December 3, 1890.J 



Garden and Forest. 



591 



poem called, for instance, "Under Green Apple-boughs" or 

 "By a Blue Summer Sea"? 



And this suggests the only fault \vc have to find with Mr. 

 Mabie himself as an exponent of New England charms. He 

 does not pay enough attention to the charms of her sea-coast. 

 It is delightful and beautiful enough in itself to deserve high 

 honor at the hands of any commentator, and its importance is 

 increased by the fact that these shores only on the whole long 

 reach of our Atlantic seaboard have real picturesqueness and 

 varied beauty. There is subject matter for a dozen essays in 

 the variety which they reveal, from the noble boldness of the 

 coast of Maine to the humble, green, mellow softness of Buz- 

 zard's Bay and the adjacent parts, where the breath of the Gulf 

 Stream transports us far enough away from all conventional 

 ideas of "stern and rock-bound coasts" and to the pastoral 

 charm of the broad reaches which face Long Island Sound. 

 May Mr. Mabie be moved by the spirit of these coasts to write 

 another essay wherein their moods and aspects shall be 

 chronicled ! 



Exhibitions. 



Autumn Flower Show of the United States 

 Nurseries. 



THE exhibition of flowers and plants which filled the im- 

 mense ground-area of Madison Square Garden last week 

 displayed in a remarkable manner the resources of a single 

 establishment. The transportation of the collection in covered 

 vans from Short Hills, New Jersey, where the United States 

 Nurseries are situated, is said to have cost Messrs. Pitcher & 

 Manda $2,000. The principal attractions were, of course, 

 Chrysanthemums and Orchids, but there were great numbers 

 of other green-house plants — Specimen Palms, Cycads and 

 Ferns, arranged in a most effective way, so that the Garden 

 from the upper galleries presented a striking picture. The 

 season was so well advanced that the great mass of Chrysanthe- 

 mums had passed their prime, but the late varieties were 

 fairly well represented. Fresh blooms every day took the 

 place of those that had faded, and many novelties were intro- 

 duced as the show went on. An immense flower of a new 

 seedling named The Tribune was not shown until Saturday, 

 and several others made their first appearance on the last day 

 of the show. The Tribune was grown in a five-inch pot, and 

 the flower, which is closely incurved andwhorled, is very deep 

 and substantial. The cut bloom exhibited was about seven 

 inches across and of a rather creamy white, with a few of the 

 very outer florets pink-tinted. Most of the novelties in Chry- 

 santhemums which originated this year at the United States 

 Nurseries have been described in previous numbers of this 

 journal. 



The strength of the display as a Chrysanthemum show was 

 in the massing of great numbers of plants, the different colors 

 being skillfully mingled in soft harmonies.^ A solid square of 

 rich red Cullingfordii and masses of the pure yellow of W. 

 H. Lincoln and Grandiflorum were the most conspicuous. 



In the very centre of the arena was a bank of Cypripediums 

 by the hundred, with well grown specimens of Adiantum Far- 

 leyense scattered among them, while behind them rose tall 

 Palms, and above them hung great numbers of epiphytal 

 Orchitis. The richness of this collection of Cypripediums will 

 be understood when it is known that on a stage not far away 

 there were 135 distinct varieties in bloom. 



At the eastern extremity of the display was a striking group 

 of fruit-plants, Bananas, Pineapples and other Bromeliads, 

 with Agaves and Cacti rising from a carpet of succulents. 

 Scattered among the collection and almost lost in the great 

 variety were many rare and interesting specimen plants. 

 Among these we may note Phoenix Roebelini, figured in Gar- 

 den and Forest for June 4th, 1890, and a wonderful specimen 

 of Zamia pungens, which was much admired. Among the best 

 Orchids were fine examples of the white Lycaste Skinneri, 

 Lalia Autumnalis alba, L. Eycrmanni, L. Gouldiana, L. Ar- 

 noldiana, Phajus Bluinei, Cypripedium Ashburtonicc expansion, 

 C. Harrisianum superbum, C. magniflorum, C. Afasereeliauu/n, 

 C. ScJiroderce, C. Leucorhodum, C. Tonsum superbum, C. car- 

 dinale and Charles Canham. Besides these there were many 

 such oddities as the Cocaine-plant, the Cinnamon-tree, the 

 Telegraph-plant and the Cayenne Pepper-plant. 



The exhibition was largely attended during the entire week, 

 and the question was often asked : "If a single firm can make 

 such a creditable display, why cannot the Horticultural Society 

 of New York have exhibitions which would be worthy of this 

 great city?" Flower lovers go from here to Philadelphia and 

 Boston to enjoy the displays there every spring and autumn. 



There is no lack of commercial growers in this neighborhood, 

 and there are admirable private collections, and yet but for 

 the enterprise of such firms as Pitcher & Manda and. Sicbrecht 

 & Wadley no flower show could be seen here from one year's 

 end to another. 



Notes. 



At the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania State Forestry 

 Association, held in Philadelphia last Friday evening, Rev. Dr. 

 J. P. Lundy was chosen President. Addresses were delivered 

 by Mr. B. E. Fernow, Chief of the Forestry Division of the 

 Department of Agriculture, Mr. Herbert Welsh and Mr. Bur- 

 net Landreth. 



Azalea Indica (Robert le Diable) is described by the Illus- 

 trirte Gartenzeitung, of Vienna, as a new variety, first exhib- 

 ited by Monsieur V. Cuvilier last April. It has "enormously 

 large single flowers, strikingly characterized by their rare 

 orange-cinnamon color, which is enhanced by a large black 

 spot, with metallic reflections, that covers more than half the 

 flower." 



If the accounts in Russian papers are true, horticultural 

 shows in St. Petersburg are not conducted on very scientific 

 principles. At an exhibition of orchard-fruit and flowers 

 which was held last October it is said that 500 prizes were dis- 

 tributed, one at least falling to almost every exhibitor; and one 

 man was rewarded for some fine apples which he confessed 

 to having bought on the market place, never having owned or 

 cultivated a garden in his life. 



Part of the money appropriated not long since for the 

 establishment of small parks in Brooklyn will be at once ex- 

 pended for a pleasure-ground in the Eighteenth Ward. It 

 will be bounded by Knickerbocker and Irving Avenues and 

 by Starr and Suydam Streets, and will contain 104 city lots, 

 measuring 25x100 feet, which will be paid for at the rate of 

 $1,000 a lot. It is proposed to call the spot " Stranahan Park " 

 as a merited compliment to the citizen who was chiefly instru- 

 mental in the establishment of Prospect Park some thirty years 

 ago. 



The International Exhibition, which is to be held in the 

 island of Jamaica, will open on January 27th, 1891. A horti- 

 cultural display will be among its chief features, and will 

 doubtless prove of great interest to northern botanists and 

 horticulturists. Persons desiring to exhibit in any department 

 should communicate with Mr. T. T. Stokes, of 44 Boylston 

 Street, Boston. Through the good offices of Mr.L. D. Baker, of 

 Jamaica, who is President of the Boston Fruit Company, it has 

 been arranged to transport free of charge all exhibits from the 

 New England States. 



The " Report on the Progress and Condition of the Botanic 

 Garden in Adelaide during 1889," recently published by Dr. R. 

 Schomburgk, the Director of the garden, says that South Aus- 

 tralia never had such favorable, abundant rains as during the 

 year in question. The Roses suffered, indeed, from excessive 

 moisture and then from excessive heat in the months of No- 

 vember and December, but the carpet-beds flourished won- 

 derfully. Among the plants which had promised well were 

 the new Japanese food-tuber, Slachys affinis .• the new Mexi- 

 can Vine, Vitis Mexicana J/ocin ,• Agave Sisalina, the plant 

 which furnishes Sisal-fibre, and Lathy rus silvestris. 



According to a correspondent of The Tribune the groves of 

 English Walnut, just coming into good bearing in Anaheim, 

 Los Angeles County, produce from $400 to $500 per acre. Only 

 twenty-seven trees are planted to an acre, but each tree will 

 yield $20 worth of nuts. Nineteen years ago Fresno County 

 was a desert. Wheat could not be raised even on the valley' 

 land, because of the excessive drought in summer. In 187 1 

 the first irrigating canal brought in 500 settlers. These have 

 now increased to 25,000 colonists, while land formerly held at 

 $2.50 per acre now commands from $50 to $500 an acre. The 

 county now has sixteen canal systems, 300,000 acres in grain, 

 20,000 in vineyards and 3,000 in orchards. 



An account of Rangemore Hall, near Burton-on-Trent, the 

 estate created by the famous brewer bass and now occupied 

 by his son, Lord Burton, was recently published in the Gar- 

 deners' Chronicle, and gives an idea of the extent of qiass 

 which may form a feature of a great English establishment. 

 The houses arc .all heated from one boiler-house, which is 

 sixty feet below the level of the gardens. Grapes are grown 

 in six houses, Peaches in seven, Figs in two, Cucumbers in 

 two, Strawberries in one, Tomatoes in one, and Melons in 

 two; those for flowers include one for Azaleas, one for Camellias, 



