May 27, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



219 



beautiful small tree we have. When in flower it is adorned 

 as for a bridal morn, with a delicate white veil of bloom which 

 resembles nothing so much as filmy lace. In the damp, cool 

 weather we are now having this exquisite bloom has lasted 

 for ten days, fresh and dainty as at first. The Chionanthus 

 delights in rich soil and should not be crowded in with other 

 shrubs. Given plenty of room it develops into a symmetrical, 

 well-rounded little tree. The Laburnums are here planted ten 

 feet apart, where they receive partial shade from large Tulip- 

 trees, in company with, but not crowded by, the Fringe-trees. 

 The flowers of Phlox divaricata, now passing out of bloom, vary 

 from a striking shade of deep purplish blue through lead-color 

 to white. We bring it from the woods and plant it in the wild 

 garden, among the rocks, under the shade of Oaks, in com- 

 pany with Delphinium tricorne, Columbine, Wild Geranium, 

 early Crowfoot, Stellaries, Rue Anemones and Maiden-hair 

 Fern. The latter we have to water constantly through the 

 summer, and with all our care have little success with Ferns 

 on our dry uplands. They do not grow naturally in our woods, 

 but we find small ones in abundance on the cliffs of the Poto- 

 mac, where they cling to the face of perpendicular rocks and 

 peep from their crevices in company with Columbines and 

 other delicate wild flowers. 



Yellow Lilies — Hemerocallis flava — and German Irises of 

 pure white, lemon-yellow and delicate gray-blue, form a fine 

 group on the lawn against a green background of shrubs. 

 Near-by, and in striking contrast, is a bold mass of double 

 Paeonies in deep crimsons, carmines and flesh colors. These are 

 really gorgeous in coloring and require hardly any care. We 

 never disturb them ; they grow so densely that no weeding is 

 necessary, and a heavy mulching of manure in the fall, lightly 

 worked into the soil in the spring, is all the attention they need 

 to make them increase in size every year. 



We found the first rose on the tenth of May. It was the 

 very early Cinnamon Rose ; Rosa rugosa and the Persian and 

 Austrian Briers followed quickly after; and then came R. mul- 

 tiflora and such old favorites as the Hundred-leaved Rose, the 

 Hermosa, Giant of Battles and the Roses of Provence. The 

 Crimson Rambler is now in bud, and Madame Georges Bruant 

 is just opening a few dew-filled cups. Monsieur E. Y. Teas, 

 Ulrich Brunner and Pierre Guillot are the handsomest deep-red 

 Roses here, and all of them show a few fresh flowers. 

 Shepherdstown, w. Va. Datiske Dandridge. 



A Natural Garden. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — It is easy to find in the neighboring sand region natural 

 gardens which, in variety of plants and in beauty and distribu- 

 tion of colors, equal those arranged by art. One of these was 

 observed early in May. The area comprised about one hun- 

 dred and twenty by fifteen to twenty feet in width. The fresh, 

 but thin, grass formed an even turf and furnished a lively 

 green foil for the various plants scattered over its surface. It 

 sloped away from a sandy knoll at one end to wet ground and 

 pools of water at the other. Sitting on the knoll one could 

 readily distinguish most of the plants which made up the pic- 

 ture and study their colors and arrangement. 



The brightest and most abundant flower was the Painted 

 Cup, represented by both yellow and scarlet varieties and 

 many shades between. The Wood Betony carried spikes of 

 flowers of a pale yellow hue, set among the prettily divided 

 pinnatifid leaves clustered at the base. Bluets peeped out 

 from the midst of blades of grass, and in the wet ground and 

 shallow water were Marsh Marigolds. The Strawberry and 

 large-flowered forms of the Windflower added a dash of 

 white. On the knoll were bunches of Viola pedata with large 

 pale blue flowers, and in the damper ground V. sagittata 

 showed a deep shade of rich violet-purple. There were dainty 

 little cups of the Dwarf Blueberry, white, tinged with rose, 

 though its chief contribution to the scheme of color came from 

 the deep red-brown of the newly expanding buds and leaves. 

 The most stately plant was the Swamp Saxifrage, raising a 

 panicle of greenish flowers on a stout hairy scape, from the 

 midst of large lusty leaves. Here and there in dryish spots 

 were the flat-topped clusters of whitish flowers of Comandra 

 umbellata. The Wild Lupine was approaching flowering, and 

 held above its symmetrical leaves clusters of blue and white 

 buds. Maianthemum Canadense was plentiful, also in bud, 

 and mainly noticeable for its broad smooth leaves of lively 

 green. The grass-like Luzula campestris was in fruit, and the 

 Cotton-Grass was beginning to show the long white down 

 bursting from the rusty scales of the maturing fruit. Ferns 

 were springing up, and the Flowering Fern vied with the 

 Dwarf Blueberry in the color of its fresh foliage. The stout 



hairy fronds of the Cinnamon Fern were beginning to uncoil, 

 and stood in yellowish or rusty brown bunches. Stems of 

 Equisetum rose beside the Marsh Marigolds or crowded the 

 pools with slender columns. In the grass the beautifully com- 

 pounded leaves of a Thalictrum were making their appear- 

 ance. Small shrubs of Salix humilis and S. longifolia were 

 scattered about, displaying cinereous and silky leaves. A 

 diminutive Gray Pine, barely more than a foot high, stood in 

 the grass, its short stiff needles giving to the wild garden a 

 touch of the adjoining woods and Pine-clad sand hills, and 

 though below the Willows in stature, it was still a tree in form 

 and dignity. 

 Chicago, ill. E. J. Hill. 



Recent Publications. 



Circular No. 12, issued by the Division of Forestry of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, is devoted to the 

 physical and mechanical properties of the southern Pines. 

 The data contained in this circular are condensed from 

 20,000 tests and an equal number of measurements and 

 weighings, and it is published now to make the informa- 

 tion speedily available, while fuller details will be given in 

 a special bulletin. The importance of trustworthy informa- 

 tion regarding the Pines of the south is evident from the 

 fact that they furnish most of the hard pine material used 

 for constructing purposes in the country, while the annual 

 cut is certain to increase rapidly as the soft pine supplies 

 of the north decrease. The Pines under consideration are 

 first the Long-leaved Pine (Pinus palustris), the Cuban Pine 

 (P. heterophylla), the Short-leaved Pine (P. echinata) and 

 the Loblolly Pine (P.Tseda). The names of these timbers 

 in the market are often used interchangeably, and the ma- 

 terials are mixed in the yard, and trustworthy microscopic 

 distinctions of the wood of the four species have not yet 

 been found. There is a very interesting paragraph in which 

 the diagnostic features of the different woods are given to 

 assist the identification of the species. This is followed 

 by a table giving the bending strength and compression 

 strength of the wood of each species, together with the 

 relation of the strength to the weight. An interesting study 

 of the distribution of the weight and strength throughout 

 the tree furnishes a basis for a diagram which distinctly 

 sets forth these variations in the different species in a 

 graphic way. There are brief chapters on the influence 

 of locality and of moisture, on the behavior of different 

 woods in shrinking, the effects of kiln-drying and the influ- 

 ence of immersion in water on the strength of the different 

 woods. The tests have proved conclusively that timber 

 which has been bcxed or bled for turpentine is quite as 

 strong as that which has not been so treated if it is of 

 the same weight, that the weight and shrinkage of the 

 wood is not affected by bleeding and that the bled trees 

 contain practically the same amount of resin as unbled 

 trees, the loss of resin referring only to the sap-wood. The 

 results of tests of strength with large beams and columns 

 are most interesting. When we consider the care with 

 which these experiments have been made, the large num- 

 ber of trees and test pieces which have been used and the 

 uniformity of the methods employed, it will be seen that 

 this work is of serious value, and, perhaps, it is the best 

 original work that has yet been accomplished by the For- 

 estry Division. It ought to be added that this circular is 

 written with a conciseness and a clearness which deserves 

 the highest commendation. 



Notes. 



No. 7 of the third volume of the Contributions to the United 

 States National Herbarium is devoted to a continuation of 

 Professor Coulter's study of Cactacea\ containing a prelimi- 

 nary revision of the North American species of Echinocactus, 

 Cereus and Opuntia. 



Professor N. L. Britton, of Columbia College, has been ap- 

 pointed Director of the new botanical garden to be established 

 in Bronx Park, in this city. Professor'Britton has been Secre- 

 tary of the Board of Managers ever since the project took form, 



