348 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 444. 



ous plants suitable for border culture, and with the Gladiolus, 

 Tritomas and Galtonias help to make the garden gay when 

 summer-blooming plants are becoming ragged or are going 

 to rest. The Montbretias may be conveniently described as 

 miniature Gladioli, resembling them in the foliage, and also 

 in the one-sided way of blossoming. The flowers, which are 

 stellate rather than campanulate (as in the Gladiolus), are pro- 

 duced abundantly, and the bulbs increase rapidly, so that in 

 gathering a bouquet we can afford to cut some to the ground, 

 faking leaves as well. Used in this way they are serviceable 

 for indoor decoration. M. crocosmiagflora is the best known. 

 It is a bigeneric hybrid between M. Pottsii and Crocosmia 

 aurea. There are besides several seedling forms which have 

 received names. M. Rayon d'Or is yellow, flushed with red ; 

 M. Gebe d'Or, pure yellow, distinct and handsome. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



Orchid Notes. 



Rodriguezia pubescens. — This is one of the most beautiful of 

 Orchids, considering the wealth of bloom produced from com- 

 paratively small plants ; the sprays are long, arching gracefully, 

 and the flowers are of the purest white, with a trace of yellow 

 on the lip. This plant is not new, it having been well known 

 at the time of its introduction, just fifty years ago, but like 

 many other Orchids, as, for example, Cat'tleya labiata, it be- 

 came scarce after a time, and not until the rediscovery of the 

 Cattleya did this Rodriguezia appear again. Both Orchids 

 come from the same part of Brazil, Pernambuco. Our plant, 

 in a small pan, had twelve flower-spikes, and it was exceed- 

 ingly pretty when in bloom, but owing, probably, to the intense 

 heat at the time and the amount of moisture present in the 

 atmosphere, the flowers only lasted a few days. They seem 

 to be self-fertilizing, as a number of the caps containing the 

 pollen were found on the bench under the plant, some at quite 

 a distance, as though they were forced off by some mechanical 

 means, such as those developed in Catasetum and other 

 genera, and a day or two later many of the seed-vessels began 

 to swell. The flowers were evidently impregnated without 

 artificial aid, not common among Orchids, though there are 

 well-known exceptions to the rule. It would be interesting to 

 learn if other cultivators have had the same experience with 

 this Rodriguezia, as I can find no record of this in any work to 

 which I have access. We find it best grown in a pan or other 

 open receptacle suspended in the warmest house ; the roots 

 are slender and seem to avoid the compost of living moss as 

 much as possible, preferring to grow out and breathe in the 

 moisture in the atmosphere. It was tried among the Cattleyas 

 for a time, for we thought this ought to be the place for it, as 

 it is found growing with them, but some of the young growths 

 soon began to decay. It evidently was not warm enough 

 there, so it was taken back to the warmer house, where it has 

 prospered. When reintroduced into cultivation, like many 

 more plants, it was thought to be new, and was named afresh 

 R. Lindeni, but it was speedily located in published descrip- 

 tions of the earlier part of the century, and will henceforth, no 

 doubt, be often seen in gardens. 



Cypripedium Thayerianum. — Horticulture is said to be pro- 

 gressive, and we venture to think that botany or botanical 

 nomenclature is also, and if the attempts constantly made to 

 classify and rearrange the work of the hybridist are to be 

 taken seriously, ordinary cultivators will never be able to keep 

 pace with the progress. Cypripedium Boxalli has for nineteen 

 years been generally regarded as a well-marked variety of C. 

 villosum. The flower is different structurally, and there ap- 

 pears to be no evidence of forms merging into the type 

 species, but a late writer on the subject, Hansen, in The 

 Orchid Hybrids, has suddenly decided that C. Boxalli must 

 henceforth be considered the same as C. villosum, and a host 

 of hybrids having the former for one parent must then be 

 considered as synonyms, and cultivators will have to begin to 

 learn over again the names of the plants Ihey possess. C. 

 Thayerianum is one oE these ; it is the result of a cross be- 

 tween C. Lawrenceanum and what is known as C. Boxalli 

 atratum, a dark form, having the large flowers and rich wine 

 coloring of C. Lawrenceanum, with the high polish of C. 

 Boxalli atratum over the whole surface of the flower. Among 

 hybrid Cypripediums it is considered one of the best, and it 

 improves each year in size and coloring, is of healthy vigorous 

 growth and was raised by the Messrs. Sander, of St. Albans, 

 England. It remains to be seen whether Mr. Hansen's many 

 innovations will be generally accepted by botanists, but from 

 the cultivators' standpoint it will make confusion worse con- 

 founded. The above is only one of the many reforms sug- 

 gested. 



South Lancaster, Mass. E. O. O. 



Correspondence. 



Two Good Trees for California Planting. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — For the Pacific coast, I believe, there are no more val- 

 uable timber trees for cultivation than the common Locust, 

 Robinia Pseudacacia, and Blackwood, Acacia Melanoxylon. 

 Either, when planted in groves, will send up tall, shapely 

 trunks that, under ordinary conditions, will grow to a diameter 

 of eighteen inches in as many years. 



The wood of the Locust has long been in demand for mak- 

 ing trenails for ships and for wagon hubs, but it is little infe- 

 rior to Hickory for any carriage work, and when freedom from 

 decay is a prime requisite it is far superior. It is also excellent 

 for tool-handles, and can be made into furniture of great 

 strength and beauty. It takes a fine finish, as the grain is 

 close and the color a pale yellow. For fence-posts it can 

 hardly be excelled, its lasting qualities being equal to Cedar, 

 but it is too valuable at present forsuch use. The rough por- 

 tions and limbs make excellent fuel — equal to Beech and 

 Sugar Maple. In short, there are few uses to which hardwood 

 is put to which the Locust is not adapted. It may be well to 

 say that here it is not afflicted by the borer that has worked 

 such destruction in the western states. 



The Blackwood has a more restricted field of usefulness 

 than the Locust, but for certain things is the equal of any tree. 

 There is no better tree for street purposes, and the wood is 

 little inferior to Black Walnut for most uses to which the latter 

 is adapted. It does not work so kindly, however, the grain 

 being somewhat interlocked or "eaty," as it is technically 

 termed ; but for turned work in furniture, such as spindles and 

 the like, and for balusters or grill work in house-finishing, 

 nothing is better. And then for fuel it is the equal of any 

 wood Hickory. Being an evergreen and a profuse bloomer 

 in early spring this tree is desirable in many places where 

 deciduous trees are not. At all times it is a pretty tree, with 

 full, well-rounded top and dark shining lanceolate foliage that 

 does not hold the dust so as to destroy its clean and refresh- 

 ing appearance. It propagates readily from seed and trans- 

 plants without difficulty. 



Why these two valuable trees have not been more exten- 

 sively grown has always been a mystery to me, especially 

 when the country is dotted over with groves of the compara- 

 tively worthless Blue Gum, Eucalyptus globulus. Some day 

 it will be different. 



Fruitvale, Calif. H. G. Pratt. 



The Forest. 

 The Burma Teak Forests. — IV. 



TIMBER OPERATIONS COMMENCED. 



A S previously stated, Teak timber, in order to become fit 

 J - - *- for floating, must be killed by girdling, and the trees thus 

 killed must be allowed to stand for two or three years after 

 having been girdled. Under the working plan prepared in 

 1856, girdling operations commenced in 1857, and the trees 

 that were girdled that year could not be floated and brought 

 to market until i860. Fortunately, however, I had found, in 

 the forest districts explored by me, large quantities of dry 

 timber, partly felled, partly standing, trees previously girdled 

 or that had died from natural causes. Due notice had been 

 given early to all those who had previously, under the king of 

 Burma, worked the forests to remove their timber. When 

 the time fixed by that notice had expired, the timber in the 

 forests became the property of the Government. Considerable 

 quantities of dry timber was thus available ; by employing 

 the people inhabiting the forests or living in the vicinity, I got 

 this timber dragged to the water's edge and floated to the Ran- 

 goon timber depot, and by dealing with the Karens and Bur- 

 mans direct, and not through middlemen, I was able at the 

 outset to give them profitable employment, to make them my 

 friends and allies and to enlist their interest in the protection 

 of the forests. Most of the old timber in question was small 

 and could be dragged by the cattle they had, by oxen and buf- 

 faloes, for in those days, with a few exceptions, these people 

 owned no elephants. Gradually, as the work increased, I fur- 

 nished them with funds to enable them to purchase elephants. 

 In this manner the business extended, gradually but steadily. 

 During the first four years, 1856-7 to 1859-60, mostly old timber 

 was extracted, and only 16,000 tons a year were brought to 

 market, the ton of Teak timber measuring fifty cubic feet. 

 After that time, in consequence of the girdling operations 

 which had been carried on regularly since 1857, the quantity 



