January 29, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



49 



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, JANUARY 29, 1890. 



TA15LE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 



Editorial Articles: — Legislation for the Adirondaclcs. — The Tulip-tree in 



China 49 



French Parterres. (With illustration.) 50 



California Palms G. B. Parish. 51 



New or Little Known Plants : — Kalanchoe carnea. (With figure ) 52 



Foreign Correspondence : — The Gardens at Burford Lodge IV. Watson. 52 



Cultural Department : — Notes on Grafting J. G. Jack. 53 



Water Lilies for the Million T. W. 55 



Perennials from Seed. — 1 1 E. O. Orfiet. 56 



Begonia Socotrana, Chorizemas M. Barker. 56 



Seedling Chrysanthemums G. 56 



Corkespondrnce : — The Knees of the Bald Cypress Professor N. S. Slialer. 57 



The Chinese Persimmon Charles Naitdin. 57 



Meeting of the Western New York Horticultural Society : — Forcing Vege- 

 tables Under Glass Professor L. //. Bailey. 57 



The Clematis Disease Professor J. H. Comstock. 59 



The Embellishment of Public Pleasure-Grounds William McMillan. 59 



Notes 60 



Illustrations : — Kalanchoe carnea, Fig. 14 53 



The Garden Front of the Luxembourg Palace 55 



Legislation for the Adirondack^. 



FOUR bills prepared by the New York Forest Commis- 

 sion have been introduced in the Legislature. 



The first authorizes the purchase of lands located within 

 such counties as include the Forest Preserve. This pro- 

 vides that the Forest Commission, with the approval and 

 concurrence of the Commissioners of the Land Office, may 

 purchase lands in these counties at a price not to exceed 

 one dollar and fifty cents per acre, and that no purchase 

 of lands shall be made in excess of previous appropriations 

 for that purpose. 



The second amends the law regarding- the formation 

 and regulation of railroad corporations, so that Section 25 

 shall read as follows : 



The Commissioners of the Land Office shall have power to 

 grant to any railroad company formed under this Act any land 

 belonging to the people of this State which may be required 

 ior the purposes of their road, on such terms as may be 

 agreed on by them ; or such company may acquire title 

 thereto by appraisal, as in the case of lands owned by individ- 

 uals ; and if any land belonging to a county or town is 

 required by any company for the purposes of the road, the 

 county or town officers having the charge of such land may 

 grant such land to such company for such compensation as 

 may be agreed upon. The land included in the State Reser- 

 vation at Niagara, and the Concourse land on Coney Island, 

 and such lands as are included in the Forest Preserve, and 

 that now are or that hereafter may be placed in the care, 

 custody and control of the State Forest Commission, are ex- 

 pressly exempted from the provisions of this Section. 



The third provides for a change of venue by amending 

 the Code of Civil Procedure in certain cases ; and the 

 fourth amends the Act establishing the Forest Commission, 

 so that Section 20 of Chapter 283 shall read as follows : 



Every supervisor of a town in this State, excepting within 

 the counties mentioned in Section 7 of this Act, shall be ex 

 officio fire-warden therein. But in towns particularly exposed 

 to damages from forest-fires the supervisor may divide the 

 same into two or more districts, bounded as far as may be by 

 roads, streams of water, or dividing ridges of land or lot 

 lines, and he may, in writing, appoint one resident citizen in 

 each district as district fire-warden therein. A description of 

 these districts, and the names of the district fire-wardens 



thus appointed shall be recorded in the office of the Town 

 Clerk. The supervisor may also cause a map of the fire 

 districts of his town to be posted in some public place, with 

 the names of the district fire-wardens appointed. The cost of 

 such map, not exceeding five dollars, shall be made a town 

 charge, and the services of the fire-wardens shall also be 

 deemed a town charge, and shall not exceed the sum of two 

 dollars per day for the time actually occupied in the perform- 

 ance of their duties as such fire-wardens. The services of the 

 persons who may assist in extinguishing a forest-fire shall also 

 be a town charge, and shall not exceed the sum of one dollar per 

 day for each person em ployed; but all bills for such services must 

 be approved by the fire-warden of the town in which the fire 

 occurred, before payment shall be made. It shall be the duty 

 of the Board of Auditors in each town to promptly examine, 

 audit and allow all reasonable bills presented to them by fire- 

 wardens for services and disbursements under this Act, and 

 for the payment of persons assisting in extinguishing forest- 

 fires. Within the counties mentioned in Section 7 of this Act, 

 such persons shall be fire-wardens as may from time to time 

 be appointed by the Forest Commission. The persons so 

 appointed shall act during the pleasure and under the direc- 

 tion of the Forest Commission. Upon the discovery of a 

 forest-fire, it shall be the duty of the fire-warden of the dis- 

 trict, town or county to take such measures as may be neces- 

 sary for its extinction. For this purpose he shall have 

 authority to call upon any person in the territory in which he 

 acts for assistance, and any person shall be liable to a fine of 

 not less than five nor more than twenty dollars for refusing 

 to act when so called upon. 



The most important of these measures is the one pro- 

 viding for the purchase of lands for the forest preserve. 

 If the State is to own any land at all, it should gradually 

 acquire title to the tracts lying between the blocks of land 

 now held by the state. It should make a beginning with 

 a small appropriation, and while wisely caring for what is 

 already in its possession, should purchase such lands as 

 can be cheaply acquired, and which are so situated that 

 their acquisition would lessen the danger from forest-fires, 

 and render the guardianship of the state lands more con- 

 venient and effective. It is most desirable that all the peo- 

 ple of New York should come to have a more vital sense 

 of proprietorship and responsibility regarding the property 

 of the state in the Adirondack region, and an appropriation 

 for the purchase of additional land would doubtless tend 

 to produce this effect. All observers of the mountain 

 forest-regions of the state unite in testifying that whatever 

 the disposition or wishes of a railroad company may be, 

 the extension of the road through new portions of the wil- 

 derness is usually followed by the denudation and ruin of 

 large tracts of valuable forest-land. As the timber becomes 

 accessible it is cut off without regard for the future, and 

 much of the land is burned over so that forest-conditions 

 are permanently destroyed. To prevent the farther exten- 

 sion of railroads over state lands would save more of the 

 forests which still remain on these lands than any other 

 measure that can be devised. 



The bill providing for a change of venue in suits for tres- 

 pass on state lands is necessary to an effective administra- 

 tion of the laws. Such cases cannot always be fairly tried 

 in the vicinage where the depredations were committed. 

 The apprehension has been expressed that some provisions 

 of the Fire Warden Act might induce public-spirited citi- 

 zens to rally for the extinguishment of fires in such num- 

 bers as to place a serious burden upon taxpayers, but some 

 risk must be taken to secure the maximum of efficiency. 

 On the whole the proposed legislation seems wise, and the 

 bills should command the support of the press and the 

 people of the state. 



One of the most interesting botanical results certainlv, 

 obtained by Dr. Henry during his residence in western 

 China, is the establishment of the fact that the Tulip- 

 tree is an inhabitant also of that country. That mono- 

 typic species occur in eastern America and in eastern 

 Asia is no new fact, but the plants common to the two 

 regions discovered up to this time have been unimportant 

 herbs, and the Tulip-tree is the first instance recorded of a 



