3 82 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 448. 



The report of the joint committee recommends the fol- 

 lowing steps as imperative : 



(1) Thai the high-water surface of the Charles River from 

 the dam at Watertown up to the Dedham line should be made 

 a portion of the Metropolitan Park System ; that measures 

 should be taken to secure a water-level as nearly permanent 

 as possible throughout the warmer months of the year ; that 

 arrangements should be made for the convenient transfer of 

 boats over the dams. (2) That certain lands be taken upon the 

 banks of the river for places of public resort and convenience, 

 and that rights be taken in all the remaining frontage on the 

 river tor the purpose of preventing obnoxious uses of the same. 

 (3) That the whole area so secured be placed under the control 

 ot some public authority having power to protect and im- 

 prove it. 



It will be seen that this report adopts a combination be- 

 tween the methods of restriction and complete ownership 

 of the land. We have no space here to follow the convincing 

 argument by which the joint committee justify their con- 

 clusions. Indeed, throughout this notice we have only 

 given the outlines of a project which seems to trans- 

 form a difficulty into an opportunity for providing a novel 

 and valuable addition to the facilities of a great city for 

 public recreation. There is an admirable map in connec- 

 tion with the report, with statistical tables of great value, 

 and. an interesting paper, by Dr. Thomas, on the problem 

 of public health as affected by the stream. Altogether, 

 the report is worthy of a place in the series of instructive 

 public documents that have been published within late 

 years in reference to the park work about Boston, and it is 

 fruitful in suggestions which ought to be of use to all 

 persons who are interested, officially or otherwise, in pro- 

 viding or maintaining public pleasure grounds for the 

 people of our cities. 



Trees in Visalia, California. 



\7"ISALIA, in Tulare County, is a very interesting town 

 and district. The soil is of extreme fertility, watered 

 by streams from the Sierras, and the growth of trees and 

 plants is surpassed in no other part of California. 



This beautiful region was a vast Oak forest when the 

 pioneer herdsmen came with their cattle, and the ground 

 for miles was covered with almost perennial pasturage, so 

 well watered is this country of the Kaweah delta. Many 

 of the great Oaks (mainly Quercus lobata) still remain. 

 One of the finest of these, about eight miles from Visalia, 

 is forty-eight feet in circumference close to the ground ; 

 thirty-four feet, measured five feet up, and 158 feet high. 

 This is certainly a notable Oak, well worth going on 

 record with some that Garden and Forest has hitherto 

 listed. The park-like Oak groves are as stately as any in 

 California, and some of them will probably long remain, as 

 the land is more valuable in its present condition for dairy- 

 ing than if wholly cleared. 



In the town of Visalia are some very choice specimens 

 of single trees. The very largest and most striking Cedar 

 of Lebanon known to me in California is in the grounds of 

 Mr. R. E. Hyde. This noble tree is not less than seventy- 

 five feet high, and the trunk girths about four and a half 

 feet. It is loaded with cones and has borne seed for, I 

 think, two seasons. Its age is probably twenty-five years 

 from seed, having been planted twenty-three years here. 

 The very rapid growth of this tree will hardly be under- 

 stood by eastern readers, and is, indeed, difficult of belief, 

 but the mild climate, rich soil, long growing season and 

 abundant water are, of course, the determining factors. It 

 stands in a bed of leaf-mold and decayed vegetable matter 

 of unknown depth, brought down by the Sierra rivers into 

 this great inland delta. 



A very large Cork Oak formerly stood in the Visalia 

 court-house yard. This was grown from acorns sent out 

 by the Department of Agriculture some thirty years ago. 

 The construction of a new building made it seem neces- 

 sary to the authorities to cut down this noble exotic Oak, 

 and so Visalia lost its most historic tree. Mr. Hyde's 

 Cedar of Lebanon is now, it seems to me, the finest single 



tree of any species planted in the San Joaquin valley since 

 its occupation by Americans. The finest tree of Spanish 

 planting is probably the great Porterville Fig-tree. 



The orchards of the Visalia region are justly celebrated 

 throughout California. Peach and Apricot trees yield profits 

 the third year after planting. One gentleman told me that 

 he picked from two Apricot-trees 1,684 pounds of salable 

 fruit and also dried 800 pounds of fruit that was too ripe to 

 ship, making a total of 2,484 pounds. A three-year-old 

 Peach-tree yielded 324 pounds, and a Plum-tree of the 

 same age bore eighty-seven pounds. I have seen orchards 

 here in good bearing condition that averaged 600 pounds 

 to each Peach-tree, and from 800 to 1,000 pounds to each 

 Prune-tree. These are low estimates, as whole rows of 

 trees bear more than this. Primus Simoni comes to greater 

 perfection here than in most other parts of California, and 

 at present the demand for shipment can hardly be supplied. 

 Even old California fruit-growers, however, know little 

 about the Visalia district, as it is reached only by small 

 branch railroads from the main line, and has only begun 

 to come into notice during the past few years. It is ex- 

 pected that this town will be on the main line of the new 

 Valley Railroad, and it will probably receive more atten- 

 tion in the future. It is certainly a very prosperous dis- 

 trict, a vast green-islanded oasis in the midst of less 



improved territory. 



Niles, Calif. 



Charles H. Shinn. 



The Sand Dunes of Northern Indiana and their 

 Flora.— 111. 



TAKING the proper fruticose vegetation, we find Cornus 

 Baileyi one of the first to appear upon a forming dune. 

 It grows on when partly buried in the sand, forming new 

 adventitious roots while lengthening its subaerial parts. It 

 may be accompanied by the Red Osier, which is common 

 beside the sloughs and in the damper hollows. The stems 

 of these shrubs sometimes have a mottled look, or are 

 strongly contrasted in color on opposite sides, the sharp 

 sand driven against the windward side wearing off the 

 bright-colored bark wholly or in spots, and exposing a 

 polished surface of the green and freshly growing inner 

 bark. In company with these will be found two Willows, 

 Salix adenophylla and S. glaucophylla, the latter often more 

 abundant than Bailey's Cornel. Both are similar to these 

 Cornels in their mode of growth. The Gland-leaved Willow 

 is the more venturesome of the two, early showing its gray 

 tomentose leaves on some solitary stem or small cluster 

 which has sprung up in sand quite free from other shrubs. 

 S. lucida and S. cordata are not as common, but add to the 

 variety of the more open dunes. The Prairie Willow, S. humi- 

 lis,and the Dwarf Gray Willow, S. tristis, are not uncommon 

 on the more sheltered dunes, where the scanty shade al- 

 lows their ready growth. The Sand Cherry, Prunus pumila, 

 ranks with the shrubs, early taking possession of the dunes. 

 Two of the Grapevines, Vitis cordifolia and V. aestivalis, 

 follow not long afterward. Finding little or no support, 

 the stems lie upon the ground, their free extremities easily 

 moved about by the wind, but serving well to protect the 

 underlying sand by their ample foliage. With these we 

 may place the Bearberry, Arctostaphylos, whose habitu- 

 ally prostrate stems serve a similar purpose. The running 

 form of the Poison Ivy, with subterranean stems a little 

 below the surface, and frequent branches rising a foot or 

 two above it, grows in the same localities. When the large 

 upright shrubs and trees appear, not only do the Grape- 

 vines become more frequent, but other climbing shrubs. 

 The most common of these is Celastrus scandens, which 

 festoons many spots with its bright green leaves. Another 

 is Smilax hispida. whose prickly stems are occasionally 

 seen. Both of these may also take the prostrate form, or 

 manifest their climbing habit by arching or twisting stems. 

 The Fragrant Sumach, Rhus aromatica, is well adapted to 

 these exposed positions, and often has its straggling stems 

 and branches partly covered by the sand heaped about 



