556 



Garden and Forest. 



[November 12, 1890. 



prizes for the best twelve Chinese incurved and six Anem- 

 ones, neither of, which were up to first-rate standard. 



A silver cup was awarded J. N. May for the best display 

 arranged for effect — a good arrangement it was with autumn 

 foliage. 



In standard plants, John Farrell, gardener to Mr. Win. Barr, 

 took first prize for a lot of five-foot plants with flat trained 

 heads — a very uniform lot, but not as useful or pleasing as the 

 standards with untrained heads formerly exhibited by Mr. 

 Farrell. A plant with a fiat top, blooming at a height just 

 above the vision of an ordinary observer, does not seem 

 specially desirable, but will probably be grown as long as 

 societies offer prizes, especially as with these the grower has 

 no difficulty with the foliage so hard to retain on pot plants. 



Low-grown plants and bushes were very few and ordinary. 

 Mr. Farrell worthily gained the first prize for fifty plants in six- 

 inch pots with single stems, with the best lot ever shown in 

 this locality — grand blooms and perfect foliage. T. H. Spauld- 

 ing was second in this class with a good lot. 



Miscellaneous collections comprised groups of Palms and 

 decorative plants, with a fine new Alocasia from Pitcher & 

 Manda. A superb lot of Roses from Mr. J. N. May showed per- 

 fect blooms of Duchess of Albany, Ma. Capucine, La France, 

 Catherine Mermet, Bride, F. Bennett, American Beauty and 

 others. The new Rose, Waban — the " Red Mermet " — was on 

 the same stand, and attracted much attention by its beauty and 

 evident value. 



Mr. H. A. Dreer exhibited a new Hybrid Perpetual Rose (un- 

 named) of great promise — a clear, bright rose in color. A 

 horticultural exhibition would be incomplete without a few 

 curiosities, and this contained the saddest examples of trained 

 Chrysanthemums probably ever shown. An ingenious, not to 

 say a misguided, grower, exhibited a series of plants the heads 

 of which had been patiently trained to spell out his full name. 

 Before casting too many stones at him would it not be well for 

 growers to ask whether this is not the natural outcome and 

 final result of the trained Chrysanthemum habit ? 



Newark, N. J. * J . 



Notes. 



The American Florist will hereafter be published every 

 week. Its editor announces that it will remain strictly a trade 

 paper, but it always contains matter of interest to readers who 

 are not commercial florists. 



It is reported that in many parts of Nebraska, from which 

 large exports of corn were made last year, the present crop 

 will not suffice for home feeding. This loss was caused by 

 the severe drought. 



A sweet-scented Rose " of a steel-green color" has, accord- 

 ing to accounts in foreign journals, been produced "after 

 experiments lasting many years" by Dr. Bonelli, of Turin, and 

 has been named by him the " Edison." 



A recent writer in Fire and Water says that German chem- 

 ists have discovered a means of preparing wood so that it 

 becomes as indestructible as brick. A large hotel has just 

 been built in Hamburg "entirely of blocks of compressed 

 wood as hard as iron, and, by subjection to certain chemical 

 processes, rendered proof against both fire and the attacks of 

 insects." 



It has long been the custom to give away to the public, in 

 autumn, many of the plants which have been used in the 

 " pattern-beds " of the Boston parks ; and this autumn the 

 same practice was commenced by the Commissioners of Fair- 

 mount Park in Philadelphia. This is certainly the best way to 

 dispose of such superfluous stock, although it may tend to 

 foster an undue desire on the part of the public for the per- 

 petuation of the bedding-out system. 



The beauty of a Chinese Oak (Quercus Chinensis) at this 

 season of the year is worth noting. It is a tree from the north- 

 ern parts of China, which was introduced several years ago 

 by Dr. Bretschneider into the Arnold Arboretum, where it is 

 perfectly hardy and is growing rapidly. The leaves at this season 

 of the year turn bright canary yellow, like those of some 

 Hickories and some individual Sugar Maples — an autumn 

 color entirely unlike that assumed by any of our native Oaks. 



In a conversation with a reporter of the New York Tribune, 

 Mr. Charles A. Dana, who has just returned from a trip through 

 south-eastern Europe, said that one of the things which had 

 struck him most forcibly was the great extent of the cultiva- 

 tion of Indian Corn in Hungary, Roumania, Bulgaria — in 

 short, with the exception of Greece, throughout south-eastern 

 Europe; he had never seen in the western states of our coun- 



trysuch immensefieldsof Cornasin thesecountries. " I should 

 say, in fact, that in a continuous journey of 600 or 700 miles we 

 saw nothing else except as a mere incident. The Corn makes 

 the great mass of agricultural industry." 



It would be difficult to name a shrub whose foliage turns to 

 more brilliant colors in autumn than the Swamp Blueberry — 

 Vaccinium coryihbosuni. It has the merit, too, of retaining its 

 rich colors for a much longer period than most other trees 

 and shrubs. It is still attractive, although it began to turn 

 more than a month ago. Rhus copallina is another native 

 shrub whose leaves remain a deep crimson for four or five 

 weeks. This persistence of autumn color, as well as its bril- 

 liancy, should be taken into account when the comparative 

 value of ornamental trees and shrubs is estimated. 



Foreign journals are never tired of recounting the strange 

 freaks of taste to which they suppose the American public 

 gives way. The last report of this kind comes in a recent 

 number of the Illusirirte Gartenzeitung, of Vienna, where we 

 are told that "stewed Lilies" are now a recognized article of 

 diet in this country, and that a favorite delicacy is "Rose 

 cake," in which layers of cake alternate with layers of stewed 

 fruit and of Rose-petals. It is furthermore said that American 

 ladies are in the habit of administering to themselves hypo- 

 dermic injections of perfume, and of varying the essence 

 chosen so that their morning differs from their evening odor ! 



The paper contributed by Dr. M. T. Masters upon the com- 

 parative morphology, anatomyand life history of the Conif era to 

 the Journal of the Linncean Society has now been issued sepa- 

 rately. This is a most important contribution to our knowl- 

 edge of the cone-bearing trees, and is the result of personal 

 observation and research carried on by the author during 

 many years. The object of the investigation, he tells us, "has 

 been to gain a general and comparative view of the external 

 morphology of the whole order, to ascertain so far as possible 

 the causes and conditions inducing the development of par- 

 ticular forms or modes of growth, and to inquire into the pur- 

 poses of the numerous variations and presumed adaptations." 



Mr. E. P. Powell writes from Clinton, New York, under date 

 of November 1st: "I have to-day picked from a Mazzard 

 Cherry-tree good, sound, delicious cherries, grown in my gar- 

 den. The tree was covered, just after the cherries began to 

 color, with mosquito netting to keep off the robins. Hereto- 

 fore 1 have finished my cherries a good deal earlier ; but 

 having five trees covered, saved one to find out how long the 

 fruit could be preserved. The cherry will hang in good con- 

 dition all summer on the trees, and be fit for use till October, 

 or, as I have now proven, till November. There will be 

 some rotting after September. The fruit is to me so fine 

 and wholesome I am willing to be at some cost to have it for 

 five months." 



Mr. James Mooney, who devoted much time to studying the 

 Cherokee Indians, says that the aggregate botanical knowledge 

 of their doctors embraces about 800 species of plants, although 

 no one doctor knows the names of more than 300 species. As 

 many as 2,000 species flourish in the regions of western North 

 Carolina where the Cherokees have dwelt, but they have no 

 names for even the most conspicuous flowers unless the plants 

 are used as food or medicine; and Mr. Mooney concluded that 

 they had no appreciation for beauty or fragrance as such. 

 Nevertheless they must appreciate some of the qualities of 

 plants in a semi-poetic, semi-superstitious way, for we are told 

 that part of the ball-players' training is to assimilate the 

 strength of Iron-wood, the toughness of the roots of Tephrosia 

 Virginiana and the persistent erectness of a Rush by bathing 

 themselves in decoctions made from these plants. 



About thirty persons responded to the invitation extended 

 by the State Forest-Commission to members of clubs and 

 other associations owning land in the Adirondack region to 

 meet them at an informal conference upon matters relating to 

 the establishment of the proposed Adirondack forest-park. 

 All who spoke considered the establishment of such 

 a park desirable, and most of them agreed that the first 

 object should be the protection of the sources of the Hudson 

 River and other streams which rise in the mountain forests. 

 The value of the wilderness as a sanitarium, as a place for 

 summer rest and recreation, as a hunting ground and a pre- 

 serve for fish and game, was also recognized. Another con- 

 ference will be held at the office of Mr. Knevals, 32 Nassau 

 Street, in this city, on November 19th at eleven o'clock in 

 order to obtain further expression of opinion as to the best 

 location of the park, its extent, the most feasible method of 

 obtaining the land required, and what should be done in rela- 

 tion to the area owned by clubs and other large holders. 



