March 29, 1893.] 



Garden and Forest 



141 



Its flowers are about as large as those of the yellow blossoms 

 of the well-known P. fruticosa. Saxifrages, too, are well 

 represented by a very large number of species, each in good 

 distinct clumps. 



The Edinburgh Botanic Garden is perhaps more famed for 

 its pretty rock-garden than for any other single feature. This 

 was constructed of rocks from a stone wall by the late curator, 

 James M'Nab, and its good order and its interesting character 

 are still maintained by Mr. Lindsay, who has the active charge 

 now. It is prettily built, without any more formality than is 

 necessary in a structure of this kind in such a place, and it is 

 on the whole probably one of the best, if not the very best, of 

 rockeries in any public garden. It is divided into numerous 

 sections, and these are again subdivided into several thousand 

 compartments, or pockets, for the reception of the different 

 species and varieties of alpine and hardy dwarf herbaceous 

 and small shrubby plants. Bulbs, of course, are also included, 

 so that Crocuses and Snowdrops may be found at the end of 

 winter, and Crocus speciosus and others and the showy Col- 

 chicums in the autumn. Of the species of the latter genus, C. 

 speciosum is one of the largest in cultivation and is very 

 handsome. With such plants as the Hellebores and Erica 

 carnea in the collection, good flowers may in some seasons be 

 found almost every week of the year. The collection of Ferns 

 in the rockery is a very neat and creditable one. Among the 

 autumn-blooming plants in the rockery, several species of so- 

 called Knot-weed, or Polygonum, were very interesting, those 

 specially noted being P. affine, P. capitatuni and P. vaccini- 

 folium, all north Indian, the last more particularly Himalayan. 

 The individual blossoms of all these are small, but as they 

 are borne in dense spikes, or heads, and quite abundantly they 

 make a. pretty show. P. affine produces rosy red flowers; 

 those of P. capitatum are pink, in dense round heads, while 

 the blossoms of P. vaccinifolium are of a bright rose color 

 and are produced on comparatively long and nearly cylmdrical 

 spikes. This last species has distinctly woody stems, is a low, 

 prostrate, much-branched trailer, and is one of the best of its 

 genus and one of the most interesting and useful plants in 

 cultivation for planting in rock-work and such places. It is 

 especially valuable because it will continue in good bloom 

 from August till November. It is not likely, however, to be 

 found quite hardy in our northern New England climate. 



In the collection of trees the Conifers are represented by a 

 large series of species, though they are much crowded and 

 none of them have attained any notable size. The species of 

 Yews, Arbor Vitaes, Chamsecyparis and Cedrus appear in 

 better condition than those of most other genera. Araucaria 

 imbricata grows well, and so does Sequoia gigantea, though 

 straggling in appearance. Other places in Scotland are famous 

 for the growth of exotic Conifers, and of them all the Douglas 

 Fir or Spruce is one of the very best. 



To most Americans in Europe the Mistletoe has a particular 

 interest, and in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden there is an un- 

 usually handsome specimen encircling the trunk of one of our 

 Pin Oaks (Ouercus palustris) at five or six feet from the 

 ground, so that it is in just the best position for public view. 

 This parasite has found congenial hosts in quite a number of 

 species of American trees which have been transplanted to 

 the Old World. 



Arnold Arboretum. J • (-'• jO,Ck. 



Native Plants for Winter Decoration. 



WINTER began in good earnest in the Pines about the 20th 

 of December, ^nd since then walking in the woods, or 

 anywhere else, except in paths prepared by the snow-shovel, 

 has been almost impossible. A few days ago, however, I ven- 

 tured on a ramble, and found the wild plants in all my favorite 

 haunts none the worse for the season's severity, and ready, at 

 the earliest suggestion of spring weather, to put forth bud and 

 blossom. 



But no winter is so inhospitable as to shut us out entirely 

 from companionship with our native plants, especially if we 

 have prepared a wild-garden. One day when the mercury had 

 fallen almost to the zero mark I brought in some twigs of 

 Alder (Alnus serrulata) and placed them in a vase of water, 

 and I was amazed to see how rapidly they developed. In less 

 than a week the clusters of long, sterile, drooping catkins were 

 in full flower, so that I was obliged to place them in the wind 

 to let it blow away the superabundant pollen-dust. It was sev- 

 eral weeks after this before any appreciable growth was ob- 

 served on plants in the open ground. But on the 8th of March 

 a warm rain came, and the catkins lengthened half an inch or 

 more in a single night. Then it grew colder, and growth was 

 arrested until the next warm period. 



The catkins of the Filbert, both European and American, 

 develop with even more rapidity than those of the Alder, both 

 indoors and out. I placed some twigs of a European species 

 in tepid water in a warm room, and in less than twenty-four 

 hours the clusters of sterile catkins were three inches in length, 

 and the small, fertile blossoms were peeping out from their 

 scaly buds with bright red pistils at the base of the sterile flow- 

 ers. And what can be more charming in winter than a vase 

 of red, shining twigs of some of the Willows which soon dis- 

 close the soft, silky "pussys" that always delight the young 

 folks.' Lessons like these in winter make more vivid and last- 

 ing impressions on children, while mostly shut within doors, 

 than the same plants do in the spring, when the attention is 

 diverted in so many ways. 



Twigs of both the Soft Maple andof the Swamp Maple make 

 handsome indoor ornaments, and the red blossoms appear 

 very quickly. These Maples usually flower with us in Feb- 

 ruary, sometimes even earlier, but this season they did not 

 commence to blossom until early March. But one of the most 

 desirable of all these early-flowering trees for winter bouquets 

 is the ash-leaved Maple (Acer Negundo). The green bark of 

 the twigs makes a fine contrast with the red ones of the Willow 

 and the brown ones of the other Maples, and the delicate droop- 

 mg clusters of greenish flowers are quick to appear. 



Branchlets of the various species of Oak are also interesting, 

 as they put out their yellow flowers rapidly in warmth and 

 moisture. All of the Elms, too, respond quickly to this treat- 

 ment, soon rewarding us with their small, bell-shaped flowers, 

 with long slender, exserted stamens. Some of the flowers 

 are purplish, others yellow. Twigs of the Hickory are spe- 

 cially pleasing. Our warm rooms soon cause the buds to ex- 

 pand, and the flowers become eager to push off the numerous 

 wrappings in which they are enclosed. These large, scaly, 

 resinous buds have a delicious fragrance of the woods, which 

 is so exhilarating in early spring. 



One of the most fragrant, delicate, aromatic trees from which 

 to make our selection is theSweet Gum. The globular heads of 

 fruit formed the previous season are still gracefully hanging 

 from their long slender stems, and the quaint and fanciful, 

 corky-ridged branchlets are ready to put forth their numerous 

 flowers almost as soon as we place them on the table. Many 

 of our wild-flowering shrubs are also admirable for forcing in 

 winter. Cassandra calyculata, whose flower-buds formed in 

 the summer, expand very quickly in a warm room, forming 

 long one-sided racemes of little white bells among the small 

 evergreen leaves. The Shad Bush (Amelanchier Canadensis) 

 is excellent for winter-flowering, and so is the wild Crab-apple, 

 which has fragrant rose-colored blossoms. 



Among low-growing plants the Trailing Arbutus is one of 

 the most satisfactory. A clump of this kept moist and warm 

 will soon repay us with handsome clusters of fragrant flowers. 

 And our charming Pyxie will quickly unfold its pretty blossoms 

 among its tiny evergreen leaves. 

 Vineland, N.J. Mary Treat. 



Making Maple-sugar: Approved Modern Practice.-II. 



/^VER natural conditions the sugar-maker has little or no 

 ^^ control, while certain artificial conditions are wholly within 

 his power. The quantity and quality of sap vary with location, 

 aspect, altitude and sparseness of growth. The product also 

 varies with the age and vitality of the trees. All these condi- 

 tions are natural, over which we have no control, except it may 

 be the sparseness. When these conditions are all favorable 

 there is nothing to hinder any one from making first-class 

 syrup and sugar. 



We will suppose a sugar-orchard situated on upland, in- 

 clined to the south or south-east, having no imderbrush or 

 evergreen trees, and the Maples much scattered, full-grown 

 or large second growths, having broad and branching tops and 

 short stems that have never been tapped. As to how and 

 where these trees should be tapped, I would say tap on the 

 warmest side of the tree, or where the sun strikes it the fairest. 

 The height of tapping should be governed by circumstances. 

 As a general rule, the lower we tap the more sap we get and 

 the greater per cent, of sugar. 



The sugar-house should be located on sloping land, when 

 convenient, so that sap will run from the drawing-tub into the 

 holder and from that into the evaporator. I have seen several 

 evaporators of diverse patterns, but the one I prefer is made 

 by the Farm Machine Company, Bellows Falls, Vermont. This 

 evaporator, as now built, has a faucet in each end and a water- 

 tight gate, which is a great advantage. It has corrugated par- 

 titions, thus nearly doubling its heating surface, and the nialate 

 of lime nuisance is overcome. 



