January i6, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



35 



Periodical Literature. 



A pleasing article on "Shakespeare's Trees," by Mr. Arthur 

 Gave, may be read in the Gentleman' s Magazine for December. 

 Knowing how rich are the great poet's plays in allusions to 

 flowers, it is somewhat of a surprise to find that he paid much 

 scantier attention to trees. But, in the author's words, "though 

 it would not be right to say that his ' tongues in trees ' are 

 among the most important, or even the most discriminating 

 of his utterances, yet, regarded as 2i par ergon, as so much ex- 

 tra matter ' thrown in ' where there was already an infinity of 

 subjects treated, they are deserving of notice and often of ad- 

 miration." As we naturally expect, the Oak stands first on the 

 list of native trees which Shakespeare celebrated, and is often 

 referred to in a way which showed that he had a keen sense 

 for its distinctive peculiarities of form, as well as a knowledge 

 of the exceptional strength and toughness of its wood. But to 

 the Elm, almost as conspicuous a tree in Britain as the Oak, 

 "Shakespeare has not done justice." He mentions it only 

 twice, and in both cases, oddly enough, in figures of speech 

 which contrast its sturdiness with the clinging habits of the Ivy. 

 And "for the Beeches, which share with the Oaks the chief 

 forest honors of the land, he has no word of admiration or 

 even of recognition. They are utterly ignored"; and this 

 although " the tree lends itself with such facility to poetical 

 language and from the days of sub tegmine fagi has always 

 been in request," and although Shakespeare " must often have 

 traversed Buckinghamshire, with its far-stretching beechen 

 groves." The Ash is perhaps the fourth tree in importance 

 on English soil ; yet the Ash, too, is ignored by the poet, who 

 makes use of the word but once, and then to denote a spear. 

 So, also, with the Birch. Its name also comes only once, and 

 then to figure a switch ! 



On the other hand, we find, with perhaps as much surprise, 

 the Cedar of Lebanon, no living specimen of which existed in 

 England in Shakespeare's day, is frequently referred to in his 

 plays, not merely as a symbol of pride and beauty, but in de- 

 scriptions which would lead us to imagine that it was a famil- 

 iar object to his eyes. The Pine he often mentions, and the 

 Yew, the Cypress and the Willow, while the Sycamore (by 

 which we must understand the Sycamore Maple) comes in for 

 an almost undue share of his attention. The same is the case 

 with the Elder, which he mentions seven or eight times. The 

 Olive, Laurel and Bay appear of course — how could a poet do 

 without them ? — and the Hawthorne, the Crab-tree, the Box- 

 tree, the Holly and the Hazle, while the Alder is not men- 

 tioned and the Lime or Linden only once. The most charm- 

 ing part of Mr. Gaye's little essay is perhaps the first page, 

 where he pays a graceful tribute to the Autocrat of the Break- 

 fast Table, recalls his " rapturous love of trees," and regrets 

 that we have never had from his hand a chapter on Shake- 

 sperian dendrology. 



In the Nineteenth Century ior December we find a sensible 

 and interesting chapter on "The Fruit-growing Revival " in 

 England, by Mr. Frank A. Morgan, editor of the Horticultural 

 Times. Mr. Morgan does not give way to the exuberant 

 prophecies which some writers, taking up Mr. Gladstone's 

 now famous piece of advice, have voiced with regard to fruit 

 growing as a panacea for all the agricultural woes of England; 

 but neither does he take the pessimistic, discouraging tone 

 which others have adopted in consequence of the many fail- 

 ures which have followed upon first attempts in a new direc- 

 tion. Having studied the matter carefully and intelligently, 

 he decides that the industry is rapidly developing, that probably 

 the next fiveyears will see an enormous increase in the present 

 area of orchard land; and that so long as ;^8,ooo,ooo sterling are 

 annually paid to foreigners for fruit and garden produce, there 

 is no real ground for any apprehension of overproduction. 

 But, he adds, while " it will pay to grow good produce, it will 

 not pay to raise common goods. . . . The causes of fail- 

 ure in fruit growing may be summed up in two words— ignor- 

 ance and indolence. It is practically impossible to find an 

 experienced and energetic fruit grower assert that he cannot 

 make a living." Taking up the various kinds of fruit in turn, 

 he gives sensible advice with regard to them, insisting, espe- 

 cially, that only a very few varieties — and those the very best — 

 of each kind should be grown. But the most interesting part 

 of his article to American readers is where he insists that the 

 , best English fruit is better than the best imported kinds, and 

 that tradesmen, as well as the public, are well aware of the 

 fact. " Who," he asks, " would buy a pound of Newtown Pip- 

 pins (the best imported apple), when he can obtain the lus- 

 cious Cox's Orange Pippin, or who would eat a Baldwin when 

 a Blenheim Orange apple is available ? The English fruit- 



erers — not a class given to sentiment — are so conscious of 

 this fact, that in London, at the present moment, nearly every 

 American apple sold is labeled 'Choice English Fruit.' So 

 with grapes, pears, plums, tomatoes, and even with walnuts 

 and other kinds of nuts. . . . The buyers for the foreign 

 restaurants . . . are as eager as other purchasers to 

 obtain English fruit, and pay for it a much higher price than 

 for foreign produce. The reason for this superiority of home 

 grown produce I attribute to the fact that, though our climate 

 is proverbially fickle, it is, on the whole, more equable, and 

 the season is more prolonged, than that of foreign countries. 

 Though, to use an old English proverb, ' We get our sun by 

 installments,' old Sol lingers with us long enough to slowly, 

 but surely, ripen our fruit ; and it is this prolongation of sun 

 heat that seems to render our English out-door fruit so full of 

 rich juices— the very point in which the imported fruit is lack- 

 ing." Those who have eaten American fruit in America and 

 English fruit in England may not agree with Mr. Morgan in 

 his conclusions. But the facts he gives are undoubtedly trust- 

 worthy, and if his anticipations with regard to the prospects 

 of fruit culture in England are equally so, American producers 

 may well fear some diminution in their export trade. The 

 chief obstacle to the industry he finds in a fact which has no 

 parallel with us and which may prove very difficult to over- 

 come. Few English horticulturists are able to own their own 

 land; few landlords are willing to cut up their large existing 

 farms into the smaller holdings more suitable for fruit culture, 

 or to rent them on long leases, with satisfactory guarantee 

 against ultimate loss to the tenant on the orchards he may 

 plant; and, meanwhile, men are naturally averse to putting 

 their money permanently into ground which they hold on 

 year-to-year leases, without any pledge securing its return to 

 them in case of dispossession. 



Notes. 



M. Paillet, in Revue Horticole, finds saddle-grafting the most 

 desirable with Rhododendrons. 



Fifty-five distinct varieties of Pansies were shown not long 

 ago at a meeting of the Wisconsin Horticultural Society by a 

 single exhibitor — Mr. William Toole. 



No less than 2,000 species of flowering plants have been col- 

 lected at Mount Bair, Tonkin, by M. Balansa, a French ex- 

 plorer. Numerous species of Oak aboimd in the forests. 



Near Philadelphia, on the 8th of January, fully-expanded 

 blossoms were quite abundant on a Jasminiutn nudiflorum, 

 which stands fully exposed towards the north and west, and 

 buds were opening on a Japan Quince in a sheltered position 

 near by. 



M. Andre, commenting in the Revue Horticole upon the 

 reprint of a catalogue publislied in 1790 by a French nursery- 

 gardener, finds the fact interesting, that among the thirty varie- 

 ties of Peach and sixty-one of Pear are fountl all the best and 

 most popular varieties cultivated to-day, with the exception of 

 those of American origin. 



The Revue Horticole records the fact that a Nectarine tree at 

 Montrouge, near Paris, bore the past season a crop of Peaches, 

 but no Nectarines. This is not the first time that this has been 

 observed, and it is not imusual to find an occasional Peach 

 among Nectarines, a fact which seems to point pretty clearly 

 to the varietal origin of this fruit. 



Mr. T. S. Brandegee left San Francisco on the 3d instant for 

 Magdalena Bay for the purpose of exploring the botany of 

 Lower California. The plants of this whole region are as little 

 known as those of any part of the North American Continent, 

 and large collections and important results may be expected 

 from Mr. Brandegee's investigation. 



The Messrs. Veitch have imported from a French nursery- 

 man specimens of a red-fruited Ivy, to which the name Hedera 

 aurentiaca has been given! No fruit has yet been perfected on 

 English soil, but, as a local journal says, if the variety fruits 

 prolifically and is good in other respects, it should prove a 

 welcome addition to the list of ornamental evergreen plants. 



The cultivation of Pampas grass seems to be spreading in 

 California. Formerly the only place where it was grown was 

 Santa Barbara, but now large plantations may be found in 

 many other neighborhoods. As the grass needs no treatment 

 after cutting, but to be dried in the sun for a few days, the cost 

 of harvesting is small and the profits proportionately large. 

 A California journal declares that an acre of land will yield 

 $250 worth of plumes. 



