94 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 261. 



The result was most gratifying, as Mr. Grinnell saved very 

 nearly, if not quite, all of the girdled trees. The orchard has 

 thrived and been very productive since, and it is interesting to 

 visit it to-day and see the strange forms of trunks that it con- 

 tains. i\Iany of the trees were evidently repaired with only 

 two cions, on opposite sides, and it was such a one which we 

 photographed for the illustration on p. 91. In it may be 

 seen tlie old original trunk as laid bare by the mice, about 

 two inches in diameter, dead and dry, while the cions on 

 either side have grown to ample size and support the tree 

 above. 



Some trees were found in which the useless original trunk 

 had rotted away, leaving an opening through the base of the 

 tree. Others had evidently been repaired with several cions, 

 which had more or less grown together along their contiguous 

 sides and made a thick, bulging base. A few trees contained 

 but one cion, which had, however, proved sufficient to save 

 and support it. 



After visiting the orchard, we very much enjoyed a call 

 upon Mr. Thomas, who, in speaking of saving girdled 

 trees, remarked that it is a very simple and easy opera- 

 tion ; that he had often practiced it and "had never known 



Lowviiiei N. Y. Roineyii B. Hough. 



How to Use Seedsmen's Catalogues. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The seed catalogues of the year are out, and those who 

 had hoped that the tendency shown for the last few years 

 toward more candid description and truthful illustration 

 would be carried still further are somewhat disappointed. 

 Still, many of them are so full of useful information and 

 beautiful illustrations that one enjoys looking them over, and 

 a few hints as to how to make the best use of them may be 

 acceptable. 



We should always bear in mind that a variety which does 

 the best of all under one set of conditions of soil, culture and 

 climate and best suits the tastes and requirements of one man, 

 may prove one of the poorest under another set of conditions 

 and requirements. And seedsmen offer a long list of varieties 

 more in an effort to meet the conditions and requirements of 

 different customers than because many of them are necessary 

 or even desirable in any one garden. For them to offer a 

 single kind as the best for all would be as foolish as for a dry- 

 goods merchant to have but one kind of cloth to meet the wants 

 of all his customers. A variety becomes popular in propor- 

 tion as it proves satisfactory in the hands of ordinary planters 

 and under ordinary conditions. Every new variety ottered by a 

 reputable seedsman has proved, in the hands of some grower and 

 under one set of conditions, to be superior to any with which 

 the grower was familiar. In many cases, however, the nov- 

 elty is judged superior because its producer had seen it under 

 conditions favorable to this particular sort, and again, the pro- 

 ducer may not have been familiar with the best strains of the 

 old varieties suited to his particular requirements. A certain 

 strain or stock of a standard kind often shows a superiority 

 over the common stock which is more marked than the im- 

 provement shown in a new variety which is considered quite 

 distinct. 



The cost to the seedsman of growing the seed he puts into 

 a twenty-five or fifty-cent packet of a novelty of his own 

 introduction is often less than that of the seed he puts 

 into a five-cent packet of the standard sorts. Again, the acci- 

 dent of a shortage of one sort and of an abundance of another 

 may make the sale of the latter the most desirable. And 

 as the catalogue is got up primarily in the interest of the 

 seedsman rather than of the gardener, it naturally exaggerates 

 the merits and pushes the sale of the most profitable sort. On 

 the other hand, the seedsman who values his reputation will 

 naturally take especial care that the stock of a kind he recom- 

 mends is the best procurable, and the more common a variety 

 is the less personal interest and pride each seedsman will take 

 in maintaining its purity and quality. 



Packet is a most indefinite term as to quantity. Of five 

 packets of the same variety and price from different seedsmen 

 the largest contauied nearly three times as many seeds as the 

 smallest. Seedsmen procure their seed from the locality 

 where it can be grown to the best advantage, and the " north- 

 ern-grown seed" of the man in Maine, the "home-grown 

 seed" of the man in Nebraska, and the plain "seed" of the 

 man in New Orleans are all quite likely to be grown in the same 

 township in Canada, Kansas or California, and one might as 

 reasonably expect to buy cheaper or better cotton-cloth at a 

 retail store in New Orleans than he could in New York as to 



expect to get hardier seed from Duluth than from Phila- 

 delphia. 



From these considerations arc deduced the following con- 

 siderations for making an order for the seeds of vegetables or 

 ordinary flowering plants : 



Decide upon the quantity of seed of each vegetable you wish 

 to plant. From a combination of the descriptions of the 

 standard kinds given in the catalogues of several seedsmen, 

 not relying implicitly upon the statements or recommendations 

 of any one, decide what variety or varieties will best meet your 

 requirements and suit your conditions of soil, climate and cul- 

 ture, making the number of varieties as small as possible. One 

 rarely needs more than three, an early, medium and late sort, 

 and generally one is better than more. After thus making a 

 list of your needs, decide, from the general character of their 

 catalogue, your own and your neighbors' previous experience, 

 and any other obtainable data, which firm is most worthy of 

 your confidence, and elect them your seedsmen for the year. 

 Now go through the catalogue of this firm, and if in any case 

 they offer a superior strain of one of your chosen kinds, or a 

 sort which for several years in the hands of their customers 

 has proved an improvement, substitute it for the one on your 

 list. Lastly, to the extent to which you can afford it, order 

 trial packets of novelties or newer sorts which you think might 

 prove an improvement on the kinds you have selected. An 

 order made up in this way will certainly give more satisfac- 

 tory results than to purchase the highest-praised and most at- 

 tractively pictured sorts of a dozen catalogues. 



Detroit, Mich. Will. W. Tracy. 



Chinese Primroses at the Columbian Fair. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The principal midwinter attraction in the horticultural 

 department of the World's Fair has been the Chinese Prim- 

 roses. About five thousand specimens were shown, filling 

 two greenhouses, each one hundred feet long by twenty-two 

 wide. They have since been placed in the Horticultural Build- 

 ing, and are moi^e accessible to the public. Though awards 

 have been made, the names of those receiving them are not 

 yet given to the public. Seventeen houses competed, six from 

 this country, five from England, four from Germany, one 

 each from France and Italy. The largest lots from America 

 were those of Peter Henderson & Co., New York, R. & J. 

 Farquhar & Co., Boston, and Hemy S. Rupp & Sons, Shire- 

 manstown, Pennsylvania. The exhibits from England were 

 also large. Those from Germany were from Erfurt and 

 Qu.edlinbui'g. Four hundred varieties, so called, were said 

 to be shown, but many of these difTered more in name than 

 in fact, and half the names would apparently designate the 

 real differences. There was, however, a great variety in the 

 plants as a whole, both in the color and size of the flowers, 

 and in the foHage and general appearance. All were labeled 

 Primula Sinensis fimbriata, and flowers without fimbriate mar- 

 gins were excepdonal, the greatest number of these being on 

 plants with crisped leaves. As the plants were started from 

 seed sown about the middle of April last, and cultivated under 

 the same conditions, they came into flower essentially at the 

 same time. It was a brilliant display of colors, mostly of the 

 red, white and blue series and their combinations, and caused 

 many exclamations of delight from visitors. 



From so much that was excellent it is not easy to choose. The 

 plants from R. H. Cannel & Sons, <of Swanley, Kent, were re- 

 markably thrifty, with large flowers and well-developed 

 trusses. Cannel's Pink impressed one as the finest of the lot. 

 It resembled the Queen, with flowers about' as large on the 

 average, but of a more decided pink. The leaves are of 

 medium size, arranged so as to set off the flower-cluster well. 

 The stems were very strong at the base of the cluster of leaves, 

 with no tendency to fall to one side when the pot was tilted. 

 The scapes are not tall nor the flowers numerous, but they 

 rise far enough above the leaves to show effectively, and offer a 

 charming mass of delicate pink, though the petals are a little 

 multiplied ; they lie so nearly in a plane as to give the flowers 

 the simplicity which is liked by most persons in the blossoms 

 of the Primrose, for those much doubled by the crown of 

 leaves at the throat looked somewhat disheveled even when 

 at their best. Some flowers of the Queen, in the same coflec- 

 tion, were the largest noticed in the whole exhibit, measuring 

 fully two and a quarter inches across. Fine flowers of the 

 Queen were also shown by James Carter &Co., High Holborn, 

 London, and by other exhibitors. Other good plants from 

 Swanley, were Swanley Giant, a large rose-colored variety, 

 White Perfection, Princess Mary, a large white with leaves of 

 extraordinary size, Lilacina, exquisitely variable in color, with 



