472 



Garden and Forest. 



[September 24, 1890. 



Notes. 



The large, bright red, cone-like fruits of Magnolia umbrella 

 arc now very attractive. 



While in almost every other part of the country the Apple 

 crop has signally failed, the trees in the mountain valleys of 

 western North Carolina are loaded with fruit. 



Monsieur Edouard Andre 1 , the distinguished landscape 

 architect of Paris, and one of the editors of the Revue Horti- 

 co/e, is now in Montevideo, where he has been called to 

 execute some important public works. 



From a recent number of the Anales of the University of 

 Quito we learn that a new Acrostichum, found on Mount 

 Pichincha, in Ecuador, at an elevation of more than 10,000 

 feet, has been named A. Yatesii, after Dr. Lorenzo G. Yates, of 

 Santa Barbara, California. 



In our notice of the hybrid Cypripcdium Arnoldianum last 

 week it should have been stated that Messrs. Pitcher & 

 Manda received for it the silver medal of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society. At the same exhibition a certificate of 

 merit was awarded to the Cambridge Botanical Garden for a 

 fine collection of flowers of one of the night-blooming Cereuses 

 (C. triangularis). 



A pleasant, but rather pathetic, incident that occurred during 

 the meeting of the Forestry Association at Quebec was the 

 visit of the old Huron Chief Sioui and his son in full Indian 

 dress. He was introduced by President Joly, and made the 

 following address : " We are the children of the forest, come 

 to welcome the friends of the forest. I wish you, for my peo- 

 ple, joy and success in your good work. When I was a child 

 I lived in the forest ; I have always lived in the forest, and I 

 wish to die there. My people are few in number ; we are dy- 

 ino" away with our home, the forest. Protect us and our home, 

 and you will have the prayers of the Hurons and the gratitude 

 of their hearts." 



Perhaps no paper read at the meeting of the Forestry Asso- 

 ciation at Quebec excited more general interest than one by 

 Mr. Auguste Uupuis, of St. Roch des Aulnais. In this far 

 northern latitude, under unfavorable conditions and at his own 

 expense, Mr. Dupuis has carefully tested almost every variety 

 of tree, both native and foreign, which gives any assurance of 

 success. The results have been carefully noted, and they fur- 

 nish data that will be invaluable for those wishing to plant 

 trees in the far north. This work has been patiently carried 

 on for many years, and the failures are quite as instructive as 

 the successes. It is the kind of work that ought to be com- 

 menced at once at the different experiment stations of the 

 United States. 



The annual fruit and vegetable show of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society last week proved an entire success. The 

 vegetables were all of superb quality, and the abundance 

 and excellence of the fruit was remarkable in spite of the dis- 

 couraging season. One of the most attractive features of the 

 display was the greenhouse grapes from the gardens of Mrs. 

 Lassell, of Whitinsville (Geo. McWilliam, gardener), and Mr. 

 N. T. Kidder, of Milton. Mr. Robert McLeod, gardener to 

 Mr. D. B. Fearing, of Newport, Rhode Island, showed some 

 samples of the Late Crawford peach, which were marvels of 

 orchard-house culture. The extensive collection of miscel- 

 laneous fruits from the Massachusetts Agricultural College at 

 Amherst was both interesting and instructive. It would be a 

 good thing if such institutions would more frequently demon- 

 strate their utility in a manner so practical. A rich display of 

 ornamental fruiting shrubs was made by Mr. Jackson Dawson, 

 of the Arnold Arboretum. It represented a host of beautiful 

 and desirable things. 



In the Government Crop Report for September the following 

 statement is made by Mr. T. W.Clark, a statistical correspond- 

 ent for Marathon County, Wisconsin : " The northern half of 

 Wisconsin is one vast berry patch. Strawberries grow pro- 

 fusely in their season ; following them comes the Blueberry 

 during the months of July and August, this crop amounting to 

 hundreds of thousands of bushels. Some black Raspberries 

 and a few Service-berries are found. The red Raspberry, 

 Blackberry and Dewberry yield thousands of bushels. Car- 

 loads of glass cans are used annually in preserving these for 

 winter use. Thousands of people find occupation in harvest- 

 ing these spontaneous crops of luscious fruit. The Cranberry 

 comes to perfection in September, rounding out the season. 

 The value of the wild fruit utilized in nothern Wisconsin is 

 estimated at $1,000,000. Three or four times as much goes to 

 waste for want of pickers. The exceeding healthfulness of 



this portion of the country may be attributed in a great 

 measure to the purity of the water and the profusion of fruits." 



Some time ago we spoke of the fragrant Ferns which New 

 Zealanders used to scent their oils and other articles of food. 

 An English florist, Mr. John Dutton, writing of one of these, 

 Polypodium pustulatum, in a local paper, says: "The dry 

 fronds of this Fern, placed in rooms or in books, give off a 

 most agreeable perfume, which lasts for years and greatly 

 resembles the odor of the Heliotrope. This scented Fern, it 

 appears, was held sacred by the natives, who for a long time 

 kept the secret to themselves. It grows in the forests on the 

 west coast of New Zealand, and also in the North Island, but 

 in neither place is it common. One or two varieties are met 

 with occasionally, in one of which the fronds are forked, and 

 in another they are lobed. The perfume appears to be 

 strongest on the sori-bearing fronds. This species was 

 introduced into England in 1820, but has, it seems, quite 

 dropped out of commerce, for we have not found it mentioned 

 in any trade list. It would be interesting to know more about 

 it, and whether, if it is still cultivated in this country, . its 

 fragrance is as marked as when growing in its native habitat." 



Mr. Watson gives in the Gardeners' Chronicle a remarkable 

 instance of tenacity of life in a Yucca. Nearly two and a half 

 years ago the trunk of a Yucca, probably Y. elata (see vol. ii., 

 p. 560, fig. 146), was received at Kew from Mr. C. G. Pringle 

 as a specimen for the Museum of Woods. It measured four- 

 teen feet in height by one foot in diameter near the base. 

 There was not a vestige of a root upon it, and the top had been 

 sawn off. It was at once placed in the museum, where, of 

 course, the conditions are almost as dry as an oven. A week 

 .or two ago two shoots were seen growing out from the top of 

 the trunk, one composed of leaves, the other of flowers. On 

 examination the whole of the trunk proved to be full of sap 

 and as succulent as if it had only just been dug up from the 

 ground. It was, therefore, removed to the temperate-house, 

 where it may now be seen in flower. Y. elata is peculiar to the 

 dry desert region west of the Rocky Mountains, between the 

 United States and Mexico. It has erect, stiff, filamentose 

 leaves, and an erect flower-spike ten to twelve feet high ; the 

 flowers are four inches across and pure white. 



In a San Francisco dispatch to The Tribune it is stated that 

 although this is the best year ever known in California for pro- 

 ducers of fruit, the fruit-packers will suffer heavily, be- 

 cause of their contracts to deliver dried and canned fruits for 

 about one-half the ruling rates. Early in the season, when 

 reports came from the east of the total failure of fruit, they dis- 

 credited those concerning the Delaware peach crop, and made 

 contracts on the usual terms for the delivery of fruit this fall. 

 The result is that they are now paying ten cents a pound for 

 prunes which they have agreed to deliver for five cents. The 

 same rates hold good in regard to peaches, pears and other 

 fruits. One large packing firm will lose $50,000 on prunes 

 alone, while several smaller ones will probably go under, as 

 they will be unable to stand the losses. It is a great year, how- 

 ever, for fruit-growers, as prices are about double what they 

 usually are and the crop is large. Even grapes, which have 

 been a drug on the market for several years, bring high prices. 

 Ordinary Zinfandel wine grapes fetch $20 a ton, and large 

 quantities not used for wine have been dried. These will be 

 introduced this winter at the east for stewing and as a substi- 

 tute for currants. 



A month ago we published an account of the famous Hol- 

 gate Nurseries of James Backhouse & Son in the ancient city 

 of York, and now, with sincere regret, we are called upon to 

 announce the death of the head of the firm. Mr. James 

 Backhouse was more than a nurseryman, for he had inherited 

 a love of botanical science from his father, who, together with 

 his uncle, became the proprietors of the nurseries seventy-five 

 years ago. In early life Mr. Backhouse published a " Mono- 

 graph of Hieracia," and the close observation which was dis- 

 played in that work has characterized his methods of business 

 and study through life. He began to import and cultivate 

 Orchids among the first, and his collectors in various tropical 

 countries discovered many of the best species in cultivation. 

 Besides Orchids special attention has been given at the York 

 Nurseries to the cultivation of Ferns, Conifers, herbaceous 

 and especially alpine plants. The rock garden of this estab- 

 lishment, where these alpine plants are collected and have 

 been cultivated with remarkable success, is one of the best 

 specimens of this class of work, and the plants are very taste- 

 fully arranged in the crevices of the immense pile, which rises 

 at times to the dignity of a cliff. Mr. Backhouse was sixty-five 

 years old at the time of his death. 



