400 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 291. 



Notes. 



A Date Palm in Laredo, Texas, has on it nearly a bushel of 

 dates. It is said to be the first instance of Date Palms bearing 

 fruit in that section. 



A hybrid has been procured between Azalea mollis and A. 

 viscosa which preserves the agreeable fragrance of our native 

 plant with the bright colors of its Asiatic parent. A new race 

 of sweet-scented Azaleas would be a desirable addition to 

 garden-plants. 



A beautiful adornment for any room is a great branch cov- 

 ered with forest-leaves, set in a high vase. Such an orna- 

 ment is within reach of all country dwellers, even those who 

 have no gardens of their own. Cut freely and allowed to lie 

 in water for a while, and then lightly shaken to remove super- 

 iluous drops, these branches will make a bower of the hum- 

 blest summer home, and be a constant pleasure to the eye. 



The Experiment Station of the Michigan Agricultural College 

 has for two or three years conducted experiments to show 

 the results of growing Potatoes under a mulch, as compared 

 with the ordinary method of cultivation. The conclusion 

 seems to be reached that on a small scale in a dry season 

 mulching may be profitable. The potatoes grown under the 

 mulch were of excellent quality and almost entirely free from 

 scab. The unmulched potatoes were badly affected with scab, 

 and although the yield was heavier, (he quality was inferior. 



We have received from Dr. J. H. Mellichamp, of Bluffton, 

 South Carolina, beautiful specimens of a white-fruited form of 

 Callicarpa Americana, vv^hich is quite new to us. The Ameri- 

 can Callicarpa, which is one of the most beautiful species of 

 the genus, is probably not hardy in the neighborhood of this 

 city, but where it can be successfully grown it should find a 

 place in every shrubbery for the beauty of the light purple ber- 

 ries which cover its branches in the autumn. Dr. Mellichamp's 

 white-fruited form will make an excellent companion for it. 



According to the North-western Lumberman, a representa' 

 five of German manufacturers now attending the World's Fair, 

 proposes to use cottonwood for matches. Experiments with 

 this wood have proved satisfactory, and a dealer has under- 

 taken to supply the German manufacturers with from ten 

 million to fifteen million feet a year of timber of the first 

 quality. It is thought that the lumber can be delivered from 

 vessels at Atlantic ports at $35 a thousand. White pine, which 

 has been used hitherto has cost $65 a thousand when laid 

 down in Germany. 



The bark of the Linden-tree plays a singularly important 

 part in the domesdc economy of the Russian peasant. It is 

 made into a sort of matting which is used for bags of all kinds, 

 the best and heaviest being reserved to contain flour ; and 

 also into sandals which are so universally worn that some ten 

 million pairs are required each year. For sandal-making strips 

 of the bark of saplings are employed, and, as it takes the 

 bark of about four saplings to form a single pair, the destruc- 

 tion wrought by this one industry can easily be imagined. 

 The young trees are stripped in spring or early summer when 

 they "are full of sap. 



It appears from an article in Nature Notes that the tourist in 

 Switzerland who is anxious to take a piece of Eidelweiss home 

 with him is often imposed upon by a sham plant, for which he 

 pays a good price, and is, therefore, saved the trouble of col- 

 lecting or cultivating the real thing. The artificial blossom is 

 made of the white woolen felted material of which the coats of 

 the Austrian soldiers are made. When cut into strips this re- 

 sembles the characteristic upper leaves of the plant, particu- 

 larly when the color is somewhat mellowed by exposure. 

 These strips of cloth are carefully cut out and skillfully grafted 

 on a stock of any weed that comes handy and which has a su- 

 perficial resemblance to the Eidelweiss in habit. The speci- 

 men is then pressed and dried, and the pious fraud is complete. 



Mr. Thomas Meehan writes that it is a common error to 

 transplant evergreens later in spring than deciduous trees. 

 The reason why trees die after transplanting is that the 

 evaporation from the leaves and branches goes on faster 

 than the supply can be afforded by the roots, and all trees re- 

 quire a little time to push out new fibres from their roots 

 before they can begin to take up moisture in any quantity, 

 although, no doubt, a little moisture may get through the sur- 

 faces of the old roots. The reason for pruning newly set trees 

 is that evaporation thus far is checked, and in the case of ever- 

 greens more would be gained by playing a hose on the leaves 

 once or twice a day at the outside than by pouring water 

 around the roots, when there are no fibres to use it. If the 



earth is hammered in very hard and close about the roots the 

 tree will usually get the moisture it needs without any super- 

 abundant water. 



Nectarines are coming slowly into market, although there 

 are many more this year than ever before. A dozen different 

 varieties are grown in the interior valleys of California, but 

 the names are never specified, and sometimes more than one 

 kind comes in the same package, so that it is difficult to identify 

 the varieties. The rich flavor of this fruit and its translucent 

 beauty when dried ought to create a larger demand for it. Choice 

 Bartletts from up the Hudson sell at four dollars a barrel, and 

 Seckels bring about as much. The largest and most beautiful 

 Seckel pears ever seen here are now coming from California. 

 The flesh of these is fine-grained and juicy, but is hardly as 

 spicy or aromatic in flavor as the smaller ones grown in the 

 east. King apples now lead in price, and good Fall Pippins, 

 York Imperial, Twenty-ounce, Maiden Blush and Gravenstein 

 sell readily at wholesale for two dollars and seventy-five cents 

 a barrel. California peaches are now seen at their best, the 

 choice fruit measuring ten inches around and weighing a half- 

 pound each. Among the leading variefies are McDevit Cling, 

 a large golden yellow California seedling which becomes red 

 when fully ripe ; Lemon Cling, which originated in South 

 Carolina, distinct in color, having an even light yellow skin ; 

 Orange Cling, of the largest size, round, with a distinct suture 

 and a rich golden color with a red cheek ; and Picquet's Late, 

 which originated in Georgia, another very large yellow peach. 

 Selected fruit of Reeves' Favorite peaches, from New Jersey, 

 are two dollars and a half a basket, although a good quality of 

 Crawford's Late sells for a dollar a basket. Among California 

 plums now in market here are Fellenberg, a deep dark purple 

 with a blue bloom ; Ickworth, a large purple with fawn-col- 

 ored streaks ; the Hungarian Prune, which is still marketed 

 under the name of the Grosse Prune ; the Silver Prune, an 

 Oregon variety said to be a seedling from Coe's Golden Drop, 

 of large size and superior flavor ; and enormous Kelsey plums, 

 whose fine flavor and small pits make them desirable. The 

 Kelseys retail on sidewalk-stands for ten cents each. The rich 

 and showy Gsertner grapes, Rogers No. 14, of admirable 

 quality, retail at twelve cents a pound. New Grape Fruit, re- 

 ceived from Jamaica last week, is selling for a dollar a dozen. 



This has been an unfavorable season for China Asters, but 

 a collection of some 200 varieties on the Henderson trial- 

 grounds in Hackensack last week gave a good opportunity 

 tor examining and comparing some of the more distinct 

 groups. Very good flowers are those of the Empress class, 

 which seem to be the same as those described in the French 

 catalogues as Naine gtal^e. The plants are broad and compact, 

 with large very double flowers, which, although dwarfed 

 by the dry weather, are now two and a half inches in 

 diameter, slightly quilled in the centre and borne on long 

 stems. The white, bright blue and carmine colored varieties 

 are most desirable. A peculiarity of these plants is that they 

 branch out very low. The best class for bedding is the dwarf 

 Chrysanthemum-flowered, which includes all colors. The tall 

 Chrysanthemum-flowered vai'ieties are later and usually show 

 a yellow centre, which is objectionable. They are very large 

 and graceful. The class known as Ball or Jewel are most of 

 them admirable, and they bear a great number of flowers, 

 which are densely double like those of an incurved Chrysan- 

 themum. They come in various colors. The Pompon Crown, 

 or Cockade, is a desirable class of low-growing, but large-flow- 

 ered plants with large, tightly compact flowers in pink, indigo, 

 light blue and crimson, with the quilled centre-florets white. 

 The Kugel, or Isabel Aster, is Anemone-flowered, with an 

 outer band of imbricated blush-white petals and the centre of 

 dark wine-color; they are novel and disdnct. The dwarf Pasony- 

 flowered class are of excellent habit, but since they are a more 

 recent development they have fewer distinct colors than the 

 large Paeony-flowered ones. Many of these colors are brilliant, 

 but some of them are an objectionable muddy red. They have 

 long stems, which make them valuable for cutting. Out of the 

 forty varieties of the Victoria class, a really distinct dozen 

 could be picked out of good clear shades. We noted a dark 

 scarlet, a light blue, an indigo, a carmine with no magenta 

 in it, a copper-red, a pure white, a heliotrope, a crimson, a dark 

 crimson margined with white, and a striped purple, which 

 were admirable. Of the Comet class, the flowers of which 

 have something of the wayward and unconventional form of the 

 Japanese Chrysanthemum, all are good. One, an apple-blos- 

 som pink, is especially delicate in color, while Vilmorin's 

 Giant White, with its long stems and abundant flowers, is as 

 near perfection as has yet been reached by any of these 

 flowers. 



