2o6 



Garden and Forest. 



[April 23, 1890. 



where, of course,, they will be expected not merely to exist or 

 to become objects of beauty, but to support forest-conditions, 

 to grow at least as rapidly as indigenous species, and to pro- 

 duce wood which is at least equal to that which these species 

 supply. Of course, the subject is a complicated one, and with 

 most of our trees much actual experimenting must still be 

 done before their worth to European foresters can be esti- 

 mated. But whatever can be done by theorizing, based on a 

 wide and careful observation of facts in this country and a 

 thorough acquaintance with European conditions, seems to 

 have been done in this volume. The danger of generalizing 

 from too brief experiments is made clear, and is emphasized 

 by reference to many European species which, for a time, 

 seem to do thoroughly well in America, but before they reach 

 maturity fail and die. The same thing, says Dr. Mayr, may be 

 expected in many cases in Europe — a quicker growth to begin 

 with than is shown by related native trees and then a sudden 

 and hopeless failure. The reasons for this phenomenon are 

 of course referred to, but at a length too great to permit quo- 

 tation now. It is especially interesting to follow the author 

 through the chapters where he discusses the different elements 

 which are comprised under the general term location. Rela- 

 tive degrees of cold constitute of course only one element, 

 and the significance of this one is modified by the character 

 of the others, as by the greater dryness or moisture of the 

 atmosphere or of the soil, or a greater or smaller degree of 

 evaporation in the plants themselves as affected by particular 

 situations. " Nine-tenths," Dr. Mayr explains, " of all cases in 

 which injury through frost in winter is affirmed, belong in the 

 category of injury from drought, the consequence of a hin- 

 dered or diminished water-supply brought about by frost. In 

 this way, perhaps, may be explained the apparent paradox that 

 many species which are known as 'hardy' in a notoriously 

 cold climate pass for 'tender' in a notoriously mild one. 

 Probably the plants stood in the first locality in a moister at- 

 mosphere or were better protected against evaporation, while' 

 the susceptible plants in the warmer locality had to fight 

 against dryness and frost. It is to be expected that all species 

 which come from the warm coast-zone, delight in swampy 

 stations and live associated in large forest-masses will be par- 

 ticularly susceptible to a combination of frost and dryness. 

 At the head of the North American species which come thus 

 in question stand the conifers of the Pacific Coast west of the 

 Cascade Mountains. In order to cultivate these in Europe 

 without loss through frost it seems as though only the coasts, 

 the interior of large forests, damp river and mountain valleys, 

 or even a damper subsoil than they require at home, will be 

 found available. The Lawson's Cypress, the Douglas Spruce, 

 the Giant Hemlock, the Sitka Spruce and the Nutka Cypress 

 are entirely hardy under these conditions; but if they are lack- 

 ing, then even the Sitka Spruce fails, which, in its own home, 

 on the shore of Alaska, stretches almost to the glaciers. Each 

 plant, indeed, possesses a certain adaptability to changed con- 

 ditions with regard to moisture, which may be increased or 

 diminished by the dampness of the air and by the dampness 

 of the soil, each by itself or both working together. The plant 

 reacts notably against this combination in varying ways. Re- 

 searches upon this point are not known to me. It is true that 

 I now lack the literature to search with regard to it, and the 

 contributions which I shall bring to the support of the state- 

 ment rest, therefore, on my few personal observations. But if a 

 literature on this subject does indeed exist, it cannot be very 

 large, for the moisture of the air as a weighty factor in plant 

 life has as yet not been sufficiently recognized." We cannot 

 follow Dr. Mayr into the analysis which he then gives ; but it 

 seems worth while to call attention to the words last quoted 

 as indicating a profitable field for other students. 



Interesting, too, are his notes on the dangers which Ameri- 

 can trees will probably run in Europe from animal and vege- 

 table enemies. He doubts whether they will be freer from 

 such dangers than native plants. Indeed, he notes a number 

 of probable special sources of danger, from the love of men to 

 break off vital bits of new and interesting specimens, to the 

 delight which, for some unexplained reason, all animals seem 

 to find in exotic kinds of food. Again, epidemic diseases are 

 more apt to afflict trees when many of a given kind are massed 

 together (as is usual in economic planting) than when they are 

 mixed with other species in the primeval forest. 



But it would be an almost endless task to pick out all the 

 most interesting and instructive passages in this book. We do 

 not profess even to have called attention to some of those 

 which, above all others, merited notice. To accomplish this 

 one would have to read the volume more than once, and care- 

 fully weigh the relative significance of all its parts. Desiring 

 to bring it as quickly as possible to the notice of our readers, 



we have simply chosen passages here and there for their illus- 

 trative value as showing the field it covers. Meanwhile we 

 must conclude with a brief mention of the scheme for the 

 use of our trees in Germany, which is outlined in Section XI. 



Repeated stress is laid on the fact that little can be settled 

 with regard to the economic value of our trees until they are 

 tested in the forest itself, where, naturally, they often do better 

 than in isolation. Dr. Mayr recommends, therefore, thatsmall 

 colonies of a given species shall be formed in forests which 

 already exist, and all due measures taken for their protection 

 and for observing their development. Then he mentions 

 many American trees which are well worth using or testing, 

 explaining his special reasons in each case. And then he fixes 

 the limits of five distinct zones into which German lands may 

 be divided according to general climatic conditions, and gives 

 from one to three lists of plants for each of them. The first 

 list contains those trees which have already been thoroughly 

 tested, the economic value of which is established, and which 

 therefore should be added to the small list of species now used 

 by the forester, and planted in large masses. In the second 

 list he places trees which are evidently valuable, which give 

 good promise of adaptability to German conditions, and which 

 it is, therefore, worth while to test in an extensive way; and the 

 third indicates less valuable species which likewise have not 

 yet been thoroughly tested. For example, the first zone he 

 defines includes "the warmest, lowest regions of Germany, 

 the valleys of the Rhine, the lower Main and the Neckar, with 

 a medium yearly temperature above nine degrees Centigrade 

 and a medium temperature during the period of most rapid 

 growth of over seventeen degrees, where the Oaks do best, the 

 Chestnut regularly ripens its fruit, and the cultivation of the 

 Vine, of Tobacco and of Maize is possible." For this region 

 he indicates, in Class I., the Black Walnut, the Shell-bark, the 

 Pig-nut and the Mockernut Hickories, and the Sugar Maple; in 

 Class II., the Black and the Yellow Birch, the Red Cedar, Law- 

 son's Cypress and the Douglas Spruce ; and in Class III., the 

 Black Cherry, the Catalpa, the Occidental Plane, the American 

 Elm, the Locust, and three Poplars, P. balsamifera, P. monili- 

 fera and P. trichocarpa. It may be noted that as a shrub 

 which may cover the forest-soil and yield a valuable by- 

 product in its fruit, Dr. Mayr recommends Vaccinium macro- 

 carpum, from its fitness for ground upon which wood-pro- 

 duction, even if possible, is, at all events, of minor importance. 



Correspondence. 

 Botanical Names. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — I often hear the remark : " If it were not for the hard 

 names of the plants, how I would like to study botany, but I 

 know I never could remember them." This too prevalent 

 idea with the young is largely due to the "wits" who hold up 

 botany and kindred sciences to ridicule by selecting some of 

 the most difficult and uncouth names and making them the 

 text for so-called humorous paragraphs in the daily papers. 

 These articles are funny, no doubt, or they would scarcely find 

 a place in our great dailies, and yet the more witty their rail- 

 lery the more damaging the influence. 



But occasionally we see an article, apparently written in all 

 seriousness, to deplore the use of scientific names. As a case 

 in point, I quote from a newspaper article : "True, my read- 

 ing is mostly in history and literature, but that is not because 

 of my indifference to science, which I regard as the highest 

 of all truth, but because of the horrible jargon in which science 

 is concealed rather than revealed. A rose by any other name 

 may smell as sweet, but it does not sound as well when called 

 an Anastatica hierochuntina. ... I went to a flower show 

 a short time since andsaw r the common Smilax labeled Myrsi- 

 phyllum asparagoides, and a Primrose marked Primula Sinen- 

 sis fimbriata, and I thought of Wordsworth's 



'A Primrose by the river's brim, 

 A Primrose only was to him,' 



and how his soul would have expanded if he had only 

 known that other name. Now I confess this is all Greek to 

 me, and I want to know if it is a help or a hindrance to the 

 acquisition of knowledge. To myself I feel that it has been a 

 hindrance, and it seems like a relic of the middle ages, when 

 all important works were written in Latin for the benefit of the 

 few who were Latin scholars." 



It is not the science itself to which the correspondent objects, 

 but the hard names which have deterred him from study. 

 But really the names are not as formidable as represented. 

 They help instead of hinder the study of science. 



