,2o6 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 272. 



white variety (P. Japonica alba), the rich deep crimson, 

 large-flowered variety known as atropurpurea, and the 

 rose-red form named rosea. They also exhibited P. Maulei, 

 which is, perhaps, only a variety of P. Japonica. Thus we 

 have varieties with red, pink, crimson, white, salmon and 

 bright cardinal flowers. They are worth growing as a 

 group in any good garden. I have seen the type used as a 

 kitchen-garden fence. At Kew it does not flower as freely 

 as in many places, probably because the soil here is not 

 the most suitable. 



D.\FFODiLS. — Kew has shown this year how valuable Daf- 

 fodils are when planted in large masses for the production of 

 bold landscape-effects in spring. On the lawns among the 

 grass, in large beds skirting the principal paths, and as a 

 carpet to loose shrubberies, they were planted by the thou- 

 sand last October, and for the past month they have made 

 a glorious show. Some half a dozen large beds each con- 

 tained a thousand bulbs, and every bulb bore one or two 

 flowers of Emperor, the grandest of all the trumpet Daffo- 

 dils ; there were several equally large beds of Empress, the 

 rival of Emperor in size and beauty of flower, and beds of 

 Sir Watkin, Barii conspicua, Burbidgei, Countess of An- 

 nesley, and other equally large-flowered handsome kinds, 

 all placed in positions where they tell with fine effect in 

 the compositions from various points in the garden. A 

 plantation of Firs, carpeted with Campernella (N. rugulo- 

 bus), has been a waving sea of rich yellow and dark green. 

 I consider this Daffodil one of the best of all spring-flow- 

 ering bulbs either for beds or to cover large areas on the 

 outskirts of woods, etc. It must be planted thickly, and as 

 it is plentiful and cheap there is no difficulty in getting it in 

 quantity. Grass-mounds clothed with thousands of flowers 

 of Poet's Narcissus waving in the wind are most effective. 

 This kind of gardening is easy, all that is needed being a 

 broad method of treatment, massing in conspicuous posi- 

 tions, autumn planting and the selection of the sorts most 

 suitable for the purpose. Kew has broken out in a new 

 and useful direction by this development of spring garden- 

 ing on bold lines. I have never seen the garden look more 

 attractive, nor have I seen such crowds of interested visitors 

 as we have had this spring. Yellow in the garden is 

 always effective, and specially so in spring. The eleva- 

 tion of Daffodils from a position of obscurity to one of im- 

 mense popularity is not, therefore, to be wondered at ; one 

 rather is surprised that the value of these plants was not 

 more fully recognized in the garden long ago. It is curious 

 that the French are amused at our taste for Daffodils, proba- 

 bly because yellow is not a favorite color with them. 



London. W. WaiSOH. 



N- 



Cultural Department. 

 New Types of Fruit. 



■ EW fruits are rarely introduced unless they have some 

 merit. They may not be of sufficient value to supplant 

 any old variety, but their introducers, at least, believe that 

 there is some vacant place for them or that they may create a 

 new demand. Unfortunately, they often suffer from injudicious 

 praise, and when they do not equal expectations they are too 

 severely judged, and even their good qualities are not recog- 

 nized. Professor Bailey has just been publishing an estimate 

 of four new types of fruits, which have been the cause of 

 much discussion, and in this bulletin of the Cornell Experiment 

 Station he attempts to give a careful judgment of their quality. 

 The first of these is the ApricotPlum (PrunusSimonii), which 

 was described and figured by Carriere in the Revue Horticole 

 in 1872. The author considers it a distinct species of stone 

 fruit, and not a hybrid. It has been strongly recommended for 

 its fruit, and has been planted to some extent. When grown 

 in California the fruit has sold in New York, Boston and Chi- 

 cago markets at profitable prices. The sales may have been 

 caused by the novelty of the fruit or its taking appearance. It 

 may be that since the plant loves a dry climate the fruit grown 

 in California has real merit. In New York, however, Profes- 

 sor Bailey finds the fruit worthless for orchard cultivation ; he 

 has never tried a specimen that he could call edible, and the 

 tree is not productive. The fruit is very handsome in shape and 

 color, and its long-keeping quality commends it. It is pos- 



sible that if it could be hybridized with the Peach the offspring 

 would be hardier than the Peach, while having some of the 

 excellent flavor of that fruit. Prunus Simonii has merits as an 

 ornamental tree, since its erect Poplar-like habit, early flowers 

 and glowing fruits make it a conspicuous object. 



The Japanese Wine Berry (Rubus phoenicolasius) was first 

 described by Maximowicz in 1872. A plant of it was sent to 

 Kew in 1875 from the Jardin des Plantes, and Sir Joseph D. 

 Hooker described it as an exceedingly handsome bramble and 

 said of the fruit that, "though eatable, it was mawkish." It 

 was early introduced into this country under its proper name 

 and sold by Ellwanger & Barry in 1881. Mr. P. J. Berckmans 

 says that it was known in Holland for a generation before it 

 was figured in 1877, and cultivated as a curiosity. Mr. Berck- 

 mans has known it for nearly fitty years. Professor Georgeson 

 sent seeds of the plant to this country from wild bushes in 

 1887, and he described the fruit as of good size, firm and hand- 

 some, and sweet and delicious when ripe. The stock of these 

 plants was secured by John Lewis Childs, and it was widely dis- 

 seminated in 1890 as the Japanese Wine Berry. Professor 

 Bailey has cultivated it and found the fruit to have little to rec- 

 ommend it, either in size, appearance or quality, although he 

 is ready to believe that the species may eventually give us fruit 

 of edible value. For the present he classes it among orna- 

 mental plants rather than among valuable fruit plants. 



The Crandall Currant, which is a strain of Ribes aureum, 

 found growing wild in Kansas, has promise as the parent of a 

 new race of small fruits, although it is as yet too variable in 

 the quality and productiveness of its fruit to be trustworthy. 

 Many plants bear fruit little larger than those of the common 

 Flowering Currant, and out of fifty plants originally received 

 from its introducer by Professor Bailey less than one-fourth of 

 the whole number proved profitable. If stock were propa- 

 gated from the best specimens alone the Crandall Currant 

 would soon rise in popular estimation. The fruits are large 

 and handsome, firm, of good culinary quality, and the plant is 

 thrifty. To some people the flavor is disagreeable, but others 

 are fond of it, and if the stock were uniform the Crandall, even 

 now, could be recommended as a good fruit for home con- 

 sumption. As yet it has been free from attacks of the currant- 

 worm. The species Ribes aureum, to which the Crandall be- 

 longs, has long been cultivated for its sweet yellow flowers. 



A dwarf form of the June-berry known as Success was found 

 growing in a garden in Kansas in 1873, and put upon the mar- 

 ket five years later. On the experiment-station grounds at 

 Ithaca plants set out in 1888 have yielded three good crops. 

 They are not more than three or four feet high, although they 

 have never been headed back, and they grow upon strong soil. 

 The fruit ripens with early currants, and lasts nearly as long as 

 the currants do. The berries resemble huckleberries in flavor 

 and appearance, although they are more juicy and palatable 

 than huckleberries. The plants are wonderfully productive 

 and hardy. Professor Bailey endorses the judgment of Pro- 

 fessor Alwood, of the Virginia Experiment Station, that the 

 quality of the fruit ranks well up to that of the strawberry, and 

 he considers that it fills a real need for a first-class small fruit 

 which ripens just at the close of the strawberry season. The 

 drawback to its culdvation is that the birds are attracted irre- 

 sistibly by the fruit, so that it is necessary to cover the plants 

 with mosquito netting and tie it on securely in order to save it. 

 Professor Bailey considers this form of the June-berry specifi- 

 cally distinct from Amelanchier Canadensis. 



Hardy Ferneries. 



THERE are many situations in which it is difficult to make 

 plants or grass thrive, owing to shade from trees or other 

 causes. In city yards, too, where the surroundings are not 

 under control, it is necessary to take these into consideration, 

 and to plant such things as are likely to thrive. I have in mind 

 a limited space at the back of a city house which was trans- 

 formed into a most interesting spot by planting Ferns alone. 

 Besides attention to moisture, these require hardly any labor 

 after the planting is completed. 



For situations of this kind the numerous Ferns of the eastern 

 states should be depended .upon mainly, as only the native 

 Ferns are entirely hardy. Others, such as British species and 

 varieties, can sometimes be used with advantage. These are 

 distinct, in many ways, from any of our native kinds, the 

 original type having been changed through the continued rais- 

 ing of seedlings and selection. The varieties of almost all the 

 principal types have become so numerous as to tax the inge- 

 nuity of the raisers to name them. It should be noted, how- 

 ever, that British Ferns are not reliably hardy, and should be 

 given a secondary position. 



