May 3, 1893.] 



Garden and Forest. 



199 



in open meadows. Then there are Violets, Bkiets, Lupines, 

 Harebells, Blue-eye 1 Grass, Blue Flag-, Viper's Bugloss, 

 Chicory, Lobelia, and, not to mention more, several of the 

 Asters, which have more or less of blue in their flowers. If 

 our correspondent had mentioned the purpose for which the 

 flowers were desired we could probably give a satisfac- 

 tory list of garden-plants. The name of Delphinium, 

 especially the tall D. formosum, naturally occurs first, as it 

 is one of the stateliest and most beautiful of flowering 

 plants. The blue form of Delphinium Sinense is a plant 

 of lower growth, but very beautiful and useful. Salvia 

 patens is another plant with flowers of a light, clear blue, 

 and the Autumn Monk's-hood, Aconitum autumnale, is an 

 admirable late-blooming plant with tall spikes of dark blue 

 flowers. Among the hardy bulbous plants which flower 

 in early spring are the Scillas, Chionodoxas and Grape 

 Hyacinths, as well as the Reticulata group of Irises, which 

 show different shades of blue and purple. Among the 

 Aquilegias are the little Alpine Columbine and the Rocky 

 Mountain Columbine, A. cerulea, and A. glandulosa, 

 whose sepals are a deep ultramarine blue and the petals 

 blue and white. The Forget-me-nots (Myosotis) and many 

 of the Veronicas bear blue flowers, and among trailing 

 plants with flowers of this color, one of the best is Plumbago 

 Larpentae, which flowers all the latter part of the summer 

 and through the autumn until it is killed by frost. Among 

 the annuals which can be raised from seed are blue varie- 

 ties of the Swan River Daisy, the Browallia, Nemophila 

 and Torenia. — Ed.] 



Quercus densiflora. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Supplementary to the editorial article upon the Cali- 

 fornia Tan-bark Oak in Garden and Forest (vol. v., p. 517), 

 it might be of interest to quote from a letter received from 

 Mr. Louis J. Frank, of the Frank Tanning Company, San 

 Francisco. Mr. Frank, after a full investigation of the subject, 

 estimates the present consumption of oak-bark in California at 

 about 25,000 cords per annum, and expresses the opinion that 

 at this rate " there is enough tan-bark on the Pacific coast to last 

 for over fifty years." "The most northerly point," says Mr. 

 Frank, " where the Tan-bark Oak thrives, is a few miles north 

 of Rogue River, in Curry County, Oregon. This county has 

 barely been touched by the axe of the bark-peeler. Del Norte 

 County, California, has an Immense supply; from Humboldt 

 County but a comparatively small amount has been taken ; 

 Mendocino and Sonoma Counties have yet large quantities, and 

 supply the larger portion of the bark which comes to San 

 Francisco. Marin, Lake and Napa all have tan-bark, and 

 although great quantities have been taken from them, there is 

 a large supply left. Santa Clara and San Mateo have been 

 pretty well cleaned out. Santa Cruz has yet large forests that 

 have never been touched, and San Benito and Monterey Coun- 

 ties contain extensive tracts of good heavy Tan-bark. South 

 of Monterey Tan-bark Oak is not known to exist in any quan- 

 tities of commercial value." 



Referring to the Australian Wattle-bark, Mr. Frank states 

 that his lirm some years ago imported a considerable consign, 

 ment, and that the leather made from it was firm and of good 

 weight, but that the color, while not so dark as that made from 

 Hem lock- bark, was not so light as that given by the California 

 Oak. Two and a halt pounds of the Wattle-bark were required 

 to make one pound of leather, this being about double the 

 strength of the Oak-bark. „ , ,^ ^ ,, j 



Santa Barbara, Calif. Frank M. Gallalier. 



pollen produced. In an article on "Self-Pollination of the 

 Grape," published in Garden and Forest, vol. v., pp. 451, 

 452, the writer stated that he had observed eleven hybrids of 

 Vitis Labrusca and Vitis vinifera in whicli the pollen was self- 

 irritant only, and one in which the pollen was self-impotent. 

 It was also stated that with Vitis Doaniana, as represented by 

 a specimen transplanted to the vineyard, the pollen is self-irri- 

 tant only. In all these instances the vines are unable to pro- 

 duce fruit when foreign pollen is excluded. It may be well to 

 add that an abundance of pollen was produced by each of the 

 varieties mentioned. Therefore, the unfruitfulness could be 

 attributed neither to lack of pollination nor to lack of quantity 

 of pollen produced. 



An editorial on " Setting of the Flowers of the Vine," in the 

 Gardeners' Chronicle, 1871, p. ']y], states that investigation of 

 about twenty varieties of V. vinifera disclosed the fact that in 

 some instances pollination occurred before the pistil was ready 

 to receive the pollen, that is, before the pistil was recep- 

 tive, and immediately the conclusion is stated that in such 

 instances no fruit would set unless the flowers were poUenized 

 from some other source, a conclusion by no means justified 

 from the observations recorded in this article. Moreover, the 

 chances are, at least under vineyard conditions, that the flow- 

 ers would be poUenized eventually, either from other flowers 

 of the same cluster or from other clusters. 



The same writer also found scanty or altogether defective 

 formation of pollen, a frequent occurrence in several varieties 

 of V. vinifera, Dutch Hamburg and Chasselas Musqu6 being 

 among the number. 



The fact is, that those varieties of Grapes which are incapa- 

 ble of efficient self-fertilization have generally proved unsatis- 

 factory in American vineyards, and no matter how extensively 

 adverdsed or how widely disseminated at the time of their intro- 

 duction, eventually their cultivation is chiefly confined to gar- 

 dens or to amateur collections where judicious mingling with 

 other varieties may secure proper pollination, except when 

 the weather is very unfavorable dunng the blossoming season. 



Geneva, N. Y., Experiment Station. S. A. Beach. 



Impotency of Grape Pollen.* 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Mr. Card's very interesting article in Garden and 

 Forest, April 5, 1893, p. 153, contains the following statement : 

 " It has been well known that certain varieties of Raspberries 

 and Grapes have proved unproductive unless planted near 

 other sorts, but this has been attributed to a deficiency in the 

 amount of pollen produced. Closer observations may show 

 that in some cases it is due to a lack of potency rather than a 

 lack of quantity." 



Personal observations have established the fact that with 

 some varieties of Grapes unproductiveness is due to lack of 

 potency of their own pollen, and not to lack of quantity of the 



Recent Publications. 



The Wild Flowers of Anierica. By Professor George L. 

 Goodale. With colored plates by Isaac Sprague. Boston : 

 Bradlee Whidden. 



This is the second issue of this elegant book, which was first 

 published several years ago. The original plan contemplated 

 an unlimited publication in a series wliich should contain as 

 many as possible of the species of North American plants ; 

 the work, however, was never continued beyond the first 

 volume, which contains fifty-one full-page illustrations of wild 

 flowers, and, fortunately, these have been selected in such a 

 way as to include many interesting plants in widely separated 

 parts of the country. The drawings by Mr. Sprague are in the 

 best style of that artist. They represent the flowers not only 

 in their natural grace and beauty, but witli scientific accuracy as 

 regards their botanical characters, and the coloring, as a 

 rule, is admirably reproduced. Professor Goodale, who writes 

 the text, has been careful to make it interesting in the best 

 way ; that is, by making it instructive. He gives, in plain and 

 untechnical language, a full description of each flower, and 

 then makes excursions into various attractive fields of botany 

 which naturally open before him. Professor Goodale discusses 

 all ttiese topics out of the fullness of knowledge, so ^hat the 

 reader follows him with a certainty of finding something of 

 real value, and in this he is never disappointed. The printing 

 of the book is a delight to the eye and makes a worthy setting 

 for the admirable plates, so that altogether it makes a strong 

 appeal to every lover of beautiful books, as well as to every 

 lover of beautiful flowers. 



Notes. 



A correspondent inquires if it is still too late to set out a 

 Strawberry-bed in the latitude of Connecticut ? No, not too 

 late for next year's crop, but, in order to have good strong 

 plants, every fruit-stem sliould be clipped off as soon as it ap- 

 pears. The plants willbe weakened it they are allowed to bear 

 any fruit this summer. 



The variety of Phlox subulata which is sold as Atropur- 

 purea seems to have very distinct garden (jualities. Its flowers 

 open much earlier than those of the ordinary Moss Pink, 

 and are of a deeper color, while the whole plant has a stronger 

 growth, and makes a very dense mat of bright green foliage. 



