28o 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 279. 



kinds are easily grown, and, once established, they will live 

 for years with no extra care. They are plants which should 

 have a more prominent place in the hardy-tiower garden. 



Tomatoes are dried for market in Italy. The ripe fruit is 

 pressed, the skins and seeds strained out, the juicy pulp is 

 spread out to dry and atterward broken and ground for 

 packing. 



It is hard to have too many plants of the Yellow Day Lily, 

 Hemerocallis flava. The lemon-yellow, sweet-scented flowers 

 are borne on stems two and a half feet high, and they are not 

 only beautiful in the garden, but are admirable when cut for 

 filling large vases, where the buds will continue to open in 

 succession for several days. 



A new Snowdrop, Galanthus gracilis, which flowers in Bul- 

 garia in March, is mentioned by Mr. J. G. Baker, in a late num- 

 ber of the Gardeners' Chronicle. It is nearly allied to G. El- 

 wesii, being similar in stature and having a large blotch at the 

 base of the inner segments of the perianth. The apical lobes 

 are oblong and not crisp at the edges. The plant seems to be 

 widely distributed throughout Bulgaria. 



The Mountain Maple (Acer spicatum) is not often, culti- 

 vated, and yet it is very useful where dense masses of shrub- 

 bery are needed. A fortnight ago they were in full bloom, and 

 very effective among other shrubs along the drives in the Arnold 

 Arboretum. They make small trees or tall shrubs eight or 

 ten feet high, with brown twigs, good foliage and greenish 

 yellow flowers in erect slender racemes. 



The pure white Ascension Lily (Lilium candidum) seems 

 to have. escaped the disease which a few years ago threat- 

 ened to make its cultivation impossible here. Plants about 

 New York are flowering abundantly. Few objects in a hardy- 

 flower garden are more beautiful than a mass of these flowers 

 with a dark green background or interspersed with tall spikes 

 of the pure blue Delphinium formosum, which is now at its 

 best. 



We have received from Mr. Joseph Meehan a branch of 

 Cistus laurifolius, and although the flowers last only for a day, 

 the form and character of the clear white blossoms were still 

 distinctly shown in this specimen. The leaves are somewhat 

 viscid or gummy, and have a pleasant aromadc odor. This is 

 a very old plant in European gardens, but it is considered ten- 

 der here, and it is, therefore, worth noting that the shrub from 

 which this branch was taken has stood out in the Meehan nur- 

 series at Germantown for four years, and has never been in- 

 jured in the least. This beautiful evergreen, therefore, ought 

 to be classed among the shrubs which are probably hardy in 

 the latitude of Philadelphia. The flowers are produced freely 

 in succession for several days. 



The Secretary of War has appointed a commission, consisting 

 of Colonel John P. Nicholson, of Philadelphia, editor of the 

 American edition of the History of the Civil War in America, 

 by the Comte de Paris ; Mr. John B. Batchelder, of Massachu- 

 setts, and General Forney, of the Confederate army, to mark 

 the Confederate lines at Gettysburg. The Union lines have 

 been thoroughly designated at the expense of $863,017, the 

 state of Pennsylvania having contributed a litfle over the half 

 of the amount, or $441,000. When the Comte de Paris visited 

 the field for the first time two years ago he declared that 

 Europe had no such impressive spectacle as an attraction for 

 tourists. It is not improbable that the position of the camps 

 of the different state troops at Valley Forge may eventually be 

 marked somewhat on the plan pursued at Gettysburg. 



■ A correspondent of The Country Gentleman says that hun- 

 dreds of acres of Watermelons are grown in south-western 

 Georgia for the seed alone; These Melons are grown from 

 seed furnished by northern seedsmen, who take the entire 

 product of the land planted at a contract price, which varies 

 from twelve and a half up to twenty-five cents a pound for a 

 few variefies. Light sandy land is selected, and the seed is 

 planted six feet apart, with a handful of compost in each hill. 

 When the melons are thoroughly ripe, barrels are taken into 

 the' field and the melons hauled to them in wagons. They are 

 then split open and all the seeds and some pulp are taken out 

 by hand and emptied into a barrel, where the mass is left to 

 ferment undl the seeds sink to the bottom. After fermenta- 

 tion the water is poured off, the seeds washed and dried. The 

 average yield is about 150 pounds to the acre, which gives a 

 gross return of only $18.75. The land, however, is too poor 

 for anything else, and the after crop of Crab Grass hay is worth 

 nearly as much as the seed. 



■ Deutzia parviflora, which has just gone out of bloom, differs 



very much in the appearance of its flowers from any of the 

 other varieties in cultivation. These flowers are not of a 

 snowy whiteness, like those of D. gracilis, but are creamy 

 white, prettily arranged in large corymbs, and vary from 

 over one-third to one-half an inch across. They resemble in 

 general appearance small Hawthorn-blossoms, and have some- 

 thing like the Hawthorn's fragrance. D. parviflora is a stout 

 shrub with upright stems four or five feet high, and the flowers 

 in early June quite cover the upper portions of the stems. It 

 seems to us the most beautiful of the three or four species now 

 cultivated, and it is altogether one of the hardiest and most 

 desirable of the shrubs which have come to us in recent years 

 from Asia. It is a native of northern China and the Amoor 

 country, and it was sent a few years ago from the St. Petersburg 

 Garden to the Arnold Arboretum, from which place it has 

 found its way into many of the large collections of the coun- 

 try, although it is not as widely known as it should be. The 

 reproduction of a photograph of a flowering branch of this 

 shrub was published in the first volume of Garden and 

 Forest. 



Latest advices from Greece show that the downy mildew 

 has attacked the Currant-plants in Patras, Zante and some of 

 the other coast districts, and there is reason to fear that much 

 damage will be done, although Currant-growers in the east 

 have learned to use the copper compounds for spraying 

 against mildew. It is probable that in a few years currants 

 from California will be as common in our markets as other 

 fruits are now, since the experiments in cultivating this berry 

 there have proved most encouraging. Fruit dealers are 

 looking forward confidently to the time when European cur- 

 rants will be subject to competition with the California prod- 

 uct, just as European prunes and raisins now are. The prune 

 crop of Bosnia and Servia is likely to be up to the average, 

 and the crop of French prunes will be abundant and good. 

 Encouraging reports come from Spain as to the crop of Valen- 

 cia raisins, and a careful review of the situation in the Journal 

 of Co7nmerce concludes that there is likely to be an abundance 

 of fruit from all sections of the world, with low prices. Good 

 mangoes are now arriving from the West Indies and bring one 

 dollar a dozen. The fancy fruit stores are offering an orange 

 called the Columbus, from Rodi, Italy, which is superior to any 

 other Mediterranean fruit. It is the best of summer oranges 

 and ranks with first-class Florida fruit in winter. These sell at 

 sixty cents a dozen. Small striped summer apples frorh Geor- 

 gia are fifty cents a dozen. Huckleberries are coming in from 

 Maryland, blackberries from Delaware, and raspberries from 

 New Jersey. 



In reply to an inquiry whether farmers should be advised to 

 go into Pear-culture, Messrs. Ellwanger & Barry reply in the 

 Rural New Yorker that in a long experience they do not re- 

 member a single case where fruit-growing, when conducted 

 properly, has resulted in failure. The failures which have 

 occurred can always be traced to some error in care or culti- 

 vation. An indispensable requisite to Pear-culture is a well- 

 drained soil and trees set well apart. Dwarf trees should be 

 separated by at least fifteen feet and standards by twenty-five 

 feet. Pruning and thinning should be carefully practiced and 

 no low grade of fruit offered for sale unless it is so marked. 

 The finest fruit should always be carefully sorted and the 

 package marked so that they will be recognized at once as the 

 highest grade. In this way growers can obtain a reputation 

 for first-class products. The most profitable Pear is the Anjou. 

 Clairgeau also commands a high price by its handsome ap- 

 pearance, although it is of medium quality. Winter Nelis is 

 profitable for midwinter, because it bears heavily and ripens 

 about February ist. Mr. T. T. Lyon, of Michigan, in replying 

 to the same question, holds that it is hardly safe for any one 

 to embark in Pear-culture, except experimentally, until he 

 knows well the soil and climate of the contemplated locality, 

 and has become thoroughly familiar with approved systems 

 of management. To a man thus equipped the venture may 

 be commended as eminently promising. Dr. Hoskins thinks 

 a man who knows how, and who will do as well as he knows, 

 and is not too far from a good market, can make Pear-grow- 

 ing pay as well as growing any other fruit. He would not 

 advise any one engaged in farming or dairying or stock-rais- 

 ing to abandon these occupations for Pear-growing, since one 

 business is enough for one man. 



Mr. A. C. Hammond, who has been Secretary of the Illinois 

 Horticultural Society for several years, died at his home at 

 Warsaw, in that state, on the 20th of June. He was widely 

 known and much esteemed among horticulturists, and his loss 

 will be deeply felt. 



