July 8, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



279 



fiana, with orange-yellow flowers, adds variety, and later, all 

 through the summer months, the handsome H. Thunbergii 

 will continue to bloom. A fine group of Lupinus pollyphyllus 

 shows what a handsome border plant it is. Trollius, Pop- 

 pies, Larkspurs and Columbines add to an already fine collec- 

 tion, with hosts of others to follow in succession for the 

 remainder of the season. 



Wellesley, Mass. ■«■ U - Hatfield. 



Notes from West Virginia. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — A vigorous and beautiful shrub at Rose Brake is a 

 Fontanesia which was bought for F. phyllyraeoides. This shrub 

 or small tree is described as weeping in habit, but our speci- 

 men is a young tree, tall and straight, with handsome narrow 

 leaves and no tendency of the limbs to grow downward. It is 

 about six years old, twelve feet in height, and has small yel- 

 lowish flowers in clusters. It is possible that this Fontanesia 

 is of erect habit while young, and that the branches droop . 

 when the tree or shrub has attained maturity. It seenjs to be 

 a rare plant, as I can find no account of it in the botanies I 

 possess. 



This year we have our Cannas in a large round bed about a 

 tall clump of Arundo donax, which grows with us to the height 

 of twelve feet. Groups of Yuccas stand near. Three varieties 

 of these beautiful plants are now in bloom. Yucca flaccida 

 was the first to open its flowers, but the more common Y. fila- 

 mentosa attains the largest size here. Sometimes the flower- 

 stalks measure seven feet in length. The blossoms look a 

 little dull by daylight in contrast with the pure white Madonna 

 Lilies, but seen on a moonlight night they have a beau- 

 tiful pearly lustre which is like that of no other flower, and this 

 gives them an indescribable grace and charm. Y. recurva, 

 Y. angustifolia, Y. filamentosa and its variety flaccida are 

 perfectly hardy here. So also is Y. stenophylla, which has not 

 yet bloomed for us. Y. superba lives, but does not grow very 

 fast and does not flower. It is protected by a covering of dead 

 leaves in winter. 



Cedrella Sinensis, planted in this semi-tropical shrubbery I 

 am describing, in company with Aralias, Paulownias and a 

 beautiful Japanese Acacia, is now a tall, symmetrical young 

 tree, more refined and elegant in appearance than the Ailan- 

 thus, which it resembles. It is twenty feet in height, eight 

 years old and has not bloomed. Neither lias the Japanese 

 Acacia, which is labeled Acacia Nemu, ever given us a flower, 

 although it is older than the Cedrella. It is described as bear- 

 ing rosy flowers, but I suppose our climate is too cold for 

 them, although the tree stands our winters without protection. 



Sassafras bushes are so ornamental that we think them 

 worthy of a place among the handsomest exotic shrubs. We 

 have two or three of them in a group near our Japanese 

 Maples, and there is a charming rivalry between them. Some- 

 times I think the Sassafras bears away the palm for variety 

 and beauty of color in the new growth. Then the odd shapes 

 of the leaves, the erect habit of growth, the tender coloring of 

 the young shoots and the refreshing aroma of the whole 

 plant make it one of the most desirable of our native trees. 

 It should be planted for its rich coloring in the fall, as well as 

 for its vernal beauty. 

 Shepherdstown, W. Va. Uanske Vandridge. 



Recent Publications. 



The first annual report of the Chief Fire Warden of Minne- 

 sota, appointed under " an act to provide for the preserva- 

 tion of the forests of the state and for the prevention and 

 suppression of forest and prairie fires," approved April 18th, 

 1895, has been published. Under the act as quoted above 

 the supervisors of towns, mayors of cities and presidents 

 of village councils are constituted fire wardens. The chief 

 fire warden may appoint fire wardens, and in case the fire 

 force of any locality is inadequate to prevent or suppress 

 forest fires he may appoint temporarily additional fire war- 

 dens. It is the duty of the fire wardens to post placards 

 containing an abstract of the penalties proposed under the 

 act, to prevent, if possible, the setting of forest and prairie 

 fires, and, as far as practicable, to control fires. For this 

 purpose they may call to their assistance any able-bodied 

 male person over eighteen years of age. They must 

 cooperate with the fire wardens of adjoining districts, and, 

 in the absence of these, may direct the work of control and 

 extinguishment of forest fires outside their own districts. 



They are obliged to arrest without warrant every one 

 found violating any provision of the act and to make 

 complaints against such persons before a magistrate. 



Under the act companies operating railroads within the 

 state of Minnesota are obliged to use efficient spark-arrest- 

 ers on all locomotives, to keep clear of all combustible 

 materials their right of way to the width of fifty feet on 

 each side of the centre of the main track, to prevent their 

 employes from leaving fire or live coals or hot ashes in 

 the immediate vicinity of woodlands or lands liable to be 

 overrun by fires. Engineers, conductors or trainmen who 

 may discover that fences and other materials along the right 

 of way, or that woodland adjacent to the railroad are burn- 

 ing or in danger from fire must report the same promptly 

 at the next telegraph station that they may pass. In dry 

 seasons railroad companies must give particular mstruc- 

 .t^pns to their employes for the prevention and prompt 

 "extinguishment of fires, and must cause warning placards 

 to be posted at their stations in the neighborhood of forest 

 and prairie grass lands. They must concentrate such help 

 as shall be available to effectively extinguish fires occurring 

 along the lines of their roads. 



The State Auditor is made Forest Commissioner, with 

 authority to appoint a deputy to be known as Chief Fire 

 Warden, who is entrusted with the enforcement of the pro- 

 visions of this act. The Chief Fire Warden has general 

 charge of the fire warden force of the state and may 

 appoint temporarily fire wardens for any territory. He may 

 incur an expense not exceeding $5,000 in any one year for 

 special assistance to prevent or suppress fires during periods 

 of peculiar danger. It is made his duty to investigate the 

 extent of the forests of the state, with the amounts and 

 varieties of the timber contained in them, the damages done 

 to the forest by forest fires, the causes of such fires, the 

 methods used to promote the regrowth of timber, and any 

 other matters of interest relating to the forests. This infor- 

 mation, with his suggestions, shall be included in a report 

 which he is to make annually to the Forest Commissioner. 

 The salary of the Chief Fire Warden is $1,200, and each 

 fire warden receives for his actual services $2.00 a day. 

 Men called on in emergencies to assist in extinguishing fires 

 are to receive $1. 50 a day. Two-thirds of this shall be paid 

 by the company where the service is performed and one- 

 third by the state. No county is allowed to expend more 

 than §500 of public money in any one year under the act. 



The first annual report of the Chief Fire Warden treats of 

 the organization of his service, a list of the fire wardens of 

 the different counties, general directions for the extinguish- 

 ment of fires, a report on the forest and prairie fires of 1 S95, 

 in which it appears that in an aggregate area representing 

 about six million acres of prairie country there were dur- 

 ing the year, according to the report of fire wardens, one 

 hundred and five fires, which burnt over about 73,000 acres, 

 while only about 8,000 acres of forest were burnt over, with 

 an estimated damage of only $1,325. A considerable space 

 is devoted to the remarks of the fire wardens on forest fires, 

 and this part of the report might, perhaps, have been reduced 

 in bulk by more careful editing. An account is given of the 

 Minnesota forests, with the amounts and varieties of the 

 wood and timber growing in them by counties. The methods 

 and importance of the logging industry are touched upon, 

 with replies from a number of lumbermen relative to exist- 

 ing methods of lumbering. The regrowth of White Pine 

 and the utility of forests are discussed. The statement of 

 expenses shows that only $2,020 were expended during the 

 year in this serious effort afforest preservation. The report, 

 which contains one hundred and eighty-eight pages and is 

 accompanied by a forest map of Minnesota, will be found 

 of special interest to every one interested in checking the 

 destruction of property through forest fires. 



Notes. 



A large tanning establishment has recently been erected at 

 Astor, Florida, for the purpose of utilizing the tannic acid con- 

 tained in the roots of the Saw Palmetto, Serenoa serrulata, for 



