534 



Garden and Forest. 



[November 5, 1890. 



with them, and that they assumed a more upright manner 

 of growth. He found, too, that the ends of the branches 

 of these trees were not killed in winter, as was the case 

 with many Catalpa-trees, and that they flowered fully two 

 weeks earlier ; that the flowers were considerably larger, 

 and were produced in shorter, fewer-flowered panicles ; 

 and that the pods were much larger and nearly twice as 

 thick. These observations led him and several botanists 

 to study these peculiar trees, and it was found that the 

 western Catalpas all differed in these respects from the 

 trees which had been ordinarily cultivated in the eastern 

 and southern states, and that instead of one, North Amer- 

 ica could boast of two species. It was found, and this is 

 probably true of all the species of the genus, that the wood 

 of C. speciosa, although not hard or very heavy, pos- 

 sessed the power of resisting decay in a remarkable man- 

 ner when placed in contact with the soil. It was found, 

 too, that the young trees grew with astonishing rapidity, 

 and were hardy as far north certainly as the forty-second 

 degree of latitude, and could support the climate and high 

 winds of the western prairies. These were qualities which 

 western planters were in search of, and nurserymen at 

 once set about raising the western Catalpa in great quan- 

 tities. It has so far proved to be all that was expected of 

 it, and millions of these plants have already been planted 

 in the United States, especially in the west. ■ 



The other American species, C. longisiliqua, is a large 

 forest-tree widely distributed through the West Indies, 

 where it is prized for its hard, handsome wood, used in 

 cabinet-making, and known as Spanish oak. 



The Japanese Catalpa, C. Kcempferi, is a smaller and less 

 beautiful tree than either of its North American relatives. 

 It has darker green foliage, smaller and less showily- 

 colored flowers and slender pods. It is no longer a rare 

 plant in American gardens, where it grows rapidly, flow- 

 ers and fruits profusely, and is perfectly hardy as far north 

 certainly as eastern Massachusetts. An interesting hybrid 

 between this and one of the American species, described in 

 this journal last year (ii., 303), has appeared. It is remark- 

 able in characters intermediate between its two parents, in 

 its hardness, and in its vigorous and rapid growth. 



The second Asiatic species, C. Bungei, which must not 

 be confounded with the plant found in nurseries under that 

 name, is a native of northern and central China. It is a 

 large tree, with smaller flowers and leaves than those of 

 the American species, and is not yet known in cultivation 

 either in the United States or in Europe. It may be ex- 

 pected to thrive where the Ailanthus will grow ; and its 

 introduction into our plantations has long been desired by 

 American dendrologists, who have sought in vain to secure 

 a supply of seeds of this interesting tree. 



The illustrations in the present issue display the appear- 

 ance of Catalpa bignonoides as a cultivated plant, and show 

 the unusual method adopted by an old specimen to extend 

 itself by means of rooting branches. Our readers are re- 

 ferred to the account of these venerable trees printed on 

 page 536. It is from the pen of the great-grandson of the 

 man who planted them, and whose descendants down to 

 the fourth generation have been able to watch their 

 growth — an unusual and noteworthy occurrence in this 

 country, where homes are rarely handed down beyond 

 the second generation, and where the children of more 

 than two generations rarely play beneath the shadow of 

 the same trees. 



A correspondent of The New York Journal of Commerce 

 writes from the White Mountains that he was recently sur- 

 prised by sounds like distant thunder, which rose at inter- 

 vals above the steady roar of the October wind in the 

 woods. He was led to make inquiry as to these repeated 

 mutterings and this is what he learned : 



Some miles down the valley is one of those glorious moun- 

 tain torrents which are, or ought to be, the pride of New 

 Hampshire. It comes out of a gorge in the hills, leapingfrom 

 the shadows of the old forests into the open light of the valley, 



with more of spirit and freshness than perhaps any other of all 

 the New Hampshire mountain streams. I am told that the 

 sounds I have heard are the explosions of dynamite and giant 

 powder, wherewith men are blasting out the rocks in this wild 

 river, reducing its freedom to canal-like regularity, so that 

 hereafter the forest-trees which are the glory of Mooseilauke 

 can be cut and sent down stream to market. We have no 

 right to quarrel with the men who are doing this. They own 

 the forests and they own the river, and no one expects them 

 to make a donation of their lumber and their river to the pub- 

 lic. But it is now of most pressing importance that the State 

 of New Hampshire should exercise its right of eminent domain 

 and purchase these forests and streams and preserve them. 

 The work of destruction is going on all around the mountains. 

 Timber railroads have been pushed up to and into the ravinee 

 on the south and north sides, and now the streams, which, 

 when the destroying work is complete, will cease to flow, are 

 to be compelled by the forces of dynamite to become their 

 own destroyers. 



No, we cannot, under ordinary circumstances, complain 

 when a man cuts the timber from his own land, even when 

 he cuts it wastefully. But the forests of the White Moun- 

 tains have a value beyond the market price of all the 

 lumber they contain, and the wild White Mountain streams 

 have a value beyond their capabilities of floating that lum- 

 ber to market after they have been subdued to the logger's 

 use. Apart from the function of these mountain forests 

 in regulating the flow of the streams which take rise among 

 them, their highest productive A r alue lies in the charm they 

 lend to the scenery. Even from a material point of view 

 the loss to the state of New Hampshire which the deface- 

 ment of this scenery would cause, by robbing the region 

 of its attractiveness to tourists, would be incalculable. The 

 native beauty and sublimity of the White Mountains are a 

 source of revenue which will increase indefinitely with an 

 increasing tide of visitors, and it is a short-sighted business 

 policy, not to speak of other considerations, which permits 

 so productive an inheritance to be squandered. 



Ornamental Fruits in the Pines. 



FOUR species of Ilex are now showing their ornamental 

 fruits in the Pines. The Holly {Ilex opaca), with its fine 

 foliage, sharp and spiny, and its scarlet berries, is handsome 

 all winter. So is the Inkberry {I. glabra), with black fruit 

 and shining smooth leaves. Both are abundant, the latter, 

 in all damp places. And the Black Alder or Winter-berry 

 (/. verticillata) is everywhere in the swamps and bogs, and 

 still holds its foliage, while the twigs are encircled with 

 masses of bright red berries. Later the leaves will fall, but the 

 berries will remain all winter. The Smooth Winterberry (/ 

 laevigata) is also here, but not so abundant as the other spe- 

 cies. The fruit ripens earlier and is larger than that of the 

 Black Alder, and is now very bright and showy. 



The clustered red fruit of the Flowering Dogwood (Comus 

 florida) is more beautiful than the flowers, and almost as 

 showy. Another species of Comus (C sericea) which grows 

 in wet places has pale blue fruit in flat cymes. This also is 

 quite ornamental. And Viburnum pubescens is here, too, with 

 flat cymes of dark purple fruit. 



A cluster of the fruit of the Sassafras is very pretty. A fleshy 

 red stem supports the blue berry, making it quite unique. The 

 berry has a sharp, pungent taste, more concentrated than the 

 bark of the root. 



The cone-like fruit of Magnolia glauca is handsome in all of 

 its stages. At first it is green, and as it matures it takes on 

 yellow and rosy pink hues, and when fully matured the car- 

 pels split open and reveal the beautiful coral red, berry-like 

 seeds, which soon drop out of their places, and are held in 

 check by spiral threads which unroll and hold the dangling 

 seeds suspended all around the cone. 



Thick tangles of Smilax impede our progress. These thick- 

 ets are terrible, almost impossible to penetrate to any dis- 

 tance — a tangled confusion of vines climbing over shrubs and 

 trees, armed with sharp, stout prickles. But the vines hold 

 pretty clusters of fruit, and one species has coral red berries, 

 but most bear black fruit, some with a bloom like that of the 

 grape, others with shining black berries. A difficult genus it 

 seems to me, all mixed up and as hard to identify as it is 

 difficult to penetrate the thicket. 



Above these thickets, growing on old Sweet-Gum-trees, are 

 clumps of Mistletoe, with clusters of pearly white berries. 



