232 



Garden and Forest. 



[May 7, 1890. 



Carnations have been scarce and high priced during all of 

 the late flower-season. They have ranged in price from $2 to 

 $2.50 a hundred, when generally they are not over $1 or $1.25 

 a hundred. 



In those portions of Spain where the Cork Oak (Quercus 

 Suber) is abundant, it is said that the peasants use the cork to 

 line their houses. Naturally it is an effectual protection 

 against dampness. 



Contrary to general prediction the season has proved an 

 uncommonly productive one for Maple orchards in some 

 states. A correspondent of the Country Gentleman estimates 

 that the yield of Maple Syrup in the Western Reserve will 

 reach 600,000 tons. 



According to a Mahometan legend, Eve picked a four- 

 leaved Clover as she was driven from Paradise. But the 

 angel's sword touched her, and its leaves were scattered. One 

 of them fell within the garden, while the others were blown 

 outside. Hence the rarity of the four-leaved form and the luck 

 which attends its discovery. 



One of the recent introductions of Monsieur Lemoine, the 

 famous horticulturist of Nancy, is a variety of Heliotrope 

 which foreign journals declare to be more nearly white than 

 any previously known variety, including the White Lady. It 

 is a hybrid between Heliotropium Peruvianum and H. incanum, 

 and has been named "Fleur d'ete." 



In many Austrian provinces the Christmas Rose (Hclleborus 

 niger) grows wild among the mountains, blooming in the 

 month of February. But within the past few years such large 

 numbers of the plants have been uprooted for exportation to 

 other parts of Germany, to England and even to America that 

 local journals deplore the prospect of its possible extermina- 

 tion. 



The show of Tulips in the New York parks has been 

 unusually fine this year. There have been no successors 

 among them of the dull purplish flowers which prevailed last 

 year, but a brilliant assemblage of clear red, yellow and white 

 flowers. The circle at the Fifth Avenue entrance of the Central 

 Park was especially gorgeous, and everywhere the blossoms 

 appeared simultaneously and have lasted well. 



The largest of the edible gourds tested by Dr. Harris is the 

 Kampiyo, of Okayama, Japan, which grows a yard long and 

 five or more inches thick, and in Japan reaches a weight of 

 sixty or seventy pounds. The Japanese dry it before it is 

 cooked ; it may be sliced and fried like egg-plant, and is equal 

 in flavor to a good squash. The plant is hardy, productive 

 and without musk odor, and Squash bugs do not seem to be 

 fond of it. 



The California Fruit Grower says that a delightful syrup 

 can be made from Watermelons by chopping them, pressing 

 out the juice, and boiling it for several hours. The red color- 

 ing matter then coagulates, rises to the surface, and is 

 skimmed off, when the juice remains "as clear as distilled 

 water and of a pale amber color. Boiled a little longer, it 

 thickens into a rich, fruity-flavored syrup, perfectly clear and 

 the color of quince or apple jelly." 



A writer in a German horticultural journal ventures the 

 statement, for which he cites the authority of F. Cohn, that 

 wild Grape-vines are sometimes found in the Maremma of 

 Tuscany whose stems measure more than three feet in diam- 

 eter, and adds that they can be found of still larger size in the 

 Caucasian Mountains. The largest Grape-vine in cultivation, 

 the famous one at Hampton Court, is only thirty inches in 

 circumference at three feet above the ground. 



We have already noticed the manufacture of cloth from Pine- 

 needles as a promising young industry in some of our southern 

 states. A correspondent of the Atlanta Constitution, writing 

 from Wilmington, North Carolina, says that at a factory in a 

 neighboring village may be seen specimens of colored mat- 

 tings made from the " Pine straw," which are excellent in 

 quality and also attractive in appearance, as the straw can be 

 bleached to a fine creamy tint and readily takes brilliant dyes. 

 But the machinery for making this matting lies idle, so great 

 is the demand for coarse cloth for cotton bagging. 



The Interstate Grocer calls attention to the danger which 

 threatens the California dried-fruit industry from the dishonest 

 methods employed by many shippers. Prunes, which the pro- 

 ducer sells in boxes bearing a number that indicates how many 

 fruits go to the pound, are repacked in deceptive ways; and old 

 prunes which have been treated to give them a fresh appear- 

 ance are mixed with the new. Old currants, too, are " steamed, 



syruped, mixed, repacked and sold as new;" and, moreover, 

 the shipping marks of reputable importers are forged on the 

 fruit-boxes. Our contemporary advises retailers to weigh fruit 

 carefully before purchasing, or, better still, to buy the prunes 

 which come in sacks instead of those in boxes. 



We have just received a sketch of the life and services to 

 American horticulture of the late Peter Henderson, which was 

 read before the New York Florists' Club by Mr. A. D. Cowan. 

 One of the interesting facts brought out in this paper is that 

 when " Gardening for Profit " was prepared Mr. Henderson 

 was occupied with his business for sixteen hours a day and 

 the book was written in the short noon intervals and in the 

 small night hours. The author wrote lying on his back with 

 his head bolstered up to rest his body while his active mind 

 kept at work. We quote this not so much to show Mr. Hen- 

 derson's industry and energy as to call attention to the fact 

 that this most successful of all his books, and probably the most 

 useful work on market-gardening ever published, was written 

 directly from the author's personal and daily experience. Per- 

 haps this will help to account for its high practical value. 



Timber thieves had become so numerous in Burlington and 

 Ocean Counties, New Jersey, that, a few years ago, a Timber 

 Protective Society was established, which employed detec- 

 tives to patrol the woodland tracts in many townships. 

 Of late this precaution has been abandoned, and the thieves 

 have again become so bold that fresh measures are being 

 taken to combat them. A correspondent of the New 

 York Tribune recently wrote: "A few days ago an owner 

 paid a visit to his tract of Cedar swamp, a few miles from 

 Pemberton, Burlington County, with the idea of having it cut 

 and converted into lumber. From the outside the swamp 

 seemed to be in good condition, but, on pushing through the 

 underbrush a short distance, he was surprised to find that the 

 tract had been stripped. Nearly all the best timber had been 

 cut and carried off. Hundreds of tracts have been despoiled 

 in this manner." 



The hot-house peaches in market, although somewhat small 

 in size, are of excellent quality and well ripened. They bring 

 fifty cents each in the fruit-shops. Peen-to Peaches from 

 Florida have been on sale for a fortnight ; they are not of the 

 best quality and have sold for twenty-five cents a quart. 

 Black Hamburg and Muscat grapes sell for $4 a pound ; the 

 Muscats are not as large as usual. Fine hot-house-grown 

 Sharpless strawberries bring $2.50 a cup, which contains six- 

 teen berries, in spite of abundant receipts from the South. 

 West India mangoes have just arrived, and being the first of this 

 season's growth are very good, but not of a very large size ; 

 they sell for from seventy-five cents to $1 a dozen. Porto Rico 

 pines are just here ; they are very much larger than the ordi- 

 nary fruit, weighing from five to ten pounds each, and bring 

 $1.50 apiece. Grape-fruit will soon be out of season. More 

 than twice the quantity has been sold here during the winter 

 than during any previous year. The prevalent belief that it 

 corrects malarial tendencies has largely increased its use. 



Central Park is particularly attractive just now. The colors 

 of the expanding leaves are quite as varied as those of autumn 

 foliage, and the grass is unusually thick and green. Next to 

 the Dandelions, which gem the turf everywhere, the most 

 abundant wild flowers are the Spring Beauties, which, on 

 some slightly shaded slopes, seem to have taken almost en- 

 tire possession of the soil. In the natural wood, in the north- 

 ern part of the park, there are great sheets of the cream-white 

 flowers of Dicentra, and on exposed rocks the delicate pan- 

 icles of the Early Saxifrage are opening in great abundance. 

 For some cause the Dog's-tooth Violets, which usually bloom 

 very freely in the park, show scarcely a flower this season. 

 Many of the low-growing herbaceous perennials, which have 

 been largely planted of late years, are now in flower, and 

 masses of Moss Pink, Aubrietia, Rock Cress, Armeria, Stem- 

 less Gentian, Primroses, Stitch wort (Stellaria Holostea) or Epi- 

 medium can be found along almost any path or drive. In 

 some places the masses are too large, glaring and obtrusive, 

 but generally they are well placed. The stretch of Heather 

 along the bridle-path near Eighty-second Street is particularly 

 pleasing. Among the shrubs our native Spice-wood is bloom- 

 ing profusely ; the Forsythias, especially those which were 

 severely pruned last year, are doing fairly well, and Thun- 

 berg's Barberry is covered with flowers ; but one misses the 

 blaze of scarlet which the Japan Quince ought now to be dis- 

 playing. This is one of the shrubs which has suffered from 

 the open winter, as have the Hazels and Alders and the 

 early-flowering Honeysuckles — Lonicera fragrantissima and 

 L. Standishii. 



