530 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 304. 



Pear, all of which have, to a certain extent, become nat- 

 uralized. Parts IV. and V. of the series will be out in time 

 for the holidays, the latter being composed entirely of 

 woods found in Florida. 



Notes. 



Mr. Elwood Alley writes us from Gran, Missouri, of a Sassa- 

 fras-tree growing near that town, which, at five feet above the 

 surface of the ground, has a trunk circumference of fourteen 

 feet six inches. 



A section of the Sequoia-trunk, thirty feet long, which was one 

 of the attractions of the Columbian Fair, is to be set up perma- 

 nently on the grounds of the Department of Agriculture in 

 Washington. It is proposed to divide it into two rooms, one 

 above the other, and to place in them a collection of pictures 

 and other objects relating to forestry. 



The California Fruit Grower calls upon the quarantine 

 officers of that state to watch the importations of fruit and 

 plants from the Hawaiian Islands, m order to prevent the in- 

 troduction of a destructive leaf-eating beetle which has within 

 a few years i^eached those islands from Japan. The beetles 

 teed on the leaves of almost all fruit-trees, and they could 

 easily make the voyage to California 



A correspondent makes some inquiry as to the prospects of 

 the profitable culture of Filberts in Canada. We have never 

 known any experiments with these plants in our north-eastern 

 states which have been continuously successful. If any of 

 our readers have succeeded in growing these nuts in any 

 quantity, we should be glad to hear something of the methods 

 of culture employed, the varieties planted, and any other in- 

 formation on the subject. 



One of the handsomest trees in the Botanic Gardens of 

 Washington is a European Hornbeam, which was planted by 

 Mr. Smith, the superintendent, about twenty-five years ago. It 

 is very symmetrical in shape, and its branches spread out over 

 a circle fifty feet in diameter. It has a stout trunk which breaks 

 into numerous large limbs some four feet above the ground, 

 although a distinct central stem continues much higher. The 

 trunk measures six feet in circumference at its smallest point. 



A writer in the Scientific American, describing the manu- 

 facture of desiccated cocoanut, states that the husked nuts come 

 to this country in burlap bags containing about a hundred each, 

 and are sold from the vessel at thirty to sixty dollars a 

 thousand. In the preparation of the nut it is first set on end 

 and struck with a hammer, and the shell and kerndl cracked at 

 the same time. The outer shell is then removed and the nut 

 passed along to the peelers, who remove the dark skin. An 

 expert can shell as many as 3,000 nuts in a day, and a first-class 

 hand can peel as many as i,8od. The kernels are then put through 

 a grating machine having a capacity of 7,000 nuts a day. About 

 seventy pounds of grated material are placed in each ot a series 

 of heated galvanized pans resting on steam pipes, and from 

 eight to thirty pounds of granulated sugar are added to each 

 pan. After drying twelve hours, the material is passed through 

 a sieve and packed in boxes and barrels. 



The variety of Asparagus plumosus known as Nanus is not 

 as strong as the type, but its foliage is a richer green, and it 

 has the merit of throwing out its fern-like branches to the 

 ground, while the stronger plant is often bare for several feet 

 above the roots. There is nothing to take the place of the 

 branches of this Asparagus to mingle with cut flowers, and 

 they can be used over and over again since they will keep for 

 two or three weeks in water. A mass of this dwarf variety is 

 very beautiful by itself, as a glance through one of the green- 

 houses of Mr. W. S. Clark, in Washington, District of Colum- 

 bia, will convince any visitor. Here is a house containing 

 considerably over 2,000 plants trained to wires and running up 

 eight or ten feet to the roof, with every plant feathered to the 

 ground. As one looks through the plants the long structure 

 seems filled with a mist of tender green, so delicate is the color 

 and so fine the lines of the soft and slender growth. 



The latest number of the Rural New Yorker contains a fig- 

 ure of a new Grape which is a seedling from Moore's Early, 

 raised by Mr. George W. Campbell, of Delaware, Ohio, and 

 named by him Campbell's Early. Perfectly colored and ap- 

 parently ripe clusters were exhibited at the Ohio State Fair on 

 the 27th ot August. The vines were not sprayed and the ber- 

 ries were not bagged until they began to color, and yet there 

 was no attack of rot. The berry is black, with a thin but very 

 tenacious skin, larger and firmer than the Concord orWorden, 

 having smaller seeds, and sweet to the centre ; that is, there is 



no acidity in the pulp about the seed fas there is in the Con- 

 .cord. It is mild, but richly flavored and has no foxiness. In- 

 deed, in several ways this seems to be a better grape than the 

 Concord, while it is much earlier. The point which remains 

 to be decided is whether it will succeed elsewhere as well as 

 it does in Ohio. One important advantage which the Concord 

 possesses .over other Grapes is the wide range of country over 

 which it will thrive. 



The thirty-third part of the English edition, the last to reach 

 us, of Lindenia, the Messrs. Lindens' sumptuous Iconography 

 of Orchids, contains plates of Zygopetalum grandiflorum, a 

 native of south Mexico and Central America, and perhaps 

 better known by its older name of Batemannia grandiflora in 

 collections where, however, it is not very often seen ; of the 

 Peruvian Lycaste cinnabarina, a plant with magnificent flow- 

 ers, conspicuous for the large lip of a deep apricot color, 

 which makes a beautiful contrast with the pale green sepals 

 and petals ; of Cattleya velutina, with its dark orange color, 

 spotted petals and purple-veined lip ; and of a variety of the 

 well-known Vanda tricolor, to which the varietal name of 

 Hoveae is given in honor of Madame Van den Hove. Lindenia 

 is one of the books which are indispensable to every serious 

 student of Orchids, and will naturally find a place in all bo- 

 tanical and hordcultural libraries ; the beauty of the illustra- 

 tions and their fidelity to nature commend it to all lovers of 

 handsome books. 



Mr. F. Franceschi, who, it will be remembered, has written 

 about the trees of Guadalupe Island, off the coast of Lower 

 California, in the columns of Garden and Forest, writing 

 more recently on the same subject in Zoe, says: "The in- 

 crease in the number of wild goats has gone on these last years 

 unchecked by the few thousands which may have been killed 

 by the poachers who visit the island from time to time. The 

 result is vividly shown by the fact that in all my ramblings 

 over the island I was able to find but one single shrub, Ceano- 

 thus crassifolius, alive in any of the places accessible to goats. 

 Endowed as these are with proverbial climbing ability, the 

 more so when pressed by hunger, the few plants that have 

 escaped destruction are those growing on the perpendicular 

 basaltic cliffs, accessible only to winged creatures, and old 

 trees with bark too hard and woody to offer any food." By far 

 the most abundant of all the shrubs still living on the island is 

 Perityle incana, and it is the most likely to survive under the 

 unfavorable circumstances, as it seems quite at home on the 

 more precipitous cliffs, and young plants and seedlings are 

 abundant in the crevices of the rocks. More tender plants 

 likewise find a chance to survive in possessing cliff-climbing 

 powers superior to those of the goats, as is the case with Con- 

 volvulus macrostegius, which, although highly relished by 

 goats, is still keeping its hold on the most perpendicular cliffs, 

 where its drooping green masses form a striking contrast to 

 the silvery foliage of Perityle Palmeri. 



A light crop of apples in this country and the prevailing dull- 

 ness of trade have affected the exports of this fruit, and but 

 97,152 barrels have been shipped to England from the United 

 States and Canada to December i6th, whereas for the corre- 

 sponding period of last year the exports amounted to 838,567 

 barrels. The supply of Newtown pippins is larger than usual, 

 and as fewer of these favorite export apples are being sent to 

 England they are proportionately cheaper in this market than 

 other choice apples, and are sold as low as $6 a barrel, the best 

 selected fruit being $10. Showy Spitzenbergs are thirty to sixty 

 cents a dozen, and good Florida oranges now cost less than 

 choice apples. Common grades of grape fruit, as well as Tan- 

 gerine and Mandarin oranges, can be had for almost any price. 

 Stem-cut dates from Malta, of excellent quality, are thirty-five 

 cents a pound. Spanish pomegranates and Japanese persim- 

 mons can be had at five to ten cents each, and Coe's Late Red 

 plums, from California, have only disappeared from fruit- 

 stands within a week past. White Muscat grapes, the leading 

 table variety of California, are in exceptionally good condition, 

 being thoroughly matured and altogether better than any seen 

 here earlier in the season. A six-pound box costs seventy-five 

 cents to a dollar. Flame Tokay grapes bring as high as thirty 

 cents a pound, Almerias from fifteen to thirty cents, and Gros 

 Colman, from English hot-houses, are two dollars a pound. 

 Winter Nells pears cost fifty cents to a dollar a dozen, accord- 

 ing to size, and Eastern Beurre are a dollar, the largest Co- 

 mice bringing a dollar and a half a dozen. Lychee nuts, from 

 China, are variously sold at twenty cents a quart and forty 

 cents a pound. Beautiful hot-house tomatoes of large size and 

 extra quality are now coming from Grimsby, Canada, each 

 tomato wrapped in paper bearing the name of the grower. 

 These bring fifty cents a pound. 



