72 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 592. 



maturity was due indirectly to its attacks. Among the pears 

 affected severely were Bartlett. Seckel, Flemish Beauty, 

 White Doyenne, while Angouleme and Anjou were less se- 

 verely attacked. In some instances tlie entire crop of Seckel 

 pears was lost. The fruit-rot of Clierry. Plum and Peach, 

 which is caused by the same fungus, was specially destructive 

 to plums and sometimes destroyed half the crop. Lombard, 

 Gueii, Bavay's Green Gage and Yellow Egg were mentioned 

 specially as being badly attacked. — Report of Committee on 

 Botany and Fruit Diseases. 



Notes. 



Probably house-plants are more frequently injured by too 

 much than by too little water, but now that the days are 

 getting longer, it is advisable to push them into growth, and, 

 therefore, the supply of water should be increased with the 

 supply of light. 



Mr. Ryokichi Yatabe, of Tokio, has recently issued the third 

 part of Volume I. of his Iconographia Florce JaponiccB. The 

 te.xt, in Japanese and English, is illustrated by full-page engrav- 

 ings, and plants, indigenous to Japan, belonging to seventeen 

 orders, are described. 



A recent issue of the Moniteur Viticole brings us the statistics 

 of last year's vintage throughout France. Fifty thousand more 

 acres were under vineyard cultivation than in 1891, but the 

 estimated yield was less than in that year, although superior 

 to the yields of 1889 and 1890. In the seventy-six departments 

 where wine is made, the total product of 1892 is said to have 

 been about 654,348,015 gallons, as against 679,115,000 in 1891 

 and 616,660,000 in 1890. The vintage of 1892 is said to have 

 been remarkably good in quality, alike in the Burgundy dis- 

 tricts, in the Marne districts, where most of the champagne is 

 made, and in the Pyrenean regions. 



Monsieur Naudin sends us fresh seeds of Phcenix Sene- 

 galensis which, he writes, fruited last season for the first time 

 in Provence, the flowers having been fertilized through the 

 agency of insects with pollen from the allied Phoenix Canarien- 

 sis. The fruit of Phcenix Senegalensis is a small black date 

 with soft sweet flesh and a flavor similar to that of the dates 

 of commerce, the fruit of Phoenix dactylifera. The flesh, 

 however, is so thin and the nut so large, that the fruit is 

 scarcely edible, although cultivation, or perhaps hybridization, 

 with Phoenix dactylifera will possibly, as our learned corre- 

 spondent suggests, improve it. The experiment is certainly 

 worth making. 



From the annual report of Her Highness the Maharana of 

 Oodeypore, as quoted in the Gardeners' Chronicle, it appears 

 that native ladies are very fond of decking their hair with 

 the gorgeous scarlet flowers of Butea frondosa. When 

 this plant is in flower all the jungles look like a blaze of fire. 

 In some jungles, too, there are Bauliiniasof sorts which come 

 in flower at the same time as the Butea. The lilac flowers of 

 the Bauhinias and the scarlet flowers of the Buteas are very 

 beautiful. Lantana alba and Poinciana pulcherrima growing 

 side by side on the hill, together with Gloriosa superba, make 

 the natural blending of color in this wild country truly grand. 

 The dripping ghauts are filled with such Ferns as Adiantum 

 Capillus-veneris, A. caudatum, Actiniopteris radiata, a hand- 

 some little silvery Fern, Cheilanthes farmosa and Pteris longi- 

 folia, growing almost side by side. 



Of the Geneva Grape, sent out six years ago by Messrs. R. G. 

 Chase 5l Co., Mr. Carman writes that it is one of the few varie- 

 ties containing the blood of Vitis vinifera which thrive on his 

 grounds. The striking characteristic of the berries is their 

 translucency. So nearly transparent are they, that the seeds of 

 those grown in paper bags can be distinctly seen. The skin 

 has little bloom and is of firm texture, although thin ; the berry 

 is large, often obovate, with few seeds, usually two, and these 

 separate easily from the flesh, which has an agreeable, sprightly 

 flavor. It ripens early and seems to resist mildew. Mr. 

 Josiah Hoopes is quoted as saying that it perfected last year a 

 larger crop than any other variety on his grounds. Its origina- 

 tor claims that the Geneva is the result of a cross upon a wild 

 Labrusca vine fertilized with Muscat of Alexandria, the 

 progeny being again crossed with lona. The berry is a clear 

 amber color. 



We have received the first issue of The Western Garden, 

 a handsomely printed quarto of sixteen pages, published in 

 South Denver, Colorado — a monthly journal edited for and 

 adapted to the peculiar needs of horticulture in the dry 



climate of the west. On the title-page is a half-tone print from 

 a photograph of the Rocky Mountain Columbine, the state 

 flower of Colorado, and apparently Aquilegia cojrulea, al- 

 though the editor tells us that it is " a different variety from 

 any Columbine grown in the east, the size of the blossom be- 

 ing much larger, and the plant of much thriftier and much 

 hardier growth." Two capital illustrations, representing 

 Chrysanthemum niveum and Mrs. E. T. Adams, beautify the 

 pages of this first issue of our new contemporary, which has 

 a useful field to itself, and the best opportunity to make known 

 the horticultural value of many Rocky Mountain plants still 

 unfamiliar in gardens, especially the numerous alpine species 

 which form the most interesting feature of the Colorado flora. 



According to the annual crop report of the Statisflcian of 

 the Department of Agriculture, the Dakotas now produce 

 more wheat than was grown in the United States fifty years ago. 

 The exports of last year were greater than the aggregate prod- 

 uct twenty-five years ago. The yield per acre of old lands is 

 increasing, and that of new lands decreasing, and new wheat 

 lands are annually brought into cultivation. Granitic New 

 England, in the few fields cultivated, obtains more per acre 

 than the richest soils of the west. The yield declines fastest 

 in the newest and richest soils, not because of soil exhaustion, 

 but because of its fatness in sdmulating the growth of weeds. 

 The census of 1880 made an average yield of wheat of 13 

 bushels ; that of 1890, when the season was far less favorable 

 and prospects apparently much worse, gives a yield of about 

 14 bushels per acre. With good cultivation and fertilization 

 it should be increased to twenty bushels. Individual farms in 

 Maine report between thirty and forty bushels per acre ; some 

 in New York report thirty-two or more ; and many in Illinois 

 and North Dakota return between twenty and thirty bushels 

 per acre. The rate of yield could readily be increased 

 one-half ; but it will not be till the virgin soils are scratched 

 over after the prevailing practice, misnamed cultivation. The 

 present breadth of wheat, under wise and skillful cultivation, 

 would suffice for double our present population. 



One who cares for choice fruits and vegetables may at this 

 season gratify his taste in New York by purchasing straw- 

 berries at three dollars a dozen, and peaches and apricots from 

 the hot-houses at proportionate prices. He can buy the finest 

 Indian River or Halifax county oranges, cut on the branch 

 with a few leaves, at three dollars a dozen, while Black Ham- 

 burg grapes can be had for two dollars and a quarter a pound. 

 Neighboring growers can furnish good mushrooms for a 

 dollar a pound, Florida sends string beans ; rather stale arti- 

 chokes come from Algiers at forty cents each, and Germany 

 sends Brussels Sprouts of good quality. It appears, how- 

 ever, from a recent article in the New York Tribune that in 

 Paris, at the same season, similar luxuries will make as heavy 

 a demand upon his purse. By paying from eight to ten dollars 

 a peck, a Parisian can have fresh green peas brought from 

 Algiers. Artichokes from the same region are four or five 

 dollars a dozen. A large basket of string beans costs tv/elve 

 dollars, and a bunch of asparagus five. A basket containing 

 six dozen black truffles from Perigord commands twenty 

 dollars, while the same number of white truffles from Milan 

 brings the same price. Fashionable flowers and fruits are 

 quite as costly. The pink Lilac, now in such high favor, costs 

 three dollars a spray, and dark damask Roses — " Roses de 

 velours"- — sold at the New Year for five dollars each. Large 

 strawberries are a dollar and a half a dozen ; a small basket of 

 grapes from Fontainebleau costs five dollars ; red or white cur- 

 rants are three dollars a pound ; hot-house peaches three dol- 

 lars apiece, while for hot-house pine-apples the happy buyer 

 can pay from eight to ten dollars each. 



Catalo^'ues Received. 



R. Douglas & Sons, Waukegan Nurseries, Waukegan, 111. ; Whole- 

 sale Catalogue of Hardy, Ornamental Evergreens, Shade and Orna- 

 mental Trees, Evergreen, Forest and Ornamental Tree Seedlings, 

 Tree Seeds. — Ellwanger& Barry, Mount Hope Nurseries, Rochester, 

 N. Y. ; Fruit and Ornamental Trees, Roses, etc.. New Supplementary 

 Catalogue of Rare and Choice Trees, Shrubs and Roses. — Wm. Baylor 

 Hartland, 24 Patrick Street, Cork, Ireland ; Flower and Vegetable 

 Seeds.— Johnson & Stokes, 217-219 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pa. ; 

 Novelties and Specialties in Vegetables, Choice Flower and Vegetable 

 Seeds. — P. C. Lewis, Catskill, N. Y. ; Combination Force Pump, 

 Powell's Fertilizers.— J. T. Lovett & Co., Little Silver, N. J. ; Fruit 

 Novelties and Wholesale Price List of Small Fruits, Fruit Trees, Orna- 

 mental Trees and Shrubs. — W. W. Rawson & Co., 34 South Market 

 Street, Boston, Mass. ; Vegetable and Flower Seeds. — ^James Vick's 

 Sons, Rochester, N. Y. ; Vick's Floral Guide. — ^Wood Brothers, 

 Fishkill, N. Y. ; Trade List of Plants and Rooted Cuttings. 



