358 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 287. 



a thousand. I do not expect or desire to see labor so low- 

 priced in America that a man will be content to g^row these 

 Lilies several years, from the scale to the full-sized bulb, for 

 one cent. 



As for the gfreater amount of sunshine in the south, there is 

 very little difference between North Carolina and Massachu- 

 setts, but that difference, between the vernal and the autumnal 

 equinoxes, is in favor of the northern locality. There is enough 

 of sunshine and heat, too, in any part of the north for the per- 

 fected growth of Dutch bulbs' proper, Hyacinths, Crocuses, 

 Tulips and Narcissi, all of which have run their yearly 

 course above ground before July comes in. As for the Dutch 

 grower, of whom frequent mention has been made in several 

 papers lately, if he enters upon the business here and con- 

 tinues in it for a term of years I shall be surprised, but I shall 

 also be as much pleased as any one at the successful introduc- 

 tion of a new industry, and will acknowledge my mistake. At 

 present, however, since I agree with Professor Massey that the 

 business will be carried on where it can be done most advan- 

 tageously, I believe that the Dutch and French growers will 

 continue business in their own countries, undisturbed by 

 American competition, and that "failure and loss await those 

 who shall go into the Dutch bulb business in this country." 



Canton, Mass. ^^- E- Endicott. 



Periodical Literature. 



A recent issue of the Kew Bulletin of Miscellaneous In- 

 formatio7i contains an interesting account of the Chinese white 

 wax industry, one of the most curious of all human indus- 

 tries. 



The wax insect is bred in certain districts of central China 

 upon a species of Privet, probably Ligustrum Japonicum ; and 

 as the Chinese believe that the wax cannot be produced in the 

 districts where the insect is propagated, and, conversely, that 

 the reproduction of the insects cannot take place in regions 

 which are favorable to the production of wax, after the eggs 

 are hatched they are gathered and carried several hundred 

 miles into another province, where they are deposited on the 

 branches of an Ash-tree, which is believed to be Fraxinus 

 Chinensis. Here they are hatched, grow and deposit their 

 wax, which is collected by cutting off the branches of the Ash- 

 trees, which are carefully cultivated for the purpose, and then 

 boiling them. The method is thus described : "The mother 

 gall being placed upon a suitable tree, the young brood march 

 out at a good round pace and ascend the branches, the red fe- 

 males leading the way ; after a period of desultory wandering 

 they reach the leaves, on which they seem to feed, but the 

 quantity they consume is imperceptible, and the leaves remain, 

 to all appearance, uninjured. In about ten days they return to 

 the thin upper twigs, where, according to the natives, the 

 males begin to excrete wax, and the females to form the galls 

 either amid the wax or apart from it. The deposit of wax 

 gradually increases during a hundred days, from the date 

 when the galls were attached to the tree ; the twigs are then 

 almost entirely coated with a layer a third of an inch or less in 

 thickness. The whole process extends from the middle of 

 May to the end of August. While still on the tree the deposit 

 is a kind of dense greasy fluff, and looks very much like sul- 

 phate of quinine. The twigs, with their coating, are cut into 

 convenient lengths and put into a pot with a little water. After 

 the boiling-point is reached the fire is removed, and when 

 ebullition ceases the poorer quality of wax, with the hard parts 

 of the insects and other impurities, sink to the bottom. The 

 clear wax is skimmed from the surface and poured into a mold, 

 where it solidifies into the wax-cakes of commerce." A few 

 of the galls are, of course, retained in the region where the 

 eggs are hatched to ensure their reproduction. 



The operation of transporting the eggs is a delicate one, as 

 the interval between the milk and the hatching state is short, 

 and the young insects are liable to escape ; hence the journey 

 is made with all possible dispatch. The carriers cannot march 

 while the sun is high, for the heat would hatch the eggs. The 

 stages must be made by night, and every one is obliged to 

 carry a lantern. The whole body of carriers sets out within 

 the space of a day or two, and as the number is about fifteen 

 thousand, all hastening by the light of their lanterns over some 

 of the wildest passes in the world, each trying to outstrip his 

 fellow and to get first to the ferry or inn, it is easy to imagine 

 that this march of insect-carriers is Uke the headlong flight of 

 an army. 



The export of white wax from the interior provinces has 

 shown a great decline in recent years, and the industry is 

 thought to be a decaying one, petroleum replacing in China the 

 vegetable waxes upon which the Celestials entirely depended 



up to recent years. The insect which produces the white wax 

 is Coccus Pela. 



The first account of this remarkable industry was published 

 as early as 1655 in Martini's Atlas Sinensis. The best account, 

 perhaps, is that of the Jesuit, Pere Rathones, who in 1880 pub- 

 lished in Shanghai his Etude sur le Coccus Pela. An interest- 

 ing account of it, too, will be found in Hosie's Three Years in 

 Western China. 



The Columbian Exposition. 



The Fruit Curtains. 

 T YING in the rear of the plant curtains, which were de- 

 -•— ' scribed last week, are the two wings devoted to the pomo- 

 logical displays. These are much like the plant wings in style, 

 except that less glass is used in the sides and roofs, and the 

 floors are laid with boards. Each of them is forty-six feet wide 

 by 346 feet long. Entering the short passage leading west from 

 the great dome, one finds the fruit displays extending away 

 upon either hand. The early displays in these wings were 

 comprised largely of apples from cold storage, citrous fruits 

 from Cahfornia and Florida, and miscellaneous collections of 

 fruits in preservative liquids. During June and July the ber- 

 ries became attractive features of the displays of a few states, 

 especially of Illinois, New York, Wisconsin and New Jersey. 

 Now, at the middle of August, the new tree fruits of the sea- 

 son are introducing fresh interests, and many of the tables are 

 assuming a novel appearance. 



The first thing which attracts one's attention upon entering 

 the south curtain from the north is the interesting remnant of 

 the New South Wales collecdon. This has now dwindled to a 

 few plates of apples and a number of lemons, but these fruits 

 have been on exhibition many weeks after having made a 

 journey of nearly two months from Australia. At the left of 

 this space is the collection of Italian lemons and oranges, in 

 very much the same condition as when reported upon five 

 weeks ago. A central table, facing the entrance, is devoted to 

 fruits from Kentucky, comprising a considerable collection of 

 autumn pears and apples, peaches, plums and grapes. Cali- 

 fornia occupies a central table to the left of this and a wall 

 table still to the west. The plates of citrous fruits have now 

 largely disappeared from the California collections, and their 

 places are taken by immense plums, pears, peaches, necta- 

 rines and grapes. The Susquehanna peach, which seems to 

 meet with indifferent success in the east, is conspicuous in this 

 collection. The great monument of California oranges is still 

 in good condition, although it has lost some of its freshness ; 

 and the same may be said of the still remarkable citrous dis- 

 play California makes at the south end of this curtain. Against 

 the east wall Maine still holds its space, although the exhibit 

 has now dwindled to a few preserved fruits and jeUies. About 

 half-way down the hall Iowa has a long table heavily loaded 

 with new and old apples, with a sprinkling of native plums. 

 Illinois, appropriately, occupies the largest space of any ex- 

 hibitor in the hall. It shows great quantities of apples, both 

 old and new, peaches, pears and grapes. They are disposed 

 on three long tables with mirror-backed shelves, with black- 

 berries, crabs, plums and some other fruits in a cold-storage 

 case. Opposite Illinois, Minnesota has one of the best storage- 

 case displays in the building. Michigan, which has been very 

 poorly represented, is now beginning to fill its dreary shelves 

 with a few early peaches and apples, and there is promise of a 

 representative display later on. New Jersey has a good col- 

 lection of apples and pears, and Wisconsin has a small and 

 brilliant display of new apples, with the last of the blackberry 

 show still on the shelves. The Lubsk Queen, an apple in this 

 exhibit, is the most remarkable combinafion of brilliant pink 

 and white and primrose color of which the eye can conceive. 

 New York is holding its place as one of the most varied and 

 carefully made collections of fruits in the building, although 

 the season's fruits have not yet appeared in great quantity. A 

 large and interesting remnant of apples from the cold-storage 

 fire is still on the shelves. 



Entering the north curtain from the south one comes first 

 upon the large collections of the Canadian provinces, which 

 are just now beginning to feel the effect of the first early ap- 

 ples and peaches. New Mexico follows with a small lot of 

 bottled fruits, beyond which is a wretched collection of wax 

 fruits and vegetables from Louisiana. Montana and South 

 Dakota show bottled fruits. Arkansas has a long table de- 

 voted to an excellent display of apples and peaches. Idaho 

 shows new peaches, apples and plums, but the larger part of 

 its display, and the entire display of Washington, are yet com- 

 prised in the bottled products. In the Georgia section, Mr. 

 A. F. Rice, of Griswoldville, shows a lot of superb grapes, a 



