August 30, 1893.] 



Garden and Forest. 



369 



fruit is but a little more austere than that of its Atlantic rela- 

 tive. P. demissa, as found in North Dakota, especially in the 

 more northern and broken regions, is a small shrub, very 

 heavily loaded with s;ood-sized juicy fruit that does not need 

 the absence of all things luscious to render it palatable. In- 

 deed, some of the plants bear fruit that, when fully ripe, en- 

 tirely lacks the astringent qualities that need no description to 

 one who has passed his boyhood in the Atlantic region and 

 has been endowed with boyhood's appetite and curiosity. 

 The second fruit is a Juneberry, Amelanchier alnifolia, which 

 Mr. Parish describes as dry and hard and not to be compared 

 with its juicy Rocky Mountain relative. The plant described 

 is probably of the same species as the mountain form, but 

 varies on account of local conditions. The same species 

 growing here has the same characteristics as when found 

 growing in the Rocky Mountains. While the fruit lacks the 

 character and juiciness of Prunus demissa, it has some value as 

 a dessert fruit, exceeding in size, quality and productiveness the 

 Juneberry of the older states. 



Agricultural College, Fargo, N. D. <-• -O- IValdron. 



The White Grub in Lawns. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Allow me to add to your careful notes last week on the 

 white grub, that attempts to destroy these pests under sod with 

 kerosene were made some years ago on quite a large scale in 

 Washington, and proved very successful. The kerosene 

 emulsion was made in the usual way, and was diluted with 

 twelve parts of water. This was applied liberally to the in- 

 fested parts of the lawn, and for several days thereafter the 

 same spots of ground were freely watered in order to carry 

 the mixture down through the roots of the grass and into con- 

 tact with the insects. The same experiment has been fried in 

 several other places, and has been successful in all cases, so 

 far as I have been able to learn. For use on small grass plots 

 the remedy is quite feasible ; on a large scale it would be alto- 

 gether too expensive. 



I have found a good top-dressing of kainit to be very benefi- 

 cial to insect-infested lawns, and this can be washed down into 

 the ground bysprinkling with water just as the kerosene emul- 

 sion is carried down, r, c • T 



New Brunswick, N.J. J Ollll h. Sinith. 



Zelkova Keaki. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — I was much interested in Professor Sargent's instructive 

 account of Zelkova ICeaki, on page 323, and the accompanying 

 figure. I regret to say that there is one drawback to the culti- 

 vation of this fine tree in America at present ; like other mem- 

 bers of the family to which it belongs, it is subject to attacks 

 by the Elm-leaf beetle. At least, I observe that many of the 

 trees in the nurseries here are infested with that insect. 



Flushing, N. Y. M. 



The Columbian. Exposition. 

 Japanese Horticulture at the Fair. 



JAPAN makes four general horticultural exhibits at the 

 Fair — a garden upon the island, a garden in the north wing 

 of the Horticultural Building, a collection of models, drawings 

 and pots in the dome gallery of the same building, and a dis- 

 play of wines in the south or viticultural pavilion. The garden 

 upon the island lies beside the Japanese Building. It may be 

 divided into two parts, one representing the garden proper, 

 and the other showing a collection of nursery stock. To one 

 who has read much of Japanese gardening and who expects 

 to see a characteristic miniature landscape with grotesque 

 trees, this creation is disappointing. The garden is simply a 

 succession of low, smooth, grass-covered mounds with a few 

 narrow walks winding about, and a hapless dearth of anything 

 Japanesque in its planting. There are two obconical Pine- 

 trees about four feet high, and perhaps twenty-five years old, 

 but beyond these there is nothing striking among tlie plants, 

 although there are good small specimens of Sciadopitys verfi- 

 cillata, Cryptomeria Japonica, and very small varieties of 

 Azalea Indica.. This so-called Japanese garden was planned 

 by a builder who was concerned in the construction of the 

 temple, and the Japanese gardener, Izawa, freely declares that 

 it in no sense represents Japanese garden-art. The nursery 

 portion of the island display suffers from too much land. 

 There seemed to be land to spare upon this end of the island, 

 and it was turned over to the Japanese, who had asked for 



less, and had also brought plants for a smaller area. Never- 

 theless, the exhibit has intrinsic merit, especially in showing 

 some forty varieties of the Japanese Maple, Acer polymor- 

 phum, tvvenly-five of Tree Pajonies, and about 150 varieties of 

 Iris Kaempferi. Sterculia platanifolia, rarely seen as atemporary 

 lawn-tree in the north, is also conspicuous. Two Maples, 

 which are less than head-high and are about fifteen years old, 

 are grafted with some twenty-five varieties each, and they pre- 

 sented a most unique coml)ination of color in May and June. 



The garden in the Horticultural Building is undoubtedly a 

 good example of Japanese art. While it is only twenty-twoby 

 140 feet in extent and aims to present landscape-features, 

 it contains no less than 2,oco distinct plants. It represents 

 such a garden as may be adjacent to a dwelling-house. A 

 walk winds through the middle of the area lengthwise, crossing 

 an arched bridge and pond near its middle. Upon either side 

 of this central walk are miscellaneous collections of plants, so 

 thickly planted as to nearly hide the earth. There is no 

 attempt at greensward; and if the ground shows at all, it is 

 covered with a rough porous rock (Ohio tuffstein) which soon 

 assumes a greenish and mossy tint. The spaces between the 

 higher plants are sometimes covered with low grass-like 

 plants and dwarf forms of Azalea Indica. The mossy rock 

 borders all the walks, and upon little mounds of it various 

 dwarf and contorted trees are set, either in soil in the hollows, 

 or in blue-lacquered pots. The water area extends fully one- 

 third the lengtli of the entire space. It originates in a square 

 stone well near the northern extremity, the water being sup- 

 plied from a pipe in the bottom. The water bubbles up in 

 the center of the well, flows over the side and runs in a broad 

 stream near the outer edge of the garden for a distance of 

 several feet, when it broadens into an irregular fish-pond 

 nearly twenty feet wide and as many feet long, dotted with 

 picturesque islets and pots of Fern, and spanned by the arched 

 bridge already mentioned. This bridge is a unique feature. 

 Its bed is made of two curved log-sleepers with bark on, 

 across whicii is laid a row of smaller logs, the cut ends pre- 

 senting themselves to the observer. A dense layer of fagots 

 or twigs is laid upon this corduroy to hold the dirt, which is 

 now placed on, being held at the edges by a margin of the 

 mossy stone. The edges of this bridge are thickly planted. 

 On the rear, blue-green sprays of Juniperus littoralis project 

 over the water, while in front there are large and small Azaleas, 

 Ferns, and red-berried Ardisias. Long fern-rhizomes, tied in 

 withes with moss inside, are bent and twisted into grotesque 

 figures, which are suspended here and there, and in the moist 

 atmosphere these have sent up tender fronds. Two immense 

 stone lanterns of grotesque pattern comprise the architectural 

 features of the garden. 



A rustic box, about five feet long by three feet wide, stand- 

 ing upon a foundation of stones, shows a miniature landscape- 

 garden. There are hills and dales, three bridges, five houses, 

 a dwarf Thuya obtusa and Pinus densiflora, each many years 

 old, five minature Ardisia-trees, and no less than twenty 

 other plants in this little space, together with a large and ir- 

 regular water-basin. This is a plan or model of a Japanese 

 garden. It is such a plan as the Japanese gardener always 

 expects to make before he proceeds to the improvement of 

 grounds. It serves the purpose of a map. 



There are many curious plants in this garden. The chief 

 interest centres about two twisted trees of Thuya obtusa, 

 which are three to four feet high, and a hundred years old. 

 Dwarfed and contorted Pines and Maples, the latter often 

 bearing many varieties in the same top, are also conspicuous. 

 Small young Maple-trees, of diverse forms, are used to good 

 effect in certain bays and angles. Bamboos, Irises, Azaleas 

 and variegated Aucabas and Elasagnuses give color and spirit 

 to the whole. This Japanese garden cannot be called beauti- 

 ful, as Americans understand rural art, but it is curious and 

 grotesque, and it is one of the best object-lessons in the art of 

 patient and persevering garden-craft. 



The wax or composition models -of fruits and vegetables in 

 the dome of the Horficultural Building are less perfect than 

 many American casts, but they illustrate some peculiar types, 

 especially the fingered Oranges and the Bamboo-sprouts. 

 These sprouts spring from Bamboo-crowns, and they are 

 boiled and eaten after the manner of asparagus. The normal 

 sprout is about three inches through at the base and a foot 

 long, tapering gradually to the tip. The leaves are tightly im- 

 bricated, the short, green tips spreading slightly, much after 

 the manner of a close-husked ear of corn. Egg-plant fruits 

 about half-matured, cucumbers, water-melon, the russet apple- 

 like Japanese pears, pomegranates, pomelos, vinifera grapes, 

 apples — some of them showing the work of the codlin-moth — 

 and a variety of persimmons complete the collection. These 



