September 2, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



357 



year some twenty-five species. We sow the seeds the second 

 week in April rather thickly in four-inch pots placed on a gen- 

 tle hot-bed. The seed germinates in a few days, and by the 

 time the weather is fit tor planting out the Grasses will be 

 about two inches high. We then split up each species into 

 eight or more little clumps, and plant them about ten inches 

 apart so that each species forms a small square. I find this 

 way of raising Grasses far more reliable and easier than sow- 

 ing the seed in the open border. A collection of these Grasses 

 mav be obtained from any reliable seedsman. 



Of the species which have flowered in our border thus far 

 this season I find the following to be of especial value : 



Agrostis nebulosa, an annual growing about eighteen inches 

 high, with panicles of extreme fineness ; in fact, one could 

 hardly imagine anything more delicate and airy. It is com- 

 monly called " Cloud Grass." Nicholson's Dictiojiary of Gar- 

 dening describes this species as "panicles resemble, when 

 developed, a cloud resting over the ground." Bromus brizas- 

 formis, an elegant species growing about two feet high, with 

 panicles of drooping spikelets, each spikelet measuring three- 

 quarters of an inch long by half an inch wide. Bri/.a gracilis, 

 a low-growing Grass with panicles of small triangular spikelets. 

 This species is commonly called the " Little Quaking Grass." 

 Coix Lachryma, growing to a height of three feet. The flowers 

 are borne in axillary pendulous racemes, and are more curious, 

 perhaps, than pretty, but the leaves, which are one foot long 

 by one inch wide, are particularly graceful. The seeds of this 

 species are large and round, very unlike Grass seeds in gen- 

 eral. The common name of this species is "Job's Tears." 

 Phalaris paradoxa, an annual growing about two feet high, 

 with flowers arranged in a close spike resembling the Fox-tail 

 Grass. Paspalum elegans, a beautiful species growing about 

 three feet high. The flowers are in close terminal panicles 

 and are of a beautiful silvery gray color. The leaves are 

 about four inches long by one wide. Panicum virgatum, 

 a perennial species, about four feet high, with very large ter- 

 minal panicles of flowers of a reddish brown color. The 

 leaves are from one to two feet long by half an inch wide. 

 Avena sterilis, growing about three feet in height. The flow- 

 ers are in large spikelets, arranged in drooping panicles, and 

 are very handsome. The common name of this species is 

 " Animated Oats. ' It is an annual and a native of Barbary. 

 Pennisetum longistylum, no doubt the best of all the spike- 

 flowered Grasses. The spikes are some five inches long, and 

 the long styles make them very beautiful. It grows about 

 three feet high and the leaves are long and narrow. 



Botanic Garden, Northampton, Mass. Edward J. Canning. 



winter than it is to keep the more robust sorts ; the safest way 

 is to put the tubers either in dry sand or sawdust and keep in 

 a warm dry place. 



Botanic Garden, Washington, D. C. G. W. 0. 



Fancy-leaved Caladiums.— The collection of these plants at 

 the nurseries of John Saul fills three good-sized houses. The 

 number of kinds grown is somewhere in the neighborhood of 

 three hundred ; most of the varieties have been imported 

 directly from Brazil ; many of them are very distinct. While 

 most of them are highly colored, slow to grow and increase, 

 there are a great many kinds which make splendid specimen 

 plants for the greenhouse, and there are quitea number useful 

 for the decoration of the summer garden. Those kinds which, 

 from their appearance, are likely to be of use for summer 

 planting out-of-doors are carefully tested in the open ground ; 

 one of the best for this purpose is named Cataguazes. When 

 full grown it is about three feet high, the leaves are green on 

 the outer edges, the centres are white and spotted all over with 

 large pinkish white blotches. Pentado has greenish yellow 

 leaves spotted thickly with pink and white ; this variety is only 

 good for the greenhouse; it is slow-growing, but very showy. 

 Baron de Mamore has blood-red veins, the remaining part of 

 the leaf being thickly mottled with white ; a splendid variety 

 either for pot-culture or for bedding out. Carolina has leaves 

 light green at the margins, pink centre bordered with white ; 

 good for pot-culture only. J. C. Schmidt has dark metallic 

 foliage ; the principal veins are deep pink. Capivari has green 

 leaves blotched with white and pink ; good for outdoors. 

 Jurana has heart-shaped leaves- with green margins, bright 

 pink centres, but is of no use outside. E. G. Henderson is a 

 variety with an uneven leaf-surface, pink veins and pink 

 blotches on a green ground ; a very good bedder. Ludde- 

 mannii has pink centre, green, blotched with white; good out- 

 of-doors Diana is after the style of the well-known Triomphe 

 de l'Exposition, the foliage being somewhat paler than that 

 grand variety. Candidum is probably the best of the light- 

 colored ones. In Baron de Rothschild the principal veins are 

 very deep red, with the same color in blotches all over the 

 leaf ; it is one of the best kinds for pot-work. It is found to be 

 a trifle more difficult to keep those highly colored kinds over 



Correspondence. 



To Protect the Beauty of the Woods. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — It may not be generally realized that scientific forestry, 

 though of inestimable value to a growing country, may in 

 time despoil the woodland scenery of much of its highest 

 charm. It this is so, what' is the remedy? It seems to me 

 that it might be desirable to include in the prospective man- 

 aging boards of our forest interests, whether state or national, 

 some person or persons whose influence should count for the 

 aesthetic value of our forests. In such a staff of directors, for 

 instance, as was proposed by Mr. Judson N. Cross, of Minne- 

 apolis, in his scheme for restoring and preserving the Min- 

 nesota woods (see page 181), might it not be proper under 

 these conditions to include some authority on art — somebody 

 with a recognized understanding and appreciation of the beau- 

 tiful in Nature ? 



When I say that scientific forestry tends to mar the beauty 

 of woodland scenery, I refer to the changes in outward ap- 

 pearance that natural forests undergo as a result of some of 

 the methods prescribed by scientific forestry. On the whole, 

 such forests in time assume a strikingly artificial look. They 

 show the evidence of man's handling and interference for 

 some purpose. The trees, where planted or systematically 

 sown, stand in monotonous rows or squares. The transition 

 from undergrowth to standing forest is often abrupt and un- 

 pleasant. Again, there is not infrequently a systematic looping 

 of the lower branches, through which the crowns of the trees 

 are raised to an awkward and unnatural height. At a distance 

 the artificiality of such woods is still more obtrusive. They 

 are apt to look patched and pieced together, incongruous in 

 outline and form of surface and discordant in combination of 

 color. An irregular stripe of young Beeches, for instance, 

 may be followed by a patch of full-grown Pines, and this in 

 turn by a bare spot ready for an aftergrowth. As a rule, there 

 is wanting that graceful outline, soft blending of shades and 

 fitness in detail that Nature, left to herself, so well knows how 

 to produce. 



In detailing these effects of scientific forestry I have only 

 tried to show that scientific forestry methods do, in fact, influ- 

 ence undesirably the outward appearance of forests. The 

 effects I have spoken of are mostly the results of important 

 principles of forestry and cannot be sweepingly removed. 

 And yet something may, perhaps, be done to mitigate their 

 effect. It is plain, of course, that, on the whole, forestry must 

 be allowed free scope. It should be remembered, however, 

 that forestry is an art as well as a science, and that, according 

 to the conditions of soil, climate, and so forth, cases may arise 

 where one method would serve nearly as well as another. If 

 in some way the primeval aspect of a characteristic bit of 

 scenery might be preserved without seriously departing from 

 the main principles of the best forest practice, might not 

 such a departure be justified ? I have in mind a part of the 

 woods belonging to the city of Stuttgart, Wuerttemberg, which 

 lie several miles from the city on a hill. In this case an order 

 was given several years ago that these woods should at no 

 time be cleared, like the surrounding forest, but that refores- 

 tation should be effected through natural seeding or planting 

 under, in order that the dense beauty of the green forest might 

 stand uninterruptedly an agreeable sight to the citizens. We 

 may, perhaps, assume, or, at least, hope, that our system of 

 forest management will be more pliable and elastic than forestry 

 systems of European countries, because our civil institutions 

 are less rigid and bureaucratic than theirs ; which leads me to 

 believe that instances like the one I have cited might with us 

 be made of still wider application. It is even conceivable that 

 special cases might arise where the exceptional beauty ol the 

 landscape might warrant an entire subordination to it of the 

 question of material gain aimed at by forestry. 



Aside from this, the critic I have proposed could exci 

 his powers in certain other specific ways. He could, for in- 

 stance, select exceptionally beautiful or otherwise remarkable 

 individual trees for special protection and preservation. It 

 occurs to me that the selection ol wooded areas for " County 

 Parks," as they were described in your editorial article for 

 June 3d, might likewise be entrusted to his care. 



In this way it would be possible to retain something of the 



