astringent principle used as a marking ink, and both the 

 fleshy cups of the fruit and the kernels of the nuts are 

 used as food. 



From China comes the candle tree, the Stillingia sebi- 

 fera, that is employed extensively by the Chinese for 

 making tallow lights. The seeds of the tree are enveloped 

 in a white, odorless wax. while the kernels themselves 

 yield a yellow fixed oil with an agreeable nutty taste. It 

 is believed that the "tallow tree" would flourish in the 

 southern and southwestern parts of this country. 



A tree the interest of which is not altogether utilitarian 

 is the weeping willow, that comes to us from St. Luzia, 

 Madeira, and was taken to Madeira from St. Helena. The 

 plants are the descendants of the willow tree that grew 

 on the island of St. Helena over Napoleon's grave. 



In addition to persimmons from China and Japan, 

 melons from Ispahan, from Russia, from Turkestan and 

 Japan and Spain ; aspricots from India, and plums from 

 South Africa, and cherries from Japan, and pears from 

 China, and prunes from Switzerland, and other fruits 

 besides, there are homely-sounding vegetables that are 

 sure to be in demand. The Chenopodium quinoa, for 

 example.' is especially recommended as a substitute for 

 spinach. It is grown on the slopes of the Andes, wher« 

 its seeds are used in soups and prepared very much as rice 

 is. but in France its leaves are favored in the dry hot sea- 

 son when spinach cannot be grown. Its culture, we are 

 assured, is much like that of mustard. 



Then there is a cabbage that is the gift of Mr. Joseph 

 Bailio of the University of Nanking, China. There is a 

 hardy turnip called the "petrowski." from Helsingfors, 

 Finland, which has been grown as far north as Alaska. 

 and which is notable as a resistant to the root maggot 



that destroys so many other plants. There is a cabbage 

 that comes from Dalmatia by way of Venice and is said 

 to be quite superior to ordinary cabbages. There are 

 beans from Siberia. And there is a wonderful importation 

 of which the following is, word for word, the Govern- 

 ment's description : "Phragmites vulgaris longivalvis. 

 From Yokohama, Japan. A widely distributed reed used 

 for the manufacture of screens, mats, and chair seats. 

 Requires moist locations. Used in Holland for reclaim- 

 ing swamp lands by growing it several successive seasons, 

 ultimately converting them into arable lands. 'P. vulgaris' 

 is the common reed in our swamps. The young shoots 

 are eaten like asparagus in Japan." A plant that reclaims 

 swamps, makes screens and chair seats, and furnishes 

 asparagus is well worth "introducing." 



A small mint from West Africa is popularly known as 

 the "mosquito plant," and is brought to this country with 

 the hope that here, as in its native Continent, the green 

 plant, being hung up, may drive the insects away, or the 

 dry leaves when burned may banish the mosquitoes with 

 their smoke. An olive plant from the Crimea, which has, 

 practically alone among olives, withstood the cold of one- 

 degree below zero, it is believed, will prosper in this 

 country. 



The plants being imported are, of course, for purposes 

 of experimentation. The various trees and shrubs and 

 vines and small plants are to be tested as timber, tested as 

 fruit-bearing trees, tested as sand-binders in the desert 

 regions, as windbreakers, as reclaimers of swamps, as 

 edibles, as ornaments. — Times. 



GROWING TREES IN SANDY LAND. 



A number of experiments in tree growing in various 

 soils has led the New Jersey experiment station to 

 flevise the following formula by which, it is said, trees 

 can be made to grow in barren sandy land, even in 

 beach sand : 



First : Apply oyster-shell lime at the rate of two tons 

 per acre, one and a half ounces per square foot 



Second : Apply wood ashes at the rate of half a ton 

 per acre, three-eighths of an ounce per square foot. 



Third: Apply the following fertilizing mixture at 

 the rate of 1,000 pounds per acre, three-eighths of an 

 ounce per square foot : 200 pounds tankage, 200 pounds 

 ground fish, 300 pounds acid phosphate, 300 pounds 

 muriate of potash. In lieu of this, composted manure 

 may be used at the rate of ten tons per acre. The ap- 

 plication of lime and wood ashes should be given once 

 in three or four years, but the fertilizer mixture or com- 

 posted manure should be applied annually. — Rural Life. 



APPLICATION F0R MEMBERSHIP 



National Association of Gardeners 



I hereby apply for Membership in your Association: — 



Name in full 



Occupation 



Address — 



Date . 



Reference 



Forward Application to M. C. EBEL, SecreUry, Midison. 

 N. /., 'with dues, 'which are $2.00 annually, including sub.tcrtp- 

 tion to the official organ of the Association. 



