220 



Garden and Forest. 



[April 30, 1890. 



Iris orchioideS, A7111 ; a native of central Asia, and nearly 

 allied to Iris Caucasica, which differs from it in its dwarfer 

 habit, by its thickened leaf margins and paler yellow flowers. 



Vanda Kimballiana, t. 71 12; a beautiful and now popular 

 Orchid, the secret of whose native country has been carefully 

 preserved by the introducers, Messrs. Hugh Low & Co. Its 

 nearest ally, Vanda A»iesiana, is said to be a native of India. 



Notes. 



Over 200,000 acres of Florida land are said to contain de- 

 posits of phosphate. Much of the richest rock can be mined 

 for twenty-five cents a ton. 



The annual banquet given by the Trustees of the Missouri 

 Botanic Garden in honor of Henry Shaw, the founder of that 

 establishment, will take place in the Southern Hotel, in 

 St. Louis, on the evening of Monday, May 26th. 



It is encouraging to learn that at a recent meeting of the 

 Colorado State Horticultural and Forestry Association two of 

 the subjects which were most earnestly discussed were " The 

 Ornamentation of School Grounds" and "Horticulture and 

 Entomology in the Schools." 



Two of the English horticultural papers just received speak 

 with enthusiasm of hanging baskets filled with Lachenalia 

 pendula now in bloom. The drooping habit of this plant both 

 in foliage and flower, and its simple requirements (see vol. ii., 

 pp. 28 and 30), fit it admirably for this use. 



Mr. E. Tidmarsh, Curator of the Botanic Gardens at Gra- 

 hamstown, Cape of Good Hope, writes that the cottony cushion 

 scale, so destructive to Orange-groves in Australia and Cali- 

 fornia, is probably a native of Madagascar. Missionaries 

 report that it has preyed upon Lemon-trees there from time 

 immemorial. 



Mr. A. H. Curtiss, in the Jacksonville Times- Union, advocates 

 the planting of the Camphor-tree in Florida in view of the 

 increased demand for camphor as a necessary ingredient in 

 the smokeless gunpowder which is likely soon to come into 

 general use for purposes of war. The recent increase in the 

 price of the gum suggests the idea. 



This has been a successful season for nurserymen in Cali- 

 fornia. Orange-growers have been forced for several years to 

 depend largely on Florida stock, but the frosts this spring 

 killed the young trees in Florida. The large acreage of Orange- 

 groves planted last fall consumed all the local trees, and now 

 there is a call for 120,000 Orange-trees that cannot be filled. 



Monsieur Froebel, the well known nurseryman of Zurich, 

 calls attention, in the Bulletin De la Societe d' Horticulture 

 d y Geneve of Rose-growers, to the value of Rosa lax a as stock 

 in the place of the Dog Rose, Rosa canina. Monsieur Froe- 

 bel finds that Rosa laxa does not send up suckers, that its 

 branches are very vigorous, almost destitute of spines and 

 lateral branchlets, that the wood is hard with very little pith, 

 and that the plants are exceedingly hardy. 



Monsieur Andre", speaking in a recent issue of the Revue 

 Horticole of the new seedling varieties of Clivia, which are just 

 now attracting much attention in Europe, declares that none 

 of the recent seedlings surpass or equal, perhaps, these four 

 old varieties, Madame Van Houtte, Marie Van Houtte, Lin- 

 deni and Van Houttei. It is hard to believe, however, that 

 they can equal some of the varieties which have lately found 

 their way into commerce through the English nurserymen, 

 notably Grandiflora and Veitchii, which are both certainly ex- 

 ceedingly fine in foliage and in the size and color of the flowers. 



According to L ' Horticulteur, there are one hundred and 

 five gardens or squares in the city of Paris. About a million 

 plants are used every year in their decoration, including 

 300,000 Geraniums, 60,000 Begonias, 33,000 Forget-me-nots, 

 33,000 Ageratums, 26,000 Azaleas, 7,000 Hyacinths, etc. These 

 gardens are under the direction of Monsieur Laforcarde, the 

 head-gardener of the city, who employs four hundred work- 

 men in keeping them in order; the annual expenditure being 

 only about 800,000 francs, which seems a very small sum in 

 comparison with the amount spent in the care and decoration 

 of the public gardens in this country, notably in Boston. 



A bulletin issued by the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture contains a list of the horticulturists employed at the 

 various stations, with notes regarding the work they have un- 

 dertaken. Forty-two stations are named, but with regard to 

 twelve no information is given. At seventeen stations, it is 

 announced, special attention will be given to questions of 

 synonymy; at two seed-testing will be systematically pursued, 



and in several the improvement of native wild fruits will be 

 one of the chief aims. Plant diseases will be generally studied, 

 and new varieties of fruits and vegetables tested. Cultivators 

 are asked to send in such varieties in order that their value 

 may be ascertained. 



A public meeting for the purpose of increasing the interest 

 in Arbor Day and in forestry generally was held on Saturday, 

 in the large hall of the Museum of Natural History, under the 

 auspices of the New York State Forestry Association. Gen- 

 eral Viele presided, and B. E. Fernow, Chief of the Forestry 

 Division of the Department of Agriculture, made the princi- 

 pal address, which was an admirable statement of the reasons 

 for restoring and preserving the forests of the country. Other 

 addresses were made by Col. Balch, Professor B. G. North- 

 rup, Professor D. S. Martin, Chancellor McCracken, Doctor 

 Stephen Smith and William Potts. The attendance was by no 

 means as large as it should have been. 



A Paris correspondent writes that the Perpetual Carnation 

 Marguerite is being much talked of in the horticultural world. 

 It appeared in France last year and a bed of it could be seen 

 in the Trocade"ro gardens during the exhibition. It belongs to 

 a race of Carnations which, it is said, originated in Italy. Its 

 principal merit is that it flowers the first year from seed. 

 Seed sown under glass at the end of February give plants 

 which, after having been pricked out, commence to bloom at 

 the end of June and continue to give flowers throughout the 

 summer and autumn. Indeed, it is said that the flowering 

 season can be prolonged into the winter if the plants are taken 

 to a cool greenhouse or placed in a frame. The Marguerite 

 Carnation forms dwarf tufts about fifteen inches in height; its 

 stalks are rigid, and their excellent habit recalls that of the so- 

 called "Tige de Fer" Carnations. The flowers are large, well- 

 formed and agreeable in odor; the petals are fringed, and, 

 as regards color, show all the tones between pure white and 

 brilliant red. Different varieties exist as self-colored, blotched 

 and striped. 



The Gardeners' Chronicle recently published a picture of a 

 curious Chrysanthemum sport which appeared on a plant of 

 the Source d'Or variety grown by Mr. Maries, of Lytham. One 

 half of the flower-head consisted of "yellow, flat strap-shaped 

 florets; the other of dark golden bronze florets, revolute at 

 the edges. Such cases are always interesting and are suscep- 

 tible of various interpretations. That which seems most 

 plausible in- this case is, that the appearance is due to the un- 

 mixing or separation of previously blended components. In 

 the case of the Chrysanthemum, which has been crossed and 

 recrossed and crossed again, for an untold number of years, 

 it is evident that the breed must be very mixed indeed, and 

 there can be little wonder if a 'return to first principles' occa- 

 sionally occurs." This theory, added the Chronicle, is not sus- 

 ceptible of actual proof in the case of the Chrysanthemum. 

 But it can be proved with regard to a sport of Veitch's Calanthe, 

 of which an illustration was likewise given. This plant is 

 known to be a hybrid between C. rosea and C. vestita. The 

 diverse features of the parents are, as a rule, thoroughly 

 blended in the hybrid, but in the single blossom in question 

 certain features of each parent were combined in scarcely 

 altered shapes. 



The tariff discussion has brought out some interesting facts 

 with regard to Flax production in the United States. More 

 than a million acres in our northwestern states are annually 

 planted with the Flax plant, but very little linen cloth, and that 

 of the coarsest quality, is made here. A few mills are en- 

 gaged in the manufacture of twine and thread from the fibre, 

 but the Flax is chiefly grown for the seed, of which some thir- 

 teen million bushels are produced each year. The crop is 

 raised on new ground, the seed being thinly sown, and, with- 

 out cultivation, bearing a heavy yield of seed. When this is 

 ripe the plants are cut by horse-reapers, the seed threshed out 

 by a machine, and the straw burned on the ground. The fact 

 that Flax is not grown here for its fibre is laid by some to the 

 account of our climate as being too dry and hot for its best 

 development, but by others to the great cost of cultivating the 

 plant with such an end in view. In Europe each farmer de- 

 votes but a small plot to Flax, prepares the soil as carefully as 

 for a garden-bed, sows the seed very thickly, and keeps the 

 crop nicely weeded. The plants, coming up closely, grow tall 

 and branchless, developing the fibre at the expense of the 

 seed, and they are pulled up by the roots before the seed 

 ripens. After this the fibre must be extracted on the farm by 

 laborious hand processes, as it costs too much to send the 

 Flax in bulk to the market. It will be easily seen that, even 

 were our climate propitious, American farmers would be slow 

 to engage in such a time and labor absorbing industry. 



