448 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 454. 



extra fine; Consul H. Prost, dark carmine, with violet centre ; 

 Duguestin, a distinct shade of violet, with light border ; E. 

 Schmidt, pure white, large carmine centre, of the finest size 

 and very desirable ; Esclamonde, rosy lilac, shaded white, with 

 purple centre ; E. Levavasseur, creamy white, large panicles ; 

 Garteninspector Elpel, dark rose, with blood-red eye, a superb 

 variety; Jourdan, rosy violet, large white halo, a choice flower ; 

 H. O. Wijers, white, with blood-red eye ; Kossuth, rosy-tinted 

 salmon, large panicles ; M. Kind, large flower, salmon-red, 

 shaded vermilion ; Madame E. Love, fine white, dwarf, one of 

 the best ; Orientale, lilac-rose, with white eye, quite distinct ; 

 Obergartener Wittig, dark rose, marbled white, with carmine 

 eye ; Pantheon, large, tender, rose, very choice ; Peter Hen- 

 derson, light purple-violet, large flower, distinct ; Pierre Loti, 

 dark rosy carmine, large panicles ; Simplon, carmine-salmon, 

 centre purple ; William Robinson, rosy salmon, large violet 

 centre, one of the best. ,_„. _ . , 



Riverion, N. T- William Tricker. 



A Dwarf Stock for the Peach. 



THE chief hope for Peach growing in climates where the 

 flower-buds are habitually killed in winter, lies in securing 

 a stock that will dwarf the tree sufficiently to render winter 

 protection practicable. For some years past I have been en- 

 deavoring to find such a stock. My first hope lay in the dwarf 

 Flowering Almond, Prunus Japonica (?), but with this I failed 

 to secure a union with buds of the Peach. I would not say 

 that the Peach cannot be successfully budded on this stock, 

 but repeated efforts here in Wisconsin resulted in failure. I 

 inserted a total of several hundred buds in four different trees 

 without securing a union in a single instance. Budding in our 

 dry and warm summer weather is much more difficult than in 

 the eastern states, and it is possible that the Peach may be 

 budded on the Flowering Almond in a climate more favorable 

 for budding. 



I next tried a form of the Sand Cherry, grown from pits pro- 

 cured in western Iowa. This shrub is quite dwarf, attaining a 

 height of only two or three feet. Professor Bailey pronounces 

 it Prunus Besseyi, the same species to which the so-called 

 Improved Dwarf Rocky Mountain Cherry belongs. With this 

 stock I have been more successful. I inserted a few buds in 

 it in 1893, and while I had less expectation of success than with 

 the Flowering Almond, I succeeded much better. The Peach 

 grew vigorously on this stock, and by the second year had 

 attained the height of about five feet. The past season, 

 although the best growing season we have had for some 

 years, the Peach-trees on this stock have scarcely increased in 

 height. They have branched rather -thickly, and at present 

 are well filled with flower-buds, from which I infer that they 

 will probably not grow larger than they now are. At this 

 height the trees are readily protected by digging away suffi- 

 cient earth from the roots, so that the trunk may be bent down 

 readily, when the whole is covered with earth. The trees 

 blossomed the past spring and set some fruit, though the fruit 

 failed to mature. 



I am also trying Prunus subcordata and a dwarf form of P. 

 maritima, but with what success remains to be seen. 



Experiment Station, Madison, Wis. E. S. Goff. 



Correspondence. 



Lilium Washingtonianum. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — This is a Lily of the high mountains of California and 

 Oregon. In California it is found only in the Sierra Nevada 

 from San Bernardino County north to Mount Shasta, while in 

 Oregon and Washington it is confined to the Cascades, the 

 lofty northern continuation of the Sierra Nevada range. In 

 all cases its home is to be found in the higher, cooler regions, 

 the upper Pine forests, or in the thickets of Wild Cherry, Man- 

 zanita and Ceanothus, still higher up, regions where the snow- 

 fall is great and melts slowly, and a long period of root-growth 

 is insured. In such places its strong stalk is pushed up 

 quickly as the melting snow gives it the opportunity, and 

 rising to a height of five lo seven feet in June, July or August, 

 according to climate, its grand white flowers are unfolded, 

 perfuming the air for miles around. I once saw 10,000 on a 

 single great mountain slope in brush, a count that I can better 

 vouch for as I transferred the bulbs to sacks at a later period. 



Lilium Washingtonianum proper has three variations of 

 importance : The type is white-flowered, with purple dots, and 

 has a very large horizontal bulb. Bulbs of this often measure 



ten to eighteen inches around, and weigh from ten ounces to 

 two pounds. 



About Mount Shasta there is a variety with flowers and 

 stalk like the type, but with little bulbs, seldom over two 

 ounces in weight, and averaging less than an ounce for flow- 

 ering bulbs. 



Plants of Lilium Washingtonianum in Oregon and Wash- 

 ington have, according to my observation, broader, more 

 ovate, leaves ; I find, too, that many of the scales on them are 

 jointed ; those in the Sierra Nevada seldom are. Some scales 

 are two or three jointed, and the joints easily separable. 



About Mount Hood, in Oregon, the variety Purpureum is 

 found. This is quite a different Lily from the Lilium rubes- 

 cens of the northern Californian Coast Range, with which it is 

 often confounded. In bulb and stalk it is like the type. The 

 flowers either open a light purple or a white, spotted and suf- 

 fused with purple, and quickly becoming a deep purple 

 throughout. 



In addition to these varieties, an occasional yellow-flowered 

 sport is found in the California Sierras. 



One of the most striking instances of the adaptation of plants 

 to changed surroundings came to my notice recently. I received 

 a consignment of Lilium Washingtoniaum bulbs from a col- 

 lector in the main Willamette Valley, in Oregon. This is the 

 largest valley of Oregon, a broad plain many miles wide. The 

 size of the bulbs and the large number of double or triple 

 bulbs attracted my attention. Some of the bulbs were im- 

 mense, and as many as five large bulbs were together. A letter 

 of inquiry brought the following answer : 



" I would say that all that grow here in the valley grow in 

 cultivated fields; they do not seem to thrive in pastures, or 

 even along the fence-rows. Every bulb that I have dug has 

 been dug in a field. Their native home is far up among the 

 mountains, in loose, untrodden soil. Fifteen years ago I knew 

 of their growing in only one field in the upper Willamette 

 Valley. They were much noted and admired. From that field 

 they have spread over the surrounding valley in spots. They 

 cannot be said to be very plentiful yet, but the situation seems 

 to suit them perfectly. They usually grow in clumps and some 

 are always injured by the plow." 



I may add to my correspondent's interesting remarks that 

 the soil is gravelly, or somewhat sandy. Of course, the cause 

 of the double bulbs is the injuries from the plow, causing the 

 bulbs to "break up." Evidently, the Lilies flower and seed in 

 grain-fields before the grain is cut, and if so there is no limit 

 to their spread, as under prevailing agricultural methods they 

 would soon be below the plow limit. In California and Oregon 

 it is customary to sow grain one season and to merely seed 

 and harrow the second year, thus giving the Lily seedlings two 

 years in which to get below the shallow plowing in vogue. 

 The mature bulbs grow from six to twelve inches down and 

 are perfectly safe. The bulbs will be in very firm, packed 

 soil. The whole incident is suggestive to cultivators. Lilium 

 Washingtonianum has always been regarded as a difficult sub- 

 ject to grow, but if it will thrive under such conditions as my 

 correspondent has outlined the grower need not despair. I 

 may add that outof six hundred bulbs from gravelly soil 169 

 were from ten to sixteen inches in circumference and averag- 

 ing twelve ounces in weight, while 331 were from seven to ten 

 inches in circumference and averaged six ounces in weight. 



Ukiah, Cahf. Carl Purdy. 



A Good Variety of the Jerusalem Artichoke. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — For several years I have grown an improved Artichoke 

 with the best results, and I consider it the best of all roots for 

 hogs. My plan is to feed all the artichokes the swine can eat 

 until just before killing, when a few bushels of corn are given 

 to harden the meat. This plan saves many bushels of corn. 

 One acre will keep from twenty to thirty hogs from September 

 until June in healthy and generally good condition. For cattle, 

 horses and sheep there is not a better root grown. One acre 

 will yield from three hundred to seven hundred bushels of 

 tubers, depending, of course, on the fertility of the soil, 

 although immense quantities are produced in any soil. Low 

 land which is too frosty for Corn is entirely suitable, as freezing 

 does not injure them. Drought seems to have but little effect 

 on the plants. 



The Improved White Artichoke originated in Europe, where 

 it is largely grown for domestic use as well as for stock. It is 

 entirelydistinct from the native or wild variety commonly culti- 

 vated. It grows about six feet high, and is covered in autumn 

 with its yellow flowers, which in this country never mature 

 seed. There is thus no danger of the roots covering the farm. 



