4oo 



Garden and Forest. 



[August 13, ll 



work which has to be done in carrying the soil up the cliffs of 

 the Rhine to the height of several hundred feet and in attend- 

 ing to the vines there. 



Prince Kropotkin gives no forecast as to the possible pro- 

 ductive power of the earth when organic manures — that is, 

 special liquids containing special microbes — are used in addi- 

 tion to chemical manures, and when science has discovered 

 some economical way of obtaining nitrogenous fertilizers from 

 the limitless supply of nitrogen in the atmosphere which sur- 

 rounds the earth. But he makes a suggestion to American 

 readers which it is worth while to reproduce: 



" Suppose that instead of building at the Chicago Exhibition 

 an Eiffel tower 1,000 feet high, a number of intelligent men 

 should cover with glass houses, say, a hundred acres or more. 

 Suppose they devote forty acres to art — I mean to flowers and 

 to tropical vegetation — and the remaining sixty acres to the 

 plainest vegetables and fruits, such as will be consumed by the 

 ton during the exhibition. It will not cost one-tenth part of 

 what the tower would cost, but it is sure to repay the expense. 

 And — what is infinitely more important — it will make a com- 

 plete revolution in the ideas of mankind as to what the soil is, 

 and how it must be treated. It will stimulate invention in a 

 field where it is most required ; and it will be a new departure 

 for the coming century." 



Notes. • 



We have received from Messrs. Siebrecht & Wadley a 

 flower of Gloxinia which is pure white, with no color-mark- 

 ings whatever. It is from one of their seedling plants and it 

 seems to have great substance. 



The annual Gladiolus show at the stores of Peter Henderson 

 & Co. is now in progress and it is quite as interesting as it has 

 been in former years. Besides the Gladiolus there is a varied 

 display of French Cannas, Lilies and other summer bloom- 

 ing plants, with fancy Caladiums, Ferns and a large collection 

 of well grown Palms. A tank full of choice aquatics seems to 

 be the principal attraction for many of the visitors. The exhi- 

 bition will remain open through Friday. 



In the forest behind the Castle of Mereworth, Maidstone, 

 stands a Beech-tree whose age must be more than 250 years, 

 and which shows no indications of decay. The bole at three 

 feet from the ground measures seventeen feet in circum- 

 ference, and it only commences to branch at a height of 

 twenty-two feet. The diameter of the crown is thirty yards. 

 Dates cut in the bark about the middle of the last century, still 

 clear and easily deciphered, show that it was a big tree then, 

 and that it has expanded but little since. 



An old periodical says of the poet Wordsworth : " He is fond 

 of the Hollyhock, a partiality scarcely deserved by the flower, 

 but which marks the simplicity of his tastes. He had made a 

 long avenue of them of all colors, from the crimson-brown to 

 rose, straw color and white, and pleased himself with having 

 made proselytes to a liking for them among his neighbors. ' 

 This was long before the days of the "aesthete" and his love 

 for stiff "decorative " flowers. To-day a Hollyhock would not 

 be called undeserving even of a poet's preference. 



The Gardeners' Chronicle, in speaking of some flowers of 

 Fuchsia triphylla which had been received from Mr. W. Dean, 

 adds," This oldspecies, remarkable for its compact bushy habit, 

 dark foliage, claret colored on the under surface, and its ter- 

 minal racemes of orange-scarlet flowers, would make a good 

 market plant. Cuttings struck last autumn, and grown on in 

 an intermediate house in ordinary potting mould, are now 

 flowering freely in the Birmingham Botanic Garden." In a 

 recent description of these Birmingham Gardens in this jour- 

 nal it was stated that this plant there formed perfect specimens 

 two feet through, and completely covered with clusters of 

 long-tubed flowers. Since this Fuchsia was rediscovered by 

 Mr. Thomas Hogg as long ago as 1873, it seems to have been 

 slow in securing the attention it deserves. 



In his article on the Yosemite, in the August number of The 

 Century, John Muir speaks of the forest of Big Trees in Tu- 

 lare County, which Secretary Noble has been asked to save 

 from destruction : " But the finest block of Sequoia in the en- 

 tire belt is on the north fork of the Tule River. In the north- 

 ern group there are comparatively few young trees or saplings. 

 But here for every old, storm-stricken giant there is one or 

 more in all the glory of prime, and for each of these there are 

 many young trees and crowds of eager, hopeful saplings 

 growing heartily everywhere — on moraines, along water- 

 courses and in the deep alluvium of meadows — seemingly in 



hot pursuit of eternal life." That is, this is a true forest, with 

 all the elements of continuous forest-life, and not merely a 

 collection of ancient trees with no hope of a succession. 



To illustrate the way in which we waste ourforest-resources, 

 Mr. Fernow writes in Kate Field's Washington: The poor 

 state of Prussia, with a population nearly twelve times as dense 

 as ours, must husband her resources closely to supply her 

 wants. A first-class forest-administration is therefore among 

 her institutions; and from its carefully collected experience we 

 learn that forty-one cubic feet per acre per year is all the wood 

 crop she can raise Of this, forty per cent, is brush and such 

 inferior-sized wood as no American would use. We may, 

 then, accept an annual production of twenty-four cubic feet of 

 wood per acre, over our whole forest-domain, as a reasonably 

 large average figure. That is to say, there would grow only 

 twelve billion feet, where we cut twenty billion, and eat into 

 our forest-capital at the rate of eight billion feet yearly. Thus 

 in progressive ratio are we despoiling our children's heritage. 



The announcement of the death of John Ralfs at Penzance, 

 England, on July 14th, at the advanced age of eighty-three, 

 recalls the life and work of one who was formerly prominent 

 in the botanical world, although it is now many years since he 

 published anything on botany. His profession was that of 

 medicine, and in his early days he practiced at Shoreditch. In 

 1839 ne published a treatise on British Flowering Plants and 

 Ferns; but his principal studies were on Desmids and Diatoms, 

 and other low forms of Algae, and in this field he was a recog- 

 nized authority. He was the author of a considerable number 

 of papers, especially on Desmids, most of which appeared in 

 the Annals and Magazine of Natural History; but the work on 

 which his fame now rests is "The British Desmidiae," beauti- 

 fully illustrated by Edward Jenner, which was published in 

 1848. This excellent work will always remain a classic on the 

 subject. It is especially important to students of North Ameri- 

 can Desmids, since it includes the descriptions and figures of 

 a considerable number of species collected by the late Pro- 

 fessor J. W. Bailey, of West Point, by whom material was sent 

 to Ralfs. 



Experiments to test the relative value of steam and hot water 

 for heating were conducted last winter at the Agricultural Col- 

 lege of Michigan, and the tests indicate that for small green- 

 houses hot water is more economical and more satisfactory 

 than steam. In the month of December the steam-house had 

 an average temperature one and a half degrees lower than 

 that of the hot-water-house, although five tons of coal were 

 consumed in the former as often as four tons were consumed 

 in the latter. Maximum and minimum thermometers also 

 indicated a greater variation of temperature in the steam- 

 house than in the other. The records for other months were 

 similar. During the month of April the two systems were 

 compared in a different manner. The same amounts of coal 

 were supplied to each house, and the result was that the hot- 

 water-house was kept at a temperature seven degrees higher 

 than that of the steam-heated house. Of course it cannot be 

 proved that the most effective system of utilizing steam heat 

 was used, and another kind of heater might reverse these 

 results. But, on the other hand, it may be said that this test 

 only corroborates the experiments made by Professor Maynard 

 at Amherst. 



Every reader of English novels knows of the "pot-pourri" 

 made from rose-leaves which old ladies keep in china jars to 

 perfume their drawing-rooms. The following recipe, recently 

 given in the Detroit Tribune, may therefore be of interest : 

 "Gather the roses in dry weather, remove the petals, and to a 

 peck of fresh leaves add a good handful of salt. Let this re- 

 main five days, stirring up the leaves every day. When they 

 appear moist add three ounces of bruised allspice and one 

 ounce of cinnamon stick bruised. After this stands for a 

 week, stirred daily from the bottom, put into a permanent 

 jar one ounce of allspice, and add the stock layer by layer. 

 Sprinkle between these layers one ounce each of cloves 

 and cinnamon, two nutmegs, all coarsely powdered, some 

 ginger-root sliced thin, half an ounce of anise-seed bruised, 

 ten grains of fine musk, half a pound of freshly dried lavender 

 flowers, two ounces of powdered orris-root and ad libitum 

 cologne, rose or orange flower water, orange or lemon peel. 

 Freshly dried violets, tuberoses, clove pinks, or any other 

 scented flowers may be added. Fine extract of any kind will 

 enhance the fragrant odor, while fresh rose leaves, salt and 

 allspice, made as at first, may be added when convenient. Stir 

 the jar occasionally, leaving it closed except when the perfume 

 is wished to odorize the room." Thin bags filled with this 

 "pot-pourri" and placed in bureau drawers or linen presses 

 impart a delightful fragrance to their contents. 





