iNovemDer 26, 1910 



HORTICULTURE 



733 



NEWS GOOD AND BAD FROM E. H. 

 WILSON. 



Professor Sargent has placed at our 

 disposal the following extracts from 

 a letter from Mr. E. H. Wilson dated 

 Chengtu, West China, September 10, 

 1910: 



"I returned to Chengtu on the 6th 

 inst., from a round trip to Sung P'an. 

 The trip was highly successful up to 

 within a few days of the finish, when 

 it ended in catastrophe. Three days' 

 journey from Chengtu, whilst descend- 

 ing the lower reaches of the Min val- 

 ley by the main highway, we were 

 overtalien by a landslide, and I es- 

 caped only with a badly brolien leg. 

 Both bones are brolten about a foot 

 above the anlvle, and there is a nasty 

 wound on the outside of the calf. We 

 improvised some crude splints, and I 

 was carried to Chengtu, spending two 

 nights at Chinese inns on the way. 

 Eight miles before reaching Chengtu I 

 overtools some missionaries who very 

 kindly escorted me to the house of 

 Dr. Davidson of the Friends' Mission 

 in Chengtu. Dr. Davidson and his 

 wife, assisted by other friends, immedi- 

 ately toolv me in hand and rendered 

 every possible assistance. Drs. David- 

 son and Sheridan set the limb. Dr. 

 Davidson most Idndly placed at my 

 disposal a room on the ground floor, 

 and Mrs. Davidson has taken over the 

 duties of nurse, and everything possi- 

 ble for my comfort, etc., is being done. 

 The limb has now been set four days, 

 and is apparently taking a normal 

 course. 



"For the time being we- are trying to 

 console ourselves with the thought 

 that it might have been much worse. 

 Fortunately, as far as the expedition 

 is concerned, my plans have been so 

 laid that, whilst handicapping us, the 

 accident cannot involve the expedition 

 in failure. 



"Turning now from the unfortunate 

 side of things, I have the greatest 

 pleasure in informing you that the ma- 

 jority, at any rate, of the conifers in 

 the west here are fruiting most freely. 

 Young and old, great ana smaii, are 

 simply laden with cones, a wonderful 

 sight. The principal object of my 

 journey to Sung P'an was to try and 

 secure material of the new Abies re- 

 curvata, described by the late Dr. Mas- 

 ters from very poor material collected 

 by me in 1903. In that year there were 

 no new cones: this year there are 

 millions! I have got most complete 

 material, and later shall get a large 

 quantity of seed. For the Larch we 

 are too late for seeds, and shall have 

 to content ourselves with small plants. 

 Of all the rest I think we shall secure 

 seeds in greater or lesser quantities. 

 Apart from the Coniferse, the most in- 

 teresting botanical feature was old 

 woods of Cercidiphyllum. I measured 

 the stump of one old decrepit giant — 

 fifty-five feet in girth, five feet from 

 the ground! We gathered fruiting ma- 

 terial of this tree, and later hope for 

 seeds. This is the first occasion on 

 which I have ever seen fruiting mater- 

 ial on any Cercidiphyllum in China. I 

 gathered seeds of quite a number more 

 or less Interesting plants, and these I 

 shall forward to you as soon as op- 

 portunity permits." 



CYPRIPEDIUM X GERMAINE. OPOIX. 



This is one of the finest of the hy- 

 brid cypripediums (Fairrieanum x 

 oenanthum). We are indebted to Mr. 

 E. V. Low for the photograph. This 



hybrid is brother to C. Gaston Bultel. 

 which we illustrated several weeks 

 ago with the name incorrectly 

 spelled. 



PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. 



The ^^■histlt■r Book, by Sadakichi 

 Hartmann. — Here is a book which, 

 from its title, would hardly be selected 

 as of any practical value to the flor- 

 ist: but in the very first introductory 

 line the author begins, "The white 

 chrysanthemum is my favorite flower" 

 and this admission induces us to read 

 further. We soon come to the query, 

 "Have you not noticed that a bunch 

 of cut flowers which looks beautiful in 

 one vase becomes ugly in another?" 

 Again — "The beauty of one color in 

 the decoration of space into simple 

 lines and masses * * * we owe 

 largely to Whistler." "He set up the 

 ideal of simplicity." Perhaps no em- 

 ployment affords wider scope for the 

 study of light and tone problems, the 

 "music of color" and the placing and 

 arranging of form and tints so that a 

 pleasing effect is produced on the ar- 

 tistic perceptions than does that of the 

 floral decorator. Whistler's maxim 

 which the author quotes — "A picture is 

 finished when all traces of means used 

 to bring about the end have disap- 

 peared" is a good one for every as- 

 piring florist to take home to him- 

 self. Genius is born and can never 

 be educated into a man yet the worker 

 in any art may do much to improve his 

 methods by reading and studying the 

 foundation principles of his art and 

 endeavoring to follow the precepts of 

 those who take their inspiration from 

 nature and this is why we are pleased 

 to recommend this book to the floral 

 artist who is ambitious and struggling 

 to give to his decorative work a dis- 

 tinctively artistic character. The 



book is embellished with fifty-seven 

 reproductions of the works of the great 

 impressionist artist. Published by L. 

 C. Page & Co., Boston. Price $2.50. 



The "Garden Library." 



This set of nine volumes, published 

 by Doubleday, Pa.ge & Co., New York, 

 is a rich mine of reliable horticul- 

 tural information which should find 

 a place on the book shelves of every 

 one who takes an interest in flowers, 

 plants and garden topics. The holi- 

 day time is now approaching and we 

 take pleasure in suggesting a set of 

 these books as an admirable Christ- 

 mas gift, capable of giving life-long 

 pleasure to the recipient. The series 

 comprises the following: Roses and 

 How to Grow Them, by many experts; 

 Ferns and How to Grow Them, by 

 G. A. Woolson; Lawns and How to 

 Make Them, by Leonard Barron; Daf- 

 fodils—Narcissus and How to Grow 

 Them, by A. M. Kirby; Water Lilies 

 and How to Grow Them, by H. S. 

 Conard and Henri Hus; The Flower 

 Garden, by Ida D. Bennett; The Vege- 

 table Garden, by Ida D. Bennett; The 

 Orchard and Fruit Garden, by E. P. 

 Powell; House Plants and How to 

 Glow Them, by Parker T. Barnes. 



Retail florists should recommend 

 these books to their customers who 

 are constantly inquiring for practical 

 infoi-mation on the thousand and one 

 things connected with plant culture 

 indoors and outdoors. 



The Reading Nurseries, J. Wood- 

 ward Masning proprietor, have been 

 removed to North Wilmington, Mass. 



