542 



Garden and Forest. 



[November 5, 1890. 



upon plants. About all that can be seen is a cell of the root 

 tissue, here and, there, packed full of very minute spores. In 

 the Radish the dark portions of the flesh, which is somewhat 

 mottled or marbled, are close around the spore-bearing- cells. 



It is a well known fact that when this Plasmodophora once 

 gets into the soil it remains for some time, and it is not safe to 

 grow Cabbages soon again upon infested land. In case of the 

 Radish failure it is probably true that the land was first 

 "seeded down" with the Fungus spores which were produced 

 in Cabbage, as that is the plant most frequently infested with 

 it. The land in question has long been a truck-farm, and 

 Cabbage is one of the leading crops. 



These Fungi that thrive under ground upon the roots of 

 plants are not easy to reach with remedies. The only practi- 

 cable way seems to be the abandonment of the plants subject 

 to the attack, and in a few seasons the germs will starve to 



Rogers College. Byron D. Halsted. 



Adlumia cirrhosa. — This interesting and delicate plant, 

 known by the common name of Climbing Fumitory, is hardy 

 in this section and westward. It is biennial, and in favorable 

 spots sows its own seed, and thus can be treated as a peren- 

 nial. For covering bowers, trellises, etc., it is admirable, as, 

 catching with its slender young leaf-stalks upon anything it 

 can fasten to, it soon covers a shrub or trellis with its delicate 

 foliage. It is sometimes called Allegheny Vine, and errone- 

 ously Mountain Fringe, as it is found in wet woods and delights 

 in shade and moisture, although it will grow in open places. I 

 find it most useful when treated as an annual, as it has no ap- 

 pearance of a vine or tendency to climb during its first year, 

 while its thrice-pinnate leaves and delicate leaflets have the 

 appearance of a Maidenhair Fern, although of a lighter color. 

 It is of rapid growth, and most useful for decoration in the 

 place of these Ferns where they cannot be had. It lasts longer 

 in a cut state than the Fern. Early in the second season it 

 starts its climbing growth, with little to remind one of its ap- 

 pearance the first year. It is then of little use for cutting, and 

 where plants are required for this purpose it will be necessary 

 to sow the seed early every year and thin out or transplant the 

 seedlings, giving each plant room in which to develop. 



Dongan Hills, Staten Island. W. T. 



Correspondence. 



The Palms of the Southern California Border. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — The identity of the Washingtonias which grow on 

 both sides of the southern boundary of California is somewhat 

 uncertain. Those of the canons of Lower California and those 

 of the desert on our own side of the line have both been sup- 

 posed to be IV. fillfera. This species was described from 

 plants raised in Europe from seed whose source was not defi- 

 nitely stated. Long after a second species, W. robusta, was 

 described in the same way, the seed being said to come from 

 California. No native tree has yet been found which could 

 be referred to this species. It has even been suggested that 

 it was a mere gardener's variety, a view which finds some 

 support in the insufficient characters assigned to the species. 



Mr. Watson, however, who has seen both of these Palms at 

 Herrenhausen, and has them in cultivation in the Botanic Gar- 

 den at Cambridge, is inclined to consider them distinct, and 

 his opinion is certainly entitled to great weight. 



The question then recurs as to the true habitat of IV. ro- 

 busta. Mr. Watson has learned that the original source from 

 which European seedsmen were supplied with seed of Wash- 

 ingtonia was the Cantilles cafion in Lower California, while 

 later, and a few years before W. robusta was proposed by 

 Wendland, collectors began to obtain their seed from the more 

 accessible groves in the desert south of San Bernardino. From 

 these facts he suggests in a recent contribution {Pro. Am. 

 Acad., xxv., 136) that the Palms of the former place may be 

 the true IV. filifera, while those of the latter may be W. 

 robusta. 



Should this supposition prove true W. robusta would be the 

 proper name for the only Palm known to grow within the 

 limits of the state of California. It cannot be accepted, how- 

 ever, until a careful study and comparison of the trees of the 

 two regions shall have been made by some competent botan- 

 ist, which may be rather hoped than expected. 



Mr. Watson and other writers call the California tree the 

 " Palm of San Bernardino County." In point of fact, not a 

 single indigenous Palm is known to grow in that county. They 

 are & entirely confined to San Diego County. The error is a 

 trifling one, but may be corrected in the interest of accuracy. 



San Bernardino, Cal. Samuel B. Parish. 



The Quality of Russian Apples. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir. — As my friend, Dr. Hoskins, of Vermont, has objected, 

 through the columns of your paper, to my opinion of the 

 Russian Apples expressed at a meeting of the Pomological 

 Society at Lewiston, Maine, last month, perhaps I ought to 

 say that no one has a more sincere desire for the success of 

 the Russian fruits in the northern part of the United States than 

 myself ; but it certainly is my duty to express my honest con- 

 victions, especially when called upon by direct question as at 

 that meeting. It would be both unfair and unwise to pro- 

 nounce any judgment that was not based on positive knowl- 

 edge, or to give utterance to " a hasty and immature opinion." 

 I have known some of the varieties mentioned, such as Olden- 

 burg, Red Astrachan and Alexander, since my childhood, 

 and I am free to say I rarely ate one from the very fact 

 that there were so many other varieties that suited my taste 

 much better. No doubt if I had lived in northern Vermont, 

 or some other region where the choicer varieties of the Apple 

 do not succeed, I should have relished even a half ripened Red 

 Astrachan. 



That Russian varieties are grown in many of the orchards 

 in the true Apple-growing region is a fact, but it is also true 

 they are grown to a very limited extent, except in the north. 

 Who plants an orchard of any of these varieties else- 

 where ? 



When I speak of the Apples in question I can say practically 

 the same of all the Russian varieties with which lam acquaint- 

 ed, and I have had the opportunity of testing at least thirty or 

 forty of the varieties most prized ; nor has this judgment been 

 formed in the office alone, where samples of them are almost 

 daily received during the fall. From the meeting in Maine I 

 went directly to the home of Dr. Hoskins at Newport, Ver- 

 mont, and I was greatly pleased with what I saw of Russian 

 apples in his orchard. Trees of some of the newer Russian 

 varieties were heavily loaded with fruit of handsome appear- 

 ance and fair quality, although none of them would rank as 

 dessert apples with Primate, Jonathan, Grimes' Golden, Hub- 

 bardston and many others with which nearly every pomologist 

 is acquainted. But it is only fair to say that in the same 

 orchard trees of Wealthy, Iowa Russet, Magog, Red Streak, 

 Scott's Winter and other American varieties were loaded equally 

 well, while in quality the fruit excelled that of Russian 

 varieties. 



I have no prejudice against Russian apples, and so far as 

 the extreme north is concerned, I now say they are superior 

 to most American kinds in the matter of hardiness. But from 

 northern Iowa I have lately received fourteen native varieties 

 of winter Apples from one man; all are seedlings of fair qual- 

 ity and good size and appearance. From Wisconsin and Min- 

 nesota there have also come apples of good quality and some 

 that will keep until late in the spring. It is winter apples that 

 the north now needs most. Dr. Hoskins has sent me speci- 

 mens of his apples this fall, and I was much pleased with the 

 appearance of them, but I did not find them of superior qual- 

 ity. Nearly all of them were very light, not heavier than 

 Fameuse, and greatly lacking in saccharine matter, although 

 they would be good for cooking purposes. Prolific Sweeting, 

 which I saw bearing abundantly in Dr. Hoskins' orchard, is 

 very pleasantly flavored, but not so rich as many of the sweet 

 apples ; however, it is to be commended in the north on ac- 

 count of its hardiness. 



When specimens are received in this office they are not cut 

 on sight, but such as are not mature are kept until they are 

 ready for testing. It is no doubt true that the locality in which 

 the varieties are grown has considerable influence on their 

 quality. A Ben Davis grown in Maine is about worthless, as 

 I have had ample opportunity to judge, while the same variety 

 grown in Arkansas is large, handsome and fairly well flavored. 

 It would be unfair to compare any variety with Ben Davis in 

 Maine, because it is not suited to that locality ; and it would 

 be equally unfair to compare any variety suitable to the north 

 to a Ben Davis grown in Arkansas. 



The cooking qualities of an apple are important, as Dr. 

 Hoskins says; but if we can get an apple that is rich in sac- 

 charine matter there is usually no reason why it will not cook 

 as well as one which is *' thin " and needs sugar added to give 

 the sauce richness. An apple is no richer for having been 

 cooked, although it may be more palatable. If a Hubbard- 

 ston or Esopus apple were cooked and compared with a Red 

 Astrachan and Alexander the difference in quality would be 

 as clearly perceived as it was before cooking ; and the differ- 

 ence in the amount of sugar needed in each case would be 



Department of Agriculture, Washington. H. £.. Van Dematl. 



