AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



391 



SAL 



the grounds of the Agricultural Department 

 at Washington, the troes having been sent 

 there from Pennsylvania nurseries. It is not 

 known, however, that even the National 

 Government has been favored with fruit 

 ahead of Mr. Charles J. Wister. 



" The fruit itself is about the size of a large 

 cherry, and is of a greenish-yellow color when 

 ripe. Like the cherry, it has a fleshy pulp with 

 a single stone or seed in the interior. To 

 most persons the odor of the fruit is very 

 disagreeable, but the fruit plays a very 

 important part in Chinese gastronomic art. 

 The grand dinners of the Chinese usually last 

 all day, and every help to digestion is needed 

 in order that the guests may experience the 

 fullest enjoyment. The fruit of the Ginkgo is 

 the chief element in promoting this desir- 

 able result. They are first slightly roasted, 

 and then placed in small plates by the side of 

 the guests, who every now and then lake one 

 between courses, as an American or an 

 Englishman would an olive. Mr. Wister 

 states that the odor of the fruit of his tree is 

 very disagreeable, and those who have hand- 

 led the fruit can scarcely credit its use as 

 described by the Celestials. 



" The palaeontologists and evolutionists are 

 also much interested in the Ginkgo. Al- 

 though, as already stated, no wild localities 

 are known where the trees grow, it has been 

 discovered by its fossil remains to have been 

 once widely scattered over the face of the 

 globe. It is probable that it is only through 

 its having commended itself by its beauty 

 and other good qualities to the Chinese and 

 Japanese gardeners, that it has been able to 

 survive those geological cataclysms under 

 which the old race has been cleared away 

 from the surface of the earth. It is classed 

 with the coniferous trees, notwithstanding its 

 fern-like foliage, its closest relation being the 

 yew family ; but as there is nothing very closely 

 resembling it. the palaeontologists believe that 

 an immense number of what have come to be 

 called missing links must have been wholly 

 swept away." 



Sa'lix. Willow. From the Celtic, sal, near, and 

 lis, water; in allusion to its place of growth. 

 Nat. Ord. Salicacece. 



The Willow is a large and varied genus of 

 deciduous trees and low-growing shrubs. 

 Some are timber trees, that attain a height of 

 eighty feet, with a diameter of trunk from 

 four to six feet. One of the species, S. her- 

 bacea, creeps so near the ground that it forms 

 on the Swiss mountains a kind of turf, not 

 rising more than an inch in height. The genus 

 consists of upwards of two hundred species, 

 but few of which claim special notice. The 

 Weeping Willow is S. Babylonica, a native of 

 the Levant. The Osier or Basket Willow is S. 

 viminalis, common throughout Europe. S. 

 laurifolia is a low-growing tree or shrub with 

 broad glossy foliage, and is a fine subject for 

 the lawn. All the species grow rapidly in 

 moist places. They are freely propagated 

 from cuttings, every one rapidly making a 

 rooted plant when well firmed in the soil. In 

 this manner the Osier Willow is often grown 

 on the banks of rivers and streams to prevent 

 the washing away of the banks. The Colt 

 place, n^ar Hartford, is protected in this way, 

 and a willow-ware factory has been estab- 

 lished in connection with it. The cuttings 



SAL 



may be twelve to eighteen inches long, 

 inserted half their depth in the soil at a foot 

 or so apart each way. 



Sallow. A common name for Salix cinerea, 8. 

 Caprea, and the allied species, which are not 

 flexible like the Osier but furnish the best 

 charcoal for gunpowder. 



Sa'lmea. Named in honor of Prince Charles of 

 Salm-Dyck in Holland, an enthusiastic culti- 

 vator of plants. Nat. Ord. Composite. 



A genus of about a dozen species of trailing, 

 somewhat shrubby plants, peculiar to trop- 

 ical America and occurring most commonly in 

 the West Indies. Two species, S. hirsuta 

 and S. scandens, both very pretty plants 

 with white flowers, are in cultivation, and are 

 readily increased by cuttings. 



Salmon-Berry. A common name for Rubus spec- 

 tabilis. 



Salpi'chroa. From Salpinx, a tube, and chroos, 

 skin ; alluding to the form and texture of the 

 flowers. Nat. Ord. Solanacem. 



A genus of green-house shrubs, natives 

 principally of the Andes of South America. 

 S. glandulosa, the only introduced species, 

 has yellow flowers with entire, long-petioled 

 leaves. It forms an erect, much branched 

 shrub about two feet high ; it was introduced 

 from Chili in 1844, and is increased by seeds 

 or cuttings. 



Salpiglo'ssis. From salpinx, a tube, and glossa, 

 a tongue ; alluding to the tongue-like style in 

 the mouth of the corolla. Nat. Ord. Scrophu- 

 lariacecB. 



Very beautiful, half-hardy, annual plants, 

 natives of Chili. The seeds should be sown 

 in February on a slight hot-bed, or in the 

 green-house, and the young plants planted 

 out in May. When grown in pots it should 

 be frequently shifted, always into a pot only 

 a little larger than the previous one, so as 

 to make the plant bushy. It varies very 

 much according to the soil and situation in 

 which it is grown; and if kept through the 

 winter in a green-house, it will become partly 

 woody. There are many different kinds, some 

 of which are made species by some botanists, 

 but which are now generally allowed to be 

 only varieties. Many gardeners sow the seeds 

 in autumn, and keep the plants in frames all 

 the winter, that they may flower early in 

 spring. They flower freely in autumn, if the 

 seed is sown about May where it is to grow. 

 Introduced in 1824. 



Sa'lsify. Oyster plant. See Tragopogon porri- 

 folius. The cultivation is the same as for Car- 

 rot or Parsnip. 



Salsola. Salt-wort. A genus of Chenopodiaceas, 

 the ashes of which, under the name of Barilla, 

 were formerly much used in the manufacture 

 of glass, soap, etc. 



Salt-bush. Australian. Atriplex halimoidea 

 and other species. 



Salt Tree. See Halimodendron. 



Salt-wort. Black. Glaux maritirha. 



Salt-wort. Prickly. Salsola Kali. 



Salvado'ra. Named after J. Salvador, a Spanish 

 botanist. Nat. Ord. Salvador acece. 



An unusual amount of interest is attached 

 to this genus on account of one of the species 

 belong ng to it being supposed to be the Mus- 

 tard Tree of Scripture. The five described 



