248 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 434. 



a short time they become straggling- and flower irregularly, 

 and the flowering season of the two-year-old plants is shorter 

 than that of fresh plants. Our soil is a stiff clay, and they un- 

 doubtedly relish being planted in freshly prepared soil. This 

 year I tried a mulch of rotted manure about the old plants, but 

 it did little good. Most of the kinds set seed freely. 



Botanic Garden, Washington, D. C. G. IV. O. 



Correspondence. 



Notes from Santa Barbara. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Every visitor to Santa Barbara notices the great number 

 of fine specimens of Araucarias. chiefly A.excelsa. The city is 

 becoming famous for these trees, which are well adapted 

 to the climate. Some of these superb trees are a hundred feet in 

 height, and give a very distinguished appearance to the princi- 

 pal streets. Comparatively speaking, the lack of fine Califor- 

 nian species of conifers is quite as striking as the presence of 

 fine exotic species. The coarse and stiff Monterey Cypress, 

 which is more admirable in its native grove at Cypress Point 

 than anywhere else, is far too common in the public squares. 

 There seems to have been a period, about twenty years ago, 

 when many towns in California planted formal, orchard-like 

 blocks of cheap trees, and called them parks, often surround- 

 ing them with close-clipped hedges of Cypress. In several 

 such cases I remember that the Monterey Cypress was the 

 only tree planted on a five-acre square ; in others the BlueGum, 

 Eucalyptus globulus, was selected by the Town Council. 

 Santa Barbara's public squares are not so bad as this, but they 

 are distinctly below the high standards set by the taste and skill 

 displayed in its private gardens and nurseries. 



Santa Barbara has had the good fortune to possess many 

 citizens of wealth, leisure and love for plants, so that its private 

 collections contain specimens hardly found elsewhere in the 

 United States, as visitors can see by referring to any good 

 handbook of the city or to Dr. Franceschi's interesting pam- 

 phlet on the exotic flora of the region, which includes the 

 suburbs of Goleta and Montecito. 



Among the choice specimen plants which the visiting bot- 

 anist would wish to see are the fine Seaforthia elegans on the 

 grounds of Mr. Eddy, and the large Cocos plumosa in the 

 Stevens garden at Montecito. There are also the splendid 

 Damara Pines in Mr. Sawyer's garden. I also noted several 

 large Casuarinas, C. quadrivalis, particularly one at Goleta, and 

 some choice specimens of Ficus macrophylla and F. elastica. 

 At Carpenteria one finds the Ford collection, which includes a 

 great variety of rare deciduous trees. There are weeks of 

 pleasure and profit to the botanist in looking up the fine speci- 

 men trees of this district, and probably one could find many 

 not yet catalogued. Nor is there any place 'in southern Cali- 

 fornia where the ordinary commercial nurseries contain a 

 wider range of plant-life, nor so much that is difficult to find 

 elsewhere. 



The grounds of the- old Mission are well worth a visit. 

 Ladies are seldom admitted into the enclosed court-yard, but 

 gentlemen, upon request, are usually shown through. The 

 healthfulness of many of the plants within this sheltered square 

 is surprising, and I saw here the finest Araucaria excelsa of its 

 size that I remember to have found anywhere. The court has 

 been photographed more than once, but its quaint, old-fash- 

 ioned beds, its Ivied walls, its windless quiet and perfect peace 

 all need to be seen to be appreciated. In the old Mission 

 orchard are a few seedling Pear-trees, planted a century ago, 

 and still bearing fruit. The ancient Olives are not doing 

 well ; only three or four can long survive. The gentle Ger- 

 man priest who showed me around explained that several 

 varieties " were very good, indeed ; better than any we can 

 buy." Others were only fit to cook. Eight or ten distinct 

 types of Pears were in the orchard. The best will be grafted 

 at some of the experiment stations, so as to keep alive these 

 old Spanish pioneer varieties. ,,- „, . 



Niles, Calif. Charles H. Slnnn. 



Notes from West Virginia. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The Crimson Rambler is among the latest Roses to 

 blossom in our garden, and a small specimen set out last year 

 is just opening its flower-buds. Planted in a wild part of the 

 garden in ordinary soil and left untended it has made satisfac- 

 tory growth, and is a pleasing addition to the Wilderness, as 

 we call the rock-brake over which it scrambles. Rosa 

 Wichuraiana is even later in blossoming, but is now in bud. 



Frequent heavy rains have marred the beauty of the Roses 

 and beaten down the heavy-headed Pasonies, which are near 

 the end of their flowering, though a few Chinese Paaonies are 

 still in bloom. But few shrubs are in flower now. Weigelias 

 and some Deutzias are past their prime. The Golden Elder 

 and the common Wild Elder are showy now, the former 

 coming into blossom a week earlier. The flowers of Opulaster 

 opulifoiia aurea have faded, and are succeeded by interesting 

 clusters of dull red carpels, which are no less attractive and 

 contrast well with the golden-yellow. of its foliage. Oak-leaved 

 Hydrangeas will soon be in flower, and these symmetrical, 

 well-rounded shrubs, with their large handsome foliage and 

 bold balls of flowers, are showy for several months. A group 

 of small shrubs composed of Itea Virginica and Ceanothus 

 Americanus, or New Jersey Tea, is now in flower. These 

 plants are visited by rose-bugs, but the pests are less numerous 

 than usual, perhaps owing to the frequent rains. 



The borders are gay with Sweet Williams, Snapdragons, 

 Petunias and Linarias. A beautiful white Pentstemon forms a 

 large clump in the rock-garden, and has been blooming for 

 some time. Groups of Astilbe Japonica are attractive now, 

 flowering more profusely than usual. These Astilbes seem to 

 need much moisture, as they do well only in wet seasons at 

 Rose Brake. Rockets, or Dame's Violets, are still in bloom, 

 and Hollyhocks and Yuccas are opening their flowers. Ma- 

 donna Lilies, planted in a large group where they have been 

 undisturbed for years, have thrown up numerous flower- 

 stalks, and every stalk has many buds. They form a fine 

 group against the background of Deutzias, and are now the 

 most conspicuous feature of the lawn. 



Shepherdstown, w. Va. Danske Dandridge. 



Azaleas at Brookline. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — From the middle of May until the middle of June there 

 is a grand show of Indian Azaleas under canvas on the grounds 

 of Professor Sargent, Brookline, Massachusetts. As soon 

 as the first plants begin to go out of bloom, others, retarded in 

 deep shaded pits, take their place, so that the exhibit is always 

 fresh-looking. It is, without doubt, the finest collection in the 

 country. From a limited number of privileged visitors a few 

 years ago thousands of persons now enjoy this remarkable 

 collection annually. The plants have been exhibited in superb 

 condition for several years past, and this uniform success is 

 attributed to thesystem of cultivation practiced here. As the 

 treatment accorded the plants immediately after the flowering 

 season has much to do with success or failure, it may not be 

 out of place to review the methods of cultivation at this time. 



As soon as the plants return from the exhibition tent they 

 are trimmed of all dead flowers, weak shoots, and otherwise 

 pruned into shape. They are then turned out of the pots, all 

 loose soil shaken off, and the original ball of earth combed 

 over with a rake used for this purpose. This is done every 

 season, and the plants do not form any considerable quantity 

 of roots during the winter, which is, in fact, their resting sea- 

 son. The system of potting in the autumn places the plants in 

 better shape for convenient handling during the remainder of 

 the season. This treatment is too radical for most gardeners, 

 and few, even in the immediate vicinity, can be persuaded to fol- 

 low it. With success by continuous pot culture they are sat- 

 isfied to continue old methods. After a thorough dressing- 

 over the plants are transferred to a specially prepared piece of 

 ground, in which at least one-third of good leaf soil and a little 

 sand has been well composted. The soil is carefully compacted 

 about the plant, so that the new soil and the old ball of earth 

 are a solid mass. It is essential that the density should be 

 uniform and kept so, and the plants are repeatedly examined 

 during the summer to see that the soil is kept firm about the 

 ball. If the soil is loose water will run over it and pass into 

 the ground around the ball, so that while the surface may 

 appear moist for a time, it is, in fact, dry an inch or two below. 

 To see that the plants are never dry is the important part of 

 their summer cultivation. 



Where all are beautiful it is scarcely necessary to describe 

 the many varieties in detail, and there are many seedlings as 

 handsome as the best named varieties. There is a fine old 

 plant of the flesh-tinted verschaffelti ; other distinct sorts are 

 Countess de Chambord, blush white ; E. Mazel, vermilion ; 

 Decora, reddish pink ; Iveryana, a perfect sheet of tinted 

 white ; Bride, white ; Criterion, blush ; Exquisite, pink. Worthy 

 of special note are several large plants of the handsome 

 climber, Trachelospermum jasminoides, trained on pyramidal 

 wire shapes. These are stood in prominent positions about the 

 entrance porches. 



Wellesley, Mass. * ■ !■>• Hatjield. 



