36 



Garden and Forest. 



[January 15, 1890. 



Notes. 



Elwes' Snowdrop is blooming in suburban gardens. 



The loss from Fungus diseases in the vineyards of the Hud- 

 son River Valley last year has been estimated by careful 

 observers at from fifty to seventy-five per cent, of the entire 

 crop. 



In the note on the discovery of a new station for the Nut- 

 meg Hickory (Hicoria myristicaformis), on page 24 of the last 

 number, "Southern California" should, of course, read 

 " South Carolina." 



A factory has been established at Mannheim, in Germany, 

 for making a substitute for butter from Cocoa-nut oil. About 

 6,500 pounds of the substance are daily produced and it is said 

 to be palatable as well as wholesome. It sells at a price equiv- 

 alent to from twelve to fifteen cents a pound. 



It is not known when or why the Chrysanthemum was 

 adopted as the crest of the imperial family of Japan, but it is 

 supposed to have been chosen for its hardiness as a symbol 

 of the antiquity of the dynasty. As used on the Emperor's 

 arms the flower appears in single shape with sixteen rays con- 

 nected by as many little semicircles. 



Mr. C. G. Pringle has lately returned from Mexico, having 

 passed the summer in botanical exploration in the Sierra 

 Madre, and the autumn and early winter near Guadalajara, in 

 the state of Jalisco. He is now engaged at his home in Ver- 

 mont in preparing for the distribution oFthe summer's har- 

 vest of plants, about 18,000 specimens, representing about 350 

 species. 



In reference to the destruction of wild flowers, Professor 

 Bailey, of Brown University, writes that it is not uncommon to 

 see large baskets of Arethnsa bulbosa for sale on the streets of 

 Providence in May. Water Lilies are peddled all summer. 

 From their habit and situation they are in less danger of ex- 

 termination, but these rather rare and local Orchids cannot 

 long endure such onslaughts. 



Dr. Edward Palmer sailed from San Diego on the 25th of 

 last month for La Paz to continue his explorations of Mexican 

 botany. From La Paz he intends to travel northward and 

 expects to reach the neighborhood of Guaymas in April. Mr. 

 T. S. Brandegee sailed by the same steamer for the purpose 

 of exploring the lower part of the California peninsula between 

 Magdalena Bay and Cape San Lucas. 



A correspondent in Glenellen, Tennessee, sends us the fol- 

 lowing memorandum with regard to a large Tulip-tree 

 recently cut down near that place. The smallest diameter 

 across the stump, three feet from the ground, was seventy- 

 eight inches inside the bark, which showed 604 layers of 

 annual growth with only thirty-eight layers of sap-wood 

 occupying a width of an inch and a half. The diameter 

 increased three inches in the thirty years, beginning with the 

 five hundred and thirty-sixth year of the tree's age, and six 

 inches in twenty-five years, beginning at a period when the 

 tree was eighteen inches in diameter. 



The Gardeners' Chronicle has an interesting article on 

 Cornish gardens and the testimony they offer in proof of the 

 mildness of the climate in certain parts of Cornwall. Cer- 

 tainly Falmouth must be a favored spot on the British Isles, 

 when Agaves flower there, and Bamboos, Palms, Tree-ferns 

 and Dracaenas flourish, and Pelargoniums cover the entire 

 fronts of many houses. We may add that this vegetation is a 

 striking evidence of the difference in climate caused by ocean 

 currents, winds and other influences on opposite shores of the 

 Atlantic. One can hardly imagine Bamboos in Labrador, and 

 yet Falmouth is nearer the North Pole than the southern part 

 of Labrador. 



About ten years ago the Austro-Hungarian government 

 planted the sides of a very exposed stretch of railroad, nearly 

 a mile and a half in length, with hedges of the Provence Rose. 

 The hedges have since reached a height of about six and a 

 half feet and a breadth of half as much, for it is a peculiarity 

 of the Provence Rose to interlock its branches and twigs. A 

 living wall has thus been formed which effectively protects 

 the track from snow-drifts, while a neighboring stretch, 

 where the Rose could not be planted, is so deeply buried at 

 every snow fall that it costs much labor to clear it. The first 

 cost was very small and it is believed the hedges will live for 

 thirty or forty years. 



Paris will be permanently benefited by the International Ex- 

 hibition recently closed. The gardens formed on the once 

 naked expanse of the Champs de Mars will remain, and will 

 be extended over spaces covered during the summer by a 



multitude of minor structures. The two palaces of the arts 

 will be preserved, and likewise the immense machine gallery, 

 and the latter, it is announced, will be held in readiness for 

 live stock, agricultural and horticultural exhibitions. Under 

 such an unrivaled expanse of glass wonderful shows will 

 doubtless be arranged, especially as a track 300 yards in length 

 and 100 yards in breadth will alternately serve for the exercis- 

 ing of animals and the disposal of flower-beds. 



A writer in the Pacific Rural Press proposes to use the blos- 

 soms of Orange-trees for perfume, and thus realize one more 

 profit from the trees. Every Orange-tree, he argues, has at 

 least ten times as many blossoms yearly as can or ought to 

 bear fruit. At least three-fourths, if not seven-eighths, of the 

 blossoms can be picked off and worked into perfumery 

 without damage to the orange crop. There is a place on 

 the Mediterranean called Grasse, lying near Genoa, where 

 the manufacture of perfumery from orange-blossoms is a 

 specialty — the trees being cultivated for that purpose. Some 

 of the perfumes are exceedingly expensive — one kind of 

 oil made from the orange-blossom^ selling at the rate of $300 

 per gallon. 



At the suggestion of Professor Maynard, of the Massachu- 

 setts Agricultural College, Dr. Jabez Fisher, of Fitchburg, 

 girdled one of the two bearing arms of each of sixty Concord 

 Grapevines on the 5th of July last, taking out a ring of bark 

 half an inch long near the trunk of the Vine. As a result the 

 grapes on these arms showed color six days before those on 

 the opposite half. They were fit for market September 20th, 

 or some ten days in advance of the others, and the berries 

 were much larger and sweeter. The gain in earliness makes 

 a great difference in the price of the fruit, and later varieties 

 could be grown when thus treated, which would not ripen if 

 left to themselves. The grapes are larger and more attractive, 

 and this would counterbalance the softness of the berries, a 

 condition which the girdling seems to cause. 



Did we go back to farthest antiquity for our holiday customs 

 we should not hang up the Mistletoe until a week after Christ- 

 mas. When the Druids had carefully cut the parasite from its 

 Oak with golden shears and dropped it into the white cloths 

 held to prevent it from touching the earth, it was distributed 

 to the people on the first day of the new year. Its chief offices 

 were supposed to be the conferring of fertility and of invul- 

 nerability to poison. With the advent of Christianity the old 

 reverence for the plant remained in a diluted form. Its use 

 was transferred to Christmas, but it was still hung from the 

 ceiling as it had been in days when a bit that fell to the ground 

 was supposed to portend ill luck. Until that happened it was 

 sacred to the beneficent Freya, but the ground was Loki's 

 empire and Loki was the promoter of all misfortune. 



A correspondent sends us a photograph of the great Silver 

 Maple {Acer saccharinuin) growing on the meadows at North- 

 ampton, in Massachusetts, which Emerson mentioned in 

 his " Trees of Massachusetts," page 489. This tree, according 

 to Emerson, in 1837 had a trunk circumference three and a half 

 feet from the ground of twelve and a half feet. Fifty-two 

 years later the trunk girths at the same distance from the 

 ground seventeen feet four inches, an increase of four feet 

 ten inches, equal to an annual average increase in diameter of 

 •355 °f an inch. This is remarkable growth, considering the 

 probable great age of the tree, which, judged by the vigor of 

 the branches as shown in the photograph, promises to survive 

 for many years more', although the trunk shows a large cavity 

 extending through it near the ground from one side to the 

 other. Several of the large branches too have been de- 

 stroyed. 



Much has recently been said in these columns about the 

 proper arrangement of trees, shrubs and vines close to coun- 

 try houses. An excellent example of successful treatment 

 may be seen in a colored plate, accompanying the issue of 

 The American Architect and Building News for December 

 28th, which represents a house owned by Mr. Herbert Jaques, 

 at Chestnut Hill, near Boston, and recently built by Messrs. 

 Andrews and Jaques. A group of tall Elms, stands just near 

 enough to the end of the house to shadow without darkening 

 it ; and shrubs are grouped beneath the trees and carried well 

 up to it, where they blend with the vines that are beginning to 

 clothe it. Behind a shed at the opposite end of the house rises a 

 smaller Elm, and the front of the shed is masked by grace- 

 fully growing shrubs. Except where the gravel curve actually 

 meets the doorway, a space is left for low shrubs and vines. 

 The lawn that fills the foreground of the picture would be 

 improved by the removal of its few isolated shrubs and sap- 

 lings ; but with this exception, house and planting alike are 

 models of their kind. 



