232 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE 



PEDIGREE TREES AND PLANTS. 

 Anions tlie <-atal(i.!?ius ilmt co'ne to luiml witli the new 

 year we Mini, as iisiuil, certain mirsmies that make chiims for bet- 

 ter plants or nee-, liecause they liave been propagated from 

 thote of their Icind which ha\f si. our. the <;reatest and l>est fniit- 

 ing capacity. Siicli chiims appear very plausible to many readers 

 and yrcMt tr.ides have been worked up on the strength of them, 

 but from the very fiist ihey have been condemned both liy science 

 and PXjjerience itself where the latter has l)een impartial. N'otli- 

 inu is more likely than that the buyer of luusery stock, who 

 pays an e.\tra price for supposedly better ]ilants, should give 

 them UMcomnionly good care, and to this e.xtra care may be traced 

 ■what he considers a confirmation of his belief. Had he planted 

 ordinary sorts liy tlie side of this so-called pedigree stock and 

 «;iven them exactly the same treatment, he would have discovered 

 Jiis error. 



The plausibility of this claim made for pedigreed plants is 

 derived from the analogy between vegetalile and animal life 

 that many of us are prone to assume: what liolds true of live- 

 stock nuist therefore hold true of nursery stock. But when we 

 Jook closer it is plain to see that there is no analogy at all. 

 and that the cases are entirely d liferent. Animals are improveil 

 ly crossing or inbreeding and thereby securing new oflspriir.' 

 tiiat always difl'er in more or less degree from both parents. 

 The pedigreed plants, on which we are asked to set a liighcr 

 value, are merely replicas or duplications of the parent stock 

 from which they are derived by means of coins, cuttings, layers 

 or buds. In every case the young plant is merely a part taken 

 from the body of a parent and therefore presents the same char- 

 acteristics. The analogy to animal breeding in the plant world 

 would be seed planting, but this wo do not do, because we should 

 never i;et the same type but infinite variations, most of which 

 would be inferior to their progenitors. The variations that we 

 often think we have discovered in a variety are attributable to 

 natural causes which we do not perceive. 



At great intervals of time an arbitrary change in character, 

 known as bud variation, may take place, due to we know not 

 what. One of the best examples of this is the Pan-American 

 strawberry, that was spontaneously produced by nature and 

 was of a totally distinct type. It was found growing among 

 ordinary plants and became tlie parent of all the fall or ever- 

 bearing kinds that have since been originated. Thus nature was 

 able to do at a stroke what man might never have been able to 

 evolve tliroush scientific methods. — L. •/. .hihusaii. in Mmkct 

 Growers. 



and most of the lluwcrs which are put into them." ''But on the 

 other hand." he says, "a garden is a garden, and I would not 

 try to introduce into it the flowers which are my solace in lanes 

 and fields. Eo.xgloves. for instance — it would pain me to see 

 tliem thus transplanted. I think of fo.xgloves. for it is the 

 moment of tlicir glory. Yesterday I went to the lane which I 

 visit every year at this time, the deep, rutty, cart-track, descend- 

 ing between banks covgred with giant fronds of the polypodium, 

 and overhung with wych-elm and liazel, to that cool, grassy 

 nook where tlie noble flowers hang on stems all but my own 

 height. Nowhere have I seen finer foxgloves. I snp])ose they 

 rejoice me so because of early memories — to a child it is the 

 most impressive of wild flowers. I would walk miles any day 

 to see a fine cluster, as I would to see the shining of purple 

 Ioosestrif<> by tiie water edu:e, or water lilies flmting upon the 

 still depth." 



Besides tlie old-fashioned flowers of his half wild garden, there 

 are birds, and tliese are mentioned in one ot his notes. He says, 

 "All about my garden today the birds are loud. To say that the 

 air is filled witii their song gives no idea of the ceaseless piping, 

 wliistling. trilling, which at moments rings to heaven in a tri- 

 umphant unison, a wild accord. Now and then I notice one of the 

 smaller songsters who seems to strain his throat in a madly 

 jo.vous endeav'or to outcarol all the rest." — Monitor. 



BE TENDER AND KIND TO PLANTS. 



Botanists, plant pathologists and agronomists who follow the 

 narrow- and sometimes lonely yiaths of pure science may not be 

 interested in Dr. Jagades Chuder Bose'.s "frictionless needle." a 

 delicate instrument by means of which he determines whether 

 plants are sad or ^lad. Non-scieutists. howcxer, are likely to be 

 thrilled by it. 



According to Dr. Bose yon may hurt the feelings of a plant 

 just as you may hurt the feelings of a sensitive woman or child. 

 You may bore plants and flowers by your dull presence or you 

 may jolly them u]) by your sprightly manner. Be kind and 

 .■harniins to them and they will respond in kind. Be harsh, cruel 

 and matter of fact and they will droop and die. 



The discovery of the Hindu yihysicist is new only in that it 

 pretends to analyze scientifically what has long been proclaimed 

 as siditly inspired insight. Botanists with imagination have 

 written voluminously for ages about the sensitiveness of plants 

 and their seeming affection for those who tend them with loving 

 kindness. Plant pathologists retort that plants resjiond to in- 

 telligent care that provides ader|nate nourishment and sunlight, 

 wards off diseases and annihilates pests and parasites. — Country 

 fhnflrmrin. 



THE YEARLY COST OF GOLF. 



W'c noticed recently the statement tliat gcdf costs Americans 

 .$.')0.0I 10.000 annually, an expenditure that represents 5 per cent. 

 interest u|Mni a billion dollars. It seems quite impossible that 

 so much money could Ije expended upon one game alone. Y'et 

 figuring conservatively this estimate comes very near being right. 

 It does not refer, of course, to what has already been expended 

 in the purchase of land, the construction of courses and club- 

 houses which represent a jjrobable investment to date of over 

 $100.000.<l00. 



If we say that there are 2,000 golf clubs in the United States 

 having an average playing membership of 200, which gives a total 

 of 400.000 golfers, and allow an average of $20 a day to each club 

 in caddie fees, an expenditure of .$20 by each player a year upon 

 clubs and balls, club dues averaging $3.'j, and labor .$3,000 per 

 club, we arrive at a total of $42,000,000. If there is added to this 

 the purchase of seed, fertilizers and implements and other odds 

 and ends the total will come verv near to $oO, 000,000. 



CHINESE TREES DO WELL IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 



That tiic climate of eastein China is similar to that of eastern 

 North America seems to be the reason for the success which has 

 attended the introduction of many Chinese plants into this 

 country; at least this is the opinion in the t'nited States De- 

 partment of Agriculture's Office ot Foreign Seed and Plant Intro- 

 duction. In a new publication of this office which lists seeds 

 and plants imported dnrinsr the fall of 1912 a definite report is 

 given on the growth of 79 diflerent importations from China, most 

 of which may be termed successful. Plant introductions from 

 foreign countries are distributed by the office until sufficient time 

 has elaiised lo give some indication of their possibilities in this 

 country. 



A maple which grows 70 feet liigli, whose leaves turn a golden 

 yellow in autumn, is one of the ornamental trees introduced from 

 China ot which something may be expected. A Chinese elm par- 

 ticularly adapted for dry sections for wind-break purposes has 

 proven very satisfactory and will be more generally introduced. 

 A pine tree and a. Cliinese butternut also have grown well here. 

 It is hoped that these all may prove as ornamental and useful 

 as the ginsko tree. 



HENRY RYECROFT'S GARDEN. 



In among the chapters of intro-.|icction. imagining and careful 

 loving dissertations on nature and some books, which form 

 Ceorge Cissing's "The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft." is to 

 lie found that individual's view of what a garden should be. The 

 owner of "the plain little house" in Devon was a puzzle to his 

 gardener because he resisted that "honest fellow's" attempts to 

 "lay out flower beds in the usual way. and make the bit of ground 

 in front of the house really neat and ornamental." What Henry 

 Eyecroft liked in his garden were "ipiite old-fashioned roses, 

 sunflowers, hollyhocks, lilies and so on, and these I like," he 

 stated in his papers "to see urowinsr as much as possible as if 

 thcv were wild. Trim and symmetrical beds were my abhorrence, 



PROPOSED QUARANTINE FOR CHESTNUT BARK DISEASE. 



The chestnut bark disease has become so serious that in the 

 opinion of the United States department of Agriculture, it is 

 desirable to quarantine New Eni;lan<l. New York. New Jersey, 

 Pennsylvania, Delaware, ilaryland. Virginia. ^Vest Virginia. Ohio, 

 North Carolina, Towa and Nebraska, or such portions thereof as 

 may be found to be essential. A public hearing on this question 

 will be held in Washington at 10 o'clock on ;\lay l.S. The pro- 

 posed quarantine will restrict the movement from this territory 

 of chestnut nursery stock and chestnut lumber with the bar'K on. 



The chestnut bark disease is coni]iaratively recent in this 

 country. It is caused by a fungus which rapidly kills the native 

 chestnut trees and is spread chiefly by the distribution of nursery 

 stock. Once it has been established, however, it is spread locally 

 by wind, birds, and insects. Migratory birds may also carry 

 the disease for long distances. 



At the present time the native chestnut grows in practically all 

 of the territorv east of the 'Mississipni except a se"tion of the 

 coastal ]dain of the Southern States, the northern half of Maine. 



