212 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 431. 



in. Last summer was an exceptionally dangerous one, 

 being the driest for years, and yet owing to this close 

 supervision no large destruction of timber took place, and 

 altogether the service has proved admirably adapted to 

 accomplish the end for which it was established. 



On the second point a large firm of lumbermen in Michi- 

 gan testify that they always burn the debris from their 

 operations in the fall or spring when the ground is damp, 

 and the wind is in the right direction, so that the fires will 

 not spread. This has proved perfectly successful, and for 

 years they have not suffered from any destructive forest 

 fires. The open chopping dries out more quickly in the 

 spring than the neighboring timbered land, consequently 

 the fire burns in the open and stops as soon as it 

 comes to the woods. Only common sense and ordinary 

 judgment are required to point out the proper time to burn 

 the choppings and thus remove a menace to uncut timber. 

 These lumbermen consider this burning over a good insur- 

 ance, and the cost is so trifling that it would be criminal 

 carelessness on their part if they did not guard against 

 losses to themselves and to their neighbors. 



The cost of the protective service in Ontario was about 

 three and a quarter cents a thousand feet, while the cost of 

 burning the debris by the lumber companies was $5.00 a 

 square mile, or one-tenth of a cent a thousand feet of lum- 

 ber cut. At this rate the cost of burning throughout the 

 great lumbering states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minne- 

 sota would be less than $35,000 a year, and this would 

 prevent losses which foot up to millions of dollars annually. 

 If to this precaution a service similar to the one in Ontario 

 were carried out at the same expense it would appear 

 that for $100,000 a year each of these states could have a 

 well-organized service of special guards which would pre- 

 vent nearly all the forest fires. To get some conception 

 of what is really lost in these fires, and to show how insig- 

 nificant in comparison to this the expenditure of any ordi- 

 nary sum for protection would be, the following computation 

 by the Forest Commissioner of Pennsylvania is quoted : 



The most obvious consequences of forest fires, serious as 

 these may be, are by no means of the greatest importance. 

 Loss of logs, of bark, of standing timber, young and old, of 

 fences, and occasionally of buildings, is not less than a million 

 of dollars annually to this commonwealth (Pennsylvania). The 

 indirect or the consequential damage to the state is many times 

 greater. In fact, it is so great lhat it appears incredible until a 

 careful study of the whole subject is made. For example, it 

 is fairly within bounds to assert that if all the unproductive 

 land now vacant and uncared for within the limits of the state 

 were protected from forest fires for, say, forty years, the tim- 

 ber then growing would be worth not less than $1,200,000,000. 

 Now, it would seem that if this growth were destroyed by lire 

 when but a year old, the direct loss to the commonwealth would 

 be absolutely unimportant. The same might be said if we 

 were to see it destroyed at two, three, four, or even five years 

 of age. But when we remember that in burning these seed- 

 lings which are but a year old we destroy a crop which, in 

 point of time, is one-fortieth of its way on to a money value of 

 $1,200,000,000. the damages, if expressed in figures, must equal 

 not less than $30,000,000 as the loss to the commonwealth. 



Shrubs, Native and Foreign. 



CONTINUING our remarks on the effects of the winter 

 on trees and shrubs in eastern Massachusetts made in 

 our last issue, it can be said generally that the flower-buds 

 only of shrubs which bloom early in the season have suf- 

 fered, and that, in spite of the severity of the winter, nearly 

 all later-blooming plants are flowering profusely this sea- 

 son, with the exception, perhaps, of a few varieties of Rho- 

 dodendrons of doubtful hardiness, which have lost their 

 flower-buds, although their foliage is untouched. Even 

 shrubs which ordinarily suffer in very cold winters are now 

 covered with flowers, like the Halesia or Silver Bell Tree, 

 which has never been more beautiful than it is this year. 

 The variety of this plant raised by Mr. Median in his nur- 

 sery at Germantown, and already figured in this journal 

 (vol. v., p. 535), is covered with flowers and promises to 



become a first-rate addition to our shrubberies. The fact 

 that Fothergilla Gardner!, which was figured in this journal 

 last year (vol viii , p. 445), has escaped the winter untouched, 

 and has been loaded with its lovely white flowers, is evi- 

 dence of the value of this southern shrub for northern 

 gardens. Among shrubs which flower the middle of May, 

 none surpasses it in shapeliness of habit or in profusion of 

 bloom. It is one of those shrubs which grow in attrac- 

 tiveness each year, and which, as has already been said 

 more than once in these columns, should be seen in all 

 collections of hardy plants. 



Rhododendron Vaseyi (vol. i., p. 377) has been covered 

 as usual with its lovely pure pink flowers, and the value of 

 this species in northern gardens appears now to be fully 

 established, although in England it is said to be much less 

 satisfactory than it is here. 



All the bush Honeysuckles are flowering profusely, dis- 

 playing in their flowers a considerable range of colors 

 from deep rose to white and to clear yellow. On the whole, 

 this is one of the most satisfactory groups of shrubs. They 

 are all perfectly hardy, of excellent habit and neat, clean 

 foliage ; they always bloom freely, and their flowers are 

 followed by brilliant scarlet, yellow or black fruits which 

 cover the branches in early or late summer, when few 

 other plants bear conspicuous, fruits. Through cross- 

 breeding and selection there is now a large number of 

 these Honeysuckles from which the planter can select, and 

 by massing many plants with a reference to the color of 

 their flowers or of their fruit remarkable effects can be 

 produced. 



Among Apple-trees, our native Crab, Pyrus coronaria, is 

 the latest to bloom. This is a small tree of excellent habit 

 and large fragrant pink flowers which, as they do not ap- 

 pear until after the leaves have partly grown, are some- 

 what hidden by the young foliage. They are, however, 

 more fragrant than those of any other Apple-tree, and the 

 bright waxy fruit, which hangs gracefully on long slender 

 stems, is also fragrant. 



All the Thorn-trees, native and foreign, are blooming 

 abundantly this year, and no one who has not seen a well- 

 established collection of these trees and shrubs can form an 

 idea of their beauty at this season or of the uses to which 

 they can be put in the decoration of parks and large gar- 

 dens. The fact that they live to a great age, blooming 

 profusely every year, adds to their value. 



Among Barberries for northern gardens not one com- 

 pares with the Japanese Berberis Sieboldii (vol. iii., p. 249). 

 The bright yellow flowers of this shrub contrast brilliantly 

 with the large lustrous foliage, and this late in the autumn 

 assumes magnificent tints of scarlet and orange. For some 

 reason this shrub has remained rare in collections, while 

 the less desirable Berberis Thunbergii has become in the 

 neighborhood of Boston one of the commonest garden 

 plants, 



The Dauphin Elm. 



THE White Elm as a street-tree is conspicuously rare 

 throughout central Pennsylvania, and at present is 

 probably less planted than any other native tree. Fine 

 specimens maybe found in the older streets of cities and 

 about old country seats, yet there are many otherwise 

 intelligent people who believe that the Elm does not thrive 

 in Pennsylvania or, indeed, south of New England. 



Some two years ago Dr. Rothrock pointed out the fal- 

 lacy of this idea, which, no doubt,was developed from the fact 

 that the tall high-branching Elm, so associated in the popu- 

 lar mind with New England towns and scenery, is replaced 

 almost entirely in Pennsylvania by the type described by 

 Dr. Rothrock* as ''branching symmetrically upward and 

 outward from near the ground, forming a large, round 

 head, while the tips of the branches droop until they almost 

 suggest the Weeping Willow." It is to this type most of 

 the Elms in and near the Susquehanna Valley conform, 



* Forest Leaves, February, 1S94. 



