398 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 449. 



flowers white, with a slight tinge of red. It will be a fine thing 

 to grow as an isolated specimen on a lawn, and very goodalso 

 for cutting, and especially for the so-called "Mackart bouquets." 

 Leucophyllum Texanum is also a very valuable shrub, both 

 for its graceful silvery foliage and pretty purple flowers, and 

 well deserves to be spread in our gardens. Concerning color 

 in foliage, while our native Californian trees cannot compete, to 

 be sure, with the exuberant display of color of the eastern 

 forests (with one exception only, and that not too desirable, the 

 Poison Oak, Rhus diversiloba), what immense resources trees 

 from abroad are going to prepare to future landscape-artists 

 in this privileged region ! A mere intuition can be had at 

 present with the shining silver of Leucodendron argenteum, 

 the rich bronze of Croton tiglium, the coppery tints of Cedrela 

 Dugesii, of Ficus princeps and F. Bengalensis, the rose-colored 

 new growth of Aleurites Moluccana and of Bauhinia Vahlii, the 

 brown velvet of Rhopala Corcovadensis and a host of others, 

 which are gathering here from every corner of the world. 



Santa Barbara, Calif. F. FrailcescM. 



American Plums. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The better varieties of American Plums in cultiva- 

 tion deserve more general recognition than has been here- 

 tofore accorded them. There are none of the varieties which 

 can displace such standards of European parentage as Lom- 

 bard, Bradshaw, Italian Prune and Damson, but many of 

 them are worth growing in addition to the varieties named; 

 and to the somewhat large class of growers with whom the 

 European varieties are not a success, the Americana, Wild 

 Goose and Chickasaw varieties are a valuable resource. Espe- 

 cially where fruit-trees are compelled to bear great inclemen- 

 cies of climate the superior hardiness of American species 

 will strongly commend them. In this section of Vermont all 

 the varieties of the Domestica class have failed this year, only 

 a very few well-protected Damsons and fewer Russians re- 

 maining to be excepted ; but those growers here and there 

 who have planted native varieties had heavy crops. In the 

 orchard of Mr. L. M. Macomber, at North Ferrisburgh, I saw 

 trees of Wolf, Wolf Seedlings, Minnesota, and also of Potta- 

 wottomie and Robinson loaded as heavily as they could possi- 

 bly bear. Still larger quantities were grown by Mr. Holmes, at 

 Shelburne, who shipped many crates to the Burlington market, 

 where they retailed at $2 75 and $3 00a bushel. With such prices 

 as these, and with trees which bear as abundantly as most varie- 

 ties of Prunus Americana, there could hardly be a more profit- 

 able orchard block. At Dr. Hoskins' place, which has become 

 famous as a testing-ground for ironclads, I saw also trees of 

 DeSoto thoroughly loaded with fruit. I should say, however, 

 that Dr. Hoskins has also several Russian varieties of Prunus 

 domestica which bore this year. 



It is somewhat interesting that Chickasaw varieties, which are 

 of southern origin, should succeed so far north as Vermont. 

 Some of the finest plums I have seen this year were of this 

 species. I think, in general, the table qualities of the Chicka- 

 saws are superior to those of Americana varieties, although 

 when properly cooked, canned, preserved or made into jelly, 

 many of them are unquestionably palatable. I have seen no 

 plums of the Wild Goose class in this section. My recollection 

 dwells with considerable fondness upon the plums which we 

 used to gather along the sand-hills of the Arkansas River in 

 western Kansas, and which probably represent Professor Sar- 

 gent's Prunus Watsoni. Many of these fruits were very supe- 

 rior, I am sure. They have been quite generally cultivated 

 locally, and a very few varieties have been named and propa- 

 gated. They have never been widely distributed, however, 

 and most horticulturists would find them a decided novelty. 



Those who would discourage the planting of native Plums 

 present the argument that they are not good for table use, and 

 that they are not salable. Neither statement is more than 

 partly true. Any number of good judges will testify to their 

 culinary excellence, while the record of sales given above is a 

 sufficient answer to the second point. 



Vermont Experiment Station. F. A. Wailgh. 



The Wild Flower Garden. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — To a lover of wild flowers many of the cultivated forms 

 generally found in small gardens lack something of that irre- 

 sistible charm possessed by the best of their indigenous rela- 

 tives, which, however, we rarely see in cultivation. There 

 seems to be a strong desire to obtain new and rare plants 

 from foreign countries for the sake of having that which is 

 unusual and not possessed by every one. There is, however, 



a slight, though increasing, tendency on the part of our 

 nurserymen and plant dealers to include in their lists many 

 of our common Ferns, flowering plants, as well as many 

 native shrubs and trees which were never propagated for sale 

 a few years ago. 



A corner, at least, of every garden should be devoted to 

 hardy native herbaceous plants. No flower has a more deli- 

 cate grace than the nodding wild Columbine. Though its 

 native habitat is the rocky hilltop, in sun or partial shade, it 

 will thrive equally well in the garden. I have seen it grow and 

 flower profusely along the north side of a building scarcely 

 ever reached by the sun. This season I chanced to come upon 

 a fine plant of Rue Anemone while roaming over a rocky 

 hill. The flowers were well opened, but I took it home and 

 gave it a place in the garden, and for nearly two weeks it was 

 a source of great delight, being a mass of continual bloom 

 and very attractive. 



The Bird-foot Violet, Viola pedata, thrives well in cultivation, 

 where it is inclined to grow much larger than in its native 

 habitat. It is usually found only upon dry and rocky eleva- 

 tions where there is little soil. This may, perhaps, account 

 for its small size. In a rich garden soil, however, one would 

 scarcely recognize it, though still beautiful. Both leaves and 

 blossoms are much larger, the plant frequently growing to 

 twice or three times its ordinary height, and it is very pretty 

 when used as an edging or grown in masses. 



Ferns may be transplanted successfully at any time during 

 the season, though probably best done in late autumn or early 

 spring. For shady situations very attractive borders may 

 be formed with such as the Ostrich, Cinnamon, Sensitive, 

 Christmas, Maiden-hair and Regal Ferns. Of these the Ostrich 

 Fern is the largest and most conspicuous. 



New Haven, Conn. W. E. Brittoil. 



A Factory Garden. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir, — There are not many instances in this country where 

 the waste land adjoining a factory has been transformed into a 

 park; usually the ground is most unattractive. An exception 

 to this is found in the little village of Bay State, adjoining 

 Northampton, where the proprietor of a large cutlery factory, 

 W. W. Lee, Esq., has for several years maintained a tract of 

 land some four or five acres in extent as a small public park. 

 It is of easy access. A carriage-drive encircles the whole place. 

 The open spaces are kept well mown, and large clumps of 

 Arundos and other ornamental Grasses are used with good 

 effect. But Mr. Lee's chief hobby is Water-lilies, and these 

 he grows to the greatest perfection. One large circular pond 

 is used for the tender Nymphasas. This pond is heated by a 

 coil of steam pipes placed in the bottom of the pond, the 

 steam being supplied from the factory. I never saw a finer 

 specimen of the Victoria regia than the one he grew in this 

 pond last year. A bed of tall-growing Carinas and Castor-oil 

 Plants encircles this pond at a distance of ten feet, to form a 

 wind-break, while between the bed and the pond are planted 

 at intervals clumps of Bambusa Metake, Cyperus papyrus, 

 Gunnera scabra and Colocasia Antiquorum. 



Two other ponds are filled with hardy Lilies and Nelum- 

 biums, one of which is situated at the bottom of a lovely dell, 

 where flowers and Ferns grow in the greatest profusion and 

 luxuriance. Beyond a little judicious thinning out no other 

 attempt is made to improve this charming spot. 



Mr. Lee has a unique device for keeping his Ferns and 

 flowers moist on the banks skirting the dell. An ordinary 

 water-pipe is laid along the top of the bank, which is perfo- 

 rated with holes ten inches apart, just allowing the water to 

 trickle down the bank. The coal-sheds and other outbuildings 

 are all screened off from view by a trellis some ten feet high, 

 covered with Clematis paniculata, and a glorious sight this 

 is when in flower, while the factory itself is covered with Am- 

 pelopsis Veitchi. 



Two fine specimens of the Laurel-leaved Willow, planted 

 from cuttings ten years ago, are now about twenty-five feet in 

 height. This should be more extensively used, as it forms a 

 well-shaped tree and its leaves are of a deep shining green, 

 somewhat resembling a Portugal Laurel. Near the entrance 

 to the factory are circular beds of some good herbaceous 

 plants, each bed containing only one kind of plant. A bed of 

 Chrysanthemum uliginosum was just coming into bloom, 

 while another was gay with the scarlet flowers of Monarda 

 didyma. This place is greatly appreciated, not only by the 

 residents of the village, but by the citizens of Northampton, 

 and, no doubt, it exerts a wholesome influence on the neigh- 

 borhood. 



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



