490 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 300. 



Notes. 



Three of the largest Japanese Maples in the country are now 

 standing in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. They are said to be 

 among'the first of these trees sent here by the late Thomas 

 Hogg, and are now, perhaps, thirty-five feet high, with a corre- 

 sponding trunk circumference. Although they are beginning to 

 be crowded they are fine trees, and at this season of the year they 

 are especially beautiful, because their foliage is just taking on 

 its best color when all our native trees are already stripped of 

 their leaves. This late retention of foliage is a peculiarity of 

 east Asian plants, and it should be taken advantage of when 

 planting for autumn effect. None of our native Scarlet Maples 

 was ever brighter than these Japanese Maples are now in the 

 last half of November, when the Scarlet Maples have been 

 bare of their foliage for nearly a month. 



Professor Beckwith, of the Delaware Experiment Station, 

 writes in the Rural New Yorker, that the three dwarf Lima 

 Beans — Henderson's, Burpee's and Thorburn's — planted 

 alongside of each other, have all once more proved valuable 

 acquisitions. Henderson's proved the most productive, but 

 yielded the smallest beans, and the large beans are preferred 

 by most persons. There seemed little difference in quality, 

 however. The pods in Henderson's Lima do not fill out much, 

 even when they are of full size, so that one is apt to allow 

 them to get too old before beginning to use them. Burpee's 

 Early Black Lima will probably not be generally liked on ac- 

 count of its color and the small size of the beans, but, like the 

 Black Mexican Sweet Corn, its superior quality renders it de- 

 sirable. Its vines do not grow as rank as some other kinds, 

 but they bear an enormous crop. 



Mr. George Stanton, of Summit Station, New York, who has 

 been experimenfing for some fime with the cultivation of Gin- 

 seng, writes that he has lately taken up the roots from three 

 small beds, each sixteen feet long by three feet wide, one of 

 which had been planted five years ago, and two others four 

 years ago, with small roots taken from the woods. After re- 

 serving, for replandng, 833 roots, which weighed together more 

 than twenty pounds, all of them larger than any of those 

 originally planted, he had remaining fifty-two pounds and 

 foin-teen ounces of clean-washed roots, which will make, 

 when dried, about seventeen pounds, worth from $3 00 to $3.50 

 per pound. Meanwhile, Mr. Stanton has been selling seed 

 from his plants to the amount of about $40. If operafions of 

 this kind could be carried forward on a large scale it looks as if 

 the Ginseng industry had in it the promise of a good profit. 



A German horticultural journal is responsible for this story 

 about a bridal bouquet. A certain school-teacher in the town 

 of Konitz had ordered a bouquet for his wedding-day, stipu- 

 lating that it should not cost morethanfour marks (one dollar), 

 but not designating what kind of flowers should be selected. 

 It was in the autumn, when hot-house flowers were few and 

 dear, so the florist composed it of white dahlias ; but the bride 

 and her family declaring that these flowers were unfit for the 

 purpose, the school-teacher returned the bouquet to its 

 maker and refused to pay for it. The florist then sued him, 

 but the position of the schOt)lmaster was sustained in court, in 

 accordance with the testimony of experts in matters of taste 

 whom he had called in and who echoed the opinion of the 

 bride. A similar result followed upon an appeal to a higher 

 court, despite the testimony of experts now summoned by the 

 florist, and the florist was ordered to pay the costs of the suit, 

 amounfing to three hundred marks. 



Professor Troup writes that the Russian variedes of orchard 

 fruits which have been tried during the last ten years in In- 

 diana have proved successful in point of hardiness. The trees 

 are nearly all good growers, and many of them are uncom- 

 monly good producers and they begin to yield while very 

 young. The apples, however, are nearly all summer and 

 autumn varieties, none of them having proved late-winter 

 keepers. Those which are described as " late-winter " in Iowa 

 ripen in Indiana in August. When crossed with our native 

 varieties, however, they may prove of value. The Pear-trees 

 seem very healthy, and none of them show a tendency to 

 blight, but they have not been in bearing long enough to war- 

 rant positive judgment upon them. The variety known as 

 Sapieganka produces small but very handsome pears, which, 

 if picked at the proper time and ripened up, are of very good 

 quality. The Russian cherries so far tested have not proved 

 in any way superior to the old kinds in cuUivation. 



A late number of the Gardeners Magazine contains a good 

 picture of Zenobia (or, as it.is usually known in American col- 



lections, Andromeda) speciosa, var. pulverulenta. Mr. Nich- 

 olson, who writes the note accompanying the portrait in the 

 paper referred to, regrets that a plant which was so highly 

 prized in English gardens during the early part of the century 

 has been, along with many other equally interesting and beau- 

 dful shrubs, strangely neglected during recent years. It can 

 hardly be more rare in English gardens than in those of 

 America, although it is quite hardy as far north as New Eng- 

 land, in spite of the fact that its natural home is along the bor- 

 ders of the ponds in the coast-country from Florida to North 

 Carolina. The species is a low shrub never more than three 

 or four feet high, and it has bright shining leaves, while the 

 variety is rather smaller and, perhaps, a more beautiful plant, 

 with bluish gray or nearly white leaves and a dense glaucous 

 bloom. The flowers on both plants are of pure white, and are 

 borne on long racemed fascicles on the naked branches of the 

 preceding year. They are bell-shaped and rather larger than 

 those of Lily-of-the-valley. The plant will thrive in any loamy 

 soil where it is not too dry, but it does well in peaty soil. As 

 it forces well it is remarkable that we so rarely see flowering 

 specimens in pots at our early spring exhibitions. 



Receipts of Delaware grapes are now ended and the season 

 for Concords is drawing to a close, most of the shipments com- 

 ing in trays and used by our foreign population for wine for 

 home use. Catawbas condnue to come by car-loads as late as 

 February, when they are received in smaller quantities by ex- 

 press until spring. Black Ferreras, which are said to make a 

 wine having good keeping qualities, are sold as low as four 

 and five cents a pound after their costly journey from the Pa- 

 cific. Other varieties of California grapes, included in twenty- 

 five car-loads, sold in this city last week, are Muscats, Flame 

 Tokays and Cornichons, the latter masquerading on the street- 

 stands sometimes under the name of Black Malagas, and 

 sometimes as New Cornish grapes. Some high-grade Almeria 

 grapes of choicest quality, known as the Hilaro Rubi Rubi 

 brand, were sold on their arrival last week at double the prices 

 brought by any Spanish grapes this season, but this fruit prom- 

 ises to be both cheap and abundant for some time to come. 

 The imports are largely in excess of those of last year, and 

 one cargo of nearly 24,000 barrels, the largest ever exported 

 from Almeria, reached New York this week. A few boxes of 

 Coe's Late Red plums came direct from California last week, 

 most of this fruit seen here now being from cold storage, as are 

 also some George's Late andSalway peaches, for which there 

 is but little call. Pomegranates, from Spain and from California, 

 are fifty to sixty cents a dozen. Navel oranges, from Florida, 

 bring the same low price, because of their unripe condition, 

 and Tangerines are forty to sixty cents a dozen. 



The Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of 

 Illinois issued a bulledn last summer giving the details of a 

 forest-tree plantation which was begun in the spring of 1871. 

 About thirteen acres were planted, some of the ground being 

 marshy, and some of the higher portions so poor that farm 

 crops were no longer remunerative. The selection of varieties 

 does not seem to have been the best, and, perhaps, with 

 the experience gained, another plantation might be more in- 

 telligently cared for. Some of the trees, as, for example, the 

 European Larch, on high ground, the Norway Spruce, the 

 Sugar Maple, the White Maple and a few other trees, look 

 well. The conclusions arrived at are that it is impossible for 

 tree-plantations to be made profitable as farm-crops on land 

 which is fit for wheat and corn. It is idle to talk of growing 

 wood for fuel, except for home use on the farm, when bitu- 

 minous coal can be had at present prices. In Illinois, lands 

 which are well-timbered sell for a smaller price per acre than 

 lands of the same quality that have been cleared, or than prai- 

 rie lands of the same producdveness ; that is, the value of the 

 timber is less than the cost of clearing the land and bringing it 

 under cultivation. The bulletin states, however, that the value 

 of natural forests gives little information as to the worth of 

 artificial plantations, which, if judiciously managed, may con- 

 sist entirely of high-priced and useful material. There is one 

 constant reason for uneasiness about this experiment, as there 

 must be about every forest-tree plantadon, that is, the real and 

 imminent danger from fire. The areas which bear coniferous 

 trees are liable to be burned over during any dry time, and in 

 autumn, after the fall of the leaves, the part devoted to deciduous 

 trees is quite unsafe. A burning wad from a gun, or the neg- 

 ligent use of fire by a tramp, may start a conflagration which 

 will destroy in a few hours the products of years. There seems 

 no hope for forest-planters except to. take the risk of fire, and 

 this risk may be classed among the items of obstacles and 

 expenses. 



