240 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



August, 



In connection with this I should mention that 

 Nogales stands 4,000 feet above sea level. Ram- 

 bling over the hills some very beautiful Cacti 

 were visible here and there in the more exposed 

 situations. Some consisted of seven or eight 

 perfectly round balls about six inches in diame- 

 ter and heaped together; others were oblong and 

 solitary with a pink ring near the apex ; others 

 were very much flattened and deeplycorrugated 

 but all alike bristled with thorns. The Opuntias 

 or Prickly Pears were represented by two species 

 —one with long formidable looking thorns, the 

 other apparently almost devoid, but only appa- 

 rently, for, like many of their brethren, besides 

 these large and obvious weapons of defence, 

 every bud produces numberless very minute 

 thorns or spicules which come off on the slight- 

 est touch, and are only felt when they have got 

 well beneath the skin, perhaps half an hour 

 after one fondly imagines the foe is left behind. 

 Pursuing my Fern hunts I was gratified by 

 finding that very pretty Fern Pteris ternifolia, 

 of which two forms exist there— one with obtuse 

 oval pinnules, the other with sharply pointed 

 narrow ones, P. ornithopus. A fine crenate pin- 

 nate NothochUvna, very much resembling in 

 habit and growth our Ceterach olBcinarum. was 

 also found. From this district I brought home 

 fronds of NothochliT?na rufa, N. dealbata, N. 

 Newberyi, N. sinuata, Gymnogramma hispida, 

 Pteris ternifolia, P, ornithopus var. brachyptera, 

 PelUea marglnata, P pulchella, Cheilanthes 

 elegans, C. Eatoni (?). The trees of the locality 

 are ehieflly Walnut and Black Oak. On the 

 former I observed a considerable quantity of 

 Mistletoe not very dissimilar to ours, but with 

 much shorter and wider leaves. 



The next place I visited was Hermosillo, some 

 170 miles further south and at a considerable 

 lower elevation; the main part of my .journey 

 was at night, but in the morning I found the 

 train slowly,very slowly,plodding along through 

 a plain, bounded at some distance b,v a line of 

 hills of decent height. The plain now was brist- 

 ling with thorny vegetation of many species 

 but mainly Cacti, which formed huge clumps 

 ten to twelve feet high, intermingled with con- 

 fused spiky masses of other species, which 

 seemed to replace the Brambles of this country, 

 while the larger ones, the Cereus species took the 

 place of trees; this growth continued until within 

 about half a mile from Hermosillo, where the 

 hills closed in, dotted all over with much larger 

 specimens of the Cereus tribe, now 15 to 20 feet 

 high, each plant resembling nothing so much as 

 some .30 or 40 immense corrugated Cucumbers, 

 springing perpendicularly from one point. .Sud- 

 denly, however, as we entered the suburbs of 

 Hermosillo we seemed to plunge at one leap into 

 the tropics; groves of tall Palm trees were seen 

 surrounded by a luxurious growth of Bamboos 

 and Castor Oil Plants, mingled with Orange 

 groves, and all basking in a temperature in the 

 first week in February of about !tO° in the shade, 

 and by contrast with Nogales apparently about 

 150° in the sun. 



The change was so sudden and so great that 

 when I alighted at the depot I half felt as if I 

 had been dreaming, and was still in the land of 

 visions. The sudden change is probably due to 

 the effect of radiation of heat from the hills 

 around, added to the protection theyalford from 

 wind. The houses here, as in all the cities of 

 Northern Mexico, consist of one story only, 

 the rooms and offices being built round a central 

 square or oblong courtyard, with more or less 

 pretension to be a garden, generally less. 



Leaving Hermosillo and the railway, my next 

 trip was up the Sonora river itself, the ijed of 

 which from here to its scource forms one of the 

 few so-called roads of the district, roads which 

 are utterly at the mercy of the weather, a sud- 

 den attack of rain l)eing liable to imprison 

 travelers between impracticable fords with only 

 a possible option between taking to the hills or 

 submitting to Mexican fare of tortillas and Beans 

 in one of the native villages until it pleases 

 Jupiter Pluvius to open the road again. 



Here as nearly everywhere the hills were brist- 

 ling with the huge Cucumber-like Cacti afore- 

 said, locally called Pitayos; every chink in the 

 rock had its tenant, and many thousands were 

 in view at once. Several species of Acacia 

 (Mesquite) and a white ghost-like tree called 

 Palo Planeo presenting a very curious, tortuous, 

 drooping appearance, as if the upper half was 

 dead. This I found was really the case owing to 

 a severe frost the previous year, which had cut 

 them all half way down. The pink Verbena of 

 our gardens was a common weed here, as also 



was wild Tobacco. A small yellow (Enothera or 

 Evening Primrose took the place of our Primula 

 morning and evening, and Escholtzia califor- 

 nica replaced our Buttercups, Agaves, here 

 called Mescal plants, were plentiful, and every 

 now and then donkies laden with their huge 

 Pine apple-like roots were seen proceeding to 

 the Mescal ranches, where the only spirit of the 

 country is distilled. This spirit is very strong 

 and intoxicating, but has the reputation of leav- 

 ing no headache behind it. Its taste is indiscrib- 

 able, and requires an apprenticeship before it 

 can be appreciated. 



Three species of CEnothera I found in the dis- 

 trict, one of which, CE. taraxacifolia, is marvel- 

 lously beautiful in its native habits, the huge 

 snow white flowers, about 4 inches in diameter, 

 forming solid clumps a fofit across, gleaming 

 like snow heaps in the moonlight, but disappear- 

 ing like all the family soon after sunrise. All 

 three species were of the same habit and foliage 

 — i.c.,o to Dandelion. The specific name of the 

 largest, taraxacifolia, may do for all three. 



Some of the Acacias here (Mesquits) bore huge 

 pendent bunches of two sorts of Mistletoe, both 

 quite different from ours, the leaves being al- 

 most entirely aborted, and the plants consisting 

 solely of long pendulous jointed stalks and 

 minute blossoms. I was told by one of the 



Machine fur Hilling Cikry. Sec opposite pacrc. 



Mexicans that if these were dried and smoked as 

 cigarettes, two or three whiffs suflicing, as the 

 active principle was very strong, a powerful 

 remedy was afforded for coughs. While camp- 

 ing out by the river I explored some rocks close 

 by, and found a species of Lastrea, not unlike L 

 thelypteris, but of different habit of growth, 

 possibly L. nova boracense. 



During the latter part of my stay in Mexico 

 the season had sufficiently advanced for many of 

 the Yucca and Cactus tribes to be in blossom; 

 and I can hardly imagine afiner sight th;in 1 had 

 on one of my trips over the hills, when I came 

 across a huge Yucca with some five or six im- 

 mense spikes of its pure white lily-like blooms 

 just in perfection. There must have been sever- 

 al hundred blossoms, forming a dense bunch of 

 white, some 4 feet high by 2 through. When I 

 came up it was in absolute perfection, and con- 

 stituted a really regal bouquet. 



The common prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia), as 

 large as a fair-sized Rhododendron, and smother- 

 ed with large pale yellow blossoms, is also a 

 sight to be seen. This plant is given a place in 

 orchards for the sake of it« fruits, and under 

 cultivation assumes the demensions of a good 

 sized tree, with a trunk a foot or more in dia- 

 meter. It is curious in this case to see the 

 transmutation of the first flat oval leaf or leaves 

 into a thick wooden trunk. The skeletons of 

 these old leaves are very beautiful in their lace- 

 like design, and might, I think, be utilized well 

 in cabinet work. 



It is noteworthy that these cultivated plants 

 are nearly devoid of thorns, entirely so of the 

 obvious large ones. As a curious contrast in 

 habit of growth I may mention here that on my 

 return journey I stopped at Little Rock, a city 

 in Texas, for a few houi-s, and found there the 

 prickly Pear Cactus reduced to a few inches in 

 height, quite decumbent, very prickly, and 

 forming large flat masses. 5 or 6 feet across, in 

 the grass of the fields, from which at a small 

 distance it could hardly he discriminated. 



The Giant Cactus, Cereus giganteus, which 

 sometimes reaches, I am told, 60 feet in height, 

 I only saw in one place, which afforded a singu- 

 lar instance of restricted locality. I was shown 

 some photographs of a certain mine which I was 

 desirous to visit, and in these photos 1 clearly 

 recognized in the hills several specimens of this 

 Cactus which I had vainly sought in my journey 

 hitherto. The mines were some thirty miles 



distant across a breakneck country, only travers- 

 able on horseback, and I need hardly say that 

 all the way I was on the lookout for the Cacti in 

 question, locally named Saguarus, yet singular 

 to relate 1 found when I arrived at the mine that 

 they were entirely confined in that region to the 

 one hillside, where possiblj' some thirty or forty 

 were scattered. On the way the country round 

 for many miles could be seen, but here and there 

 only were they to be found, yet the general 

 conditions seemed identical all about. The hill 

 in question, however, was distinguished from 

 the others by containing a network of silver 

 lead veins, which sugfjest the probability of the 

 restriction of the Cactus being due to the exist- 

 ence solely in this spot of some essential elements 

 in the soil. Some day the botanist may help the 

 miner. 



On the return journey, passing through Texas, 

 at one of the stations the train was besieged by 

 a lot of children selling Cacti and Resurrection 

 Plants (Selaginella lepidophylla). These latter 

 they collect on the sandy plains, where apparent- 

 ly during the dry season they roll about and are 

 literally baked, but when the wet weather set in 

 they at once open out and re-establish them- 

 selves. A specimen was three weeks in my 

 portmanteau, but a few hours' soaking re- 

 stored it absolutely to life and verdure. When 

 the family habits are considered, and its close 

 kinship to Ferns, this adaptation to alternate 

 drought and soaking is very singular. 



Niagara I will not attempt to describe. One of 

 its greatest peculiarities to me was its utterly 

 unexpected appearance. One goes rolling, and 

 rolling, and rolling through a country as flat as 

 a pancake, and apparently about as likely to 

 afford a magnificent view, much less a stupen- 

 dous^waterfall, as the flattest part of Essex; sud- 

 denly, however, the train slacketis speed, pulls 

 up at the edge of a precipice, and there in an 

 instance their appears the awful gorge of 

 Niagara, with its world of tumbling water: 

 above it the mighty river itself, stretching awa.y 

 to the horizon, across a seemingly boundless 

 plain, and below the green whirly mass of foam 

 and flood, pulling itself as it were together out 

 of the chaos of its fall for its second mad rush 

 through the rapids below, which in all their fury 

 are seen fighting their way along the deep 

 channel, bounded by the tall cliffs, through 

 which the raging water has cut its headlong way. 



Peach Culture in Connecticut. 



(Sytioi^sis of talk by J. H. Hale, and discussions before 

 the American Nurserymetis' Association.) 



Mr. J. H. Hale of Glastonbury, ConD., 

 gave an interesting account of a case of suc- 

 cess in what is usually eledned an ttnfav- 

 orable latitude. Their firm commenced 

 operations 1.'5 years ago in the central-part 

 of the state on lands overlooking the Con- 

 necticut river. 



The start was made by securing pits from Ten- 

 nessee. The seedlings from these were budded 

 and a small orchard started on hillsides. The 

 best of culture was given to the young orchard 

 from the start. Experiments were made in the 

 application of different manures. Where stable 

 manure was used, the trees were vigorous and 

 healthy, but proved short-lived. Their conclu- 

 sions are that heavy applications of potash and 

 bone made healthy trees, while manures con- 

 taing any considerable amount of nitrogen led 

 to disease and yellows. 



The Orchards. The Hale Brothers now have 

 .52 acres in Peach ti ees, all on high and dry lands 

 They were not long in discovering, with ther- 

 mometer in hand, that frost runs down hill almost 

 like water, hence they selected only high lands 

 for orchards. With them in winter the mercury 

 runs down to 12, 10 and 25 degrees below zero, 

 but there was a heavy fall of snow on the ground 

 at the time. The pruning in their orchards is 

 done mainly just after the bloom is f)n the trees, 

 when they are closely cut back, regard being had 

 to thinning the fruit at the same time. Mr. Hale 

 regards proper thinning as one great secret 

 of success. After this blooming-time pruning 

 they go over the trees again and remove four to 

 one of the remaining fruit when the crop is an 

 average one. While this, when carefully done, 

 is a big job, the result is a still larger crop of line 

 fruit an»i a good price. 



Marketing. For marketing their crop they 

 pick the fruit only when it is fully mature and 

 carry it to seeds for sorting and packing The 

 sorting is done by ladies, persons of good taste 

 and judgement from the better class in their 



