February 12, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



63 



western Texas. It lives generally upon composite, and 

 more rarely upon Malvaceous plants. Helianthus cilioza 

 is its favorite host, which it sometimes kills. 



Ephedra pedunculata, a slender-growing species, too 

 weak to stand alone, ascends as high as any of its con- 

 geners by associating with stronger friendly plants and 

 rising with them. It is found at various stations along our 

 way. Apodanthera undulata, an important member of the 

 Squash family, inhabits western Texas and extends into 

 New Mexico, with its large leaves, white flowers and ribbed 

 fruit. The very handsome shrubby little Dalea, D. formosa, 

 is seen at various points along our route and high up on 

 Mount Franklin, at El Paso. Hoffmannseggia drepano- 

 carpa is a Texan of long and respectable standing in good 

 plant society. It is also common at Las Cruces, New 

 Mexico, on the high mesa between the town and "Little 

 Mountain." Fine specimens, and of larger growth than I 

 have elsewhere seen, were growing near Albuquerque. 

 La Junta, Colo. E. N. Plank. 



Distribution of the White Cedar in New Jersey. 



IN the peculiar climate and soil of the coast plain of 

 New Jersey the White Cedar, Cupressus thyoides, 

 a very valuable soft wood, finds a suitable environ- 

 ment. These trees produce many seeds even while very 

 young, and these are widely disseminated by the wind. 

 The trees grow with great rapidity, and there are extensive 

 neglected areas where it can be profitably cultivated; and 

 yet White Cedar is becoming scarce, owing to the demand 

 for its timber, and no attempt is made to prevent its exter- 

 mination. Less desirable species, which are fit only for 

 fuel, have been and are still allowed to usurp its place. 

 In the northern part of the state it grows in a very few 

 isolated localities. Botanists have found it near the south- 

 ern end of Greenwood Lake, swamp at Kingsland, New 

 Durham and Secaucus swamps, meadows near Newark, 

 Bergen Point and South Amboy (see Catalogue of Plants, 

 Part r., vol. ii., Final Report of State Geologist of New 

 Jersey). But there is another station about a mile from 

 High Point, and the posts and rustic work of the inn there 

 are made from white cedar cut in this swamp. One is 

 surprised to find a typical isolated swamp of White Cedar 

 in a very thrifty condition growing in a little valley near 

 the New York state line and fifteen hundred feet above sea- 

 level. Other plants, such as the Pitcher-plant, Sphagnum, 

 etc., which are common in the swamps of the southern 

 part of New Jersey, are growing with the Cedar. 



May's Landing, N.J. Jollll Glfford. 



Foreign Correspondence. 



Mr. Chamberlain's Garden. 



THE eminent statesman who is now Her Majesty's 

 Minister for the Colonies, the Right Honorable Joseph 

 Chamberlain, has for many years taken a keen interest in 

 Orchids, as well as in gardening generally, and his garden 

 at King's Heath, near Birmingham, has long been famous 

 for the collection of plants it contains, Mr. Chamberlain 

 being as keen an amateur gardener as any in England. He 

 knows his plants well and watches their growth and 

 behavior with all the zest of a cultivator ; indeed, I was 

 informed by his Orchid grower, Mr. Burberry, that he 

 almost daily inspects the collection and discusses the details 

 of its management with the same thoroughness as he 

 exhibits in his more serious work. Mr. Chamberlain's only 

 recreation is his garden. Only a few weeks ago he wrote 

 to Kew an account of some interesting observations he had 

 made on hybrid Orchids with a view of ascertaining the 

 prepotency of their respective parents, and this at a time 

 when matters of state requiring the most delicate handling 

 were under consideration. Mr. Chamberlain takes an 

 interest in Kew, and it is partly due to his desire that Kew 

 should be well equipped, that the completion of the large 



temperate house has been undertaken at a cost of about 

 twelve thousand pounds. 



Highbury, the residence of Mr. Chamberlain, stands on 

 an eminence looking south over the open country. The 

 garden is not large, only about fifteen acres, but it is laid 

 out with great taste in what is known as the natural style. 

 Hollies, Rhododendrons and Conifers are its main features. 

 Surrounding the garden stretch about a hundred acres of 

 meadow-land so planted with trees as to form an important 

 adjunct to it. The farming of this land is the hobby of Mr. 

 Austin Chamberlain, M. P., who lives with his father at 

 Highbury. Another son, Neville, manages an extensive 

 estate in the Bahamas, devoted chiefly to the cultivation of 

 Sisal. 



The houses at Highbury are grouped about the residence, 

 most of them being connected with it by a glass corridor 

 some hundred and fifty feet long, one end of which opens 

 into the conservatory, and this again into the drawing- 

 room. The conservatory contains a rockery, cascade, 

 fountain, etc., and is tastefully planted with Palms, Tree 

 Ferns and Bamboos, with other plants intermixed. A large 

 specimen of Anthurium Chamberlainii is a striking object 

 in this house. Introduced accidentally from no one knows 

 where, this grand Aroid flowered for the first time at High- 

 bury about twelve years ago, when it was named by Dr. 

 Masters and figured in The Gardeners Chronicle. The only 

 other example of this species is at Kew, where it flowers 

 frequently and is now ripening seeds. The Highbury plant 

 now has a stem as thick as a man's wrist and three feet 

 high, bearing about a dozen enormous sagittate leaves. 

 This plant also is ripening seeds. In one of the houses 

 there is a batch of plants which are the outcome of cross- 

 ing A. Chamberlainii with A. Andreanum ; the flowering of 

 this cross is looked forward to with considerable interest. 



The corridor is draped with a selection of greenhouse 

 climbers, and planted along one side with ornamental foli- 

 age and flowering plants. A large mass of Hedychium 

 Gardnerianum filled a circular bed in the conservatory and 

 looked particularly attractive in January, with its rich green, 

 glossy leaves and spikes of fruit colored orange arid scar- 

 let, and more effective even than the flowers. Cultivators 

 unacquainted with this character in Hedychiums sacrifice 

 their winter value by cutting off the spikes as soon as the 

 flowers fade. 



A dozen houses open at right angles from the corridor, 

 each containing some special kind of plant. There are 

 also several houses behind these again, and a large lean-to 

 range, recently built, is filled partly with Dendrobiums and 

 other sun-loving Orchids, and partly with fruit-trees. Zonal 

 Pelargoniums are favorites with Mr. Chamberlain, a house 

 being filled with the best varieties to flower in winter. 

 Primula Sinensis is well grown in Birmingham, several nur- 

 serymen there being famed for its cultivation. A house is 

 devoted to it and to Cinerarias at Highbury. Winter-flow- 

 ering Begonias are also a special feature there, especially 

 the hybrids from B. Socotrana. 



The Orchids are the- principal attraction, about a dozen 

 houses being filled with them. Mr. Chamberlain dors nol 

 apparently care for Cypripediums, the only species I no- 

 ticed there being C. Chamberlainianum, of which a plait 

 bore a scape one and a half feet long with sixteen flov 

 or, rather, that was the total number borne, this spf 

 being disappointing in its habit of developing only one, 

 at most two, flowers at a time. A house filled with Cat- 

 tleyas in good health, and another with Lelias. chiefly 

 forms of L. anceps, were remarked. The latter were rep- 

 resented by big specimens of the white varieties, that 

 named Sanderiana by one plant with seventeen scapes 

 bearing from three to five open flowers each; a seci 

 specimen, just over, had borne nineteen scapes with an 

 aggregate of seventy-three flowers. The rare variety Daw- 

 soni was in flower, and Chamberlain's variety, equally n 

 was in good condition. The while varieties of L. anceps 

 are not damaged by fog to the same extent as the type. 

 Dendrobiums are favorites at Highbury, and many rare 



