96 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t Angnsb 2, 1877. 



afford a yellow dye, and the juice of the stalks and leaves 

 impart to woollen stuffs a pleasing and permanent green ; and 

 in the north of Europe it is grown as fodder for cows, and cut 

 several times in the year. In many places it is highly valued 

 as food for swine, and the chopped leaves are eagerly eaten 

 by poultry, especially by young turkeys, to whom they are a 

 luxury. One species of the genus produces tubers, which form 

 in India an article of diet either raw or cooked. Australia 

 presents us with a tree Nettle, which sometimes reaches a 

 height of 140 feet, with a trunk of proportional thickness. 



The Nettle is known to heraldry through the family of 

 Malberbe, whose armorial bearings were three Nettle leaves 

 proper ; to history through the Romans, who are said to have 

 carried it to England with their arts and arms ; and to le- 

 gendary literature through the founder of the Rhine castle of 

 Eberstein. 



THE INDIGO PLANT (Ixdigofera tinctoria). 

 Axxtjally there is an indigo planters' dinner at Calcutta, 

 and several of those dinners we eDJoyed about thirty years 



£S^ 



Fig. 22. — Indigofera tinctoria. 



since. The planters came down the Ganges, and we have 

 portraits of them examining sedulously samples of the purple 

 dye. 



The uncertainty of the indigo crop is as proverbial as that 

 from the Hop plants in England. 



In Bengal, the crop is particularly subject to be destroyed 

 by the annual inundation of the river, if it occurs earlier than 

 usual. A storm of wind, accompanied by rain and hail, as 

 completely ruins the crop as if devoured by the locust ; neither 

 from this latter scourge is the crop exempt. 



This pronenees to injury extends throughout its growth. 

 The seedlings are liable to be destroyed by an insect closely 

 resembling the Turnip fly, as well as by the frog. Caterpillars 

 feed upon the leaves of older plants, and the white ant destroys 

 them by consuming their roots. 



To theBe destructive visitations are to be added the more than 

 ordinary liability of the plant to injury, not merely from at- 



mospheric commotions, but even from apparently less inimical 

 visitations. Thus, not only do storms of wind, heavy rains, 

 and hail destroy the indigo planter's prospects, but even sun- 

 shine, if it pours out fervently after showers of rain, is apt to 

 scorch the plants ; and if it ocours during the first month of 

 their growth is most injurious to their future advance. 



The reason of this effect appears to be the violent change 

 from a state of imbibing to a rapid transpiration of moisture. 



The Indigofera tinctoria belongs to the natural order Legu- 

 minosEe, and the Linnasan class and order Diadelphia Decan- 

 dria. Its leaves are pinnate, its stem shrubby and erect ; its 

 flowers in racemes are pale with a red keel and vexillum. 



THE AMERICAN POPLAR [Anglice, Tulip Tree), 



LIBIODENDRON TULIPEFEBA. 



This is by far the finest tree in our forest. Nowhere does 

 the Poplar attain greater dimensions than in West Virginia. 

 It often reaches the height of 120 to 140 feet, and the diameter 

 of 7 to 8 and 9 feet, with a distance of 80 feet from the first 

 limb. Several trees are reported as 10 and 11 feet in diameter 

 in this state. It delights in deep loamy and extremely fertile 

 soils, such as are found in rich bottoms and on rivers or 

 swamps. It will grow, however, on soil of different kinds, but 

 has its timber affected accordingly. A deep sandy loam seems 

 best for it. To attain the greatest size it must be sheltered 

 from the high winds, and at the same time have light and air 

 enough to ripen its wood. It is generally propagated by the 

 seeds. The timber, though classed among the light woods, is 

 yet much heavier than the true Poplar, for this tree is properly 

 called Tulip Tree, and not Poplar. Its grain is fine, rather 

 compact, polishes well, and is easily wrought. When dry a 

 cubic foot weighs 25 lbs. It affords excellent charcoal, yield- 

 ing 22 per cent. The heart-wood, perfectly seasoned, long re- 

 sists the action of the weather, and is rarely attacked by in- 

 sects. When not perfectly seasoned, however, it is apt to warp 

 under alternations of dryness and moisture. The nature of 

 the soil on which it grows has a striking effect on the colour 

 and quality of the wood. Mechanics distinguish three kinds — 

 white, blue, and yellow. No external marks will distinguish 

 them positively. In genera], the white Poplar grows on dry, 

 gravelly, elevated ground, and has a branchy summit with a 

 small amount of heart-wood. The grain is coarser and harder 

 and the wood decays more rapidly. The blue has the same 

 general character. The yellow Poplar is by far the fineBt kind, 

 and has all the qualities required for a great variety of uses. It 

 would take too much space merely to enumerate all of these. It 

 iB used extensively in the interior of houses for shingles and for 

 weather-boarding. Large quantities are used in making trunks 

 covered with cloth or skins ; for tables, bedsteads, seats of 

 chairs, &c. ; for the supports of veneers, inner work of bureaus, 

 &c. ; in winnowing machines ; for bowls, broom handles, rails, 

 and planking for fenceB ; for the backing of picture frames, 

 looking-glasses, &c, it is employed. The bark of the tree is 

 considered by some hardly inferior as an antiseptic and tonic 

 to the Cinchona. The aromatic principle resides in a resinous 

 matter in the bark, and when used stimulates the intestinal 

 canal and acts as a gentle cathartic. In many instances the 

 stomach cannot support it unless accompanied with a few 

 drops of laudanum. The bark, mixed with an equal amount of 

 dogwood and steeped in whisky, forms a tincture used as a 

 remedy for intermittent fever. The bark reduced to powder 

 and given to horses is a pretty sure remedy for worms. The 

 Poplar ie one of the most generally diffused and abundant trees 

 in the State. Great quantities of the finest trees are to be 

 found in the central and southern counties. Perhaps some of 

 the largest timber is met with on the affluents of the New, 

 and Kanawha, and the Big Sandy rivers. — Bubnet Landbeth, 

 Philadelphia, U.S.A. (in Journal of Forestry). 



DISTINGUISHED BOTANICAL TRAVELLERS. 

 No. 1. 



• DAVID DOUGLAS. 

 Davtd Douglas was born at Scone, in Perthshire, in 1798, 

 where his father was a working mason. He received a plain 

 educatioo at the parish school of Kinnoul, and was early placed 

 as ran apprentice in the garden of the Earl of Mansfield at 

 Scone Palace. As a lad he waB remarkable for his fondness 

 for books and the Btudy of p!arits. In the winter he devoted 

 his evenings to reading, and in the pummer to making botani- 

 cal excursions for ihe purpose of collecting the wild plants of 



