February 6, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



71 



is either a low slirub, or a climber by rootlets over rocks and 

 ascending trees, but withi always entire leaves, is either not 

 poisonous or else little virulent. The knowing this distinc- 

 tion in properties and this relation of forms may bring com- 

 fort to those who would otherwise live in a condition of 

 timidity. 



Along the shores of Buzzard's Bay R. radicans is excessively 

 abundant. At Nonquitt it forms dense, low thickets about a 

 tennis-court, occurs in the scrub growth about the cottages, 

 along various paths frequented by nurses and children, about 

 the play-grounds along the shore, and in the woods, climbing 

 trees to a height of many feet, and with a stem of over an inch 

 in thickness. In playing tennis the balls often fall amidst its 

 growth, and are recovered by ladies and children indiscrimi- 

 nately, but I have yet to learn of a case of poisoning. The 

 children ramble at all times amidst its growth, and remain 

 unpoisoned. Those who are especially subject to Ivy poison- 

 ing in regions where R. Toxicodendron is the leading form, 

 at Nonquitt last summer escaped poisoning altogether, 

 although often fearful on recognizing contact with the di"eaded 

 plant. 



Although perhaps the specific differences, as usually consid- 

 ered by botanists, are scarcely sufficient to separate these two 

 forms (although I have noted no intermediate or connecting 

 forms), yet this one difference in quality (or quantity ?) would 

 render it desirable to recognize in our manuals and local 

 floras these two forms as if distinct. 



South Framingham, Mass. E. Lewis Sturtevant. 



"When to Employ the Landscape-Gardener. " 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — May I add a postscript to your recent editorial ? It is 

 not long since the American public first began to give 

 thought and money to securing well-designed houses. We 

 had first to realize that our dwellings were not what they 

 might be, and, secondly, to learn that if we would do better 

 we must ask the help of men specially trained to design hap- 

 pily and to build well. As respects the surroundings of our 

 houses, even most of us who have employed architects are 

 still in the first or unawakened stage. We simply have not 

 perceived that our surroundings might be pleasanter or more 

 in keeping with our abode. While we spend freely to fill the 

 house with things of beauty, we probably leave the spaces 

 round about it wholly bare, or if we attempt something better 

 than nakedness, we do so without thought of general effect — 

 without regard to any such principles of design as guided the 

 architect in his shapmg of the house. Not until we come to 

 see that the surroundings of the house as well as the house 

 itself should be designed — that house, approaches and sur- 

 roundings should be planned together — shall we be likely to 

 call upon the landscape-gardener. 



Boston. Charles Ehot. 



Recent Plant Portraits. 



PSEUDOPHCENix Sargenti, Reviie Horticole, December i6th; 

 a reproduction of the figures published in Garden and 

 Forest, vol. i., pp. 353 and 355. 



Rodriguezia fragrans. Gardeners' Chronicle, December 

 29th. "This Brazilian Orchid is an old inmate of our Orchid- 

 houses, and best known under the name of Burlingtonia fra- 

 grans. Its delightfully fragrant white flowers, with yellow 

 centres, are grateful everywhere, but from the neat habit of 

 the plant it is especially acceptable in collections where the 

 space is limited and the house is small. Like the rest of the 

 genus, it thrives best and is safest in baskets suspended near 

 the glass of the roof, and after the pseudo-bulbs are fully ma- 

 tured it should be carefully but sparingly watered, sufficient 

 only being given to keep it plump and healthy. During its 

 inactive season, a place near a ventilator in the Cattleya-house, 

 in which it is growing, or in some other part of the house, 

 where there is a good air, not too heavily charged with 

 moisture, assists in ripening its growth." 



Symphyandra Hoffmanni, Gardeners' Chronicle, December 

 29th ; a native of Bosnia, where it was discovered in 1883 ; a 

 free-blooming, hardy plant of the Campanula family, with 

 white flowers, and well worth a place in the garden. The figure 

 is from a plant which flowered for the first fime in England in 

 the Royal Gardens at Kevv. 



PiNUS Coulteri, Gardeners' Chronicle, December 29th. 



EcHiNOCACTUS Texensis, Gartenflora, December ist. 



Zygopetalum Sanderianum, Gartenflora, December 15th. 



Cattleya R(S.zi.ii, Revue Horticole, December 16th. 



Public Works. 



The Legislature of Minnesota having been petitioned to set 

 aside a certain piece of ground for the purposes of a state 

 park, the matter was referred to a committee consisfing of 

 Mr. H. W. S. Cleveland and Mr. J. D. Ludden. The following 

 is a brief abstract of the report, which will be read with inter- 

 est by all persons who look upon the preservation of natural 

 scenery as a matter of real public importance : 



After careful examination of the subject and consideration 

 of future issues and interests involved, we have arrived at 

 conclusions which can only be appreciated by a statement of 

 the conditions which have led to the result. The Mississippi 

 River, between St. Anthony Falls and the mouth of the Min- 

 nesota River, flows between high and precipitous banks, 

 which are intersected at irregular intervals by deep transverse 

 ravines, forming the beds of brooks. The largest of these is the 

 valley of the Minnehaha, which is the outlet of the chain of lakes 

 of which Minnetonka is the head. The others are simply the 

 water-sheds of adjacent uplands. The character of the whole 

 region is picturesque, and the effect of its topography is in- 

 creased by a luxuriant growth of trees. It is yet possible to 

 preserve nearly the whole of this historic region, and we ap- 

 peal to the state of Minnesota, for its own honor and its own 

 interest, to follow the example of the state of New York in the 

 preservation of the Adirondacks and Niagara Falls, and to 

 secure the whole area to be forever preserved. We ask that 

 an area on the east side of the river extending from the 

 grounds of the State University, or as near that point as possi- 

 ble, to a point opposite the lower end of Pike Island, and on 

 the west side, from Riverside Park to the military reservation 

 at Fort Snelling, and of such width on each side as will in- 

 clude the natural features of the banks and ravines, be secured 

 as the property of the state, and that the whole intermediate 

 space, including the river and its islands, shall thenceforth be 

 preserved as public domain, connecting, as it necessarily and 

 appropriately would, with the park systems of St. Paul and 

 Minneapolis, and forming in itself a park of such unique char- 

 acter, comprising such features of grand and picturesque nat- 

 ural scenery as could nowhere else be rivaled. A broad 

 avenue should extend for the whole length of each tract on 

 the side farthest from the river, and the cost of these avenues, 

 as well as the improvement of the park itself by diverging 

 roads or paths to points of interest, should devolve upon the 

 cities to which they respectively pertain. 



The Park Board of this city passed a resolution at a recent 

 meeting to set apart, in one of the new parks, sufficient 

 ground for a botanical garden, if the friends of that enterprise 

 should raise an adequate amount of money for its endowment 

 within a period of two years. It is said that the Park Com- 

 missioners have good reason to hope that public spirited citi- 

 zens stand ready to contribute the necessary funds if the gar- 

 den can be established under an administration similar to that 

 of the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Art. 



Notes. 



The ninth edition of Mr. William Paul's well-known book on 

 Rose-culture — " The Rose Garden " — has just been published 

 in London. 



Mr. E. S. Goff, horticulturist of the New York Experiment 

 Station, has accepted the professorship of horticulture in the 

 University of Wisconsin. 



The average number of persons who have visited the Mu- 

 seuni of Natural History in this city on the evenings when it 

 has been open has exceeded 1,000. 



Iris reticulata is now being forced near New York for the 

 Easter trade. There is no reason why it should not be a suc- 

 cess, though its capabilities in this direction are as yet un- 

 tested. 



A species of Phylloxera has been injuring Pecan trees in 

 Mississippi. Dr. Riley has not identified it with any known 

 species, but it is closely allied to a Hickory plant-louse named 

 by Dr. Fitch Phylloxera carycecaulis. 



Of the newer grapes, Moore's Diamond was commended 

 at the late meeting of the Western New York Horticultural 

 Society for vigor of vine, productiveness, good quality and 

 earliness. The Moyer and the Mills were highly spoken of. 



A new white Rose is The Queen, a sport from Souvenir d'Un 

 Ami. It will hardly supplant The Bride and Niphetos, in the 

 trade at least. Apart from its fragrance it will not compete 

 with The Bride, which many growers declare their most profit- 

 able Rose. 



