94 



Garden and Forest. 



[February 19, 1890. 



supply and forest-condition of northern Pennsylvania, says : 

 " I wrote the article to which you refer entirely from a sense 

 of duty — to raise the alarm, to call attention to the fact that 

 people were being" misled in the matter of bark and lumber 

 supply left in the northern part of this state. Men who have 

 traveled only on the railroads or who get their information 

 from some one who is trying to ' boom ' a county or section 

 of country, write as positively on this subject as those who 

 have traversed the valleys and climbed the hills where the 

 lumberman is carrying on his work of destruction. I have 

 none but a general interest in the matter — no lands, or bark, 

 or timber for sale, nor do I expect to have ; but it grieves me 

 to see such ruthless destruction, such vandalism — -if I may ap- 

 ply the word to the destruction of our forests — as is going on 

 all around us. I am quite well acquainted with the condition 

 of things in Tioga, Lycoming, Sullivan, Potter, Elk, Forest, 

 Jefferson, Clearfield and Cameron Counties, but my knowl- 

 edge of the state of affairs in McKean and Warren is quite lim- 

 ited. . . . One thing you may rest assured of, I put the case in 

 its mildest form in my letter to the Scientific American." 



One of the foremost politicians of the state, himself a large 

 landholder and business man, says : " . . . Sooner or later 

 these lands (those which have been stripped of their timber) 

 fall back upon the county through arrears of taxes. The time 

 is coming, if not already here, when the need of some adequate 

 forestry laws will be seriously felt." 



Stale College, Pa. William A. BucktlOltt. 



Correspondence. 



Australian Trees in California. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir. — The issue of Garden and Forest for December 4th 

 mentions the probability of the Kauri Pine being adapted 

 to California. That it will flourish in certain portions of the 

 state is not a matter for surmise, as a stately specimen of the 

 tree forty feet high stands upon the grounds of Mr. Sawyer, 

 at Montecito, near Santa Barbara ; nevertheless, neither the 

 planting of this nor its equally beautiful and hardy congeners, 

 the Dacrydiums, have been prosecuted to any noticeable 

 extent in California. 



Hitherto the impression has prevailed that Acacia and 

 Eucalyptus were about the only genera that would conform 

 themselves readily to our conditions of soil and climate ; and 

 the wonderful collection of Mr. Ellwood Cooper, at Santa Bar- 

 bara, and the successful growth of no less than forty-six spe- 

 cies of this latter interesting genus at the State Forest Station 

 at Santa Monica,' have helped, perhaps, to give color to this 

 theory. 



At this date (December 16th), and at this station, unprotected 

 seedlings of Lagunaria Pattersoni are appearing vigorous and 

 healthy, and when it is recollected that this tree is a native of 

 the tropical Queensland " scrub," we may be warranted in 

 holding somewhat optimistic views of the possible future ex- 

 pansion of the Australian silva in this state. 



Outside of the Leguminosce, Protacetz, Myricacea and Stercu- 

 UacecE our gardens and parks show a striking poverty in Aus- 

 tralian plants — a poverty only less regretable than the absence 

 from them of our native trees and shrubs. 



Mr. F. M. Bailey, in his recent (1888) monograph on Queens- 

 land woods, enumerates 537 species, of which only twenty- 

 eight per cent, are tropical or ultra-tropical, leaving nearly 400 

 species of extra-tropical sorts that would doubtless accommo- 

 date themselves to various parts of California. 



The locality first mentioned (Montecito) is exceptionally 

 favored, even for California. Sheltered from strong winds, 

 near enough the coast to insure the atmospheric humidity 

 requisite for most jungle plants, and practically exempt from 

 frost, it furnishes the climatic requirements of a semi-tropical 

 arboretum. 



In the gardens referred to is a noble Laurel — the Per sea 

 gratissima (Alligator Pear) — which, in August last, was fairly 

 loaded with green fruit, and from which I recently received ripe 

 fruits. In the same grounds, and amongst a unique collection 

 of Palms, stand regal specimens oiArchontophcenix (Seaforthia), 

 Cunninghamiana and Cocos plumosa quite twenty feet in 

 height. These two Palms, though no uncommon features of 

 Santa Barbara gardens, have nowhere else in the state made 

 themselves so fully at home. Ultimate success with Austra- 

 lian and other exotic plants in California depends upon close 

 and impartial observations and records of soils and climate. 

 The lowest official temperatures recorded at Los Angeles dur- 

 ing many years past is twenty-eight degrees, and by private 

 record only twenty-six degrees has been touched ; yet six 

 miles distant, at the Ostrich Farm, the mercury has fallen to 



fourteen degrees — an amount of cold which killed the imma- 

 ture wood of Nerium Oleander, and quite sufficient to have 

 destroyed any Queensland tree yet introduced here. 



On the other hand, six miles in another direction (the 

 Cahuenga) the Coffee shrub and Artocarpus incisa (Bread- 

 fruit-tree) have grown unimpaired by frosts during four years; 

 and though no authentic meteorological data are at hand from 

 that quarter, the evidence shown is sufficient to warrant the 

 hope for a liberal measure of success with even tropical Aus- 

 tralian plants. The natural advantages of this point or of Mon- 

 tecito for acclimitization gardens are far superior to those of the 

 Stanford Arboretum, and probably have no parallel upon this 

 coast or within the United States. „„„. 



Los Angeles, Cal. William S. LyOJl. 



The Action of Root-hairs Illustrated. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — A letter from Mr. James E. Reeves to Professor Joseph 

 Leidy contains the following statements:"You may have noticed 

 in the Associated Press dispatches two weeks ago, report of the 

 re-interment of the remains of the Confederate General 

 Walker, who was killed in the battle before Atlanta, July 22d, 

 1864. The specimen I have the pleasure of sending you is a 

 part of the mossy network which completely covered the re- 

 mains. 



" The burial place was in a dry ferruginous clay, and the vault 

 preserved unbroken by a thin crust arch which prevented the 

 falling in of the superincumbent earth; and thus the remains 

 — which consisted of nothing more than the bones, and some 

 of these broken into dust — were all easily brought into view, 

 with their remarkable covering." 



Through the kindness of Professor Leidy I have had the privi- 

 lege of examining the fragment of this " mossy network." I 

 find it to consist of the ultimate rootlets of some plant, whether 

 herb, shrub or tree I have no means of knowing. But the 

 most striking thing revealed by the microscope is the vast 

 number of root-hairs with which these rootlets are covered. 

 It is quite clear what their function was. In fact, they afford 

 an illustration of the absorbing powers of such appendages. 

 Through their activity the mortal remains of the brave Confed- 

 erate soldier had already had their resurrection into a new life 

 by the leaves and flowers which covered his grave. 



The fact taught by these root-hairs is well recognized, but I 

 have never before seen so striking an illustration of it. 



University of Pennsylvania. J. T. Rothrock. 



Kalanchoe carnea. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — Mr. Dana's opinion of this plant will be endorsed by 

 most cultivators ; and yet the Kalanchoe has merit as a win- 

 dow-plant. It bears the dry atmosphere of hot rooms; it wears 

 well, and its perfume is very agreeable where confined ; and 

 it may be much improved by selection. Already I notice 

 some plants with decidedly brighter colors than the rest. It 

 may be possible to cross it with some brilliant-colored species 

 of Kalosanthes, such as K. coccinea, and if so, we may hope 

 for some really valuable additions to our list of plants. I well 

 remember how insignificant were the earliest comers among 

 the Chinese Primroses {Primula Sinensis), with their puny 

 flowers and insipid coloring. By selection extending over 

 thirty-five years we now have some of the most beautiful 

 colors and the most effective early winter-flowering plants in a 

 class of plants that was once almost despised. 



Pearl River, N. Y. John Thorpe. 



Recent Publications. 



The California Fruits and How to Grow Them. By Edward 

 J. Wickson. Dewey & Co., San Francisco. 1889. 



Perhaps no country in the world excels California in natu- 

 ral adaptation to the production of fruit and its preser- 

 vation. It combines the three great advantages of abundant 

 heat, continuous sunshine and dry air, and these, taken in con- 

 nection with a soil admirably suited for fruit-culture and a long 

 growing season, 'ensure an abundance of fruit, which matures 

 early and is of good quality. Besides this, the rainless sum- 

 mer, with its dry heat and steady sunshine, gives exceptional 

 advantages for curing fruit in the open air. All these condi- 

 tions would naturally prompt Californians to engage in fruit- 

 growing; but when we consider how recently this industry was 

 in its infancy, and consider, too, that the pioneers in the enter- 

 prise came from regions where the climate was radically dif- 

 ferent from that of California, we cannot but wonder at its rapid 

 development. Of course many mistakes were made in the 



