September 3, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



433 



with light green pinnatiful leaves. The plants slowly spread 

 from the roots and eventually form large clumps. In this lati- 

 tude, however, the hlossoming is very disappointing. The 

 Mowers are borne in racemes at the ends of the shoots, but 

 they are usually so few in number and expand in such slow 

 succession that they add little to the beauty of the garden. The 

 pretty rosy pink trumpet-shaped flowers are about an inch 

 and a half in length and nearly an inch and a quarter across 

 the mouth, and are produced in August and September. It 

 is possible that we have not given the plant the best condi- 

 tions for fine development, because it seems to be valued in 

 some European gardens. If very free-flowering plants should 

 be produced from seed they ought to be perpetuated by 

 division. 



This species is the same as the one figured in the Botanical 

 Magazine (t. 6539) as /. Koopmanni, and under this name it is 

 still advertised in some foreign catalogues. 



Arnold Arboretum. J- 



A Few Annuals. 



Comet Asters. — The first of this distinct strain of China 

 Asters was introduced a few years ago and met with instant 

 appreciation, but more on account of form than coloring, 

 which was white, lined with pink, and this color fading left the 

 white rather turbid. However, the form was very distinct ; 

 the flat reflexed petals with blunt points, arranged rather infor- 

 mally, resembling very much some Japanese reflexed Chry- 

 santhemums. Two or three years since a variety " Rose " fol- 

 lowed, which is a great gain and one of the most pleasing of 

 China Asters. The form is like the type, and the color is a 

 beautiful, light, clear pink. This year we have the " Blue " 

 Comet, which, as may be supposed, proves to be a purple, but 

 of a very pleasing, clear light shade — a first rate variety. Both 

 the Rose and Blue Comet Asters can be recommended for 

 addition to the choicest collections. 



China Aster Pride of the Market, a novelty of the season, 

 is interesting for its precocious bloom, as it came into flower 

 about a fortnight before the general collection sown at the same 

 time. It is a reflexed variety, with fair-sized flowers of various 

 colors. The stems are unusually long, and it should be a good 

 strain for the florists. For the garden the growth is straggling, 

 and the plant requires rather more tying up than many would 

 be prepared to give it. However, if early flowers are wanted, 

 this strain is well worth growing. 



Sweet Alyssum Little Gem. — This strain is a good example 

 of what may be secured by careful seed selection. The entire 

 lot of seedlings is dwarf and compact, without any of the leg- 

 giness or weediness usual in the ordinary variety. The bloom 

 is white and free as in the type. It is an excellent edging 

 plant, being always in flower, and not outgrowing its bounds. 



Salvia coccinea, with its variety Lactea, are two beautiful 

 Sages, the former a clear, deep scarlet, the latter pure white. 

 Theyxome true from seed; the plants are some two feet tall, 

 much branched, with flowers borne in long spikes, and though 

 not lasting very well when cut, are useful in bouquet making. 

 To many this variety may prove a welcome change from S. 

 splendens, which, while it is one of the most valuable and 

 easiest grown of showy plants, is somewhat tiresome from its 

 commonness. 



Chrysanthemum multicaule. — The introducer of this plant 

 this spring frankly stated that it had been known for many 

 years as " a botanical curiosity," and it would seem that in a 

 botanical collection is its true place. The plants are annual 

 and come into bloom early. It is dwarf growing, with pros- 

 trate glaucous foliage. Its flowers are single, yellow, small — 

 an inch across — and plentiful, but only open in bright weather 

 and in the middle of the day, so that its value for garden pur- 

 poses is very slight, as we have so many better yellow Com- 

 posites. 



Elizabeth, N.J. G. 



Growing Pears. 



'THE fact that Pear culture is no longer seriously hindered 

 *■ by blight makes a few hints timely as to method of 

 planting and culture. I have for many years grown Pears 

 headed low toward the ground. To secure such I have some- 

 times negotiated beforehand with nurserymen to prevent their 

 being trimmed up in the nursery. I prefer them branched out 

 at three feet from the soil. The reasons are obvious. (1) They 

 come to bearing as soon as dwarfs, thus saving three to five 

 years before getting a crop. (2) For picking there is great 

 advantage. You can gather the fruit for several years with a 

 step-ladder. (3) All fallen fruit lies comparatively uninjured. 



(4) In case of drought the limbs shade the soil and equalize 

 temperature. It must he borne in mind that more damage to 

 fruit occurs from severe changes of temperature than from 

 extreme cold. (5) You are able to trim the trees as they should 

 be without much trouble. Pear-trees should, for the first five or 

 six years, be gone over twice a year. In midsummer cut out 

 all superfluous shoots and suckers, and in November head 

 back the new growth one-third. 



I also have for many years grown Pear-trees as Dr. Meehan 

 first suggested, " in grass." By that is not meant that the trees 

 stand in sod, but that instead of being cultivated with the 

 plow they be cultivated with the fork. Let the trees be well 

 mulched with coarse manure or ashes of anthracite coal 

 mixed with wood ashes. Turn thisoverand cleanse itof weeds 

 once a year and thoroughly aerate it. It should be renewed 

 once in two years. The principle is to keep the feet warm 

 while the head is kept cool. The circle forked over should be 

 larger in diameter each year until it is eight or ten feet across. 

 I use weeds for mulch if other material is scarce. Sawdust is 

 good, especially after being run through the stable for bedding. 



No manure whatever should be used in planting a Pear- 

 tree, but a top dressing of coarse manure is often needed. 

 Some varieties require more food than others. TheSeekel is a 

 good eater and digests well. The Anjou is another. But the 

 rule is, not to force or stimulate a Pear-tree or a Cherry-tree. 

 But no fruit suifers worse from neglect. Choked by sod the 

 Pear fails to bear any fruit of marketable value. 



The Pear-tree is hardier than the Apple and more easily 

 grown. Its culture is never overdone. We could find market 

 for a hundred times the present amount grown — only we must 

 plant with regard to seasonableness. There is a pear glut some 

 years during September. Pears that keep long, like the Anjou, 

 Louise, Bosc and Clairgeau, are marketable from November 

 1st until New Year's, and always find ready sale. All in all 

 our grandest market as well as table pear is Anjou. It is an 

 ideal fruit. I pick it in early October and have it till Christ- 

 mas. Another Pear that I like well is Gray Doyenne. 



Clinton, N. Y. E. P. Powell. 



Correspondence. 



Forests and Scenery in New Hampshire. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — I have recently examined portions of the White Moun- 

 tain region of New Hampshire, seeing as much as possible of 

 the scenery around Fabyan's, Crawford's, the Glen and Profile 

 Houses and about Bethlehem. I went up Mount Washington 

 by the stage-road from the Glen House, and came down by 

 the railroad. I drove through the White Mountain Notch 

 from Crawford's and went out the whole length of the Zealand 

 Valley Lumber Railroad on a gravel train. From Fabyan's 

 and in other places one sees on ttie mountain-sides extensive 

 tracts which have been burned over, where the dead, un- 

 sightly tree-trunks destroy all the value of the scenery for the 

 present. The sky-line, which in all fine landscapes appeals 

 strongly to the imagination, with its suggestions of infinite 

 distance beckoning to fairer scenes beyond the utmost range 

 of vision, is here utterly vulgarized and degraded by these 

 straggling ranks of decaying stumps. While these repellent 

 objects mar the scenery it will yield no delight to visitors who 

 seek the solace and peace of Nature among these mountains. 

 But in a few years the dead trees will have fallen and disap- 

 peared. The slopes are already green, as they are growing up 

 with Bush Cherry and other shrubs, which, though worthless 

 for timber, will yet clothe the hills until the burning is repeated. 



If we look at it from a few miles away, the forest still appears 

 unbroken over a large proportion of the White Mountain re- 

 gion. But when we go into the woods we find a great deal of 

 cutting, and there is much alarm among the hotel proprietors 

 and their guests on account of the vigor with which the lum- 

 bermen are extending their operations in the vicinity of the 

 great mountain houses. All tourists will remember the 

 beautiful drive through the White Mountain Notch from 

 Crawford's, shaded and embosomed under a bower of 

 greenery, mile after mile, all the way. To what multitudes 

 of people the coolness of these woods, and the murmur- 

 ous music of their crystal waters, have given rest and de- 

 light. Now it is ruined. For a large part of the distance the 

 woods have been cut off. The trunks of the White Birches, 

 which rose through the green leafage like slender shafts of 

 silver, have been cut up into suitable lengths for the market, 

 and the tops of the trees sprawl everywhere over the ground 

 in confusion and entanglement. The sun-srlare is hot on 



