June 28, 1893.] 



Garden and Forest. 



271 



GARDEN AND FOREST, 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



THE GARDEN AND FOREST PUBLISHING CO. 



Office : Tribune Building, New York, 



Conducted by Professor C. S. Sargent. 



entered as second-class hatter at the post office at new YORK, N. Y. 



NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28, 1893. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 



Editorial Articles: — Forest-legislation in Pennsylvania ; 271 



Horticultural Exhibits at Chicago 27 1 



Mastic 272 



Botanical Notes from Texas. —VIII E. N. Plank. 272 



Wild Flowers in Market M. L. Dock. 273 



Notes on the Forest Flora of Japan.— XVI C. S. S. 273 



New or Little-known Plants : — Ostrowskia magnifica. (With figure.) 



y. N. Gerard. 274 

 New Plants from Asia Minor London Garden. 274 



Cultural Department: — Chrysanthemums - T. D. H. 275 



Plants for Conservatories in Summer IV. H. Taplin. 275 



Spring Bulbs in 1893. — I W. E. Endicoti. 277 



Hardy Flower Garden E. O. Orpet. 277 



Vegetable Notes Professor W. F. Massey. 273 



Correspondence : — Flower Gardens for Children Wilhelmine Seliger. 2-ji 



Exhibitions: — ^The Boston Rose Show C. 278 



The Columbian Exposition : — Recent Arrivals of Fresh Fruits, 



Professor L. H. Bailey. 279 



Notes 279 



Illustration : — Ostrowskia magnifica. Fig. 40 276 



Forest-legislation in Pennsylvania. 



NOT long ago we stated that there were some en- 

 couraging evidences of an advance in public senti- 

 ment in regard to the value of our forests, and one of these 

 evidences was the action of the last Legislature of Pennsyl- 

 vania in passing the " act relative to a forestry commission," 

 which provides for the appointment of a competent engineer 

 and a botanist practically acquainted with the forest-trees 

 of the commonwealth, whose duty it shall be to examine 

 and report upon the condition of the slopes and summits of 

 the important water-sheds of the state ; to ascertain how 

 much and what kind of timber remains standing ; to indi- 

 cate where these various kinds of timber are naturally 

 reproducing themselves, and to report what measures are 

 being taken to secure a supply of lumber for the future. 

 The commission is also to ascertain the extent, character 

 and location of the wild lands now belonging to the com- 

 monwealth, with a statement of what portions of such lands 

 will be suitable for a forest-reserve ; and if the lands belong- 

 ing to the commonwealth are insufficient for that purpose, 

 to ascertain what other suitable lands there may be within 

 the state. 



The bill contemplates a report by the commissioners 

 which shall outline a general forest-policy for the state, and 

 it differs in this from the action of the state of New York, 

 which has been directed mainly to the preservation of the 

 Adirondack forests, and is broader in its provisions than 

 the New Hampshire law. When it is remembered that 

 four years ago a bill which involved no expense to the 

 state was never reported on by the committee to which it 

 was referred, and that the present one was passed almost 

 unanimously, and that the Governor signed it at once, it will 

 be seen that there has been a marked change in the public 

 sentiment. Of course, it does not follow that the commis- 

 sion will be able to frame a bill which will meet all the 

 necessities of the case, or that another Legislature would 

 be wise enough to pass such a bill even if it were framed. 

 But since the general enlightenment of the people on this 



matter is the fundamental condition of success, this action 

 in Pennsylvania should give some encouragement to all 

 persons who are devoting thought and labor to this matter. 



Colonel Tyson and Professor Rothrock, who have been 

 named by the Governor as Commissioners, will set out on 

 a tour of the state at once, and we have no doubt that they 

 will make as thorough a survey as the time allowed them 

 will permit and that they will secure as full an expression 

 of opinion from the people of the state as possible on such 

 subjects— for example, as to the means of suppressing fires. 

 Patient labor on this line cannot fail to be productive of 

 lasting good to the commonwealth. Pennsylvania, owing 

 to its size, its situation and its varied surface, ought to 

 rank among the very first of the lumber-producing states 

 on the Atlantic slope of the continent, and yet its forests 

 have been so rapidly diminishing that at the present rate 

 of destruction the time will soon come when they will not 

 suffice to meet the home demand for lumber. Black wal- 

 nut, black cherry and the best hickory are already scarce. 

 In sections where the charcoal-furnaces of an earlier time 

 have devoured the primitive woods a condition of things 

 similar to that which prevails in parts of New Hampshire 

 and Vermont has arrived, and extensive areas are about 

 ready for desertion because the trees are gone, the lands 

 contain no minerals and are too poor for profitable 

 agriculture — that is, they are unproductive, and so far a 

 loss to the commonwealth. 



The bill was judiciously framed in that it is not limited 

 in its action to any particular part of the state, but con- 

 templates a universal forest-policy. We learn that some 

 members of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association who 

 have been very active in securing this bill, have had in 

 mind the establishment of a forest experiment station on a 

 modest scale, for the purpose of illustrating to small land- 

 holders in the state the cheapest and best treatment of 

 their woodlands, so that they may have, at least, a prom- 

 ise of profit from them. No doubt that such a station, prop- 

 erly managed, could be made of great educational value. 

 But all this would require time and thoughtful direction by 

 capable and experienced men. The forest-problems before 

 us are not to besolved off-hand. We must still expect de- 

 lays, disappointments and mistakes ; but these only furnish 

 an additional reason why we should welcome with grateful 

 recognition any step in the right direction, and why every 

 one in Pennsylvania who appreciates the value of the 

 forests of the state and their relation to the property of 

 the state, should give sympathy and support to the com- 

 mission and help its work in every possible way. 



The Nurserymen's Convention, held at Chicago a fort- 

 night ago, passed a resolution requesting the administra- 

 tion of the World's Fair to repeal the rules which interfered 

 with the exhibition of fruits, and to enact such regulations 

 as would enable exhibitors to place perishable fruits upon 

 their table immediately upon their arrival by the various 

 express lines. The grievance here complained of arose 

 from a law which prohibited express wagons from bring- 

 ing any exhibits into the grounds until after the Ex- 

 position was closed in the evening, and since the lights 

 were turned down at that hour and exhibitors found it dif- 

 ficult to work both night and day the rule worked many 

 hardships. Perishable products are unfit for exhibition after 

 they have lain a day in a Chicago warehouse, and a large 

 collection of fresh vegetables from New York was entirely 

 lost through delay of this sort, while the same fate befell 

 small fruits from Illinois. 



We learn that this hardship no longer exists, but there 

 are other reforms needed before the exhibits in the 

 horticultural department can be studied with satisfaction. 

 One who wishes to examine these various displays criti- 

 cally is often disappointed when he finds the name of the 

 exhibitor wanting, and equally disappointed when he finds 

 that the plants and other exhibits are not properly labeled. 

 Few of them, in fact, are labeled so that persons unfamiliar 

 with the plants can ascertain what they are, and much 



