12 



NEW ENGLAND F'ARMER. 



NATIVE TREES, SHRUBS, AND PLANTS. 



Our obliging and intelligent correspondent, S. P. 

 Fowler, Esq., who is distinguished as a successful 

 cultivator, an enthusiastic admirer of nature, and a 

 nice and accurate observer, proposes to furnish us 

 with several articles on the cultivation of such 

 native trees, shrubs and plants as arc distinguished 

 for their beauty or singularity, together with the soil 

 and locality in which they flourish. "We now give 

 the article on native herbaceous plants. He will fur- 

 nish two more articles in this series, one on native 

 trees, the other on native shrubs. 



CULTIVATION OF NATIVE PLANTS. 



Mr. Cole : After some experience in the cul- 

 tivation of native plants, we have found a con- 

 Bidcral)le n\imbcr of them, which are desirable for 

 their beauty, wholly \iufit for cultivation, in con- 

 Bcquence of their troublesome and weedy habits, 

 in filling the garden with their seeds, or crowd- 

 ing out, with their roots, all other plants in their 

 neighborhood. For when once permitted to take 

 root, they at once take possession and occupy all 

 the ground around tliem, and are extremely diffi- 

 cult to extirpate. The names of some of these plants 

 are the Succory, {dehor turn inti/bus,) having large, ele- 

 gant blue flowers, commonly found by road-sides ; 

 the large Bindweed, {Convolvulus sepiu?n,) a fine climb- 

 ing, or rather twining plant, common in low grounds ; 

 the Toad Flax, {Anfcripinum linaria,) with ahandsome 

 spike of yellow flovvcrs, — thought by Dewey not to 

 be indigenous, but introduced, — found by the side 

 of roads ; Epilobium, or Willow Herb, a fine, showy 

 plant, with purple flowers, found by the side of 

 ■woods. 



In the cultivation of native plants and shrubs, wo 

 shall also introduce into our grovinds many new- 

 insects, many of which invariably follow tliem to 

 their new location. That elegant butterfly, the Pa- 

 pilio plexipjms, with its delicate grccn-colored pujya, 

 ■with dots of burnished gold, follows the beautiful 

 orange-colored flowering Asc'cpias tubcroHa into ovir 

 gardens. The Attaciui pmnu'then is found on the cul- 

 tivated Fever Bush, and also on the Ct-pJialanlhus, or 

 Button Bush. On the first-mentioned shrub under 

 ■ cultivation, may now be seen, the leaves are fallen, 

 fifty or more chrysalids of these insects, enclosed 

 within a dry, curled leaf, attached firmly to a twig, 

 and swinging in the breeze. The Trumpet Weed, 

 and the New England Aster, having fine, sweet- 

 Bccntcd, aromatic flowers, attract manj' insects, par- 

 ticularly the different kinds of wild bees, and that 

 class of uneasy butterflios called Skippers, so named 

 from a singular habit they have acquired of jerking 

 their wings, and thereby producing an undulating 

 flight. 



We find also, upon trial, many native plants diffi- 

 cult to cultivate ; and, after a few years, they entirely 

 disappear, unless especial care is bestowed upon them. 

 They appear to suffer most from the effects of freez- 

 ing and thawing in the winter, thus injuring the 

 crown of their roots ; or, being thrown out of the 

 ground by the action of the frost, they are destroyed. 

 They receive some protection, in a natural state, by 

 'being in winter covered with water, grass, leaves, or 

 '•snow ; and should likewise be protected, under cul- 

 tivation, by throwing over them hay, straw, litter, or 

 earth. 



The names of some of these comparative!)' tender 

 plants, are the Pleurisy Root, ( Asclepias tuberosa,) with 

 its bright, orange-colored flowers. It is a rare plant 

 in this vicinity, and I know of none in a wild state. 

 The rich flowering Liatris scariosa, with its raceme 

 of bright purple flowers. Its root is a solid tuber, 

 and truncated ; that i^,, it has the appearance of its 



end being bitten or cut off. The popular name of 

 this plant is the Devil's Bit. I was informed, many 

 years ago, by an old root doctor, that it received its 

 last appellation in this way : It having come to the 

 knowledge of the great adversary that this plant was 

 useful to mankind, and possessed great medicinal 

 properties, he, ia order to show his enmity to our 

 race, bit off the end of the root, thereby depriving it 

 of most of its useful properties. Upon doubting the 

 truth of the legend, and observing to him that the 

 roots of some other jjlants presented the truncated 

 form, " Why, bless mo ! " replied the old man, " don't 

 you sec the marks of his teeth ? " 



The Liatris is found growing, with ns, in a clayey 

 soil, on the borders of woods. Fine specimens of 

 this plant can be easily obtained by seedlings. The 

 splendid Cardinal Flower, when once introduced into 

 a garden, Avill propagate itself by its seeds, and pro- 

 duce some fine plants. TTie Indian Turnip, or Arum, 

 with its singular flower, variegated inside with stripe^ 

 of pale green or brown. In autumn, the plant pre- 

 sents its bunches of shining scarlet berries. The 

 Neottia pubcsccHs, or Ilattlesnake Plantain, with its 

 dark green leaves, veined with white — a pretty 

 plant, found in woods. The Soap ^^^ort Gentian is 

 a handsome autumnal plant, with blue flowers. The 

 several species of the Orchis, particularly the Fitrt- 

 briated and the Grandijhjra, both elegant plants, and 

 to be found in a swamp bordering on Pleasant Pond, 

 in Wenham. The lihexia Virginica, a showy plant, 

 with purple petals, and long, crooked, yellow anthers, 

 found in low grounds. 



There is another class of native plants, that require 

 no particular care, but, when once introduced into 

 our gardens, continue to grow and thrive for many 

 years. The names of some of these are the Asters, 

 particularly the New England, which can be made to 

 grow to the height of ten feet, and bearing upon ita 

 spreading top several hundred flowers. The Golden 

 Rods, many of them coarse, but showy plants. 



The Apoci/num, or Dogsbane, is a pretty plant, with 

 a creeping root, found in dry soils. It is remarkable 

 for possessing, in a high degree, the property of a fly- 

 trap) — a fact not noticed by many botanists who ha\T3 

 described this plant. It entraps large numbers of 

 flics, bees, and other small insects, who seek the 

 flower to obtain its honeyed juice. The insect, upon 

 entering the flower, thrusts its proboscis down to the 

 bottom of the cup, thereby exciting its wonderful 

 irritability, when instantly the stamens closo upon 

 the stigma, like the jaws of a trap, seizing the poor 

 insect by its tongue. It is not uncommon to see the 

 flowers of this plant, under cultivation, crowded with 

 insects thus caught. This irritable or sensitive power 

 is possessed in a high degree in Venus's Fly-Trap, 

 found in North Carolina, and in a less degree in the 

 flowers of the Barberry, and some other plants. 



By taking up, in the autumn, the Saracenia, or 

 Side-Saddle Flower, with the wet moss attached to 

 its roots, put into water, and cultivated like the hya- 

 cinth, and placed on a parlor window, it will flourish, 

 and show its curious flowers towards spring. 



In closing this article upon the cultivation of 

 native herbaceous plants, we Avould mention several 

 distinguished for their beauty, which as yet we have 

 wholly failed to cultivate. The names of some of 

 these plants are the C'l/pripedutti, or Ladies' Slipper, 

 Fringed Gentian, Oak-leaved Gerardia, Northern 

 Calla, and Northern Dracena. 



S. P. FOWLER. 

 Danvei'vS New Mills, Dec. 13, 18i9, 



Fur the Neio Engla7id Farmer. 

 SHELLY-MARL, OR MUSCLE BED. 



Mil. EoiToii : It must be gratifying to many of 

 our farmers and cultivators of tlie soil, residing near 



