February 12, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



73 



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, FEBRUARY 12, 1890. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 



Editorial Articles : — Forest Questions Before Congress. — A Remarkable 



Walnut-Tree 73 



Entrance to Pere-Lachaise Cemetery, Paris. (Illustrated.) 74 



The Art of Gardening — An Historical Sketch. — XVII. Ancient India, 



Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer. 74 



Exotic Shrubs in Canada J. G. Jack. 75 



Vanda ccerulea. (Illustrated.) 76 



Foreign Correspondence : — London Letter W. Watson. 76 



Cultural Department : — Ericas W. 78 



Grafting Professor J. L. Bndd. 79 



Perennial Pyrethrums O. 79 



Perennials from Seed.— Ill E. O. Orpet. 80 



Orchid Notes John Weathers, F. Goldring. 80 



Anemone blanda and Iris Bakeriana Max Leichtlin. 80 



Correspondence : — Forestry Matters in New Hampshire J. B. Harrison. 81 



A Late African Novelty C. A. Dana. 81 



Spanish Moss in Northern Tennessee J. M. Safford. 81 



Vegetables Under Glass in New Jersey 5. 81 



Recent Publications 82 



Periodical Literature 83 



Exhibitions : — Orchids at Short Hills, New Jersey 83 



Notes 84 



Illustrations : — Vanda coerulea, Fig. 17 77 



Entrance to Pere-Lachaise Cemetery 79 



Forest Questions Before Congress. 



ON January 20th President Harrison transmitted to the 

 Senate and House of Representatives a memorial 

 from the American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, relating to the preservation of forests upon the 

 public domain, accompanying it with a message earnestly 

 recommending that adequate legislation be provided to ar- 

 rest the rapid and needless destruction of our great forest 

 areas. 



The memorial recalls the fact that the first national legis- 

 lation which recognized the value of the country's forests 

 and the necessity of throwing about them some protection, 

 grew out of the presentation of the subject to Congress by 

 a committee of this Association. This presentation led to 

 the appointment, in 1877, of an agent, and later to the 

 establishment of a Forestry Division in the Department of 

 Agriculture, for the purpose of gathering and making 

 accessible such information as might educate people to a 

 proper conception of the value and significance of a forest- 

 cover in the economic life of the nation. Twelve years 

 have passed, and sufficient knowledge of our forest condi- 

 tions, and of their helpful relation to cultural, climatic and 

 economic conditions has been gained to demonstrate that 

 further action by the general government is indispensable 

 if these beneficent influences are to continue. 



The Association, at its last meeting, resolved that im- 

 mediate action ought to be taken for the establishment of a 

 proper administration of the timber lands remaining in the 

 hands of the governments of the United States and Canada, 

 to insure the perpetuity of the forest-cover on the western 

 mountain ranges, and this memorial is presented by a 

 committee appointed under that resolution. It represents 

 that the action asked for relates only to the forest-lands 

 which are the property of the nation, and that the present 

 administration of this property is plainly unsatisfactory, and 

 must be speedily changed if far-reaching injury is to be 

 prevented. It is insisted upon that the relations of the 

 mountain forests to the agricultural regions in the plains 

 are more important than the materials which they now 

 furnish to settlers and miners, and it is urged that the Gov- 

 ernment alone can rightly administer this property. We 



may add that in the enforcement of these positions it is 

 sharply argued that a government which feels compelled 

 to face the problem of irrigation for the agricultural develop- 

 ment of part of its domain can hardly solve the water 

 question without paying proper heed to the forest 

 question. 



In view of these facts the memorialists recommend the 

 appointment of a joint committee of the two Houses of 

 Congress, to consider the need of legislation for the public 

 forest domain — legislation looking toward the appointment 

 of a commission of competent men, salaried and employed 

 for this service alone, to investigate the necessity of pre- 

 serving certain parts of the present public forest-area, 

 for the maintenance of favorable water conditions, and to 

 devise a practical plan for the permanent administration 

 of such parts of it as it shall appear desirable to retain 

 under government control. 



The memorial further recommends that pending such 

 investigation all timber lands now owned by the United 

 States be withdrawn from sale, and provision be made to 

 protect these lands from theft and from ravages by fire, 

 and to supply in a rational manner the local needs for 

 wood and lumber, until a permanent system of forest- 

 administration shall have been organized and put in opera- 

 tion. 



The American Forestry Association has also presented a 

 memorial to Congress, which admirably and concisely sets 

 forth the need of action and the reasons for it. It points out 

 that while the immediate withdrawal of the public forest- 

 lands from sale and entry is absolutely essential, as a first 

 step toward their preservation as forests, it will not of itself 

 secure this end. The destructive fires and extensive thefts 

 will go on as before. Still less will the mere reservation of 

 these lands from sale enable the people to utilize the tim- 

 ber properly. The forest lands must be administered, pro- 

 tected from fire, and the timber cut only when ripe, and 

 with a view to a constant new growth. Some portion of 

 the army can be temporarily employed to guard these lands 

 until a practical system of administration, a common-sense 

 application of scientific knowledge, and of the results of 

 the experience of other nations to the needs of the place 

 and time, can be established. This memorial, a strong 

 and temperate document, is accompanied by a bill provid- 

 ing for the withdrawal of the public forest-lands from sur- 

 vey, sale, entry or disposal under existing laws, and for 

 the guardianship of the army over them while this tem- 

 porary act remains in force. The bill also provides for the 

 appointment of a Commission to examine the forest-lands 

 of the public domain so as to determine what portions 

 should be kept permanently in forest, and, on or before the 

 opening of the second session ot this Congress, to report 

 full a plan for the proper management of the forest-lands 

 belonging to the nation. 



It is our belief that the statements in both these memo- 

 rials are true, absolutely and beyond question, and that 

 they do not exaggerate the evils which are sure to visit the 

 country if the destruction of our forests is not speedily 

 arrested. It is gratifying to know that these petitions are 

 urged upon Congress by men of such attainment and posi- 

 tion as Professors Mendenhall, Hilgard and Bessey, William 

 Saunders, of Canada, and B. E. Fernow, who present the 

 memorial of the American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science ; while that of the American Forestry 

 Association is signed by Governor Beaver, Herbert Welsh 

 and C. C. Binney, of Pennsylvania ; Abbot Kinney, of Cali- 

 fornia ; Edgar T. Ensign, of Colorado ; and Judge Higley, 

 of New York. The President of the United States, in his 

 message, has followed the example of more than one of 

 his predecessors in recommending prompt action in this 

 matter, and it remains to be seen whether Congress will 

 listen to these entreaties. France has no surplus to expend 

 for any public improvement which does not yield positive 

 and tangible benefit, but France has spent $50,000,000 

 already to cure the ruin wrought by deforestation, and will 

 spend as much more. Italy is poor, but she is appropri- 



