October 21, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



427 



son (see p. 364), from a specimen grown under glass at Kew. 

 His description tallies well with the appearance of the trees 

 grown in the open air at Santa Monica. It may be added, 

 however, that the seed-capsules are larger and even more 

 remarkable than those of Eucalyptus ficifolia, though more 

 sparsely borne. They are some two inches or more in length, 

 an inch in diameter, rudely goblet-shaped and slightly con- 

 stricted at about two-thirds of their length from the pedun- 

 cular end. The outer integument on the dry capsule is gray- 

 green, hard and rough. Underneath this is hard, brown, 

 fibrous tissue, which takes a polish almost like brier wood. 

 These pods make excellent pipe-bowls, and can be utilized 

 also for umbrella-handles and the like. The species endures 

 several degrees of frost and grows more rapidly than E. fici- 

 folia, with which it may be ranked for ornamental purposes. 

 As to more general utility, reports from Australia ascribe 

 considerable value to the timber, which is said to be hard, 

 close-grained and finely veined. 



Santa Monica, Calif. John H. Barber. 



Notes on Watsonias. 



TV/fY experience with Watsonias has been confined to a few 

 "*■ of the species. I have not tried the new variety offered 

 this year by Messrs. Wallace & Co., and spoken of so highly 

 by Mr. Watson in the issue of Garden and Forest for Octo- 

 ber 7th, but if I find it no better than most of such as I have 

 grown I shall not value it highly. Watsonia Meriana and its 

 varieties are too much like Gladioli of a poor strain to be worth 

 growing more than once, and W. humilis is not much better, 

 though the aspect of the bulbs with their coarse-fibred coats 

 is of some interest, as is the firm, rigid foliage, which in some 

 species is spirally twisted. These bulbs are not very free- 

 flowering unless they are kept much wanner during their sea- 

 son of rest than is necessary with Gladioli. There is, however, 

 one species of the Gladiolus-leaved series which is worthy of 

 a high place among flowering bulbs, namely, W. angusta. It 

 makes a spike of exceedingly brilliant scarlet flowers about 

 two inches or a trifle less in diameter. The tint varies a little 

 in different individuals, but all are beautiful. I lost the few I 

 had some years ago and have not been able as yet to get a 

 fresh supply, some form of W. Meriana being furnished in- 

 stead of the true species. Of the smaller-flowered section I 

 have grown only one species, W. aletroides, a kind of lower 

 and slenderer growth, bearing a spike of rose-colored flowers, 

 a little tinged with purple at the tips. These flowers are nearly 

 cylindrical and drooping and remind one somewhat of Lache- 

 nalias. I was surprised to find this species hardy. It came 

 up and flowered yearly until, through my own neglect, it was 

 smothered and killed by Witch Grass. One more species only 

 I have grown, W. fistulosa, ranked by Mr. Baker as a Micran- 

 thus. This is an interesting species, but not handsome enough 

 to be worth keeping long. Its foliage consists of erect, round 

 hollow leaves, and the flowers are very small and crowded in 

 the spike. The specimen which I had was blue-flowered, not 

 red, as Mr. Baker describes it. - 



Canton, Mass. W. E. EndlCOtt. 



California Irises. — Failure to establish Iris Hartwegii, I. Mac- 

 rosiphon and, perhaps, other California Irises, has been so 

 general that it will interest gardeners to know that Herr Max 

 Leichtlin has lately taken them in hand and solved the prob- 

 lem of their successful cultivation, so that now " they grow 

 like weeds " in his garden. He says that " plants are received 

 in Europe from their native quarters quite fresh and healthy- 

 looking, but I have treated such plants several times and they 

 always died. My experience is that they cannot be success- 

 fully moved unless they are in full vegetation. We must grow 

 them from seed and not touch the seedlings before they have 

 formed a solid root-stock ; after this, and when movement to 

 again grow has begun, they can be safely handled and trans- 

 planted like other Irises; in May in Baden-Baden. They want 

 sunny quarters. This spring I had plants with twelve or twenty 

 flowers open at one time in all shades of ochre and cream. 

 They are very striking plants." 



Elizabeth, N.J. J . IV. Gerard. 



The Japanese Wineberry. — This plant, Rubus Phcenicolasius, 

 which has lately been the subject of much notice, is a most 

 useful addition to our fruits, even in its present form, and it is 

 reasonable to hope that it will improve considerably under 

 cultivation. It prolongs the berry season, and producing com- 

 paratively small seeds, it is superior to blackberries and rasp- 

 berries for canning, preserving, wine and jelly. It is also 

 hardy, ornamental and prolific, and is subject to attack from 

 few diseases or insects. During the past season it came into 



full bearing after the main crop of raspberries had been mar- 

 keted, and in New York city, where the fruit was previously 

 unknown, it readily brought ten cents a quart to the growers. 

 Floral Park, N. Y. M. Barker. 



Correspondence. 



Along our Roadsides. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — It is quite a general custom among many of our 

 property owners to attempt to beautify our roadsides by going 

 over them with scythe and axe, shearing everything close to 

 the bank, or, perhaps, leaving a straight row of trees a certain 

 distance apart, whose matured size will encroach on the road 

 or, perhaps, interfere with the telegraph-wires, and eventually 

 subject them to the pruning butcher. This shearing treat- 

 ment of roadsides, with the firing that is often practiced, must 

 exterminate many of our native plants, or, at least, banish 

 them from places where they are most desirable. After three 

 years of judicial pruning and trimming of the roadsides here 

 around the Pitcairn estate we are highly gratified with the 

 growth and variety of plants which are now covering them. 

 On one side of the road Sassafras, Cornus florida, Viburnum 

 acerifolium and V. dentatum are spreading, the latter espe- 

 cially desirable, being a compact shrub, with erect branches 

 about eight or ten feet high, with large cymes of white flowers 

 which are followed in the autumn with bright blue fruit. The 

 Sheep-berry, V. prunifolium, is also very plentiful and desira- 

 ble. Prunus serotina, P. Virginiana and Celtis occidentalis 

 have attained a height of four and five feet from mere shoots 

 a few inches high two summers ago. The showy Rhus 

 glabra is establishing itself very freely. Rubus Canadensis 

 and R. villosus have made a wonderful growth, and I find many 

 waste places along the roadside where they are invaluable. 



Among the Roses, Rosa Iucida is the most plentiful, and 

 masses of it can be found fifty feet in length. Plants of the 

 Sweetbrier are abundant, as is also R. Carolina. Sambucus 

 Canadensis, although common, is one of the best of shrubs. 

 But of all the plants for bank covering none can compete with 

 Lonicera Japonica. Although it is not a native plant.it has 

 become established here, and even threatens to strangle many 

 of our native shrubs. In this section of Pennsylvania it is so 

 thoroughly naturalized that one would suppose it was a native. 

 It extends over large areas, and as I write, in August, there are 

 considerable masses of white and cream-colored flowers. In 

 one place it is seen clambering over a lot of old Cedars, and 

 in another it has festooned itself from one Catalpa-tree to 

 another on the summit of a high bank, and as one drives along 

 the highway, about forty feet below, they are very picturesque. 

 I have propagated and collected it very freely and introduced 

 it all along our roadsides. The only attention it gets is a cut- 

 ting with the scythe or sickle once or twice a year. 



Virginia Creeper is making an excellent ground cover, and 

 Vitis Labruscn has within three years covered a space of 

 ground fifteen feet square. Of herbaceous plants, Linaria 

 vulgaris, Asclepias quadrifolia, Hypericum perfoliatum, Rud- 

 beckia hirta, Baptisia tinctoria, Eupatoriums, Asters, Soli- 

 dagos, Strawberries and Potentillas, all of which are most 

 pleasing in their struggling efforts to cover and beautify the 

 ground. 



Huntingdon Valley, Pa. 



L. F. Homer. 



Notes from Botanical Garden at Smith College. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — In the collection of tropical plants which are planted 

 out in the large Palm-house here are three species of Musa, 

 namely, M. paradisiaca, M. Chinensis (Cavendishi) and M. tex- 

 tilis. All have made phenomenal growth this season. They 

 were planted about the last week in April, when M. paradisiaca 

 was about four feet high, a mere sucker in a ten-inch pot. It 

 now measures twenty feet in height, with leaves eight feel 

 long by two and a half wide, while the stem at one foot 

 from the ground is twenty-seven inches in circumference. 

 M. Chinensis was also a small plant, about three feet in height ; 

 it is now ten feet tall, with leaves five feet long by two and 

 a half wide. This species is naturally dwarf-growing. M. 

 textihs, which was in an eight-inch pot and about two feet high 

 when planted out, is now twelve feet in height, with leaves five 

 feet six inches long and eighteen inches across, and has sev- 

 eral suckers almost as large as the parent plant. This species 

 is admirably adapted for use with other tropical plants. Ii 

 not grow to the proportions of the taller species, but the stems 

 and leaves, which are of a grayish-green color, have a partic- 



