486 



Garden and Forest. 



[October 8, 1890. 



unrivaled by that of our other trees. It is one of those 

 trees which always attract attention— in the winter by its 

 peculiar habit, in summer by the beauty of its foliage and 

 in autumn by its coloring. 



The wood of this tree is nearly white and very light, but 

 with such an intricately contorted grain that it can be split 

 only with the greatest difficulty. It is valuable, therefore, 

 and now considerably used for the hubs of light wheels 

 and for rollers in glass factories, for ox-yokes and similar 

 purposes. 



The value of the Tupelo as an ornamental tree is shown 

 in our illustration on page 491 representing a group of 

 these trees growing naturally near a small pond in the 

 town of West Medford, Massachusetts, and made from one 

 of the excellent tree portraits for which we are indebted to 

 Mr. Henry Brooks. 



Nyssa aquatica is a small-fruited species, the stone marked 

 by broad, rounded ridges; the fruit of the two other Ameri- 

 can species is very much larger, the stones being marked 

 with prominent acute or winged margins. The first of these 

 two species is the Nyssa uniflora of botanists, so called be- 

 cause the fertile flowers are solitary. This is a large tree, 

 usually known as the Cotton Gum or Big Tupelo, a hundred 

 feet or more high, and an inhabitant of deep river-swamps, 

 where it grows in immense quantities, generally with the 

 Sweet Gum, from southern Virginia and southern Illinois 

 and Indiana to Florida and Texas. It has ample, usually 

 angular-dentate leaves and peduncled fruit half an inch 

 long, known in the country where it grows as wild olives. 

 It is one of the largest, handsomest and most abundant of 

 the river-swamp trees of the southern states. According to 

 Aiton, it was introduced into England as early as 1735 by 

 the indefatigable Peter Collinson, who no doubt received it 

 from his constant correspondent, John Bartram ; it was 

 probably soon lost from gardens, and it is extremely 

 doubtful if it is now anywhere known in a living state out- 

 side its native swamps. 



The other American species of the genus is a smaller 

 tree than either of the others and much more restricted in 

 its range. It is the so-called Ogeeche Lime, the Nyssa 

 Ogeche of botanists, of the coast region of South Carolina 

 and Georgia, and of a few isolated stations of northern and 

 western Florida. It is a shrubby tree, with staminate 

 flowers in large clusters, the fertile solitary and usually 

 perfect. These are followed by olive-shaped scarlet fruit 

 nearly an inch long, and very acid even when fully ripe. 

 It is collected in considerable quantities, being much 

 esteemed when preserved with sugar for its sub-acid flavor. 

 It is known as wild limes or Ogeeche limes. It is doubtful 

 if this tree, although known to Bartram, Marshall, Walter 

 and the early American botanists, has ever been cultivated, 

 although it might well be grown for its fruit in regions 

 where the Orange flourishes. 



During the discussion on landscape-gardening at the 

 Boston Convention of Florists Mr. C. B. Whitnall, of Mil- 

 waukee, in the course of a well constructed argument to 

 justify the use of a natural combination of simple elements 

 in park planting as against the more highly- ornate style, 

 which also had advocates, quoted the following sentence 

 from Mr. McMillan's now famous essay : "The lights and 

 shadows of a painting are carefully studied, and whatever 

 is appreciated in the copy is surely of greater value in 

 the original." Mr. Whitnall went on to inquire if any one 

 ever heard of a noted artist who spent time in copying 

 ribbon lines or carpet patterns or any other of the formal 

 garden designs which may be classified under the gen- 

 eral head of decorative planting. Of course, every one 

 must admit that the genuine artist would prefer some nook 

 in the wild-wood or some other piece of unadorned nature 

 as a subject ; but, after all, this hardly proves that so-called 

 decorative gardening is altogether to be rejected. It only 

 demonstrates in another way the truth of what we have 

 before stated, and what is no doubt the belief of Mr. Whit- 



nall himself, that there are two distinct kinds of gardening. 

 It does not follow that a piece of embroidery is not beauti- 

 ful and useful in its proper function because an artist does 

 not choose to put it on canvas, nor does it follow that a 

 formal arrangement of plants may not have a legitimate 

 use in certain places because it is not a fit subject for the 

 brush. A true artist must express some sentiment. It is 

 the inner meaning of his subject which he aims to interpret; 

 but an arrangement of plants and flowers which is meant 

 to be strictly ornamental addresses itself to the aesthetic 

 faculty alone, and although it may give great delight on 

 account of its perfect form and brilliant color its beauty is 

 evanescent and superficial. Decorative planting of this sort 

 is essentially transient. The arrangement of the beds may 

 be altered a dozen times during the year, and they are 

 sure to be changed with each season. It can have 

 none of the associations which cluster around a 

 work which has a permanent and continuous life 

 beneath an ever-changing outward form. On the other 

 hand, a natural landscape may have the beauty which 

 an artist always wishes to reproduce, but it may 

 have in addition a profounder meaning which excites 

 the imagination and moves the feelings. All this means 

 that landscape-gardening which deals with the permanent 

 features of scenery, with the sky line and the distance and 

 the shadowy mystery of wood borders, will always furnish 

 subjects for the brush of the artist, while merely decorative 

 gardening, which is concerned with the temporary adorn- 

 ment of smaller spaces, furnishes no such subject. In 

 other words, it offers additional evidence that there are two 

 kinds of garden art essentially distinct in purpose and in 

 effect. There is no necessary conflict between the two 

 styles of planting, but it is plain that each should be re- 

 stricted to its legitimate field. Any attempt to combine 

 the two by unskilled hands is likely to produce an incon- 

 gruity in which the best effect of each will be more than 

 neutralized by the other. 



Shrubs which Endure Drought. 



Barberries. — Some of the Asiatic Barberries have stood the 

 heat and drought in a surprising way. Of these B. Amnrensis 

 stands well at the head for rapidity of growth, health of foliage 

 and for the very heavy crop of handsome fruit. Several other 

 species are also clean and healthy and loaded with varied and 

 handsome fruit, under conditions which have favored the 

 Cluster Cup Fungus and stunted growth on the common 

 species from west Europe. Among the perfect ones I might 

 nameS esculenta, B. macrocaultea, B. carriacea, B. Fisheri, B. 

 macrophylla, B. cratagina. Our observations favor the belief 

 that in our climate a number of so-called species are free from 

 the Cluster Cup Fungus. 



Russian Privet. — While classed as varieties of Lignstrum vul- 

 gare, the Privets from central Russia are quite unlike the com- 

 mon forms from west Europe, which are tender here. The leaves 

 are broader, darker green, and in all respects more attractive ; 

 the plants are absolutely hardy, the flower-racemes are larger, 

 pure white and fragrant, and the bunches of berriesare larger, 

 as are the individual berries. When in blossom the flowers 

 were much worn by the ladies on the college grounds and 

 prized for use as cut flowers in vases. 



Tamarix Amurensis. — Here the common Tamarix is frozen 

 down during our mildest winter, while that from the Amur is 

 perfectly hardy. It is a dry climate plant, and will grow on 

 the driest embankment in perfect health where nearly all other 

 shrubs would perish. It is now (September 18th) in flower for 

 the third time this season. 



Climbing Honeysuckle.— What we have from Russia as 

 Lonicera Germanica and L. media are models of health and 

 vigor, with a grand show of brilliant scarlet berries in clus- 

 ters at the points of growth. L. confusa, as we have it from 

 north-east Germany, appears to be identical with L. Halleana 

 from China, but it is a hardier plant and a more profuse 

 bloomer. 



Bush Honeysuckles. — Lonicera sftlendens, from seeds sent 

 us by Professor Sargent, endures drought better, has better 

 foliage and habit, and has a far more abundant crop of hand- 

 some fruit than the common L. Tartarica, L. Zylosteum, L. 

 Ruprectiana, L. Alberti, and a half dozen named varieties from 



