December 16, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



509 



is superior in quality, and has only the fault of bursting its skin 

 when ripe. The Chickasaws, in general, are hardy in Vermont, 

 though not quite as hardy or prolific as the Americana group. 

 Marianna is a pretty plum, but does not bear well. Some of 

 the Japanese Plums are hardy enough for Vermont, but they 

 have not been sufficiently tested. 



Mr. W. A. Orton, of the Vermont Experiment Station, said 

 that in making the Bordeaux mixture the copper sulphate 

 can be much more rapidly dissolved by hanging it in a sack 

 just touching the surface of the water. This is because 

 the resulting solution is much heavier than the pure water, 

 and sinks rapidly to the bottom. If the copper sulphate is 

 placed in the bottom of the vessel, the lower part of the solu- 

 tion soon becomes saturated and no more copper sulphate is 

 dissolved. The lime and the copper sulphate should he made 

 up separately and each one diluted with one-half the total 

 water required. Then the copper sulphate should always be 

 poured into the lime solution and never the reverse ; for, if 

 an excess of the copper sulphate is present at any time during 

 the mixing, the durability of the mixture is disastrously affected. 

 Bordeaux mixture made in this way will stand much longer 

 without settling than when some other order of procedure is 

 followed. 



Mr. F. H. Horsford, in discussing "The Nurseryman's Re- 

 sponsibility," said that the commercial grower should furnish 

 good, strong healthv stock, true to name and in good condition ; 

 but his responsibility is then at an end. There have been 

 many frauds perpetrated upon the farmers by the tree agents, 

 but for the most part the circumstances make it impossible to 

 fix the responsibility. The planter handles his trees carelessly, 

 paying small attention to labels. The orchard is then neglected, 

 trees are broken down by cattle or storms, and may come up 

 from the roots, so that by the time the trees begin to bear it is 

 quite impossible to discover what the varieties were originally 

 supposed to be. Some of these risks fall upon the nursery- 

 man, who, in self-protection, must ask a higher price for his 

 goods. 



Professor W. M. Munson presented "Some Problems of 

 Experimental Horticulture," saying that practical horticultur- 

 ists and experiment station workers should frankly under- 

 stand among themselves what are the most promising lines of 

 investigation. The common tendency to press the stations 

 for immediate and practical results is wrong. As examples 

 for legitimate investigation he instanced the influences of 

 stock on scion, the conditions of pollination, hybrid char- 

 acters, subjects on which it is desirable to make positive gen- 

 eralizations, but on which our observations are still too few 

 and inaccurate to enable us to generalize at all. Then the 

 whole field of plant-breeding teems with problems. There 

 is a fine opening for experimental enterprise in the acclima- 

 tization of exotic fruits and the amelioration of native ones. 

 De Candolle wrote in the Origin of Cultivated Plants that 

 there were only two native plants in cultivation in America, 

 one being the Artichoke. Since that time we have brought 

 into common cultivation the Blackberries, Raspberries, Goose- 

 berries, Strawberries, Plums, Persimmons, Grapes and 

 dozens of others. Yet we have made only a beginning in this 

 direction. 



Recent Publications. 



An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United Stales, Canada 

 and the British Possessions, from Newfoundland to the 

 Parallel of the Southern Boundary of Virginia, and from the 

 Atlantic Ocean weshvard to the 10 2d Meridian. By Nathaniel 

 Lord Britton, Ph. D., and Hon. Addison Brown. The 

 descriptive text, chiefly prepared by Professor Britton, with 

 the assistance of specialists in several groups ; the figures 

 also drawn under his supervision. In three volumes. 

 Vol. I., Ophioglossacese to Aizoacece. New York: Charles 

 Scribner's Sons. 1896. 



In few regions of the world are the students of systematic 

 botany better provided with books for the study of the 

 plants around them than in our northern states.' To the 

 list of our many excellent manuals and Floras is now 

 added a treatise differing so much in plan from any of its 

 predecessors that its publication cannot fail to mark an 

 epoch in our botanical history. It aims to present the 

 latest views of classification and nomenclature as applied 

 to our plants, together with complete illustration of every 

 species described. The magnitude of the undertaking will 

 be appreciated when it is considered that 4,000 species are 



to be thus treated, the present volume including about one- 

 third of this number. 



The advantage of supplementing botanical descriptions 

 with figures placed in juxtaposition is so obvious that its 

 adoption was one of the earliest devices of phytography, 

 being the method of Brunfels, Fuchs and other fathers of 

 the science. Their figures, though to-day chiefly studied 

 in relation to the history of wood-engraving, are no less 

 interesting in connection with the development of botani- 

 cal illustration. In modern times the use of the more 

 elaborate plate separated from the text has in great measure 

 superseded that of the woodcut, and complete illustration 

 of a Flora by the latter method has been rarely attempted 

 on an extensive scale. The most notable example of its 

 employment is, perhaps, Bentham s Handbook of the British 

 Flora, in which every description is accompanied by an 

 admirable figure from the experienced hand of Fitch. This 

 work has so greatly aided the popular study of plants in 

 England that the desire for a work on the same plan for 

 the older portion of our own country has been often 

 expressed. This now, thanks to the munificence of Judge 

 Brown and the energy of Dr. Britton and his coadjutors, is 

 fulfilled. 



The difficulties of such an undertaking are hardly realized 

 by those without experience in this kind of work. The prepara- 

 tion of adequate figures on the small scale necessitated,though 

 made easier by the use of modern photographic processes, 

 is still one of the hardest tasks of botanical draughtsman- 

 ship. To be satisfactory, such figures must seize on the 

 most essential characters of the subject, presenting them 

 simply, clearly and properly differentiated from those of 

 its congeners. The analyses should be most judicially 

 selected, for much must be omitted that would be desirable 

 if space allowed. The author of the text also has many 

 obstacles to contend against. The mere typographical 

 exigencies that force him to resort to a Procrustean method 

 of fitting his descriptions to the page, depriving him of the 

 freedom to expand here or curtail there, must at times 

 seriously interfere with the relative proportion desirable in 

 the component parts of his work. 



That these and many other difficulties have, in the ma'in, 

 been overcome with so much success in the work before 

 us is cause for congratulation. The immense number of 

 species dealt with precluded the possibility of the figures 

 being all drawn by the same hand. As a result their value 

 is unequal; this is evident at a glance. Actual use in the 

 hands of students must decide upon their trustworthiness. 

 In the mean time it is safe to commend many of the illus- 

 trations, especially those in the families of Grasses and 

 Sedges, where the subjects lend themselves readily to com- 

 pressed treatment. Less satisfactory, it seems to us, are the 

 figures of the Conifers and Orchids, and the Oaks, in many 

 cases, seem drawn from unrepresentative specimens. 



In the text we have a presentation of the latest phases of 

 classification and nomenclature. Whatever difference of 

 opinion may be held respecting the latter, few botanists 

 will fail to welcome the adoption of the Engler s\«|em of 

 classification. It is a pleasure to see our plants mawPaled 

 under its guidance. In regard to the nomenclature adopted, 

 no such concurrence of opinion can be expected at the 

 present time, and even the advocates of the new school 

 can hardly claim that the application of the principles they 

 uphold has yet reached perfection. In that portion of the 

 work dealing with our specialty, for instance, we note one 

 or two slips in this regard. The name Taxus minor can- 

 not surely supplant Taxus Canadensis, Marshall, and Picea 

 rubra will hardly stand if the rule "once a synonym, 

 always a synonym," is to be enforced. It ma}' also be 

 suspected thatthe figures of P. rubra and P. Mariana have 

 been accidentally transposed. At any rate, to our thinking, 

 they would be more characteristic if changed about. 



In general appearance the volume is extremely attrac- 

 tive. In every detail of mechanical execution it shows a 

 good taste and sound judgment that reflect great credit on 

 all concerned in its production. As the text and illustra- 



