January 15, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



35 



Mrs. Charles Canham, C. Barteti, C. tonsiun, C. nitens, C. 

 Arthurianum, C. Fairrieanum and many others. In a lean-to 

 structure, with a northern aspect, the Odontoglossums were in 

 luxuriant health, the majority being of the O.crispum type, with 

 stout bulbs and broad-petaled flowers. 0. Pescatorei, 0. tri- 

 umphans, 0. nebulosum and many more were thriving in a 

 like manner. On the stage at the back of this house were 

 some grand specimens of Cypripedium insigne in bloom, 

 about 200 flowers being well expanded, and from the roof 

 were suspended many fine specimens of Oncidium omitho- 

 rhynchum, Epidendrum vitellinum, Masdevallias in many 

 varieties, and a fine lot of the pretty Lcelia Dayana, and its 

 varieties, Pumila Praestans and Marginata. 



Summit, N. J. 



A. Dimmock. 



Game Covers. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — At the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Fish and 

 Game Protective Association, held on January 8th, an instruc- 

 tive address was delivered by Professor B. M. Watson, Jr., of 

 the Bussey Institute, on the subject " How best to preserve 

 and increase the supply of natural food for game birds, and 

 the best means of affording shelter for them." 



The address was given in view of the fact that the Associa- 

 tion contemplates the importation of valuable game birds of 

 various species from the west and south, to be released in 

 eastern Massachusetts in the spring ; and the problem of sup- 

 plying food and shelter is one of importance to those inter- 

 ested in birds.' Professor Watson spoke of the adaptability of 

 various trees, shrubs and grasses. He instanced the fact that 

 many wild birds — quail, grouse and others — frequented the 

 grounds of the Arnold Arboretum, where they are never mo- 

 lested, and where the natural fruits and seeds of various 

 shrubs and plants contribute to their food supply, and he con- 

 sidered that such preserved lands greatly contributed to the 

 welfare of game birds. As the work of introducing and estab- 

 lishing shrubbery for shelter, and fruit-bearing plants must 

 necessarily be slow, the speaker recommends that many 

 waste places — -openings in woods, unused pasture lands, etc. — 

 be sown annually with various cereals, particularly Buckwheat, 

 which would yield quickest returns. In Europe for many 

 years past the game and game-preserves have been artificially 

 propagated, and the time has come when we must pursue a 

 similar course or see our few game birds disappear. 



The danger from forest fires is perhaps the most serious 

 one to be met, as doubtless more young birds, nests, and even 

 sitting birds, are destroyed by fire each year than can be esti- 

 mated, not to speak of the wholesale destruction in this way 

 of valuable cover and fruit-bearing vegetation. 



Boston, Mass. John Fottler Jr. 



The Mild Winter. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — The effect of the unusually warm December was seen 

 here in the opening leaves and swelling buds of many trees 

 and shrubs in the college-grounds. Spircea Thunbergii, S. pru- 

 nifolia and S. sorbifolia were putting out leaves. Of the 

 Honeysuckles, Lonicera flava and L. sempervirens were be- 

 trayed into the same fatal activity, while L. Halliana had not 

 ceased its autumn growth. Lilac buds were ready to burst, 

 and the blossom buds on Japan Quince, Silver Maple and Cot- 

 tonwood showed a fullness quite hazardous for this change- 

 able climate. On the 29th of December the temperature 

 dropped to two degrees above zero, and has alternated be- 

 tween that point and sixty degrees above since then. 



The following shrubs still hold their leaves on January 7th, 

 and a good deal of their autumn brightness : Ligustrum vul- 

 gare, var. buxifolinm, L. ovalifolium, Lonicera Halliana, L. 

 fragrantissima, Cotoneaster buxifolia and Cytisus capitatus. 



It is to be regretted that Ligustrum ovalifolium is so tender 

 with us, having killed back nearly to the ground during the 

 past two winters, for its stiff, shining, dark green leaves are 

 conspicuous all through the fall and early winter, acknowl- 

 edging the frosts only by a slight deepening of color and an occa- 

 sional purplish tint. 



Kansas Agricultural College. S. C. MaSOH. 



A Garden Conceit. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir. — A charming garden conceit is being carried out in the 

 Royal Botanic Gardens at Dublin by the Curator, F. W. Bur- 

 bidge, through whose intelligent care these gardens have 

 become among the finest in Europe. " I am making a Bam- 

 boo walk," he writes, under date of December 20th, "and I 

 have to plant the margins of a pond and to make a dripping 



well with an old Irish cross on it, so that all the maids who 

 visit us may breathe their wishes at the fountain and find them 

 all come true." G. H. E. 



Rochester, N. Y. 



Periodical Literature. 



It is encouraging to find in a widely circulated popular pe- 

 riodical so strong a plea for the right treatment of a piece of 

 the nation's property as is contained in the January number of 

 the Century Magazine. The editorial headed " The Care of the 

 Yosemite Valley," could not be more to the point or more ju- 

 dicious in tone. Beginning with a reference to the policy of 

 "an active member of the Yosemite Valley Commission," 

 who proposes to "cut down every tree that has sprouted 

 within the last thirty years," it says that a crisis in the manage- 

 ment of the valley is probably near at hand, distinctly explains 

 why the whole country has as much right as California to ex- 

 press its wishes, and then shows what these wishes should be. 

 The main question to be decided is whether " the treatment 

 of the Yosemite landscape has been intrusted to skillful 

 hands ; " and from the results of a recent investigation by the 

 Legislature of California and from numbers of photographs 

 "showing the condition of the portions of the valley before 

 and after the employment of the axe and the plow," the editor 

 concludes that "the valley has not had the benefit of expert 

 supervision." Then he. says that though the commissioners, 

 present and past, should not have their good faith impugned, 

 and though "it is no reproach to them that they are not 

 trained foresters," yet their responsibility begins with the very 

 recognition of this last fact; "for, in the absence of knowl- 

 edge of a professional nature, it should be their first aim to 

 obtain the very best man or men available for this work. No 

 such expert is too good or too expensive, and no claim upon 

 the budget of California should have precedence of this." But 

 there is as yet no certainty that this truth will be acted upon. 

 There is every danger that future commissioners may think 

 of everything else — and especially of facilities for transit — 

 rather than of the preservation of the beauties of the valley. 

 As it is tellingly put : "They may think it is more desirable 

 to improve a trail than to preserve the sentiment for which 

 the trail exists." Nothing could be truer than the fol- 

 lowing sentences, and we trust they may sink deeply 

 into the minds of the hundreds of thousands whom the Cen- 

 tury reaches : " To contrive means and methods by which 

 that which is most distinctly valuable to the world in the Yose- 

 mite can be perpetuated, and to provide means by which the 

 world can conveniently and effectively make use of it — which 

 means shall be in the least degree possible conspicuous, in- 

 congruous, and disturbing to the spirit and character of the 

 scenery — is a problem that no amateur ought to dabble with." 

 Following this editorial essay came three "Open Letters" on 

 the same subject, describing personal impressions received 

 by men who are competent and impartial judges. One is 

 from Mr. George C. MacKenzie, of Wawona, California, who 

 speaks chiefly of the "absolutely shocking use that has been 

 made of the wood-chopper's axe — deadliest foe, in reckless or 

 ignorant hands, of woodland beauty ; deadly unless guided by 

 a mind of most rare attainments in the craft of artistic for- 

 estry." The writer goes on to say that " there are places in 

 the valley where one is forced to wonder why the axes them- 

 selves did not turn and smite the men who were putting them 

 to such base uses," and that " under the system by which the 

 Yosemite is governed there is no saying when the work of the 

 devourer of beauty may not again flourish," although it hap- 

 pened to be checked last year. Indeed, this is the main point. 

 It is useless to try and make individual wrong-doers responsi- 

 ble for the destruction that has gone on. They " are merely 

 the natural fruitage " of the system which intrusts the manage- 

 ment of the valley to a board of commissioners who serve for 

 short periods and without salaries, meet only semi-annually, 

 and are chosen without the slightest reference to qualifications 

 of knowledge or taste. Another letter-writer is Mr. R. U. 

 Johnson, one of the editors of the magazine, who, while recog- 

 nizing certain good points in the management of the valley, 

 describes the terrible injuries that have been inflicted upon it, 

 partly through carelessness, partly through greed, but just as 

 often through an ignorant desire to "improve" upon what 

 nature offers. The third correspondent is Judge Lucius P. 

 Deming, of New Haven, Connecticut, who, again, makes a 

 strong plea for the employment of a trained artist to repair 

 what damage already done can still be repaired, and to guide 

 the course of future work. His letter is not the most sensible 

 of the three — all are equal in this respect — but perhaps the 

 most interesting in its relation of the present state of things 

 and its explanation of the aims that should in future be borne 

 in mind. 



