November 12, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



553 



trouble. Forty miles away an entirely different insect from 

 either gave the most trouble. 



Apart from diseased conditions, which are clearly caused by 

 insects, there are some which are not so easily explained. A 

 number of plants, some of which are now among the best, 

 lost color, that is, went pale, the change being discernible in 

 twenty-four hours. They regained color after two or three 

 weeks without loss of foliage. I consulted several growers, 

 and every one informed me that my plants were either too wet 

 or too dry. I can only say the drainage was good in all cases. 

 I read with interest Mr. Halsted's notes on the Nematodes in 

 No. 138 of Garden and Forest, and according to his descrip- 

 tion I am inclined to think some of our plants have the disease 

 caused by them, although I must say that most of the un- 

 healthy plants are those which have been so for two or three 

 seasons. Being good varieties, and some old ones, I have 

 hesitated to throw them away, hoping to bring them into a 

 healthy condition by careful treatment the whole year round. 

 Good healthy-looking cuttings were put in with the others and 

 flourished. All went well until the middle of June, when a 

 few leaves began to wither on one side or at the tip of the leaf, 

 while the base generally remained green and fresh. The 

 affected portion would pass through all the stages of decay, 

 and even after it had dried up the unaffected part would yet 

 be green. A curious thing about this disease is that when 

 once it appears it remains on that particular plant the whole 

 season, and in every case they are old varieties which have 

 exhibited the same disease before. Monsieur Raoux, Daimio, 

 Roseum superbum, Alfred Salter and Talfourd Salter are the 

 greatest sufferers, but neither Jardin des Plantes nor Mrs. 

 George Rundle have done well. 



Quite a number of plants have been attacked with a blue 

 aphis on the roots, apparently the variety so destructive 

 among China Asters near Boston lastsummer. The presence 

 of ants always indicated affected plants. Soot, guano, lime- 

 water (even to soaking the plants in it), sulphide of potassium 

 and magnesium oxide were used against them. The latter 

 compound usually drove the ants away for a day or two, but, 

 likely, only to carry their stock of aphides to another plant, or, 

 perhaps, return. I had an idea that if ants could be banished, 

 successive waterings would till up the air holes, which they 

 constantly kept open, and so smother the aphides. There is 

 also a roundish, white insect larger than the ordinary aphis, 

 and not unlike what is known as " mealy bug." It is the ants' 

 " cow." I notice now, October, they are busy carrying dead 

 ones to the surface. I have used no insecticides, and do not 

 know whether they have died a natural death or not. 



I write of these troubles now in the hope that other growers 

 will give an account of their experience, and perhaps suggest 

 effective methods of treatment against the enemies which 

 seem to attack the Chrysanthemum in increasing numbers 

 every year. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



Ornamental Trees and Shrubs. 



ROBINIA PSEUDACACIA, VAR. MIMOS^EFOLIA. — The foliage of 

 this form of our native Locust is of an extremely light and 

 graceful appearance, on account of the small size of the leaflets 

 and their dark and rich shade of green. One would hardly 

 imagine it to be a form of our Robinia at all at first sight. It 

 is most striking in a certain airy character of its foliage, and 

 must make an elegant specimen for a lawn. 



Ulmus Sinensis is a rare Elm, which makes a dense head 

 composed of fine branches and twigs, with its deep green, 

 glossy, acuminate leaves of only two inches in length by 

 three-fifths of an inch in width, closely imbricated or over- 

 lapped, in one plane, on the new shoots. It is a tree of very 

 remarkable beauty of foliage, and of as great beauty of outline 

 of the head, when developed. There seem to be several 

 varieties of this or closely related species lately introduced 

 into cultivation, but the form here noted, with foliage lying 

 in one plane on each new shoot, is very distinct and desir- 

 able. 



A Weeping Purple Beech, lately introduced, is proving to 

 be a really desirable tree. Its color is all that can be desired 

 in a Purple Beech, and its pendulous habit is, apparently, an 

 improvement upon that of the well known Weeping European 

 Beech, on account of its regular, upright growth of stem. 

 The irregular form of the old sort is, of course, one of its at- 

 tractions, but the erect growth of the new variety is in its 

 favor, at least in the practical business of propagating it in the 

 nursery, where the old sort was very unsatisfactory. The side 

 branches have a sweeping and regular "weeping" habit pos- 

 sessed by no other tree. 



Pteliatrifoi.iata, var. aurea, came out a few years ago, and 

 we have been able to study it under all the conditions of propa- 

 gation and growth for three years, and it is certainly one of the 

 most richly colored of all the trees and shrubs, having yellow foli- 

 age, and keeps its foliage and its high color until into November. 

 Its growth is that of a large shrub, and it can also be grown as 

 a small tree. There is a gloss to the surface of the foliage of 

 the Ptelia, and this serves to bring out the color of this new 

 "golden" sort as varnish brings out the color of painted surfaces, 

 thus greatly enhancing its effectiveness. The yellow or 

 Golden Elder is, by many, considered the finest of that class 

 of foliage plants; but a glance at both these kinds, growing 

 side by side, shows this Ptelia to be very much the richer 

 and more effective. I have never seen the latter burned by 

 hot suns, while the former often gets scorched in midsummer. 

 At this writing, October 9th, our Ptelias are splendid masses 

 of color. 



Styrax Obassia has been perfectly hardy here at Cam- 

 bridge for three years, and now appears to be perfectly con- 

 tented. Its foliage is oval, or obovate, rugose, of very large 

 size, fully seven inches long by five or six wide, of a light 

 green color. Its blossoms have not appeared here yet, but 

 are described by one who has seen them much in Japan as 

 about one inch across, disposed in racemes eight inches long 

 and very fragrant. 



Styrax Japonica, the other Japanese species, has, on the 

 contrary, small and very distinct foliage, with blossoms borne 

 singly and hanging down beneath the rather horizontal 

 branches in the greatest profusion. Both seem to me among 

 the best of the rarer shrubs. 



Cambridge, Mass. F. L. Temple. 



Vitis heterophylla, sometimes sold as Ampelopsis tricolor or 

 the Turquoise Berry, is a hardy deciduous vine from Japan 

 which deserves a place in every garden, although it is com- 

 paratively rare in cultivation. Its habit is similar to that of the 

 Grape, and an established plant will cover a large space with 

 its growth in a single season. The leaves are beautifully mot- 

 tled with white, while their veins and petioles are a rosy red 

 and the laterals are of the same color. The fruit is small, and 

 it is also variously colored, ranging from a pale China blue to 

 peacock blue, and it makes a beautiful contrast with the varie- 

 gated foliage. The variegation is more striking on vines 

 which grow in a partially shaded position. It should be 

 planted in a rich loam made light and porous with old mortar 

 or sand. Very little barn-yard manure should be used. Plants 

 trained to pillars, railings or arbors should be cut back hard in 

 winter and tied securely, and the new growth should be allowed 

 to hang loosely where it is not necessary to extend the area it 

 covers; but wherever it can ramble and grow at will it makes a 

 charming picture. This plant is used as an undergrowth in beds 

 of sub-tropical plants in the parks about London with a pleasing 

 effect. It is readily propagated by cuttings from the ripened 

 wood as Grape-vines are. It can be grown also from seed, but 

 this is a much slower process. 



Dongan Hills, Staten Island. ► ' • J . 



Correspondence. 

 The Hemlock in Eastern Minnesota. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — In your issue for October 8th (p. 496) is a note regard- 

 ing the discovery of the Hemlock in Carlton County, Minne- 

 sota, by Mr. H. B. Avers, at a point farther west than any 

 hitherto known. In Upham's " Catalogue of the Flora of 

 Minnesota" the tree is doubtfully assigned to a few stations, 

 one of which is not far from the place given by Mr. Avers. 

 The statement is made that they all need verification. Some 

 of the localities are west of the one given by Mr. Ayers, but all 

 of them are not beyond Carlton County. It may be of interest, 

 therefore, to cite some passages from Schoolcraft's "Narrative 

 Journal of Travels from Detroit North-west through the Great 

 Chain of American Lakes to the Source of the Mississippi 

 River in the year 1820" with reference to the presence of the 

 Hemlock in this region. The expedition was under the direc- 

 tion of Governor Lewis Cass and passed through this part of 

 Minnesota. In reading it, the impression is received that the 

 Hemlock was then a common or even abundant forest-tree of 

 the region. The narrative shows throughout that the author 

 was a careful observer and would not easily mistake another 

 tree for the Hemlock. These trees may have largely or 

 wholly disappeared since that time; and if so, it would be 

 interesting to know the causes, if discoverable, for they might 

 have some bearing on forestry conditions and preservation. 



