i6o 



Garden and Forest. 



[March 26, 1890. 



At a recent meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society in 

 London a plant of Masdevallia Tovarensis was exhibited which 

 bore 255 leaves and 162 flower-spikes with 346 open blossoms. 

 When the exhibitor, Mr. Hodgson, bought the plant fifteen 

 years ago it bore only two small leaves. 



It appears from a London letter in The Sun that Madagascar 

 has gone into the lumber business. The first cargo from that 

 country reached England a fortnight ago, and the wood made 

 a favorable impression on experts. It consisted entirely of 

 hard woods, which resembled mahogany, walnut and teak, 

 and commanded good prices. 



Phalanopsis Cynthia X is recently described as a new 

 natural hybrid affined to P. leucorrhoda, also supposed to be a 

 natural hybrid. The only difference between the two is that 

 the tendril-like appendages to the labellum are only about half 

 as long in the former as in the latter, and in P. Cynthia there 

 is a slight tinge of yellow on the front lobe of the lip. 



The fruit-growers of southern California have found that a 

 crop of Peanuts can be raised between the trees of a young 

 orchard with no loss to the trees if the vines are left to decom- 

 pose in the soil. The Peanuts net from five to eight cents 

 a pound, which means from $125 to $200 an acre. This 

 makes a good revenue from the land until the fruit-trees come 

 into bearing. 



The Sugar-cane disease which started three or four years 

 ago in plantations near Cheribon, Java, is said to be spreading 

 with alarming rapidity. At a recent congress of planters and 

 others interested in the production of sugar, a fund of $90,000 

 was subscribed to engage a bacteriologist to come from 

 Europe, investigate the cause of this disease, and if possible 

 devise a remedy. 



A San Diego paper announces that an "herb garden" of 

 some ten acres in extent is to be established near that city by 

 Mr. Augustus Lang. Plants particularly valuable for their 

 medicinal qualities, and, perhaps, flowers especially desirable 

 for their perfume, are to be cultivated. A laboratory is to be 

 erected for the treatment of the herbs and flowers grown, so 

 that essential oils and extracts, as well as dried herbs, will be 

 prepared for the drug market. 



It is computed that 100,000 trees have been planted in the 

 streets of Paris, exclusive of those which adorn the larger 

 squares and parks. The kinds chiefly used are the Ailanthus, 

 the Norway and the Sycamore Maple, the Horse-chestnut, the 

 Elm, the Locust, the Occidental Plane (Buttonwood), the Silver 

 Linden and the Paulownia. Such care is taken to provide a 

 sufficiency of good soil that the cost of setting out a single 

 tree reaches $61, and $50,000 are annually expended for the 

 purpose. 



Mr. S. E. Jelliffe has caused to be reprinted in separate 

 shape the catalogue of the plants growing in Prospect Park, 

 Brooklyn, which he originally published in the Brooklyn Daily 

 Eagle Almanac. It includes, of course, many foreign as well 

 as native plants, and the list embraces 286 flowering plants and 

 sixty-two cryptogams. Among the latter one would, perhaps, 

 have expected to find more than nine species of Ferns. It will 

 be a pity if this list is not placed on sale somewhere in the 

 park, and the example set by its author might advantageously 

 be imitated by students in this and other cities. 



Some analyses of apples, made at different periods of their 

 growth, under direction of Mr. J. W. Clark, horticulturist of 

 the Missouri Experiment Station, shows that much the greater 

 proportion of the ash, or material drawn from the soil, is 

 stored up in the early part of the growth of the fruit. This 

 gives an additional reason for thinning early, or as soon as 

 Wormy or imperfect specimens can be distinguished. It 

 shows", also, that a barrel of large and perfect apples takes a 

 smaller amount of mineral plant-food from the soil than a bar- 

 rel of small, inferior fruit. The analysis shows that the apples 

 on an acre of ground, where the trees stand thirty feet apart, 

 and yield ten bushels of fruit to the tree, take from the soil 

 more than seven pounds of phosphoric acid and forty-three 

 pounds of potash. This justifies the use of bone-dust and ashes, 

 or one of the potash salts, as a dressing for orchards. 



Writing in the March Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 

 with regard to a collection of Sedges sent him from Phcenix, 

 Keweenaw County, Michigan (a spot on the western side of a 

 small peninsula which juts into Lake Superior from the south- 

 ward), Professor L. H. Bailey says that in all regions adjacent 

 to the Great Lakes the flora is anomalous. " It presents a 

 curious mixture of northern and southern types, yet the north- 

 ern types are not particularly marked." There is " a tendency 

 of the southern types to creep northward along the Great 



Lakes, particularly on the shores opposite the direction of the 

 prevailing winds. These winds, traversing the warmer area 

 of the water, maintain the winter temperature on the shores 

 upon which they blow at a higher point than it reaches on the 

 opposite side. Thus it appears to be true that the flora of the 

 eastern shore of Lake Michigan has in it more plants of a 

 southern type than the western shore ; at any rate, it is true 

 that the western shore of the state of Michigan presents in its 

 flora a warmer cast than does the eastern shore of the state." 

 The most interesting entry in the list of sixty-four Carices is 

 C. exilis, for which the most western locality hitherto known 

 has been Wayne County, western New York, and which, even 

 in the east, is a rare species. 



A picture of the Washington Memorial Arch as it is to be 

 built in marble, which was recently given in the Sun, shows 

 many changes from the much admired wooden prototype. 

 The piers are much more massive and the span of the arch 

 relatively smaller, while the distribution of the ornamental 

 motives is also quite different. Of course, the proportions suit- 

 able for a wooden construction could not have been exactly 

 adhered to, and we may trust its designer to believe that 

 greater beauty will spring from his modifications as well as 

 greater stability. It was first proposed to place the arch in a 

 line with the external boundary of Washington Square, but it 

 has been decided to set it back half way between this point 

 and the open central space. In this way the large trees near 

 the street will not need to be removed, and, moreover, a dig- 

 nified approach to the arch can be made by forming an open 

 space in front of it with, it is suggested, a pair of isolated orna- 

 mental shafts bearing appropriate emblems. Some such treat- 

 ment is certainly desirable if there is to be true harmony be- 

 tween the stately memorial and its surroundings. The sum 

 raised for building it now amounts to $75,000, but $150,000 

 ought to be raised if the architectural beauty of the work is to 

 be properly enhanced by sculptured decoration. 



A correspondent of The Garden, London, gives some inter- 

 esting notes on synonyms among Chrysanthemums. For 

 instance, in 1886 Messrs. Cannell exhibited several new varie- 

 ties imported direct from Japan, and which they distributed 

 the following year. Among those which received a first-class 

 certificate, and which was indeed quoted at a higher price than 

 any other, was Mrs. H. Cannell, with beautiful pure white 

 flowers. Now, this is by all growers (Messrs. Cannell in- 

 cluded) regarded as synonymous with Christmas Eve, a variety 

 distributed by the American nurserymen, and sent to this coun- 

 try two years previous to the distribution of the other, viz., in 

 1885. Another flower is Lady Trevor Lawrence, which is the 

 same as Mrs. Beale and Robert Bottomley, this last coming 

 from the other side of the Atlantic. Several other instances 

 are recorded in different catalogues of the same variety being 

 distributed by an English and an American nurseryman under 

 different names. Included among the number are Mr. Frank 

 Thompson and W. G. Drover, Marvel and Mr. H. Wellam, 

 Charlie Sharman and W. M. Singerly, Mrs. Vannamann and 

 Mr. Addison, with Mrs. J. N. Gerard and Mrs. Dunnett. All 

 this is, no doubt, to be accounted for by the fact that they 

 have been imported direct from Japan, and, therefore, the 

 identical varieties have been distributed on the two continents. 



Catalogues Received. 



C. E. Allen, Brattleboro, Vt. ; Seeds and Plants. — P. J. Berckmans, 

 Fruitland Nurseries, Augusta, Ga.; Green-house, Bedding and New 

 Plants. — Joseph B reck & Sons, 51, 52 and 53 N. Market St., Boston, 

 Mass. ; Vegetable and Flower Seeds, Plants, Implements, etc. — J. G. 

 Bubach, Princeton, 111.; Strawberries. — Wm. Bull, 536 King's Road, 

 Chelsea, London, S.W., England; Flower and Vegetable Seeds, Bulbs, 

 etc. — Luther Burbank, Santa Rosa, Sonoma Co., Cal.; Novelties, 

 Plants, etc. — W. Atlee Burpee & Co., 475 and 477 N. 5th St., Phila- 

 delphia, Pa. ; Flowers, Plants, Thorough-bred Live Stock, etc. — Paul 

 Butz & Sons, New Castle, Pa. ; Florists' Stock. — Alfred E. Cole, 

 Plainfield, N. J. ; Garden, Field and Flower Seeds, etc. — M. Crawford, 

 Cuyahoga Falls, 0. ; Strawberry Plants. — J. M. Edwards & Son, Fort 

 Atkinson, Wis. ; Small Fruit Plants, etc. — Wm. Elliott & Sons, 54 and 

 56 Dey St., N. Y. ; Seeds.— Z. De Forest Ely & Co., 1303 Market St., 

 Philadelphia, Pa.; Seeds, etc. — J. Roscoe Fuller & Co., Floral Park, 

 N. Y. ; Seeds, Bulbs and Plants.— J. C. Giddings & Co., Rutland, Vt.; 

 Northern Grown Seeds. — Gillett & Horsford, Southwick, Mass. ; 

 Wild Flowers, Shrubs, etc. — Haage & Schmidt, Erfurt, Germany; 

 Novelties of Seeds.— Higganum Manufacturing Corporation, 189 

 Water St., N. Y. ; Seeds and Agricultural Implements.- — G. D. Howe, 

 North Hadley, Mass.; Potatoes. — T. S. Hubbard Co., Fredonia, N. Y. ; 

 Grape Vines. — Johnson & Stokes, 217 Market St., Philadelphia, Pa.; 

 Horticultural Supplies. — Thomas Jackson, Portland, Me. ; Fruit Trees, 

 Evergreens, etc.— -Geo. S. Josselyn, Fredonia, N. Y. ; Grape Vines, 

 Small Fruit Plants, etc. 



