12GG 



PENNISETUM 



typhoideum, RU-\i. (PeniciUAriu spicAta, Willd.). 

 Pearl Millet. Culm 3-8 ft., bearing a close cylimtri- 

 cal spike 3-10 in. long, % in. thick, pubescent below 

 the spike: Ivs. long and broad. Native country un- 

 known. Occasionally grown in the southern states, 

 where it ripens seed. May be grown farther north for 

 forage.— A luxuriant annual long cult, in the Old World 

 for forage and more or less for the fruit, which is used 

 as food. 



Jap6mcum, Trin. (P. eompressum, R.Br. Gymnbthrix 

 Japdniea, Kunth.). A low annual with long narrow 

 Ivs. cult, for ornament. Culm 2-3 ft., scabrous, espe- 

 cially under the dense cylindrical spike; bristles une- 

 qual, naked. Australia. 



macrotirum, Trin. {Gymndthrix caudAta, Schrad.). A 

 tall perennial with stout culm bearing a dense pointed 

 spike about a foot long. Bristles naked. South Africa. 

 —Cult, for ornament. 



latifftlium, Spreng. {Gymndthrix lafifdlia, Schult.). 

 An ornamental perennial. Culm 3-4 ft., bearing several 

 nodding spikes 1-2 in. long: Ivs. lanceolate, % in. broad: 

 bristles short, naked. Argentine Republic. E.H. 1890, 

 P- 540. A. S. Hitchcock. 



The fine plumy grass known to gardeners as Penni- 

 setum longistylum is much used for bedding. It is, per- 

 haps, the finest dwarf grass which is grown chiefly for 

 its flowers. It sometimes survives the winter at Wash- 

 ington, D.C., but should always be treated as a tender 

 subject. Plants raised every year from seed are satis- 

 factory if seed is sown early enou;;Ii. but divisii.ns nf 

 old plants will give larger pieces Hiiich Howtr s..,,i,rr 

 and require less attention than see<iliiii;,s. TIhoI.I ).l:ii]ts 

 may be wintered anywhere out of rf-ai.-h of frost. ^\ln>ut 

 February 1, in the latitude of Wosbiugtuu ( a mouth luttr 

 North), cut off the old leaves to within G in. of the 

 crowns: divide the clumps into small pieces, trim the 

 roots so that they will ultimately go into 3- or 4-in. 

 pots, and place the pieces tliickly toi;ether in boxes of 

 sandy soil in a greenhon-^^ v, uli ;i innpcrature of aliout 



60°. As soon as new r ! :i ■! i.ot the young 



plants. They may be r. I, . i , M frame long he- 

 fore the soft bedding iii:ii^ nil ^!i ihmm: ■ all the available 

 indoor space. (j, w. Oliver. 



PENNSYLVANIA, HORTICULTUEE IN. Fig. 1712. 

 During the past century Pennsylvania has been promi- 

 nently before the world because of its mineral wealth. 

 The ruins of many iron works located in rural districts 

 are now reduced to the primitive stone masonry of the 

 smelting furnace, but mark the places of great activity 

 previous to 1850. Later, these industries were concen- 

 trated in towns and cities, where, with improved ap- 

 pliances, new methods of transportation and greater 

 facilities for handling labor and capital greatly lessened 

 cost of production and increased the capacity of fur- 

 naces. Now, at the close of the nineteenth century, a 

 vast majority of the once profitable iron-ore beds is 

 exhausted or forsaken because of richer fields discovered 

 in other states. Coal, both bituminous and anthracite, is 

 still most actively mined, and extensive areas are sac- 

 rificed by farmers to the coal digger in the western 

 counties and in the anthracite region in the northeast. 

 The same may be said of the northwestern section, 

 yielding petroleum and gas. 



The forest operations in Pennsylvania have long ago 

 passed the high-water mark of their activity. The white 

 pine forests of the Alleghany mountains, the stretch of 

 hemlock spruce which covered the belt of counties 

 touching the western slope of the Alleghany mountains, 

 and the groves of cherry and black walnut are fast dis- 

 appearing. Formerly Pennsylvania stood first among 

 the states in the output of forest products. Originally 

 the state was essentially covered with forest, but now 

 Dr. J. T. Rothrock, Forestry Commissioner of Pennsyl- 

 vania (Report of 1895), declares that less than 36 per 

 cent of the area of the state is in timber. 



Pennsylvania has an area of 45,215 square miles, 

 nearly rectangular in outline— 157.76 miles broad be- 

 tween the northern and southern boundaries by an aver- 

 age length of 285.85 miles running due east and west. 

 This area is crossed slantwise by the broad band of 



PENNSYLVANIA 



Apiiabifliiaii imiuntains, making three distinct topo- 



1 L. la-i.iii iririon comprises all that territory lying 



I'ri.m Iraiikliii to Northampton counties. It is gently 

 undulating, rising in places to great hills which assume 

 the proportions of a mountain in the South mountain 

 range. This region was first settled and is now mostly 

 cleared and cultivated. The richest lands of the state 

 are found in tliis spi-tiim. 



The central or ,non„tai„ r..-i..l, is a l...]! alionl aO 

 miles broa.l. nanlr .,,, of parali. I nnlains aial nar- 

 row valleys c-oi)i|iris]n,L;' oTirloiirl h tlio a r. a ol llio ^lali'. 



mountains, the greatest of them all. The valleys are 

 covered for the most part with excellent grain land, 

 but the hills and mountain slopes are stony and more 

 or less barren. 



The western and largest region has an area of 24,861 

 square miles, or about 55 per cent of the entire state. 

 It is essentially a high plain, marked in the north, 

 where the elevation is greatest, by deep-seated streams 

 or canons, some of them 500-800 feet deep. The eleva- 

 tion gradually decreases to.ward the southwest. There 

 is much land so recently cleared that no attempt has 

 yet been made to utilize it for agricultural or horticul- 

 tural purposes. There is no question, however, but that 

 much of it could be easily put into condition for fruit 

 culture. 



The statistics of 1890 show that Pennsylvania has 18 

 seed farms, covering an area of 6,066 acres. The seeds 

 ixtiiisively produced here are beans, cabbage, carrot, 

 li. l.l I'orn, cucumber, lettuce, parsnip, onion sets and 

 jioiaioos. Several of the largest seed houses of the 

 Liiitfd States are located in Philadelphia, that of David 

 Landreth having been established in 1784. There were 

 reported for 1890 311 nurseries, with a total area of 

 6,598 acres, representing a value of more than $3,000,000. 

 The stock chiefly grown is made up of apples, cherries, 

 peaches, pi-ars, plums, deciduous and evergreen trees 

 and shrulis. In the cultivation of ornamental plants and 

 tlio ].ro.lia ii..n of cut-flowers Pennsylvania takes a 

 proiHinoni y\:\rr. The census of 1890 was the first to take 

 not i. 'oof tins iiidustryand shows 544 establishments, with 

 a total of «,0(;6,144 square feet of glass, being second only 

 to New York. The size of these establishments ranges 

 from 300 to 100,000 square feet of glass. The largest 

 number of roses was propagated in Pennsylvania in the 

 year these statistics were gathered. The largest total 

 values of plant sales were respectively in New York, 

 Pennsylvania and California; and the largest total val- 

 ues of cut-flower sales were respectively in New York, 

 Illinois and Pennsylvania. In truck farms Pennsylvania 

 joins with New Jersey and New York in forming the 

 most important district of America. This district ex- 

 cels all others in the production of beets, cabbage and 

 tomatoes, and has large acreages in asparagus, beans, 

 celery, cucumbers, melons, peas, Irish and sweet po- 

 tatoes. 



The fruit interests of the state are not as great as 

 they should be. Apples are grown successfully in the 

 larger part of the territory, but mainly for liomo or 

 local consumption. A few orchanls ,,r r,,ninn rri:,| ix- 

 tent have. been planted in the last (inarirr c onim > 'I'iie 

 best varieties for market are York lni|Mrial. Sniitli 

 Cider, Fallawater (all of l',iiii.vl--ai ::i -tljini. Il.alihviii. 

 R. I. Greening ami Hon |);r I ■■ n. now grown 



extensively in two so, I ioi; . ■ , : ,; franklin and 



Juniata counties, kno\Mi )■ , ; ,. Ilio "South 



Mountain" and the ■'.Juniata |" .m h kills: each bell 

 reports an area of 3,000 aires devoted to peaches. 

 W. G. Waring has observed that "peach trees in Penn- 

 sylvania grow to a much larger size and greater age 

 than along the Atlantic shore." Plums and cherries are 

 not extensively grown. Grapes are adapted to this state, 

 but nowhere except in Erie county has the extension 

 of vineyards been rapid, and there it was due to the in- 

 fluence of the Chautauqua grape belt of New York, of 

 which the Erie county vineyards form a part. More 

 attention was given to pears 40 years ago than now on 

 account of the present fear of the "fire blight." Penn- 

 sylvania has contributed some of the most valuable vari- 

 eties of pears now in cultivation, such as the Seckel. 



