November 29, 1893.] 



Garden and Forest. 



499 



der. Spir^a prunifolia is still beautiful in its lower tones, al- 

 though it was at its best three weeks ago. The variegated 

 Philadelphus gives at this date the best foil to these colors, 

 and its golden color still glows as if nothing had happened to 

 it. I ought not to neglect in this enumeration the fresh green 

 color in the herbaceous border, where the Ascension Lilies, 

 some clumps of Aquilegia and Cranesbill and one of Wood 

 Anemone are still bright, and freshest of all a mass of native 

 Ferns, whose fair color and delicate forms were never more 

 attractive than now. tt ^ r^ 



Overisel, Midi. ^- A. J'oritnne. 



Chrysanthemums in Vases for Competition. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



/ Sir, — Allow me to correct Mr. Gerard in one point. Inliisinter- 

 '^stingarticle on Chrysanthemums for competition, he states that 

 the scheme of showing large vases of one variety on long stems 

 was inaugurated three years ago at Madison Square Garden, 

 and has since spread to all parts of the country. I wish to say 

 that this method of exhibiting prevailed in Boston several 

 years before any Chrysanthemum-show was ever held at Madi- 

 son Square Garden. The exhibitors at the autumn flower- 

 shows of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society are entitled 

 to whatever credit there is for discarding the plan of exhibit- 

 ing Chrysantliemums on flat boards and introducing the use 

 of tall vases and long-stemmed blooms. 

 Boston, Mass. i^jn. J, Stewart. 



Recent Publications. 



A History of Hingham, Massachusetts. Published by the 

 Town : 1893. 



The ancient town of Hingham, in Massachusetts, one 

 of the oldest in the commonweaUh, as it dates from 

 1633, has recently published its history in four handsome 

 volumes, liberal appropriations having been voted from 

 time to time by the citizens during the last ten years for 

 this purpose. A list of the native and naturahzed plants 

 found growing within the limits of the town, prepared by 

 Mr. Thomas T. Bouve, will be found in the first volume. 

 Mr. Bouv6 has further enriched this volume with important 

 chapters upon the geology and mineralogy of the town, 

 and with another on the animals of Hingham, while his 

 son, Mr. Edward T. Bouv6, has written a chapter devoted 

 to Hingham Trees and Shrubs. 



The flora of Hingham shows what would seem a curious 

 absence of several northern plants common on the north 

 shore of Massachusetts Bay, a few miles distant, were it 

 not remembered that the north shore is influenced by cold 

 ocean currents flowing between it and the Gulf Stream, 

 which reduce the temperature, and in providing favorable 

 conditions for boreal species restrict the spread northward 

 of southern species. Some of these are able to maintain 

 themselves in Hingham, situated south of a sheltered land- 

 locked bay and in the path of the prevailing south-west 

 summer winds blowing from the Gulf Stream directly 

 across the heated sands of Cape Cod. 



The nomenclature and arrangement of the last edition 

 of Gray's Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States 

 is adopted, and no attempt to supply the reader with the 

 synonymy of the different species is made, as the author 

 has, no doubt, decided that all questions of the names of 

 plants, except as they appear in the standard work 

 on the subject, would be out of place in a popular 

 book of this character. In the list, which is confined 

 to flowering plants and to vescular cryptogams, are 

 included plants of ninety-five families, and to each family 

 Mr. Bouv6 has appended some useful notes upon the prop- 

 erties, uses and distribution of its members, which add 

 materially to the value and practical use of his chapter, 

 especially as in these introductory notes he tells of the prin- 

 cipal plants of each family which are cultivated in the fields 

 and gardens of the town. Just north of the borders of Hing- 

 ham the Holly, Ilex opaca, finds its most northern home ; 

 and here, too, and on the not distant southern slopes of the 

 Blue Hills, the highest land in eastern Massachusetts, the 



Rock Chestnut Oak, Quercus Prinus, finds the eastern lim- 

 its of its range ; but it is surely through error that the nar- 

 row-leaved Chestnut Oak, which Mr. Bouve, following 

 Engelmann, calls Quercus Muhlenbergii, is admitted here. 

 Unless we are misinformed, this beautiful tree, one of the 

 most distinct of our Oaks, has not wandered further east 

 from its home in the middle and western states than the 

 western bank of the Hudson River, where, near Newburgh, 

 in this state, it may be occasionally encountered. Of Cra- 

 taegus, only C. coccinea is admitted, although we should 

 have expected to find, in Hingham, Crataegus mollis, which 

 is, perhaps, the commonest Thorn in eastern Massachu- 

 setts, where it sometimes grows to a large size, and where 

 in early autumn it is conspicuous with its large apple-like 

 scarlet fruit. Mr. Bouve's statement, that "the leaves of 

 Rhododendron and Kalmia contain a narcotic principle 

 which sometimes renders them poisonous," must be ac- 

 cepted with caution, at least, so far as our species are con- 

 cerned, which, apparently, do not deserve the bad reputa- 

 tion which was early fastened upon them, although some 

 of the Indian Rhododendrons undoubtedly are injurious to 

 animals browsing upon their leaves ; and honey made 

 from the flowers of others, and from some Azaleas, possess 

 narcotic or poisonous properties. Occasional slips of the 

 proof-reader in using Roman type for italics make some 

 introduced plants appear to be native to the town. It is 

 interesting to learn that the red-berried Elder, which is one 

 of the commonest plants in northern New England, is only 

 known in Hingham in a single indigenous individual, and 

 that the Rose Mallow, Hibiscus Moscheutos, although it is 

 common enough a few miles away on the banks of the 

 Charles River at Dedham, and with Lythrum Salicaria, 

 another plant only found in Hingham in a single locality, 

 fills the swampy inlets of the eastern bank of the Hudson 

 between Newburgh Bay and Albany and the great mead- 

 ows back of Jersey City. 



All our readers will join in Mr. Bouve's plea for the pres- 

 ervation of the rare plants of Hingham, and, indeed, of every 

 other town, from one end of the land to the other. His caution 

 in not printing the exact localities where the different spe- 

 cies are to be found will check the greed of amateur collec- 

 tors and so-called botanists, who pounce upon and erad- 

 icate any plant which they are told is exceptionally rare 

 or interesting. And to those who know the beauty of a 

 New England road-side and the capacity of a New England 

 road-master to turn this beauty into a howling wilderness 

 of desolation, Mr. Bouv6's appeal for relief from his sense- 

 less tyranny will be as balm to the wear* spirit ; and we 

 cannot do our readers a greater favor f-* ^n to reproduce it 

 in full, for it treats of an abuse which^ . is perfectly possible 

 to avoid if one or two energetic pef^^^^ns in a town will take 

 up the matter of preserving the beauty of its roads and 

 insist that ignorant workmen shall not be allowed to 

 destroy it : 



It is not only for the preservation of the exceedingly rare 

 plants of the town that the writer would plead. Quite as earnestly 

 would he urge that the transcendent beauty which is often 

 presented along the sides of the roads, especially of those bor- 

 dered by forest-growths, may be allowed to display itself and 

 gladden the eyes and heart of the wayfarer. Yearly many of 

 these roads are adorned with flowers of varied hue, charming 

 to every beholder. In the spring the modest Violet, the del- 

 icate Anemone and the showy Buttercup open their petals to 

 the light. As the summer's sun 'starts full perfection through 

 the swelling year* the Wild Rose, the Egla. 'ine, the Elder and 

 and many other species display their love. ->ess and exhale 

 their fragrance. Then follows autumn, and e> ^rywhere there 

 start up to beautify our highways the many Aste. and Golden- 

 rods, and it is just when these expand in gorgeous loveliness, 

 outrivaling all that man can produce by the most consummate 

 art, that the destroyer comes and sweeps them away in a day. 



We have only been able to glance at the other chapters 

 in this work, but if they areas interesting and valuable as 

 those devoted to botany, the town has reason to be proud 

 of the ability of its citizens to maintain its good name and 

 ancient fame. 



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