172 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 427. 



poor can find that refreshment which the rich secure by 

 expensive travel and luxurious establishments in the coun- 

 try. Public pleasure-grounds are possessions of rare value 

 when treated with the full knowledge that they are to 

 meet the elementary wants of the human soul by men 

 who have a reverent love for nature, and whose primary 

 aim is to develop the latent possibilities of the scenery on 

 its poetic side and make these kindly influences accessible 

 to all. They are more to be prized, shall we say, than 

 e:reat cathedrals or libraries or museums of science or art. 



In the report of the landscape-architects for the Park 

 Department of the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, the 

 most interesting portion is that which relates to the Cam- 

 bridge Field, a rectangular playground, which is to have a 

 central building as a meeting-place and shelter from show- 

 ers, a band-stand, a check-room for deposits of clothing, 

 skates and other articles, closets and wash-rooms, and a 

 counter for the sale of light refreshments, etc. Inasmuch 

 as experience has proved that whenever such a playground 

 is treated in a makeshift way people are apt to abuse it, it 

 is urged that the finish should be of the best, with arrange- 

 ments ample and attractive, so that as soon as it is open it 

 will become a success and will help to form good habits in 

 the people who frequent the place. After explaining that 

 the cost of maintaining the central building would be prac- 

 tically nothing, because some worthy person would take 

 the position of caretaker without any other pay than the 

 privilege of selling refreshments, sharpening skates, etc., 

 the landscape-architects add : 



Believing as we do in the great practical, usefulness and 

 value of the proposed building, we have, as you know, made 

 it the central and dominating feature of our design for the 

 whole field. In rural parks, buildings are rightly kept subor- 

 dinate to the scenery; and to this end they are often given 

 picturesque forms, such as blend easily with the foliage. In 

 such parks buddings are best when half-concealed or even 

 hidden. In a confined, level, formal and generally rectilinear 

 public ground, like Cambridge Field, buildings should cer- 

 tainly, so it seems to us, both stand forth openly and possess 

 a dignified architectural character. A rural cottage would lie 

 as incongruous in a formal square as a classic mansion would 

 be in a rough New England pasture. If, therefore, the Com- 

 mission cannot afford at this time to set up an appropriately 

 substantial architectural structure, we would suggest that build- 

 ing be for the present postponed. The site allotted to the 

 building on the plan may be kept open, and the two necessary 

 but temporary small closet buildings may be conveniently 

 placed in the spaces which are marked on the plan as intended 

 for the children's and girls' playgrounds. We are quite sure 

 that this course will prove wiser than would be the immediate 

 construction of any building which would not correspond in 

 style and appearance, as well as in use and convenience, with 

 the general plan for the Field. 



We are glad to know that a building of dignified charac- 

 ter has been designed and that work will begin on it at 

 once, and we agree with the landscape-architects that such 

 a house will so enhance the value of the Field to all who 

 may frequent it, and particularly for women and children 

 and babies, that it will more than repay its first cost. 



Some Native Ornamental Grasses. — II. 



MOUNTAIN RICE, Oryzopsis membranacea, is a re- 

 markably pretty grass, with large open panicles of 

 white, silky, hairy spikelets. In the Rocky Mountain region, 

 where it abounds, it is esteemed as one of the Bunch Grasses. 

 One of the plants that have received the name of Hair- 

 Grass is Muhlenbergia capillaris. It is impossible to ex- 

 aggerate the beauty of this plant with its red-purple, 

 hair-like panicles that bend before the lightest breeze. 

 Muhlenbergia Texana, a species inhabiting the dry plains 

 of the south-west, has a similar, but much smaller, panicle. 

 Tussock-Grass, Deschampsia caespitosa, native of the 

 cooler parts of both hemispheres, is a rather elegant grass. 

 Especially so is a variety found in the mountains of Colo- 

 rado and Wyoming, with tufts of short fine leaves and a 



panicle tinged with bronze and purple. In the Appalachian 

 region D. flexuosa is not infrequent, dwelling upon rocky 

 ledges. The slightly bending panicle is of a chestnut-brown 

 color, and has a certain delicate grace that makes it a very 

 attractive plant. 



The group of grasses known to botanists as the tribe 

 Chlorideas comprises more showy and ornamental species 

 than almost any other. Some of the species of Chloris, 

 the genus from which the tribe takes its name, are culti- 

 vated for their beauty. They are easily recognized by their 

 flower-clusters, consisting of slender spikes digitately ar- 

 ranged like those of the common Crab-Grass. In Florida 

 two species, C. glauca and C. Swartziana, are notable for 

 their elegance. They are smooth, glaucous plants with 

 brownish spikes. C. elegans in the arid region of the 

 south-west is a showy grass with densely bearded white or 

 pinkish spikes. The Grama or Mesquit grasses of the 

 prairies and the still drier region to the south are all of 

 them pretty. Among them, Bouteloua breviseta, a rare 

 western Texan species with rigid stems and leaves and 

 short spreading spikes, is particularly ornamental. Not 

 less so is B. prostrata, which grows in tufts spreading out 

 on the ground, and bears short, curiously curled spikes. 

 Some of these small Gramas would be good plants for 

 edgings. 



The Toothache-Grass, Ctenium, of moist Pine-barrens 

 in the south Atlantic and Gulf states, owes its popular 

 name to a reputed virtue of its pungent root-stock. It is an 

 odd grass and a handsome one. Its brown spikes are 

 wide-spreading when young, but as they mature they 

 curve inward, after the manner of a wounded centipede. 

 This is one of our few fragrant grasses, the older plants 

 having an odor like that of the Balm of old gardens. 



Among the Melic-Grasses, Melica, there are some pretty 

 species. The unarmed Nodding Melic, M. nutans, whose 

 slender clusters of nodding whitish and purplish spikelets 

 are to be seen in May on river bluffs in the eastern states, 

 is worthy of mention. M. spectabilis, found in the Rocky 

 Mountain region, has large showy, red-tinged spikelets and 

 culms with a bulb-like base. One of the few of our native 

 grasses sometimes seen in cultivation is Uniola latifolia, a 

 truly beautiful plant with broad leaves of a singularly rich 

 green and drooping panicles of flattened spikelets. It is a 

 native of river-banks in the eastern states, especially south- 

 ward. It has a preference for rich soil. Sea Oats, Uniola 

 paniculata, is of quite a different aspect. Its stems and 

 leaves are rigid and glaucous. The whitish panicles are 

 very conspicuous, and are sometimes gathered and dried 

 for winter bouquets. Sea Oats is found from Virginia to 

 Texas on ocean beaches, where its strong root-stocks do 

 good service in holding the drifting sands. The common 

 Reed, Phragmites communis, is one of our largest and 

 showiest grasses, much resembling the closely related 

 Arundo Donax. It abounds in the coast marshes, where it 

 grows with Cord-Grass, and about inland lakes and ponds. 

 It deserves a place in every park or pleasure-ground where 

 marsh or water plants can be grown. Another grass suit- 

 able for cultivation in aquatic'gardens is the Reed Meadow- 

 Grass, Glyceria aquatica, a large species often growing in 

 shallow water. It grows wild across the continent north- 

 ward. Water-fowl relish the seeds, which are produced in 

 great quantity, and fish are said to eat them. 



Squirrel-tail Grass, Hordeum jubatum, is a handsome 

 grass with lustrous pale green or purplish spikes. On ac- 

 count of the long awns or beard it is sometimes a trouble- 

 some weed. It is quite an ornamental grass, but has a 

 great drawback in the tendency of the spikes to break up 

 as the seed ripens. This habit, perhaps, once existed in 

 the related Barley, but has been cured by long cultivation 

 and selection. Arundinaria macrosperma, the Big Cane of 

 the southern states, is our only woody grass. It is not a 

 handsome plant — is decidedly unsightly, in fact. But, as 

 it forms almost impenetrable thickets, it might be useful 

 for hedges and wind-breaks where the climate is sufficiently 

 mild and the soil is sufficiently moist. 



