October 8, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



493 



forest leaves. If planted early they quickly start leaves, and 

 hard freezing or high winds are then fatal to their flowering. 

 There is a world of interest in a general collection of hardy 

 bulbs, and they are especially useful in a small garden, often 

 enabling one to practically double crop valuable space. 



Montbretia crocosmiaeflora, the result of a cross between 

 Montbretia Pottsii and Tritonia aurea, produced by Monsieur 

 Lemoine some ten years ago, has been a valued plant in many 

 gardens since its first introduction, but apparently is not as 

 widely distributed as it should be. Since the introduction of 

 the first hybrid, Monsieur Lemoine has each year offered one 

 or more varieties differing somewhat in the size of individual 

 flowers, but principally in the coloring and markings, in a 

 rather limited range of yellows and brilliant, warm, deep reds 

 and their combinations. The effect of a mass of these flowers 

 in the late summer is very distinct, neat and bright, without 

 glare. In choosing varieties one can scarcely go amiss; the 

 original hybrid being entirely satisfactory — and, of course, ob- 

 tainable at the lowest price — while the more recent ones are 

 all interesting, though the colors have such a narrow range 

 that at a distance a casual observer would judge them the 

 same ; a flower fancier, however, does not collect for the 

 casual observer. Color descriptions are unsatisfactory at 

 best, and it is quite impossible to define shades of red (a color 

 which many people cannot even distinguish), but of a few 

 varieties under trial may be noted : Phare", of a deep flaming 

 orange-red ; Etoile de Feu, a deeper shade, burnt orange ; 

 Bouquet Parfait, a slightly different shade of fiery red, and with 

 larger individual flowers. These all have deep yellow eyes. 

 Elegans is exceptionally distinct ; clear yellow inside and 

 splashed red without. The flowering habit of this variety 

 seems specially graceful. A few others differ much on the 

 same lines, and are all attractive. Montbretias need a well 

 drained, deep and moist soil, in which the corms are usually 

 hardy, though not always in this locality. They increase very 

 rapidly, not only by multiplication from the parent, but by 

 pushing out underground stems, from which new plants are 

 rapidly produced. They also seed freely, and from this they 

 will come into bloom in a few months. They are also neat 

 plants for the decoration of the greenhouse in summer, as they 

 grow away freely if not overpotted and bloom for a long sea- 

 son. Individually the flowers are not very lasting, but they 

 are produced in rapid succession. 



Elizabeth, N. J. J- N. G. 



Nymphaea Devoniensis. though not new, may still be styled a 

 novelty and has a special claim on our attention. While all 

 other Water Lilies, with perhaps the exception of N. dentata, 

 are past bloom for the season this is yet blooming freely, and is 

 seen more now than at other times, because the flowers remain 

 open during dull and sunless days while others are closed. 

 This is truly an autumn flowering Water Lily. To prolong the 

 season of this charming plant a shallow tank from twenty to 

 twenty-four inches deep and any convenient size should now 

 be in readiness to protect them in the latitude of New York, 

 and earlier further north. I have nursery tanks twelve feet 

 long, six feet wide and twenty inches deep. Plants grown in 

 tubs and sunk in the Lily-pond are transferred to the tank, and 

 an ordinary garden-frame with sashes can be placed over 

 them. This protection will be sufficient to keep the plants 

 flowering till the end of October. Other varieties can be pro- 

 tected in the same way. 



Dongan Hills, Staten Island. _■ W 7 . Tricker. 



Figs in the Open Air. — The growing of Figs without glass in 

 the northern states is not uncommon, and yet it was not until this 

 summer that I saw them so grown for the first time in the gardens 

 of Mr. H. P. McKean, of Germantown, and full of delicious ripe 

 fruit. The only special treatment given in this instance is the 

 burying of the trees when winter comes. The earth is thrown 

 out on one side, the branches are bent over and kept down by 

 stout pegs driven into the ground, and then the earth is thrown 

 back to cover the branches to a depth of about six inches. 

 These trees of Mr. McKean's are now about ten feet in height. 

 On their north-east side a board fence has been erected to keep 

 off cold winds in early spring and to give warmth to induce early 

 growth. It should be borne in mind that they need a sunny 

 place, otherwise some of the fruit will not have time to ripen 

 before cold weather comes. It has been suggested that in 

 planting, the roots should all be spread on one side only, so as 

 to allow of the tops to be bent over in the same direction when 

 the time for covering the tree arrives. 



Germantown, Pa. Joseph Median. 



Clematis paniculata.— Allow me to add a word on the good 

 qualities of this plant. I assume that it is correctly named, 



although this has been disputed. However this may be, it has 

 a vigor of constitution rarely found among Clematises not na- 

 tive. It blooms freely and late, and has a fragrance which 

 resembles that of the Hawthorn as much as anything I can 

 recall. It can be grafted readily on C. Virginiana, and also 

 comes here from seed; but this is slow to germinate, althi 1 

 I think seedlings make rather the strongest plants. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D, Hatfield. 



[Not having seen Mr. Hatfield's plants, we cannot be 

 sure of their identity. The note in our last issue referred to 

 a plant which came from the Passaic Nurseries of H. 

 Meyers," successor to Woolson & Co., and it is the true Cle- 

 7natis paniculata. — Ed. ] 



Correspondence. 



The Condition and Future of the American Forests. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir. — I have never read anything which seems to me more 

 graphic and true, and, at the same time, more lamentable, 

 than the picture painted by Dr. Mayr of the condition of the 

 American forests, and translated in your paper of September 

 10th. I venture to suggest that your Government, which does 

 a vast amount of public printing, would render a public ser- 

 vice by sending a copy of this article to every American citi- 

 zen; for though it is not always pleasant to hear criticisms from 

 a foreigner, and though it is not always possible for a foreigner 

 to suggest a remedy or to appreciate fully the great difference 

 which exists between the conditions of the American system 

 of seif-government and those of older countries, yet this ques- 

 tion must be faced and dealt with before long. 



The time will come when the names of those persons who 

 have made it the business of theirlives to bring home the con- 

 dition of the national forests to the people will be honored as 

 citizens who have deserved well of their country. The Rus- 

 sians have been described by an eminent German naturalist as 

 " everywhere true wasters and destroyers of forests," but from 

 what little I have seen myself in a single journey of about 

 10,000 miles through the United States, I do not think they can 

 compare with the Americans ; and speaking as an English 

 farmer and as an Indian Tea-planter, who has seen in many 

 parts of Europe and Asia the results of destroying the forests 

 and skinning the land for the sake of a short-lived profit, I do 

 believe that every foot of timber and every bushel of corn or 

 wheat which you are sending us at a ridiculous price, will 

 ultimately cost the American nation much more than then- 

 present value. Look at the present state of the forests and the 

 land in many parts of the United States, and see what it will 

 some day cost to restore the soil to a condition in which suc- 

 cessful agriculture is possible, and consider what a poor return 

 you are getting for this enormous present waste. What is the 

 value of a few thousand Alaska seal-skins or a few ship-loads 

 of Canadian fish compared to the value of the American pub- 

 lic forests ? and yet how much do we hear of the former in the 

 debates of your Congress or in the speeches of your public 

 men ! 



Icannothelpthinkingthat the best possible remedy at present 

 is suggested in your editorial article on "The Army and the For- 

 ests," and I can testify from personal experience of the success 

 of this plan in the Yellowstone Park. When the British-Indian 

 Forest Department was first created most of its officers were 

 taken from the army, and though they lacked the technical 

 knowledge, which is now supposed to be all-important, and to 

 be gained only in the forest-schools of France and Germany, 

 they had other qualities which are often wanting in the young 

 men who now recruit the forest-service. For years to 

 come the questions which will be most prominent will not be 

 those requiring technical knowledge so much as common 

 sense, tact and energy in enforcing the regulations which will 

 be made after considering local needs and actual toivsf-con- 

 ditions. And above all, you will find among the officers in the 

 army men of such unimpeachable honesty that they will not 

 be open to such criticisms and attacks as were formerly made 

 upon the employees of the Indian agencies, and they will be re- 

 moved from those political influences which seem to us to 

 play such a prominent part in Government affairs in America. 



From a soldier's point of view I would suppose that, con- 

 sidering the great influence upon the character of military 

 operations which the wooded nature of the country has always 

 had in the United States, an intimate knowledge of forest- 

 operations and forest-life would be of more advantage to the 

 American army than to any European troops. We know by 

 experience that the Ghoorkas, who are bred Snd born in 



