July 12, 1913 



H K T I C U L T tJ R B 



43 



others, all arranged to form a sym- 

 metrical whole under the personal su- 

 pervision of Cass Gilbert. 



The State Capitol is on the route of 

 the two principal interurban street 

 railway lines connecting Minneapolis 

 and St. Paul. Both these lines lead 

 past or through the campus of the 

 State University. The grounds of the 

 State University are beautiful. Many 

 of the substantial buildings of the uni- 

 versity possess rare artistic merit, and 

 all are arranged with the view to pro- 

 viding an artistic whole when the new 

 structures now under construction and 

 contemplated are completed. The uni- 

 versity is only 1.5 minutes' car ride 

 from the center of Minneapolis. 



The Court House and City Hall in 

 Minneapolis was built of Minnesota 

 granite. It is one of the most sub- 

 stantial structures in the West and 

 covers a full block. Its tower, which 

 appears in the sky line from almost 

 every part of the city, is one of the 

 distinct features of Minneapolis. 



Another public property, to which 

 both Minneapolis and St. Paul justly 

 claim title, is the United States Army 

 Post at Fort Snelling, midway between 

 the two cities and about 40 minutes 

 car ride from each. The reservation 

 site is at the confluence of the Missis- 

 sippi and Minnesota rivers. The place 

 is one of the most beautiful along the 

 whole course of the Father of Waters. 

 It was from Fort Snelling that the In- 

 dian wars of the early days were di- 

 rected, and the Round Tower erected 

 in 1820 is one of the historic sights of 

 the community. Across the river from 

 the fort is the Minnesota State Home 

 for Old Soldiers and their wives. This 

 place is well worth a visit. It is with- 

 in walking distance of Minnehaha 

 Falls. 



The grounds of the Minnesota State 

 Fair, the largest state fair in America, 

 are located at Hamline, midway be- 

 tween Minneapolis and St. Paul and 

 on the route of the Como Harriet in- 

 terurban car line connecting the Twin 

 Cities. 



Other public buildings and proper- 

 ties in Minneapolis worth seeing in- 

 clude the National Guard Armory 

 where the convention and novel out- 

 door exhibit of the Society of Ameri- 

 can Florists and Ornamental Horticul- 

 turists will take place, the City Work- 

 house which is self-sustaining tlirough 

 its brick plant and other industries, 

 the million dollar Alteration plant 

 which provides Minneapolis with 

 drinking water, 100% pure, and the cen- 

 tral public library and several of Its 

 more important branches. 



ROBINIAS AND SUMMER MAG- 

 NOLIAS. 



ExtiM't from .\n)i>ld Arlporclinu linllctin 

 No. 40. 



No Other North American tree is so 

 familiar to the people of so many dif- 

 ferent parts of the world as the False 

 Acacia or Yellow Locust of the Ap- 

 palachian Mountain forests. Rnbinia 

 pseudnrnria. and it is now naturalized 

 in many regions far removed from its 

 native home. No other exotic tree has 

 been so generally planted in northern 

 and central Europe since its introduc- 

 tion into the garden of the Paris Muse- 

 um in lt;36 by King's gardener Robin, 

 whose labors it commemorates; and 

 no other American tree has given rise 

 to such a voluminous literature. The 



cheerful light green foliage and hang- 

 ing clusters of fragrant white flowers 

 are known to everyone who has ever 

 looked at trees. The value of the tim- 

 ber which it produces, the rapidity of 

 its growth, its power to adapt itself 

 to different soils and to reproduce it- 

 self rapidly by seeds which germinate 

 readily and by stump and root shoots, 

 would make it a most valuable sub- 

 ject for forest and coppice planting in 

 this country if it could be protected 

 from insects, but the value of the Lo- 

 cust is practically destroyed in nearly 

 all parts of the United States beyond 

 the mountain forests which are its 

 home by the borers which riddle the 

 trunk and branches. Owing to the 

 difficulty of keeping the Locust in a 

 presentable condition here no serious 

 effort has ever been made to bring to- 

 gether the interesting varieties or 

 "sports" of this tree which have ap- 

 peared from time to time in European 

 gardens and are largely planted in 

 European collections of trees. At 

 least thirty of these varieties are now 

 known ; the one most often seen in 

 Germany, especially in suburban gar- 

 dens, is the so-called Parasol Acacia 

 (var. umbraiuUJrra). The short 

 branches of this plant form a compact 

 spherical head which is usually graft- 

 ed on a tall steam of the common 

 Robinis, as in this country a dwarf 

 form of the Catalpa is made into a 

 "standard" by grafting it on a tall 

 stem of the tree form. The only ab- 

 normal form of the Robinia thorough- 

 ly established in the Arboretum is one 

 of the most remarkable of them all; 

 var. monophyUa, in which the leaves 

 are reduced to a single broad leaflet. 



The two pink-flowered arborescent 

 Robinias, W. visrosn and R. neo-mcri- 

 tana, are also subject to attacks by 

 the borer. K. visrosa. the Clammy Lo- 

 cust, is not yet in flower but its near 

 relative, the Rocky Mountain species, 

 H. ni'o-mt'xirana. is now covered with 

 its short clusters of pale rose-colored 

 flowers. More beautiful perhaps than 

 either of these trees is a hybrid of the 

 Rocky Mountain species with R. pseu- 

 datai'ia, R. HoUltii named for the Colo- 

 rado nurseryman in whose establish- 

 ment it appeared a few years ago. 

 This tree is very hardy; it appears 

 to suffer less than its parents from 

 borers, it grows rapidly and plants 

 only a few feet high cover themselves 

 with pale pink flowers. This tree, 

 which is not yet often seen in eastern 

 collections, is an interesting and valu- 

 able addition to the rather short list of 

 trees which flower here in early sum- 

 mer. 



The latest of the American Magno- 

 lias are M. marrophiilla and M. glaura. 

 The former is a medium-sized tree 

 with wide-spreading branches and is 

 distinguished by the fact that of 

 all trees which grow beyond the 

 tropics it has the largest leaves 

 and the largest flowers. The leaves 

 of this remarkable tree are sil- 

 very white on the lower surface, 

 from twenty to thirty inches long and 

 from eight to nine inches wide, and 

 the cup-shaped creamy white fragrant 

 flowers are sometimes a foot in di- 

 ameter. Although an inhabitant of 

 the south, M. marrophylla is perfectly 

 hardy in New England, but unless it 

 is planted in sheltered positions the 

 trees often become disfigured by the 

 wind which tears the large delicate 



leaves. Less showy M. glauca is a 

 more valuable plant for general culti- 

 vation. Often a large tree in the ex- 

 treme south, at the north M. glauca 

 is never more than a small tree, or 

 more often a large shrub. The leaves 

 are dark green and very lustrous on 

 the upper surface and silvery white 

 on the lower surface; the small, cup- 

 shaped flowers are creamy white and 

 delightfully fragrant, and they con- 

 tinue to open in succession from the 

 middle of June until August. In all 

 North America there is not a more de- 

 lightful shrub to plant in the garden, 

 or one that will give larger returns 

 in beauty and fragrance; and yet it 

 is difficult to find it in American nur- 

 series, and it is unknown to most 

 American planters of this generation. 

 A hybrid, M. Thompsoniana, between 

 M. glauca and M. tripefala. another 

 American species, is a handsome 

 plant with the general appearance of 

 M. glauca but with larger leaves and 

 larger, equally fragrant flowers. Un- 

 fortunately it is much less hardy than 

 either of its parents. 



MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 



I'rfini the (Jarden Bulletin. Ma.v. I'.ilS. 



The building of the new conserva- 

 tories has called for alterations in the 

 lay-out of the grounds in the vicinity 

 of the old as well as the new range. 

 South of what was formerly the par- 

 terre, a large area has been changed 

 from a formal into a natural garden 

 and in a great measure serves to bring 

 into harmony the various elements en- 

 tering into the present garden plan. 



The area to be devoted to the formal 

 gardens, while not less than in former 

 years, will be concentrated near the 

 conservatories. It will consist of two 

 parts, one in front and one in the rear 

 of the new greenhouses. The former, 

 now being installed, occupies almost 

 the same ground as the old parterre, 

 or sunken garden, and is intended pri- 

 marily as a water garden for the grow- 

 ing of lilies and other aquatic plants. 

 The long axis of this garden lies east 

 and west and its outline is rectangu- 

 lar. The corners of the pool are indi- 

 cated by four large American hollies 

 that formerly ^tood around the old ob- 

 servatory to the south. Just outside 

 the walks, surrounding the water gar- 

 den, are four large gingko. or maiden- 

 hair trees, which were planted here 

 this spring to increase the effective- 

 ness of the formal design. At the ends 

 of the pool a semi-circular walk con- 

 nects, on the one hand, the main gate 

 and on the other the steps to the new 

 conservatories. On each side of the 

 pool, walks lead down to the edge of 

 the water garden and furnish vantage 

 points for the closer insi)ection of the 

 water lilies. The areas between the 

 banks of the pool and the surrounding 

 walks will be the only ones in the 

 main garden this summer planted with 

 formal designs of bedding plants. 



Behind the main range and flanked 

 by the two wings of the new conserva- 

 tories will be located an elaborate for- 

 mal garden. Italian in its general ef- 

 fect. Three exits from the new con- 

 servatories lead down into this garden, 

 and since all are elevated the effect 

 produced by any plantations here will 

 he more striking than in the old par- 

 terre, where only moderate elevation 

 was possible. 



