494 



Garden and Forest. 



[October 8, 1890. 



mountain-forests and the best forest-workers we have in India, 

 are also the- best soldiers, and that their officers are among the 

 most active and keen hunters in the Indian army. Quartered 

 for the most part in detachments and out-posts on the frontiers, 

 they live under very similar conditions to those winch would 

 be endured by detachments of troops engaged in guarding 

 and supervising the state forests in America, and judging from 

 what I have seen in the west I think that soldiers alone would 

 be able to enforce the law in the Rocky Mountains under the 

 existing conditions of society. 



But it is not for me to do more than support, by such testi- 

 mony as I can give, the very urgent nature of the questions 

 which your paper was founded to discuss, and which it has so 

 ably set before the public. 



Cirencester, England. H. J. Elwes. 



Naturalization of American Conifers in Belgium. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — The experiments which have been made in Belgium 

 in the cultivation of North American conifers have been most 

 successful. Unfortunately, such experiments have been un- 

 necessarily expensive through the difficulty of obtaining good 

 seeds, and I should be glad to establish friendly relations with 

 reliable botanists and lovers of trees in the United States for 

 the purpose of obtaining supplies of coniferous trees and 

 seeds, and it is with this object in view that I address these 

 lines to Garden and Forest. 



We find in Belgium that the Douglas Fir grows most thrift- 

 ily when it is planted in deep sandy soil in positions where it 

 can be sheltered from severe winds during its early years in 

 order that the shoots which sometimes grow late in the season 

 may not suffer in the cold of exceptional winters. Many Bel- 

 gian land-owners have planted this tree in large masses, and 

 the way in which the most vigorous specimens here have flour- 

 ished is exceedingly encouraging. Unfortunately, the young 

 plants found in our nurseries have, in many cases, proved dis- 

 appointing, and we need to be brought into direct communica- 

 tion with American seedsmen able to supply good seeds at 

 reasonable prices. If this is done, there is hope of making this 

 tree generally known in Belgium. 



Abies balsamea is a pyramidal tree here, resembling some- 

 what the European Silver Fir (A. pectinata). It does not, how- 

 ever, attain the same size or live as long. In Belgium it 

 reaches a mean height of forty-eight feet, and is relatively 

 somewhat stunted in comparison with the other species of the 

 genus ; nevertheless, on account of its rapid growth in land 

 underlaid with moist gravel, this species is not without value. 

 I know of a plantation at Hastiere, near Dinant, which is grow- 

 ing vigorously, and, although the specimens are planted too 

 far apart, the terminal shoots are nearly three feet long, or 

 sometimes more. I have no knowledge of the timber of this 

 species. The straight, slender poles which it furnishes have, 

 however, a considerable value. 



A. grandis is a handsome and vigorous tree here, attaining 

 in its native country a height of more than 250 feet, and a 

 trunk diameter of four or five. It grows on flat lands with a 

 humid subsoil and does not flourish in the mountains. The 

 few strong, well grown specimens which I have seen in this 

 country inspire hope of its successful naturalization in our 

 plantations ; indeed, the growth of this tree is very vigorous 

 here, the terminal shoots attaining a length of nearly forty 

 inches. Unfortunately, young plants of this species, as is the 

 case with those of the Douglas Fir, are still quoted at such 

 high rates that many planters are deterred from experiment- 

 ing with them. 



The California Mountain Hemlock (Tsuga Pattoniana), 

 which attains in its native country a large size, grows at first 

 very slowly in Belgium. When it is ten or fifteen years old, 

 however, the plants begin to increase rapidly, and from that 

 time forward they are very luxuriant, with terminal shoots 

 more than a foot long. This species we find does best on hill- 

 sides where the soil is light and deep. It bears our most 

 severe winters, and, were it not for the scarcity and the high 

 price of the young plants, it would be particularly useful for 

 planting in groups in the sandy hill parts of Belgium. 



The White Pine (Finns Slrobus) was introduced into France 

 in 1705, and its value as a forest-tree here is now well known; 

 indeed this species, with its luxuriant growth and tall trunk 

 terminated by a majestic crown of foliage, has gained a nota- 

 ble position in our forests. It has the great merit of being 

 able to grow in damp soil. I have seen specimens cut which 

 were nearly eighty years old with a trunk diameter of three 

 feet at the ground. Such trees have found buyers at an average 

 price of $25. 



In those parts of Belgium where the soil is heavy and re- 

 tains moisture the behavior of this Pine is also satisfactory, 

 equaling that of Pinus sylvesiris. We do not, however, know 

 of any large plantations, the White Pine being always asso- 

 ciated with other conifers such as Pinus sylvesiris, Pinus 

 Austriaca and Larix Europcea. It is often planted as an orna- 

 mental tree, and when fully exposed to the air and light it 

 grows very rapidly. The wood is highly valued. 



Pinus Sabiniana is with us still only an ornamental species; 

 it grows well, but is still difficult to obtain from our nursery- 

 men, and is always high-priced ; nevertheless, the few speci- 

 mens that I know are doing well. This California species 

 should be more generally introduced into our forests. 



Thuya gigantea and Libocedrus decurrens, both of which 

 produce wood valuable for the cabinet-maker, would find 

 ready buyers at remunerative prices. Unfortunately, they 

 both grow slowly ; at least such is the case with trees twenty- 

 five years planted that I know here. They are not, perhaps, 

 in proper soil or sufficiently sheltered. Their height is not 

 more than twenty-five or thirty feet, with a diameter of trunk 

 very large at the base in proportion to the height of the trees. 



I believe that they are both valuable trees where time is not 

 an important element, and certainly slowness of growth in a 

 tree should not dissuade wealthy men, who can afford to wait, 

 from experimenting with them. It is true of these California 

 trees, as it is with Oak, the planter must know how to wait. 

 Nimy, Belgium. Alfred Wesmael. 



An Artificial Garden Effect. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — There are growing in this neighborhood a couple of 

 good-sized Beech-trees, which, by reason of their convenient 

 location, are made to support a large double gate and to mark 

 the entrance from a public road to a cultivated field. A num- 

 ber of years ago these trees were subjected to a close and 

 general lopping off of their branches to within six or eight feet 

 of their tops. The result of this operation was that the main 

 stems, which in these instances were rather tall and straight, 

 sent out innumerable sprouts from bottom to top. These new 

 sprouts or branches seem to be of a uniform length of five or 

 six feet, and with their uniformly heavy coat of leaves, form a 

 towering and dense mass of foliage as nearly true and sym- 

 metrical in outline as if cut to a model. At a little distance it 

 is suggestive of great masses of vines dependent from the 

 (concealed) limbs of tall stumps. The effect is a most striking 

 one, and can lay claim to elements of beauty essentially its 

 own. But it is in the winter season they present the most re- 

 markable effect. A peculiarity of the new shoots is that they 

 tenaciously hold their leaves, and while the only change in the 

 general aspect is in the coloring, the trees necessarily stand 

 out more prominently and become more marked features in 

 the winter landscape. 



The owner's only object doubtless in despoiling those trees 

 was to secure a couple of convenient 'gate-posts, while he got 

 rid of their offending features in shading valuable ground. 

 But he secured at the same time a unique piece of ornamenta- 

 tion which does not appear in its artificial features inconsistent 

 with the general design of a gate-way entrance to cultivated 

 grounds. 



In the facts here given is there not a hint of what might be 

 accomplished in certain possible contingencies in producing 

 garden effects ? As when a tree is out of place or is not 

 wanted, or an artificial effect is desired or justified, and espe- 

 cially when it is wanted to produce a winter effect. I have 

 long observed that the second growth of branches, or the 

 shoots which result from a general cutting away of the original 

 branches of certain trees, have a tendency to hold their leaves 

 well on into the winter. It need scarcely be added that none of 

 these new branches or sprouts, by reason of their great num- 

 ber, are likely to develop into large limbs, and therefore the 

 resultant shape of the tree is practically permanent. 



Fairview, W. Va. W. E. Hill. 



The Fay Currant. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — I observe some discussion in regard to the merit of 

 Fay's Currant as compared with the Versailles. The Cherry and 

 Versailles have been the leading red Currants for years owing 

 to their superiority in size over the Red Dutch, Victoria and 

 other red sorts. The Cherry is notoriously a poor bearer, pro- 

 ducing much blind wood — that is, wood without eyes or fruit- 

 buds. This defect seems to vary in the same plants in different 

 seasons, but the fruit is large, handsome and attractive, and it 

 meets with popular favor. 



