May 14, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



241 



by the action of frost and their buds injured, in which case 

 they certainly would not flower. If planted in spring before 

 growth commences they will flower just as well, if the opera- 

 tion is carefully performed without injuring the large, tuber- 

 ous roots. 



Paeonies are useful for their flowers and for the large leath- 

 ery foliage which stands well when cut, but care must be taken 

 not to rob the plants of too many leaves or it will weaken them 

 considerably. Valeriana officinalis is an old-fashioned garden 

 plant, with flowers more fragrant than showy. It is very de- 

 sirable, and does best when divided and replanted early in 

 spring, for with us old plants are liable to die out. Thermopsis 

 Caroliniana is attracting some attention as a new plant; there 

 is really nothing new about it, for it has been offered for sale 

 for eight years or more. It is desirable among tall-growing 

 plants for its spikes of yellow Lupine-like flowers. They last a 

 considerable time in water after being cut. The plant is perfectly 

 hardy, but docs not like to be disturbed when once planted. 

 Thermopsis, in common with all leguminous plants, should 

 be left undisturbed, because the roots are few and far spread- 

 ing. The Everlasting Peas, LatJiyrus latifolius and the white 

 variety, are also impatient of disturbance, owing to the size 

 and length of their roots ; but for cutting they are always use- 

 ful, especially the white variety. These Peas may be planted 

 near fences or screens, and, as they grow rapidly during the 

 summer months, they make a pretty drapery for such places. 

 Lathyrus grandiflorus is also desirable, owing to the size of 

 the flowers, which are more than twice as large as those of 

 L. latifolius, though there are always fewer of them on astern. 

 If the Californian L. splendens proves hardy in the east it will 

 be an acquisition to gardens. 



Passaic, N.J. E. 0. Orpet. 



The Bulb Border. — Now that the Tulips are showing their 

 gay colors, it seems a good time to note that while formal 

 planting may be very well in the parks and on large estates 

 where masses of vivid color are a mere item in the landscape, 

 it does not seem to be quite in the best taste for small gardens, 

 where everything is closely under the eye. One often sees in 

 small gardens the Tulips ranged exactly like the picture in the 

 dealers' catalogues, rising from bare earth in mathematical 

 precision at exactly so many inches apart, and almost smiting 

 one in the face by their glare. Fortunately it is only a brief 

 display; blooming together, they disappear soon with una- 

 nimity, and are pulled out unripened, to take their chances in 

 some out-of-the-way corner. A much more satisfactory way 

 for the small grower would seem to be to study his surround- 

 ings and secure as long a season of bloom as possible ; never 

 any great glare, but a long succession of flowers, with an 

 almost daily change in the appearance of the border, which 

 while perhaps not so impressive to passers by, is more pleas- 

 ing to one fond of his garden. One can secure numerous 

 varieties of Tulips which bloom at various times during 

 quite two months without going beyond the cheaper sorts 

 which are offered at such a reasonable price every fall. Selec- 

 tions should be made of all the sections — earliest, late, by- 

 blooms, bizarres, parrots, etc. — and it is a very good plan to 

 mix them up so that there will be no tendency to produce 

 effects while planting. If one fancies a mass of some one 

 color, a lot of this may be selected to make a special clump, 

 but the main lot should be planted irregularly, to bloom with- 

 out formality. Such a bed at first will lack foliage, and it is not 

 until the ground is fairly full of bulbs that there will be a suf- 

 ficient foil of green to be fully satisfactory, so that it is well to 

 cover the bare earth with some creeper. Lysimachia num- 

 mularia (Moneywort) with me is very satisfactory for such a 

 purpose, though the commonest of garden plants, being 

 hardy, a free grower and having pleasing foliage ; while the 

 foliage of the bulbs is ripening the Lysimachia is a mass 

 of bright yellow bloom, giving color to the border, after 

 which the creeping stems being cut out and decaying 

 foliage removed, the border may be planted over with 

 Tuberous Begonias or some other suitable plants. Such 

 a bed need not be occupied solely with Tulips; clumps of Nar- 

 cissi make pleasing additions — in the front breadth may be 

 grown such early flowering bulbs as Snowdrop, Crocus, Squills, 

 Winter Aconite, Dwarf Irises, etc. — and it is well to reserve a 

 space as a back border where some tall growing herbaceous 

 plants may be flowered. Canterbury Bells are attractive in 

 such a position. If a fence borders the bed a back-ground may 

 be made of some good climber. For a low fence I know of 

 nothing neater than Vitis heterophylla, a beautiful foliaged 

 vine, whose sprays are very useful for cutting. 



Androsace sarmentosa is now showing its rosettes of rosy 

 pink flowers, and is a very attractive dwarf plant for the front 



border or rockery, where it should have good drainage and 

 protection from excessive moisture. It is a Himalayan plant. 

 A. coronopifolia is a neat little Russian biennial which has 

 formed a colony on the border from self-sown seeds. It 

 forms small neat rosettes of narrow foliage, and small, white 

 flowers are produced on short scapes. A colony of this in 

 bloom is graceful and pleasing, and well worth growing in the 

 spring garden. It is perfectly hardy, and much better left 

 without protection than grown in a frame, where it is likely 

 to become drawn. 



Ranunculus fumariaefolius is a neat, Fumitory-leaved Butter- 

 cup, and its plentiful yellow double flowers, about an inch in 

 diameter, on single-flowered scapes, are now very attractive. 

 Golden-yellow flowers are especially welcome in the border 

 in the early spring. 



Gold-laced Polyanthuses have made such rich masses of 

 color that, although a short time since I gave the prefer- 

 ence to Hybrid Primulas, I am tempted to say that these 

 many flowered Primulas should have a place in every garden 

 also. Besides being rich in color, they have the advantage of 

 long peduncles, and thus are useful for cutting. It is rather 

 odd that the commercial florists who furnish the salesroom 

 and stands with so many plants in the spring do not add 

 good strains of Primulas to their list. They are universally 

 appreciated and probably would find a ready sale. 



Aquilegia flabellata is the first Columbine to show flower 

 this season. This is a comparatively new Japanese variety, 

 with broad wedge or fan-like foliage. It is robust and dwarf, 

 the flower scapes, which are radical, being about a foot high. 

 The flowers are fair-sized, with short, hooked spurs, and in 

 color a creamy, slightly greenish white — no trace of other 

 color appears on my flowers, though they are sometimes said 

 to be flushed with violet. The scapes are furnished with from 

 three to four flowers, which are of good substance, but are not 

 as graceful in appearance as good forms of the American 

 Columbines. This species is said to be allied to A. Sibirica. 



Myosotis alpestris Victoria is a very dwarf, compact Forget- 

 me-not, which in my garden is reliably hardy without protec- 

 tion and excellent for borders. Like the rest of the family, it 

 may readily be had from seed and is increased rapidly by 

 division. Any taste may be satisfied among the numerous 

 varieties of Myosotis, M. dissitiftora probably being the most 

 popular species now grown. G. 



Elizabeth, N.J. 



Gathering Asparagus. — In an address before the Michigan 

 Horticultural Society Mr. Charles W. Garfield objects to the 

 use of the knife in the Asparagus-bed, and favors the break- 

 ing off of the stems as far below the surface of the ground as 

 they will snap easily. The same advice has been given in 

 these columns more than once. The white underground por- 

 tion of the stalk is woody and useless, and the knife, unless it 

 is in very careful hands, is likely to injure other buds. It is 

 also good practice to cut every shoot in the bed, large and 

 small. Some gardeners leave the slender shoots, under the 

 impression that the roots will thus be strengthened and bear 

 thick stalks next year. But for some reason this result does 

 not follow. Perhaps some roots invariably bear small shoots, 

 and if so, they should not be favored at the expense of better 

 plants. When all the shoots are cut the strong roots with 

 large stalks have an even chance and overshadow and crowd 

 out the weaker ones. 



Bergen, N. J. S. 



Recent Publications. 



Forestry in North America. —II. 



Part I. of the volume before us treats of the utility of forests, 

 which the author shows to be twofold. In the first instance, 

 forests are useful indirectly, in influencing the climate, in the 

 distribution of rain-water, in the preservation of the soil on 

 sloping ground, in the binding of moving sands and in afford- 

 ing shelter against winds. All these matters are exhaustively 

 treated. In regard to the climatic influence of forests, the 

 author gives an accurate and most useful summary of the 

 researches which have been made to determine the effect of 

 forest-growth upon the temperature of air and soil, rainfall, 

 humidity and evaporation in Germany, Switzerland and 

 France, mainly by the establishment of parallel stations, one 

 being situated inside a fully stocked wood, and the other at 

 some distance in the adjoining open country. 



To illustrate the effect of forest-growth in protecting loose 

 soil on hill-sides, the author mentions the Siwalik Hills, in 



