146 



Garden and Forest. 



[March 19, 1890. 



Correspondence. 

 Prairie Forestry. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — Allow me to make a brief rejoinder to Professor 

 Keffer's remarks in regard to forestry on the plains, in your 

 issue of March 12th. To be sure, without tree-planting in a 

 treeless country, there can be no forestry ; yet, while trees and 

 the planting of trees is the necessary basis for forests and for 

 forestry, it should be now understood and urged that the 

 planting of trees alone does not constitute forestry, and unless 

 the work is done with a certain knowledge, and in accordance 

 with certain principles of forestry proper, it cannot produce 

 the results — or at least the full results — which are anticipated. 

 It is the manner of planting which constitutes the difference 

 between mere tree-planting and forest-planting. What we do 

 now on the prairie in regard to forestry bears the same rela- 

 tion to forest-planting proper that the crude, unscientific 

 scratching of the ground for a food-crop, by the Indian or 

 Mexican, bears to the highly intensified methods of the New 

 Englander or European. In a measure and in a manner re- 

 sults are obtained, but neither in a full measure nor in the 

 best manner. 



The first and the lasting object and leading thought of the 

 forester is to create and maintain forest-conditions. Such 

 conditions are afforded by dense growth, mixed growth and 

 undergrowth, which combination alone can shade the ground 

 effectually and continually. In order to maintain such forest- 

 conditions it is not enough to plant densely and plant mixed 

 growths ; we must know what the component parts of our 

 plantation will do in their further development, how they will 

 grow up in relation to each other ; how, in fact, they will 

 keep up forest-conditions and develop into a desirable wood 

 growth ; we must plant with a foresight into the future of our 

 plantation, if we wish to deserve the name of forest-planters. 

 To do this we must have a knowledge of the life-history of 

 our forest-trees, their requirements, their rate of growth and 

 development during the various stages of their life. 



I have no fear that we will not learn all this in time, but so 

 far we know but little about forestry methods as applied to 

 our forest-trees, and even the little knowledge we do have in 

 this direction finds no widespread application in practice, and 

 I must consider it unfortunate that this is so, and that tree- 

 planting is so often considered synonymous with forestry. 



I hope I have made clear my proposition — that it is the 

 absence of forestry principles and forestry methods and not 

 the deficiency in volume of planting which deprives our tree- 

 planting in the west of its right to the title of forestry, 

 although, in the end, for climatic effects, the volume alone 

 will tell. I agree most readily with Professor Keffer that it is 

 the enormous evaporation and dissipation of moisture, due to 

 the unchecked winds much more than to the deficient rain- 

 fall, that makes agriculture precarious on the western plains, 

 and hence the more need of creating extensive forests and 

 forest-conditions in that region. 



Washington, D. c. B. E. Femow. 



Orchids at Flatbush, Long Island. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — In the neighborhood of Flatbush and Brooklyn several 

 good collections of Orchids can now be found, and, as if to 

 refute the notion that Orchids can only be grown in a house 

 especially built for them, we find them in Palm and Fern 

 houses, and growing with luxuriance in company with these 

 plants. I lately saw a fine show of bloom in the houses of Mr. 

 William Brown, of Flatbush. As is usual at this season, Cat- 

 tleya Triana made the most striking display, with many well 

 flowered specimens in the best condition and in several very 

 distinct and attractive varieties. A plant of C. Gaskelliana, in 

 full flower, was very noticeable, being entirely out of season, 

 for a species whose normal period of bloom is in the months 

 of July and August. Mr. Bennett, the gardener, states that 

 this plant blooms regularly at this season, which makes it a 

 valuable acquisition, and, moreover, it is deliciously fragrant. 

 Among the Dendrobiums were some large and well flowered 

 examples of the old, but still popular, D. nobile, and hanging 

 from the roof was a fine piece of the pretty D. Devonianum car- 

 rying 200 flowers. Other species, such as D. Wardianum, D. 

 thyrsiflorum and D. fimbriatum, were equally well flowered. 



The Phalasnopses in this collection are very thrifty, and 

 many fine and well branched spikes were seen of the beauti- 

 ful P. Schiller iana ; also several good forms of P. amabilis, 

 P. Sanderiana and P. Stuartiana. From the roof hung a fine 



piece of Dendrochilum glumaceum, bearing forty spikes of its 

 fragrant blossoms, and several plants of the pretty Onciditim 

 sarcodes, attached to blocks, had produced well branched 

 spikes loaded with yellow and brown spotted flowers, and 

 forming a delightful combination with the other occupants of 

 the house. Phajus Wallichii, too, was in fine condition. P. 

 grandif alius was just past flowering, after having made a 

 grand display for several weeks. 



A number of well grown Cypripediums added to the display, 

 including, amongst others, the white flowering C. niveum, 

 large plants of C. Boxallii, C. villosum, C. hirsutissimum, C. 

 Harrisianum and C. Stonei. Several plants of note promise a 

 fine show of bloom later in the season, among them being 

 remarkable examples of the true Majus form of Onciditim am- 

 pliatum. This grand species is always an attractive object when 

 in bloom, bearing great quantities of golden yellow and brown 

 spotted flowers on its many branched stems. Several plants 

 of Oncidium Papilio tnajus were also showing, together with 

 Cymbidium eburneum and Zygopetdlttm crinitum. The Ne- 

 penthes in this collection are always worth a visit, being in 

 fine health. Among them was a good plant of N. Amesiana, 

 with several enormous pitchers ; also N. Rafflesiana, a splen- 

 did, well furnished plant of N. Tildeniana, with excellent ex- 

 amples of N. Dominiana, N. Craigiana, N. Hookeriana, N. 

 Sheltonii, N. Bennetiana and many others. 



Summit, N. J. A. DimVlOck. 



Specimen Plants at Wellesley. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



■Sir. — In the Gardeners' Chronicle for February 8th mention 

 is made of a remarkable Cymbidium eburneum twenty years 

 old, which produced twenty-seven flowers a year ago ; and in 

 the next issue of the same paper two plants of C. Loivianum 

 are mentioned, one of which had 140 and the other 108 

 flowers. 



It is the common opinion that there are many Orchids 

 grown on the other side which surpass any grown here ; but if 

 every remarkable specimen in American collections was 

 accorded a public notice we might find that the superiority of 

 the Old World in this respect is not so marked as we had sup- 

 posed. Just now in the collection of Mr. H. H. Hunnewell, at 

 Wellesley, Massachusetts, there is a C. eburneum with no less 

 than nineteen flower spikes, and one of three large plants of C. 

 Loivianum shows 141 flowers, one-half of which are fully 

 expanded. A striking plant is Medinilla magnified, and one 

 not often seen nowadays, though it is by no means new. 

 The specimen here, a standard with a stem five feet high and 

 a head seven feet in diameter, has thirty-three racemes of 

 flowers, and is an object of great beauty. Perhaps these plants 

 are worth putting on record, and it is to be hoped that other 

 gardeners will follow with notes on some of the treasures in 

 their charge. 



Wellesley, Mass. F L. Hdrris. 



A Gardener's Problem. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — Mr. Burbidge, in his letter at page 117 of the present 

 volume, conveys the idea^that Mr. Moore's treatment of Ne- 

 penthes Rdjdh may be quoted in refutation of the views of Mr. 

 Watson ; but, perhaps, Mr. Moore had better be allowed to 

 state his own experience. In a paper on "Experiments with 

 Manure in Orchid Culture," read before the Scottish Horticul- 

 tural Association on January 7th of the present year, Mr. 

 Moore is reported as follows : " Many experiments which have 

 been made, and from which important results have accrued, 

 would never have been undertaken but for the failure of some 

 favorite plant or set of plants. A case in point is Nepenthes 

 Rajdh ; thrice I got this plant, twice I lost it, and the third 

 plant now flourishes. When I obtained it first I was recom- 

 mended to grow it, if possible, in hot vapor, advice which 

 was frequently repeated to me afterward ; but treating it as 

 nearly as I could to these instructions, ended in the death of 

 the plant. On the second occasion I was recommended to 

 grow it in cold vapor; was speciously informed that it could 

 not fail with such treatment; that the fact had been amply 

 demonstrated. Again I adopted the advice given, and again 

 I lost my plant. On the third occasion I merely begged a 

 plant, but did not beg advice ; I considered long how I would 

 treat it, my inclination leaning strongly to the hot system. 

 Eventually, I determined to try a "betwixt and between," and 

 brought it to the cool Orchid-house, where there was a moist 

 atmosphere with a minimum night temperature of fifty de- 

 grees Fahrenheit. In this house it grew apace, and, what is 

 more important, continues to grow and flourish, so that it is 



