198 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 429. 



appears, and the leaves become of a beautiful rich shining; 

 green, with purple veins, round and broad, heart-shaped, 

 angular, their greatest breadth equaling their length — that is, 

 from six to eleven inches where broadest. I know of no low- 

 growing plant that produces such a rich mass of large tropical- 

 looking foliage. I heartily recommend this plant for densely 

 covering embankments, slopes, stream or lake borders, where 

 the soil contains clay, sand and muck or rich loam. But it 

 should exclusively occupy the ground where planted, as it will 

 crowd everything else out. 

 Rochester, Mich. Wilfred A. Brother ton. 



Correspondence. 



The California Frosts. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The mean temperature of February was five degrees 

 above the normal, while the mean temperature of April has 

 been five degrees below normal. We have had very severe 

 frosts in nearly all parts of the state, and, of course, vineyards, 

 orchards and gardens have suffered. It will be impossible to 

 determine the exact extent of the loss for a fortnight or more, 

 but the best authorities think that the cherry crop of the state 

 is lessened one-half. Almonds and Apricots also have suf- 

 fered severely. Contracts are being made for wine grapes, 

 delivered in autumn, at something like three times the price 

 offered a month ago. 



I lately visited the Sacramento Valley. At Chico I found that 

 the crop of the famous Bidwell orchards was practically de- 

 stroyed, excepting peaches, half a crop, and apples. Even the 

 vegetable gardens in this district have suffered so severely 

 that in some cases replanting several times over became 

 necessary. One orchard of two hundred acres of large Almond- 

 trees will not produce enough this year to pay for picking. 



The spring frosts have not yet seriously injured the Citrus 

 fruits, so far as I can learn ; it is the deciduous fruits which 

 have suffered most. Prunes have escaped fairly well in many 

 cases ; some districts will have a very light crop, and much 

 fruit may yet fall from the trees. There is hope, of course, 

 that higher prices may be the result, and so the net yield of 

 many orchards will be kept up to the average, but the fruit- 

 growers feel discouraged over the outlook. 



The truth is, that California, like all other places, has fluctuating 

 seasons, and if we plant immense areas in fruits, often with- 

 out any scientific study of the locality in question, we must, of 

 course, learn by experience. There are all kinds of climates 

 here, some of them adapted to a wide range of vegetation. 

 The chief characteristics of the climate of the leading horti- 

 cultural districts are dryness of atmosphere and coolness of 

 the nights. 



The southern states excel California in raisingsweet potatoes, 

 melons, cotton and many other crops which require a moist, 

 warm atmosphere. Cassava, sugar-cane and rice do not thrive 

 as well in any part of California, so far as tested, as in the 

 warmer coast regions of the southern states. Occasionally en- 

 thusiastic Californians attempt to introduce Cinchona into cul- 

 tivation, or Coffee, Vanilla, the Cocoa Palm or Pineapples, but 

 without success. Even our mildest and most perfect climates 

 are fortunately far removed from the tierra caliente type. 

 Every part of California is subject to the influence of our great 

 mountain ranges. In ten thousand valleys and sheltered nooks 

 up and down the Coast Range, or along the giant Sierras, 

 vineyards and orchards are and will be planted in spite of 

 occasional trying seasons which determine unfit locations, and 

 readjust the industry to actual climatic conditions. New 

 orchards will be more wisely planted ; unprofitable orchards 

 will be grafted over, or will give place to other crops. Dif- 

 ferent districts will settle down to the production of whatever 

 fruit they can best produce, and we shall no longer hear, as 

 now, of hundred-acre orchards of Apples, Peaches, Prunes, 

 Cherries, Almonds or Walnuts, planted where the Apple, 

 Peach, Prune. Cherry, or whatever else it may happen to be, is 

 foreordained to bean uncertain crop. There is enough suit- 

 able land in California for all these industries, but it necessarily 

 takes a good many years to trace out the minor isotherms. 



Niles, Calif. Charles H. Shinn. 



The Evonymus Scale in Japan. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — In the Report of the Department of Agriculture for 

 1880, Professor Comstock described Chionaspis evonymi, 

 which had destroyed nearly all the shrubs of Evonymus lati- 

 folia at Norfolk, Virginia. At that time it was supposed to 



occur also on Orange, but this proved to be an error, the spe- 

 cies on the Orange being distinct. More recently the Evony- 

 mus scale has appeared on cultivated Evonymus in Europe, 

 and in Italy economic entomologists have been at some pains 

 to devise methods for its destruction. 



Mr. Craw now sends me some twigs of the Japanese Evony- 

 mus on which are numbers of the same scale, mixed with a 

 few Aspidiotus rapax. The plants arrived from Japan, and 

 were destroyed by Mr. Craw in his capacity of horticultural 

 quarantine officer. The occurrence is of peculiar interest, as 

 showing the probability that Japan is the true home of this 

 destructive scale. 



While writing I may mention that Mr. Craw also sent a leaf 

 of Aspidistra on which were many Aspidiotus ficus. It was 

 from Osaka, Japan ; 850 plants were destroyed. This insect 

 is well known in America also, but it is a matter of special 

 interest to note that very many of these scales from Japan 

 show from one to three parasite holes, indicating that A. ficus 

 has an important parasite in that country which it might be 

 well to introduce here. 



Agric'l Experiment Station, New Mexico. ■* • -^. A. LOCkerell. 



Notes from West Virginia. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — On the landscape-gardener devolves the delightful task 

 of helping Nature to make beautiful pictures of our homes. 

 Here, in amateurish fashion, we try to imitate his work and 

 devise harmonious effects each year. 



By the front piazza is a group now in luxuriant bloom, con- 

 sisting of the pink and white varieties of the double-flowering 

 Almond, with clumps of Mertensia Virginica from a neighbor- 

 ing pasture-field, hiding the stems of the shrubs which are 

 apt to be bare and unsightly. The lovely shades of pink and clear 

 blue are relieved by the pure white ot the Snowy Almond, and 

 there are no high colors near to mar the effect. But the salient 

 features of the garden now, on this second day of May, are the 

 large-flowering Dogwoods, mingled with Red-buds, against 

 a dark background of Cedar ; the groups of flowering Apples 

 and Cherries, and the beautiful mass of Exochordas and Xan- 

 thoceros in a prominent position on a little knoll. All this 

 conspicuous bloom, together with many handsome red and 

 white Japan Quinces and white Spiraeas and a few white 

 and purple Magnolias, is making the grove a lovely wilderness 

 of flowers. 



The rock-garden is very fascinating and has taught me many 

 lessons of late. I have learned that Alyssum saxatile, Santo- 

 lina and some other herbaceous perennials disappear in win- 

 ter in a stiff clay soil, and that Hellebores cannot resist our hot, 

 dry summers without plenty of watering. I have had reluc- 

 tantly to give up the whole charming Heath family, with its 

 beautiful Andromedas, Kalmias, Rhododendrons and Azaleas. 

 They refuse to be happy in our most carefully prepared beds 

 of peat and rich mealy loam. Our dry summers wither them, 

 our winter suns scorch them, and they pine and dwindle and 

 disappear. Only one member of the family remains with us, 

 and that without special care. This is the fragrant Clethra 

 alnifolia. I used to think I could, by constant care, keep Rho- 

 dodendrons in comfortable health. They did not increase 

 much in size, but they bloomed for me as long as they lived, 

 though that was not a long period, and constant renewals were 

 necessary to keep their border presentable. Now the last 

 lingerer has vanished from Rose Brake, and they are among 

 our extinct species. 



But if Rhododendrons despise our stiff clay soil, Roses 

 revel in it, and Pseonies thrive amazingly on the strong food 

 we give them, and a multitude of beautiful plants are hurrying 

 forward to fill up the vacancies in the shrubberies. Nature 

 will not grow everything everywhere, and that is just the rea- 

 son that each locality has its own distinctive charm. 



Shepherdstown, w. Va. Danskc Dandridge. 



Maple Sugar in Vermont. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The maple-sugar season of 1896 in Vermont began 

 under difficulties. In many cases the weather made pleasant 

 promises early in the season, which it failed to keep. Nearly 

 all sugar-makers tapped their trees during the first week in 

 April, and some as early as March 25th. But the cold, raw 

 winds of succeeding days greatly interfered with the sap-flow. 

 Later, however, the weather turned warmer; and for a week 

 or two sugar-makers had all the sap they could handle. Some 

 who have large sugar-orchards were forced to work nights as 

 well as days. The season, as a whole, was much shorter than 



