3 8o 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 447. 



know one specimen that covers a trellis more than twelve feet 

 square, in which the flowers completely hide the foliage, and 

 it makes a picture that arrests the attention of all who pass it. 



How to thin out the apples from overloaded trees so as to 

 leave only enough fruit to attainitsbest development is a diffi- 

 cult problem. Mr. Charles A. Green, of Rochester, sets a man 

 with an ordinary steel garden rake to pull the fruit from his 

 trees, and when he has gone as high as he can reach he uses 

 a stepladder for the upper branches. This seems like a rough- 

 and-ready way of doing work which requires a good deal of 

 judgment, and certainly none but a careful and intelligent man 

 should be entrusted with it. If anyone knows of a way to thin 

 more quickly and judiciously we should be very glad to hear 

 of it. 



In response to our recent inquiry on this page as to the 

 experience of persons who have grown the Japanese Wine- 

 berry, we have received a note from Mr. E. H. Burson, Super- 

 intendent of Green's Nursery Company, Rochester, who writes 

 that the plant has been fruiting with them for about five years. 

 It is hardy and prolific ; the berries average as large as those 

 of the Ohio, and those which have been sold command from 

 ten to twelve cents a quart, which is the price of the best red 

 raspberries. Mr. Burson calls it the handsomest raspberry 

 on their grounds ; it is of a bright color, and although a little 

 tart, it is delicious, especially when used with sugar as other 

 berries are. 



Mr. J. G. Jack will conduct a series of lectures and field 

 meetings at the Arnold Arboretum, beginning on September 

 19th and closing November 7th, for the purpose of supplying 

 popular instruction about the trees and shrubs growing in 

 New England. The class meets in the lecture-room of the 

 Bussey institute for the review of certain groups of trees and 

 shrubs, and will then make an informal outdoor study of the 

 plants. The purpose of the course is to indicate by compari- 

 son the easiest means of distinguishing common native trees 

 and shrubs and to recognize foreign species which have been 

 introduced into gardens. An hour and a half to two hours will 

 be devoted to each meeting, which will be held on Saturdays 

 at ten o'clock and Wednesdays at three. Applications or 

 inquiries may be addressed to Mr. J. G. Jack, Jamaica Plain, 

 Massachusetts. 



The Japanese Knotweed, Polygonum cuspidatum, becomes 

 an aggressive weed at times. It is too obtrusive, for example, 

 in Central Park, but where it can be kept within bounds in a 

 damp place it makes a striking clump of foliage six feet high, 

 and during August and September it is covered with its beau- 

 tiful sprays of white flowers. Its relative, P. Sachalinense, 

 about the value of which as a forage plant so much discussion 

 has lately taken place, is now recommended for planting in 

 the Sahara on the borders of the small areas where vegetation 

 already flourishes. These areas are said to be much more 

 numerous than it was once thought they were, and this Knot- 

 weed is commended as able to endure the drought an das a good 

 plant to bind the sand. Our experience with the plant is that 

 it likes to get at water in the subsoil, and we should fear that 

 it would not flourish in a desert. 



Professor Halsted, of New Brunswick, writes to The Ameri- 

 can Florist W\a.i he has observed a spot on the leaves of Nym- 

 phaeas for some time, but not until this year has he received 

 specimens of affected leaves as an evidence that the disease 

 was causing some alarm. This spot is caused by a species of 

 Cercospora, but one which is not yet recorded. As shown in 

 an engraving the spots are small, circular and numerous, the 

 affected portions soon becoming sunken and bearing multi- 

 tudes of spores on the upper side. These germinate rapidly, 

 and as it is not improbable that the spores get into the water 

 and in this way are distributed to all parts of the pond, the 

 infection spreads quickly. Experiments will be made with 

 fungicides upon this new pest, but it is plain that the condi- 

 tions are so unlike those of terrestrial plants that it is not safe 

 to predict results. Professor Halsted asks for specimens of 

 diseased leaves in order that he may make further studies of 

 the blight. 



Mr. Joseph Meehan advises those who wish to plant trees 

 and shrubs this year not to wait until the leaves fall, but as 

 soon as the wood is well ripened to strip off the leaves and 

 then to plant the trees. The soil at this season is warm, often 

 warmer than the air, and this condition encourages the imme- 

 diate throwing out of fibrous roots. Mr. Meehan writes to 

 The Rural New Yorker that if the leaves are left on a few twigs 

 of the tree they will drop off in a few days, and this will guar- 

 antee the success of the work. If they do not drop, but wither 



on the stem, this is a sign that the tree has not thrown out 

 roots and that it will not probably live. The tree should be 

 set in the hole, the earth rilled in, and if the soil is rather dry 

 it will make little difference, because in this condition it can be 

 rammed tightly around the roots until the hole is three-fourths 

 full. Then water should be poured into the hole and the 

 remaining soil thrown in later without much ramming. What 

 a tree needs to assist in forming new roots is a warm moist soil. 



Among pears now arriving from California are Beurre 

 Hardy, Beurre Clairgeau, Beurre d'Anjou, the highly flavored 

 White Doyenne, the brownish red Louise Bonne of Jersey, 

 Duchesse d'Angouleme, Bartlett, Seckel, the very large Sou- 

 venir du Congres, the roundish pyriform Howell, the juicy 

 white flesh having a vinous flavor, and Onondaga, or Swan's 

 Orange, originated in Connecticut. Of these, Bartletts are the 

 most popular, and sell at retail from twenty-five to seventy-five 

 cents a dozen, the latter price buying extremely large and 

 firm specimens. Some of the Seckel pears from California 

 are unusually large and beautifully colored, and retail for the 

 highest prices. Seckel pears from New York state cost sev- 

 enty-five cents for a ten-pound basket. Salway and Piquet's 

 Late peaches are now coming from California. Some fine 

 examples of the well-known Stump the World are being re- 

 ceived from the highlands in Maryland ; also of Morris White, 

 a favorite variety for preserving with brandy, and Smock 

 Freestone, valued for preserving on account of its moderately 

 juicy flesh. Of a dozen kinds of plums from the Pacific coast 

 now offered here, Kelsey's Japan is the handsomest and the 

 richest in flavor. This fruit has steadily gained in popular 

 favor since its introduction in 1884. Some of these plums are 

 a rich yellow and heart-shaped, while others are a deep red 

 and apple-shaped. They are good keepers, and are at their 

 best when thoroughly ripe and almost translucent. Many are 

 extremely large, and the best command $1 ootora basket con- 

 taining two dozen. Large Red Nectarines, beautifully colored 

 and said to be the finest ever seen here, cost $1.25 for a box 

 containing two dozen. The choicest and showiest apples of 

 this season are Alexander, Duchess of Oldenburg, Twenty- 

 ounce Pippins and Maiden's Blush. Flame Tokay, Muscatel 

 and Rose de Peru grapes are now at their best, and were 

 included in forty-five car-loads of California fruits sold at 

 auction in this city last week. Delaware, Niagara, Worden 

 and Concord grapes, from this state, are now plentiful and 

 cheap. New grape-fruit, from Jamaica, costs $1.00 to $1.50 a 

 dozen. 



A certain Rhode Island Greening Apple-tree in an orchard 

 a mile north of Lake Erie last year produced ordinary fruit on 

 the north-east side, while that on the south-west half were of 

 mixed character, each apple being partly a Greening and partly 

 a Talman Sweet. The two varieties appeared in sections for 

 the most part corresponding to the carpels. In some examples 

 three sections, or three-fitths of the apple, were Greening and 

 two-fifths Talman Sweet, while in others the proportions were 

 reversed. In others one-fifth was Greening, and in others 

 still the proportion of Talman Sweet was smaller yet. The 

 different parts were in most cases easily distinguished by the 

 color and by the greater protuberance of the Greening as 

 forming a part of a larger apple, and the flavor of the different 

 parts was as distinctly those of different apples as if they had 

 grown on separate trees. The line of separation, though not 

 very definite, in most cases corresponded with the divisions 

 between the carpels and ran to the summit of the apple, 

 except that a small part around the summit seemed in every 

 case to be Greening. A short distance to the south-west of 

 this tree stands a Talman Sweet tree, so that it is probable 

 that this phenomenon is due to cross-fertilization between the 

 pollen of the Talman Sweet and the ovule of the Greeninc. 

 This account was written for a late number of Science by Mr. 

 T. H. Lennox, of Woodstock, Vermont, and Professor L. H. 

 Bailey, who had the privilege of examining samples of the 

 apples, testifies that they seem to give incontrovertible evi- 

 dence of the immediate effect of cross-fertilization. Of course, 

 some interesting questions arise, and Mr. Lennox wonders 

 why the pollen, which acts directly upon the ovule, should so 

 profoundly affect the receptacle and calyx which make up the 

 fleshy part of the apple. Equally difficult, too, is it to under- 

 stand why cross-fertilization, which one would think must 

 frequently occur in Apple-trees, should in this instance pro- 

 duce mixed fruits, while in a thousand cases it has no appre- 

 ciable effect whatever. Professor Bailey adds that he had 

 never before been convinced that such immediate effect in 

 flavor and other varietal characteristics could occur, but he is 

 now satisfied that this is possible, although it is certainly rare, 

 and therefore exceptional. 



