January 8, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



l 9 



not bloom in water as the Chinese ones do ; at least, that had 

 been their experience with bulbs grown in Bermuda. I then 

 put some of our bulbs in water, and at the same time some of 

 the imported Chinese. To-day our bulbs are a mass of flow- 

 ers, while the imported ones are just showing buds. I have 

 been accustomed to the forcing of bulbs for thirty years and 

 have never seen any bulbs do better than those we grow here. 

 In addition to the Narcissus Tazetta, we are forcing some of 

 all the bulbs we grow, including various Narcissi, Tulips, 

 Lilies, Roman Hyacinths and Freesias, and all, without excep- 

 tion, are first-class. I believe our bulbs of Lilium candidum 

 will at least make twice as many flowers as the French bulbs. 

 Roman Hyacinths are excellent, and Freesias are extra fine, 

 though our house (we have but one) is rather too warm for 

 them. We are confident that bulbs grown in North Carolina 

 will compare favorably with any in commerce for forcing, as 

 well as for any other use. 



North Carolina Agric'l Exp't Station, Raleigh, N. C. W. F. Massey. 



Recent Publications. 



Agriculture. By R. Hedges Wallace. Philadelphia : 

 J. B. Lippincott & Co. 



The natural laws on which profitable agriculture is based 

 are of universal application. There is no agricultural 

 science for America which is not true for the latitude of 

 England or of Australia, and yet the art of agriculture 

 varies widely when it comes to be adapted to the climate 

 and soil of different countries. This little book discusses 

 the science proper. Although prepared by a lecturer and 

 examiner in the Department of Agriculture in Victoria, it 

 treats of those broad principles which not only underlie the 

 practice of agriculture, but gives the reasons why this prac- 

 tice varies under different conditions. For an American 

 text-book it might be more immediately useful if the illus- 

 trations were drawn more generally from American plants, 

 American crops, American machinery and American sur- 

 roundings generally ; nevertheless, it would be hard to put 

 within a brief compass a clearer and more comprehensive 

 statement of the essentials of agricultural science. Subjects 

 of such fundamental importance as the composition of 

 plants, their methods of assimilating food, the physical 

 and chemical properties of soil, the effects of cultivation 

 on land and crops, the use of natural and artificial fer- 

 tilizers, the rotation of crops and many more elemental 

 problems are so treated that the student who masters these 

 pages ought to be able to carry out intelligently the daily 

 routine of farm procedure. Of course, we do not expect in 

 such a compendium any of the refinements of biology or 

 botany or chemistry, and, in fact, these would be out of 

 place, since the author is careful not to confuse these 

 special sciences with the science of agriculture, the object 

 of which is solely the production of crops and the breeding 

 and feeding of animals. Questions are added to each 

 chapter, and this old-fashioned method of instruction adds 

 materially to the value of the book. Besides this, the 

 important words which constitute the topics of a given 

 paragraph are printed in broad-faced type, and this, 

 although it does not add to the beauty of the page, makes 

 it much easier for the student or for one who is hastily look- 

 ing the book through to pick out the thread of the argument. 



We are glad to see that this book has been put on the 

 reading list in the University extension movements in some 

 states where provision is made for agricultural instruction. 

 Part of it, at least, or a book arranged on a similar plan, 

 might well be adopted as a text-book in all the common 

 schools of the country. It is universally admitted that the 

 study of the natural sciences ought to have some place in 

 every curriculum as a factor in wholesome intellectual devel- 

 opment, if for no other reason. In our high schools and 

 colleges the principles of astronomy are taught, not because 

 the students expect to become expert astronomers, but sim- 

 ply to broaden their field of view and exercise certain 

 powers of thought and imagination. The elements of 

 chemistry and botany and geology and other sciences are 

 taught largely to discipline the mind and furnish it with 

 material for use in civilized society, and there is no reason 



why the study of agricultural science should not be recog- 

 nized for its value in furnishing mental training and exer- 

 cise. No branch of study would have a more immediate 

 effect in establishing habits of careful personal observation, 

 and certainly one familiar with the elements of this science 

 would derive a life-long pleasure from it, even if he never 

 made direct practical use of his knowledge. One who has 

 an intelligent idea of what is going on in the orchards and 

 gardens, the grain fields and pastures about him in any 

 country where he may chance to be, is more adequately 

 equipped and lives a fuller life than he does to whom all 

 procedures on every farm and vineyard are mysteries — 

 mere movement without any intelligible plan or purpose. 



Periodical Literature. 



TX/TR. W. BOTTING HEMSLEY, in an interesting review of 

 "*■ Dr. Cordemoy's recently published Flora of Bourbon, 

 calls attention to the following facts : 



" Bourbon is about the same size as Mauritius, from which 

 it is now separated by about a hundred miles of sea, though 

 it seems probable that they were joined at some remote period. 

 The mountains rise to an altitude of more than 9,000 feet, or 

 nearly three times the height of the highest summits in Mau- 

 ritius, and the isiand presents a great variety of climatic con- 

 ditions. ... At 7,000 to 7,500 feet ice is sometimes found 

 as late as November. 



" Formerly nearly the whole island was covered with forest 

 from the seashore up to an altitude of about 6, 500 feet. But for 

 half a century all the available land in the lower region has 

 been cleared for cultivation, and the native vegetation is re- 

 placed, where not actually under cultivation, by foreign weeds. 

 At the present day the forest region commences at 600 to 2,500 

 feet. 



" Most of the prominent and useful forest-trees are com- 

 mon to Mauritius, as are all of the Palms. But what is more 

 remarkable, few of them are found elsewhere, though many 

 of the genera of the region extend to Madagascar. In fact, 

 there are very few genera peculiar to either Bourbon or Mau- 

 ritius, but several restricted to the two, indicating that these 

 islands are separated remnants of a formerly more extensive 

 area of land. On the other hand, peculiar species are very 

 numerous in both islands. Dr. Cordemoy and his collabora- 

 tors (for he has not worked out all the orders himself) describe 

 upward of two hundred species of flowering plants as new, 

 in a total of less than a thousand. More than seventy of these 

 new species are Orchids, and the author expresses his convic- 

 tion that many terrestrial species yet remain undiscovered, as 

 they are, many of them, very small and inconspicuous, and 

 their period of vegetation is of very short duration. Indeed, 

 as it is, the number of species of Orchids enumerated is 172, 

 or more than double the number of any other order of flower- 

 ing plants. The island is also exceedingly rich in Ferns and 

 Lycopods, which number together about 220 species. It is true 

 that the author takes a narrower view of species than he prob- 

 ably would do if he were dealing with the Ferns of the whole 

 world ; but even after deducting twenty per cent, on this 

 account there remain nearly a third more than there are in the 

 Fern-flora of New Zealand. Not only are the species numer- 

 ous, but between thirty and forty genera are represented. Tree 

 and Filmy Ferns are present, though they do not abound to 

 the extent they do in the far-away southern country. 



" The intermediate and upper zones of vegetation comprise 

 species of 1'hillipia, dwarf shrubby Ericaceae, Hypericum, 

 Phylica (very numerous in south Africa), Psiadia, and shrubby 

 species of Senecio, prominent among which is the endemic 

 S. Ambavilla. Faujasia and Eriothrix are other characteristic 

 shrubby Compositae. Plants of an alpine character are entirely 

 wanting. Cardamine Africana is the only native Crucifer, and 

 Stellaria villosa, the only member of the Caryophvllaceae. 

 There are, however, two endemic species of Ranunculus high 

 up on the mountains. Agauria salicifolia is an ericaceous 

 shrub or small tree common to Bourbon, Mauritius, Mada- 

 gascar and the mountains of tropical Africa. Altogether it is 

 an exceedingly interesting flora." 



As early as the middle of the last century Bourbon was vis- 

 ited by the French botanist Commerson. The result of his 

 investigations was not published, although his plants are still 

 preserved in the herbarium of the Museum at Paiis. In 1795 

 another French botanist, Aubert du Petit-Thouars, visited 

 Bourbon, where he remained for three years, publishing, after 

 his return to Paris, important works on the botany of this and 



