February 17, 1917 



HORTICULTURE 



303 



Hardy Opuntias 



Up to the present day the study 

 of our native flora as a hobby among 

 the horticultural Graft seems an ex- 

 tremely rare exception. During thi- 

 twenty-five years of my career in this 

 country I know of only one instance, 

 meeting a young American-born 

 landscape architect interested in and 

 well posted on this subject. The con- 

 sequence is a vei7 vague idea of the 

 immense richness of our home \eg- 

 etation in Ijcautifiil ]ilant-fonn^ 

 among our rank and file. And yet, 

 the fact that during the last cen- 

 tury many valuable native plant 

 species have been collected by Euro- 

 pean explorers, sent abroad, and, 

 after acclimatising and perha]>s b\ - 

 bridizing returned in exchange for 

 American dollars and cents as "in- 

 dispensables" for our gardens, seem> 

 to prove that tlie study of our flora 

 does not necessarily need to be a 

 mere freak. Turning to tlie hardy 

 growing wild in the barren districts of nunintainous sec- 

 tions of Arizona, Nevada and California, I am well 

 aware that to speak of them in adjectives as beautiful or 

 indispensalile means to invite contradiction from various 

 directions. Surely, who ever attempted to handle them 

 without wearing tliick leather gloves liad iiis hands full. 

 To trace and dig tliem out is tediously annoying. Rut 

 facing the task of planting a dry-wall exjiosed to the 

 south with the chances that our plantations will receive 

 very little care, we find resistant material scarce. 

 Opuntias we know live and grow in a small amount of 

 soil, surviving prolonged aridity and extreme cold with- 

 out injury. In form of growth oddly interesting, tlieii' 

 appearance when in full bloom during July is decidedly 

 liandsome. Of the species listed in trade catalogues 

 Opuntia Raffinesquei, a strong grower, producing large 

 sulplnir-yellow flowei's in great aliundance. is one of the 



OrrxTi.v Rafixesqvei 



best. Opuntia c<inuinc]iica and spiroceutra, also of ro- 

 bust hal)it of growth, have longer si)ines than the tirst 

 mentioned. Very useful for naturalizing on diy slopes 

 as well a.s. for the pockets of the rockery exposed to the 

 south and soutliwest, is the smaller growing very lightly 

 spined Opuntia humilis with short flat branches and 

 countless little yellow blossoms. Fully matured limbs of 

 opuntias root very easily when inserted in sandy ground 

 out in the open. Our hardy cactuses of the western des- 

 ert districts are inconvenient to handle, but we need 

 them for dry-walls and tlie open south and soutliwest 

 I'xposure of the rockery and to lose sight of them at 

 tliis time docs not seem verv wise. 



-S^^ycuui-^ot^ 



(ilenmle, Pa. 



MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL 

 COLLEGE NOTES. 



Professor A. B. Beaumont, of Cor- 

 nell, has been appointed to head the 

 Department of Agronomy. 



Professor A. H. Nelirling addressed 

 the Horticultural Society of Boston 

 last Saturday on "Perennials We 

 Should Grow." 



Prof. A. K. Harrison addressed the 

 Tuckerman Botanical Club, Thursday 

 evening on the subject "Native New 

 England Plants Used for Ornamental 

 Planting." 



The Landscape Art Club Bowling 

 Team defeated the Florist & Garden- 

 ers' Club Team ("The Grave Diggers 

 and Decorators") by 78 pins last Fri- 

 day evening. 



Emile Mardfin, Cornell '16, has been 

 appointed graduate assistant in the 

 Department of Botany to fill the va- 

 cancy left by the appointment of Wil- 

 liam Doran as Instructor in Botany 

 and State Botanist at Durham, N. H. 



The seminar meetings conducted by 

 C. E. Wildon in the Ten Weeks' course 

 have proven exceedingly successful. 



The meetings are being held every 

 Tuesday evening, and various subjects 

 are taken for discussion. Last Tuesday 

 evening a very interesting discussion 

 of Informal and Formal Gardens took 

 place. On next Tuesday evening the 

 subject of Soil Sterilization will be 

 taken up. L. H. Jones, of Milford will 

 start the discussion with some very 

 interesting facts on partial steriliza- 

 tion of greenhouse soils. 



Farmers' Week program, Dept. of 

 Floriculture, Tuesday afternoon, 

 March 27, 1917: 



1.00— The Use of N.itive Pl.ints. Prof. 

 P. A. Waugli. 



2.00— CJarrlen Flowers (Illustrated). Prof. 

 .\. H. Nelirling. 



Wednesday morning, March 28. 



9.00— Fertilizers for Greenbouse and Gar- 

 ilen. Prof. F. \V. Morse. 



10.00— Oruaiuental Vines and. Their Uses. 

 Prof. C. H. Thompson. 



11.00 — Landscape Gardening on the Farm. 

 Prof. A. K. Harrison. 



Wednesday afternoon, March 28. 



1.00— Garden Roses and Their Culture. 

 Dr. A. C. Beal (Cornell Univ.) 



2.00— Continuation of preceding hour. 



A coUection of spring flowering bulbous 

 plants will he on exhibition in the green- 

 house during Farmers' Week. 



NATIONAL ROSE AND PEONY 

 GARDENS. 



Request is made by the Office of 

 Horticultural Investigations of the U. 

 S. Department of Agriculture, Wash- 

 ington, D. C, for contributions to the 

 test garden.s at Arlington, Virginia, of 

 roses and peonies of varieties not now 

 represented in the Government collec- 

 tions. At 'the present time approxi- 

 mately 700 varieties of roses and 400 

 varieties of peonies are growing in the 

 Arlington gardens. The Department 

 of Agriculture is creating the test gar- 

 dens in co-operation with the Ameri- 

 can Rose Society and the American 

 Peony Society. Persons who believe 

 they have varieties of roses or peonies 

 not represented in the Arlington gar- 

 dens and who wish to contribute to the 

 collections should first write to the 

 Office of Horticultural Investigations, 

 Washington, D. C, offering specific 

 varieties or requesting a list of the 

 varieties desired. 



