344 



Garden and Forest. 



[JULY 1 6, 189O. 



soaked in a saturated solution of digitaline ! Quassia is use- 

 less, and so were all the copper compounds, the saturated 

 solution of lime, the iron solutions, the kerosene emulsion ; 

 and, in fact, everything' else that was applied. All this goes to 

 show what a tough subject we have to deal with. Corrosive 

 sublimate will kill him readily, but, unfortunately, kills the 

 plants as well. A sludge-oil soap, obtained too late to test 

 thoroughly, kills the beetles without injuring plants. It is 

 probable that in this we have a good remedy for the Macro- 

 dactylus if it can be made cheaply enough. 



Of the mechanical means tried, an umbrella with a sack at- 

 tached into which the beetles were jarred proved satisfactory, 

 and this can be used at all times of the day, since the beetles 

 cannot fly out of a sack as they could off a sheet or from the 

 ground. 



My conclusions are that the only way to save a crop of grapes 

 is to plant Spiraea, Roses or Blackberries between some rows 

 of the vineyard and by persistent collecting keep these plants 

 free and attractive. How persistent one must be is shown by 

 the fact that though Colonel Pearson one year went over his 

 vineyard once a day killing beetles, yet they destroyed his 

 grapes almost completely. This year, though, he daily cleared 

 his Rose bushes by applying the sludge-oil soap, yet every 

 bud was eaten. 



The Clintons many of them bloom and set before the Rose- 

 bug arrives in force; they are then generally safe, since the 

 beetles prefer the foliage to the grape. The Concord buds are 

 just right for the insects and they go completely. The Con- 

 cord foliage is not relished and only the upper surface is eaten. 

 Very late blooming varieties are also fairly safe, and this indi- 

 cates another method of dealing with this pest — i. e., plant very 

 early or very late blooming varieties while supplying some- 

 thing for the insects to eat. I may say that the suggestion that 

 Spiraea be planted as an attraction is Mr. Fuller's, and that he 

 reports that he saves his grapes in this way. 



There is one glimmer of hope ahead ! Indications of a de- 

 crease in the number of the insects are observed, and natural 

 means may end the invasion. Some eighteen or twenty years 

 ago there was a similar invasion, lasting four or five years. 

 The present flood began about four years ago, and in some 

 places is undoubtedly on the decrease. Colonel Pearson did 

 not suffer nearly as much this season as he did last season, and 

 others have made the same statement. . 



Rutgers College. J 01171 B. Smith. 



Notes on North American Trees. — XIX. 

 Description of the Wood of Certain Species. 



Acacia Far nesiana. Wood very hard and heavy, close- 

 grained, containing many evenly distributed open duels; 

 layers of annual growth hardly distinguishable; medullary 

 rays thin, numerous, conspicuous; color rich reddish 

 brown; specific gravity, 0.8220, 0.8387, average 0.8304; ash, 

 1. 15, 1. 18, average 1. 1 7; weight per cubic foot, 51.74 

 pounds; fuel value, 0.8207. Collected by C. G. Pringle in 

 the valley of the lower Rio Grande. 



Acacia flexicaulis. Wood exceedingly heavy and hard, 

 compact, close-grained, satiny, containing many minute 

 evenly distributed open ducts; layers of annual growth 

 hardly distinguishable; color very dark rich reddish brown 

 slightly tinged with purple, the sap-wood clear bright yel- 

 low; specific gravity, 1.0482, 1.0289, average 1.0386; ash, 

 3-3°, 3- 2 7> average 3.28; weight per cubic foot, 64.72 

 pounds; fuel \alue, 1.0046; unsurpassed in value as fuel by 

 the wood of any tree of the lower Rio Grande valley, and 

 used for pulleys, rollers and other objects demanding great 

 strength and solidity. Collected by C. G. Pringle in the 

 valley of the lower Rio Grande. 



Primus ilicifolia, var. occidcnlalis. Wood heavy, hard, 

 very close-grained, satiny; layers of annual growth plainly 

 marked; medullary rays thin, conspicuous; color pale red- 

 dish brown, the sap and heart-wood hardly distinguishable; 

 specific gravity, 0.8340, 0.7654, average 0.7997; ash, 0.84, 

 0.95, average 0.90; weight per cubic foot, 49.84 pounds; 

 fuel value, 0.7927. Collected by T. S. Brandegee on Santa 

 Cruz Island, California. 



CialiEgus Crus-galli, var. berberi/olia. Wood heavy, hard, 

 very close-grained, satiny, susceptible of a good polish ; 

 layers of annual growth hardly distinguishable; medullary 

 rays numerous, very obscure; color brown tinged with red, 



that of the sap-wood rather lighter; specific gravity, o. 61 1 1, 

 0.6141, average 0.6126; ash, 1.52, 1.71, average 1.62; 

 weight per cubic foot, 38.17 pounds; fuel value, 0.6027. 

 Collected by C. E. Faxon and C. S. Sargent near Opelusas, 

 Louisiana. 



The wood of the variety is considerably lighter than that 

 of the species, as determined by the Census investigations 

 (average 0.7194). 



Lyonolhamnus asplenifolius. Wood very heavy, hard, 

 close-grained, compact, satiny, susceptible of a good pol- 

 ish; layers of annual growth hardly distinguishable; medul- 

 lary rays numerous, thin, obscure; color bright clear red 

 faintly tinged with orange; specific gravity, 0.8358, 0.7700, 

 average 0.8029; ash, 0.53, 0.49, average 0.51; weight per 

 cubic foot, 50.05 pounds; fuel value, 0.7988. Collected by 

 T. S. Brandegee on Santa Cruz Island, California. 



C. S. Sargent. 



T 1 



New or Little Known Plants. 

 Ilex longipes. 

 'HE species of Ilex fall into several natural groups which 



i! are readily separable when the necessary characters 

 are at hand, but it is hard to satisfactorily discriminate be- 

 tween certain of the component species of these groups. 

 The plant that Mr. Faxon illustrates in this number is one of 

 these (p. 345). Drummond, Beaumont and Buckle)'- collected 

 it many years ago in the south, and their specimens mainly 

 appear in herbaria as I. decidua, of which species Dr. Gray 

 held it to be a variety. Some years since it was found in 

 Tennessee by Dr. A. Gattinger, who referred it to Nenio- 

 panthes Canadensis in his list of Tennessee plants, but, on 

 sending it to Dr. Chapman, received the above manuscript 

 name for it. 



In its general characters Ilex longipes* is quite similar 

 to I. decidua, but differs in its elliptical or broadly lanceo- 

 late leaves, sparingly ciliate, with short, broad hairs, but 

 otherwise glabrous, whereas those of the latter are broad- 

 est toward the apex, so as to be spatulate or oblanceolate, 

 and apparently always pubescent on the under side, at 

 least on the midrib. The most striking difference, how- 

 ever, and that to which the species owes its name, is in the 

 fruiting pedicels, which, in this species, are about an inch 

 long, whereas in 7". decidua they scarcely exceed the 

 drupes in length. 



So far as is shown by herbarium specimens, Ilex lon- 

 gipes occurs from North Carolina and Tennessee south- 

 ward to Alabama and Louisiana. It is not yet known in 

 cultivation. 



Shaw School of Botany, St. Louis. W. Ttelease. 



New Orchids. 



T N complying with a request to furnish occasional reviews of 

 •*- new Orchids my purpose will be to give a summary of the 

 novelties described in European horticultural publications. 

 Many of the plants described have little value from a horticul- 

 tural point of view, but it may be best to include most of the 

 novelties and leave to cultivators the choice of kinds suited 

 to their various tastes and requirements. A few Orchids not 

 new may be sufficiently rare or interesting to deserve notice. 



yErides Augustianum, Rolfe, is one of the earliest novelties 

 described in the present year. It was discovered in the Philip- 

 pines by M. Auguste Linden, after whom it is named. It is al- 

 lied to A. Raebelenii, Rchb. f., but the flowers are of a light, rosy 

 tint instead of yellowish white. It is described in the Garden- 

 ers' Chronicle on January 4th, p. 9, and also figured in that 

 journal on February 22d, p. 233, fig. 36, and in Lindenia, vol. 

 5, p. 39, t. 210. 



Cypripedium x Niobe, Rolfe, is a very elegant hybrid raised 

 from C. Spicerianum fertilized with the pollen of C. Fairieanum. 

 It was raised by Mr. Seden for Messrs. James Veitch & Sons, 

 of Chelsea, and was awarded a first-class certificate by the 

 Royal Horticultural Society, December nth, 1889. — Gardeners' 

 Chronicle, January 4th, p. 9. 



Angr^ecum ichneumoneum, Lindl., is a curious little plant 

 which has long been known to science, but which has been 



* Ilex longipes, Chapman, ined. — Trelease, in Trans. St. Louis Acad. Sci., v. (18 

 34 6 - 



