SOME OF THE POSSIBILITIES OF ECONOMIC BOTANY. 641 
of improved varieties, the new introductions will come in the shape of 
plants with flowering branches which retain their blossoms for a some- 
what long period, and especially those in which the flowers precede the 
leaves. In short the next real fashion in our gardens is probably to be 
the flowering shurb and flowering tree, like those which are such favor- ° 
ives in the country from which the Western world has gladly taken the 
gift of the chrysanthemum.* 
Twice each year of late a reception has been held by the Emperor 
and Empress of Japan. The receptions are in autumn and in the 
spring. That in the autumn, popularly know as the Emperor’s recep- 
tion, has for its flora] decorations the myriad forms of the national flower, 
the chrysanthemun; that which is given in spring, the Empress’s recep- 
tion, comes when the cherry blossoms are at their best. One has little 
idea of the wealth of beauty in masses of flowering shurbs and trees, 
until he has seen the floral displays in the Imperial Gardens and the 
Temple grounds in Tokio. 
To Japant and China also we are indebted for many of the choicest 
plants of our gardens, but the supply of species is by no means ex- 
hausted. By far the larger number of the desirable plants have al- 
ready found their way into the hands of cultivators, but often under 
conditions which have restricted their dissemination through the flower- 
loving community. There are many which ought to be widely known, 
especially the fascinating dwarf shrubs and dwarf trees of the far Kast, 
vhich are sure to find sooner or later a warm welcome among us. 
X.—FORAGE PLANTS. 
Next to the food plants for an, there is no single class of commer- 
cial plants of greater interest than the food-plants for flocks and herds. 
Forage plants, wild and cultivated, are among the most important and 
highly valued resources of vast areas. No single question is of more 
vital consequence to our farthest West and Southwest. 
It so happens that the plants on which the pastoralist relies grow 
or are grown on soil of inferior value to the agriculturist. Even soil 
which is almost sterile may possess vegetation on which flocks and 
herds may graze, and further, these animals may thrive in districts 
where the vegetation appears at first sight too scanty or too forbidding 
even, to support life. There are immense districts in parts of the Aus- 
tralian continent where flocks are kept on plants so dry and desert- 
*The Flowers of Japan and the Art of Floral Arrangement. By Josiah Conder. 
F.R. 1. B. A., Architect to the Imperial Japanese Government. Yokohama, 1891. 
See alse two other works by the same author: Theory of Japanese Flower-arrange- 
ments, and Ari of Landscape-gardening in Japan. (1886.) 
tIbidem. 
H. Mis, 334, pt. 1——41 
