238 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 275. 



fall and wet spring may liave been helpful. There are also a 

 few Bernardi Narcissi still in good shape. These are natural 

 hybrids from the Pyrenees, with white perianths and short yel- 

 Jow, and sometimes orange-tipped, cups, the latter kind being 

 especially valued. 



Irises are the glory of the garden at this time. First in dis- 

 tinction stands I. Susiana in sober array ; its welcome some- 

 what enhanced, perhaps, by the uncertainty of its appearance. 

 Species too numerous to name have gradually appeared. Of 

 the smaller kinds, I. o.xysepala is a beauty with narrow, light 

 lilac standards, and long-pointed falls of lightest mauve lined 

 white and yellow. The native I. longipetala is also a dainty 

 flower, finely veined on the falls, light blue on a white ground, 

 and with narrow light blue standards. I. spectabilis (Regel) is 

 smaller than either of these, with flowers somewhat resem- 

 bling those of I. oxysepala in coloring and grass-like foliage. But 

 the mass of color in the garden, in general effect quiet, but 

 lustrous, is from the large bearded Irises, I. Florentina, I. pallida 

 and the German hybrids. Noble flowers these all are, and 

 with some exceptions beautiful, especially in masses. They 

 are the commonest and cheapest of plants, yet always among 

 the precious flowers to those who enjoy fine colors and noble 

 forms. It is said that Irises are quite fugacious and their 

 beauty is soon passed. This does not seem to me a fatal 

 objection to a flower if it is beautiful. It is not from flowers 

 or other objects always with us that we gain the most. The 

 scheme of nature seems to be a constant change, and one of 

 the delights of the garden is its daily change, its new color har- 

 monies and foliage effects. Imagination is a desirable faculty 

 for the gardener, and if well endowed he will see at all times 

 the full wealth of his plants, even when they show to others 

 no potency of beauty, and they are doubly enjoyable if, per- 

 haps, they bring remembrances of some good friends, or 

 remind him of other scenes. ^ ,r ^ j 



Elizabeth, N.J. J.N.Gerard. 



Correspondence. 



The Poison Oak. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Will you kindly tell me whether the Poison Oak of 

 California is the same as the Poison Oak, or Poison Ivy, of the 

 east^Rhus toxicodendron ? The poison of the former appears 

 to be much more virulent than that of the latter in a case I 

 have known. ?? /? ty 



South Hanover, Mass. -^« -A. J . 



[The Poison Oak of Cahfornia is known to botanists as 

 Rhus diversiloba. It is a shrub with slender stems, three to 

 five feet high, and resembles in general appearance the 

 eastern Rhus Toxicodendron, or Poison Ivy, from which, 

 however, it differs in its more acute leaflets, which are 

 slightly toothed or entire, and in its nearly sessile panicles 

 of flowers, usually more dense in fruit than those of the 

 eastern plant. In California the Poison Oak, which grows 

 also as far north as British Columbia, is exceedingly abun- 

 dant in all the foot-hill regions, where it often forms thick- 

 ets of great extent. It is, perhaps, even more virulent, to 

 some people, at least, than the eastern plant. — Ed.] 



Cornelian Cherry and Benzoin. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — I was recently asked by a gentleman somewhat inter- 

 ested in trees and shrubs to point out the differences between 

 the Cornelian Cherry, Cornus mas., and the Spice-bush, Lin- 

 dera Benzoin. Few gardeners would hesitate an instant, even 

 in winter-time, in determining plants so different as these, but 

 people well informed on other subjects are often puzzled by 

 what seem the easiest quesdons relating to plants. Both of 

 these plants become shrubs from six to twelve or more feet 

 high. Both produce clusters of small yellow flowers in early 

 spring, although those of the Cornelian Cherry are a little in 

 advance of the others. Beyond these points of similarity to 

 the observant eye, the plants have few characters in common. 

 The Cornus has leaves and buds in opposite pairs, the flower- 

 buds in winter are conspicuously large and distinct, and from 

 each one in early spring there are produced several four- 

 petaled yellow flowers, each blossom borne on a distinct 

 stalk. The Benzoin, on the other hand, has alternate, in- 

 stead of opposite leaves, its light yellow flowers in little 

 clusters are nearly sessile, and every part of the plant 

 has a spicy, aromatic flavor and odor which is not 



present in the Cornus. The Cornus is inclined to be- 

 come somewhat more of a tree than the Spice-bush, and 

 being an introduction from Europe, it is only found in 

 cultivation in this country, while the Benzoin is common 

 along streams and in moist situations. Although usually 

 found in moist ground, the Benzoin flourishes in any good 

 garden-soil. As the essential reproductive organs are com- 

 monly separate, the staminate, or pollen-bearing, and the 

 pistillate, or fruit-producing flowers, being on different plants, 

 it is necessary in selecting individual plants to choose whether 

 we prefer showiness of blossom or fruit. The fruit-producing 

 plants have much less numerous and less showy flowers than 

 the staminate ones. The oval bright scarlet berries in late 

 summer and autumn are quite showy when abundant, but the 

 flo^yers on the leafless branches in early spring probably at- 

 tract quite as much attention. 



Considering the long time that the Cornelian Cherry has 

 been cultivated, it is surprising to find it so rare in American 

 gardens. A shrub of such neat habit, so thoroughly hardy, 

 such a free and reliable producer of showy flowers in early 

 spring, deserves to be generally known and planted. Its cherry- 

 like, cornelian-colored fruit is rarely produced in any quantity 

 until after the plants attain considerable age and have been 

 flowering for many years. The habit of producing so little 

 fruit in proportion to the abundance of flowers may be of ad- 

 vantage in enabling the plant to maintain such a showy appear- 

 ance regularly every spring. 



Arnold Arboretum. J • 



Nicotiana affinis. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Although Nicofiana affinis is an annual, I find that it 

 makes a most desirable winter-blooming plant. After its seed 

 matures and falls young plants spring up, and late last autumn 

 I took up several of them, and they have bloomed constantly 

 all winter, and that, too, in a stove-heated room where very 

 few plants thrive. The foliage of the plant is rather coarse, it 

 is true, but then it is thrifty, and has the beauty of health, and 

 seems to be free from insects and diseases. The flowers have 

 a disagreeable habit of closing up for the greater part of the 

 day when outside, but when they open in the house, if the 

 plant is kept out of the sun, they last for some time. 



Bowling Green, Ky. S. M. P. 



Recent Publications. 



Forest Planting: A Treatise on the Care of Timber-lands 

 and the Restoration of Denuded Woodlands on Plains and 

 Mountains. By H. Nicholas Jarchow, LL.D. New York: 

 Orange Judd Publishing Company. 



In the preface to this book Dr. Jarchow states that it is 

 written to meet the requirements of the state of New York, 

 and he proceeds at once to lay down the principles of syste- 

 inatic forestry in Europe, as he understands them. Now, there 

 are certain natural laws of tree-growth which are the same in 

 all parts of the world, and there are certain requirements as to 

 the preservation of natural forests and the reforesting of de- 

 nuded lands which must be borne in- mind by every one who 

 successfully practices forestry. And, yet, the prevalent idea 

 that the economical and physical conditions of this country 

 should make us very cautious about adopting the details of 

 European methods is rather reinforced than refuted by this 

 treatise. For example, when Dr. Jarchow states that our for- 

 ests can be made self-supporting if at regular intervals every 

 harvested forest-product is sold at public auction, and not, as is 

 now the practice, left to rot and create dangerous fire-traps, he 

 plainly does not consider the difference between a country 

 where every bundle of fagots can be sold and one where it 

 would be impossible to give them away. One who recognizes 

 the cost of labor here and the possible value of future forest- 

 products, and who has besides some knowledge of tree-growth 

 here, would hardly suggest the building about a nursery for 

 raising forest-seedlings earth-walls from six to eight feet high, 

 on the top of which are to be planted Birches, Pines and Alders, 

 nor would he advise the watering of a young forest carefully 

 with a rose-sprinkler. One more familiar with the lumbering 

 operations of the country would hardly state that the price of 

 timber has sunk far below its real value because of the depre- 

 dations of timber thieves upon the public property of the state 

 of New York. Nor would he assert positively that the intro- 

 duction of systematic forestry into our state forests would soon 

 and surely yield the state a revenue, or that one who buys wild 

 land in New York and plants it with forest-trees can safely ex- 

 pect that in time the net proceeds of his investment will at 



