November 29, 1893.] 



Garden and Forest. 



491 



GARDEN AND FOREST, 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



THE GARDEN AND FOREST PUBLISHING CO. 



Office: Tribune Building, New York. 



Conducted by Professor C. S. Sargent. 



ENTERED AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER AT THE POST OFFICE AT NEW YORK, N. Y. 



NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1893. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 



Editorial Articles: — TheNevv Jersey Highlands 491 



The Popularity of the Chrysanthemum 491 



Slow-maturing Fruits of Trees and Shrubs J. G. Jack. 492 



Oregon Autumn Notes Francis Ernest Lhyd. 493 



Noteson the Forest Flora of Japan.— XXV. (With figure.) C 5. S. 493 



Cultural Department : — Does Mulching Retard the Ripening of Fruits? F. 495 



The European Eryngiums H. Correvon. ng6 



Winter Care of Hardy Plants y. N. Gerard. 497 



Luculia gratissima, Oncidium omithorhynchum E. O. O. 497 



Liatris grammifolia IVm. F. Bassett. 497 



Pacific Coast Irises Carl Pur dy. 497 



The Dandelion as a Salad-plant IVm. Tricker. 497 



Correspondence : — Chrysanthemums at the Exhibitions J. N. Gerard. 498 



Notes from Northern California Carl Purdy. 498 



Mid-November in a Michigan Garden H. A. Fortiiine, M. D. 498 



Chrysanthemums in Vases Win. J. Sie^vart. 499 



Recent Publications 499 



Notes 500 



Illustration : — A view in the Forest of Hemlock (Tsuga diversifolia) in the 



Nikko Mountains, Japan, Fig. 73. 495 



The New Jersey Highlands. 



THE annual report of the State Geologist of New Jersey, 

 which has just been published, contains an interest- 

 ing chapter on "Natural Parks and Forest-reservations." 

 The action of the Massachusetts Legislature, in creating a 

 Park Commission to consider the advisability of providing 

 open spaces in the vicinity of the towns near Boston, sug- 

 gests an examination of the natural features of the northern 

 part of the state of New Jersey, which lies so close to a 

 dense population, and from which large cities like Newark, 

 Paterson, JerseyCity and Orange secure their water-supply. 

 Inasmuch as one of the primary uses of a geological sur- 

 vey of a state is to discover and set forth its natural advan- 

 tages, this subject is quite a legitimate one. Attractive 

 scenery, well-watered and health-giving places of residence 

 and resort are certainly natural resources which have a 

 value quite as real as that of a bed of ore or of marl or a 

 quarry of marble. These physical features are part of the 

 wealth of the state, and, as Professor Smock explains, the 

 development of these resources is one of the eminently 

 practical benefits which ought to come from official 

 studies and surveys. 



The northern part of New Jersey is traversed from north- 

 east to south-west by the ranges of the Appalachian sys- 

 tem which are nearest the sea. On the extreme north- 

 western border of the state are the Blue, or Shawangunk, 

 Mountains, through which the Delaware breaks at the 

 Water Gap. This range forms one boundary of the beau- 

 tiful Kittatinny Valley, which opens into the Delaware in 

 one direction and the Hudson in the other, embracing most 

 of the counties of Warren and Sussex, a region of fertile 

 farm-land of singular pastoral beauty. The New Jersey 

 Highlands, so-caUed, which bound this valley on the south 

 and east, are a broad belt of mountain land, extending across 

 the state and consisting of many comparatively short par- 

 allel ridges, which rise to a height of a thousand or fifteen 

 hundred feet. The valleys of these Highlands are gemmed 

 with beautiful lakes, the slopes of the mountains are cov- 

 ered with luxuriant tree-growth, and the scenery has that 

 varied beauty which is always found in a country of lakes 



and forests, sparkling streams and rugged hills. The 

 mountains have not been blackened and blasted by fire, 

 and although most of the original wood has been cut away, 

 there is healthy timber growing everywhere, except on the 

 crests of the rockiest ridges. The lakes and streams are 

 well stocked with fish and the woods with game, so that 

 altogether there are many portions of the Highlands which 

 seem peculiarly adapted to use as public parks or as state 

 forests. 



But the peculiar value of this region lies in its accessi- 

 bility. A circle of less than thirty miles, with its centre at 

 Newark, would take in its entire chain of lakes and nearly 

 all of the most beautiful of its mountain scenery. The very 

 heart of the Highlands is less than forty miles from the 

 New York City Hall. It is difficult to imagine that so 

 much wild wood scenery, such a stretch of untamed coun- 

 try, and so many forest-bordered mountain-lakes still re- 

 main in much of their primitive beauty so near to great 

 masses of population. It can hardly be hoped that these 

 woods will much longer resist the demand for lumber and 

 fuel, or that this region can much longer remain unpopu- 

 lated ; and, therefore, the recommendation to preserve 

 some of its more remarkable natural features, and hold 

 them under some associated or public supervision, is a 

 timely one. The reservation of large forest and mountain 

 areas in remote parts of the country is certainly commend- 

 able, but it would seem that this mountain-belt of New Jer- 

 sey, where there are so many tracts which are available for 

 use as public pleasure-grounds, and near enough to afford 

 ready resort for the great population which clusters around 

 New York Bay, ought not to be overlooked, and that some 

 effort should be made to preserve a part of these Highland 

 ranges for the pleasure and health of the people. Professor 

 Smock calls attention to the fact that the recently estab- 

 lished Algonquin Park, in Ontario, occupies a territory 

 which, in its topographic and geologic features, resembles 

 the New Jersey Highlands closely, and a section of them 

 would well serve the purpose for which this park in the 

 northern wilderness has been reserved ; and that purpose, 

 as set forth in the language of the act creating the reserva- 

 tion, is "to be a public park, forest-reservation, fish and 

 game preserve, health-resort and pleasure-ground for the 

 benefit, advantage and enjoyment of the Province of 

 Ontario." 



Almost every year some one steps forward to assert that 

 the Chrysanthemum has passed the zenith of its popularity, 

 and that it will soon take its place among the flowers which 

 were once fashionable, but which are now, like the Camellia, 

 for example, almost entirely neglected. But the exhibitions 

 of which we have lately given an account, and many 

 others which we have not had space to mention, have this 

 year been unusually well attended ; the flowers have been 

 better than ever before in richness of color and refinement 

 of form, and the limit of possible improvement seems as 

 distant as ever. The fact is that the flower possesses in it- 

 self such positive merits that its position is assured beyond 

 any cavil. It lends itself so well to various kinds of deco- 

 ration that it cannot be displaced by any other plant in 

 cultivation ; it is grown with comparative ease, flowers 

 profusely, and lasts well under conditions which are usually 

 injurious to plant-life. But, most of all, it comes at a time of 

 year when rivals are few, lasting through a long period, and 

 fills completely a season when flowers are few, which 

 without it would be dreary enough. 



The plants grown to a single stem and carrying a single 

 flower are in themselves unattractive, but a dozen or two 

 of these flowers in a large vase make a decoration of the 

 most imposing kind, and since prizes have been given for 

 this class the exhibitions have had a new interest. It seems 

 strange that the Anemone-flowered varieties are so little 

 used to produce effects of this sort, and perhaps the next 

 sensation will be in this direction. We have seen nothing 

 more beautiful this year than a group of these flowers on 

 long stems. They are not at all inferior to the other kinds in 



