February 27, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



97 



GARDEN AND FOREST. 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



THE GARDEN AND FOREST PUBLISHING CO. 



Office : Tribune Building, New York. 



Conducted by Professor C. S. Sargent. 



ENTERED AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER AT THE POST OFFICE AT NEW YORK, N. Y. 



NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1889. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 



Editorial Articles : — Forest Lands of New York. — Extension of the Park 

 System of Minneapolis and St. Paul— Mr. Schurz's View of our 



Forestry Problem. — Preservation of Casa Grande 97 



The Ten-ace Garden at Wellesley (with illustration) 98 



Sweet Cassava in Florida .A. H. Curtiss. 99 



Foreign Correspondence : — London Letter W. Watson. 100 



New or Little Known Plants :— Japanese Chrysanthemum — Medusa (with 



illustration) C 5. 6^ 100 



Cultural Department: — Green-house Plants. — I. Correas W. Watson. loi 



Roses. — Shallow Benches or Solid Beds for Forcing Roses W. 102 



Shrubby Begonias John Thorpe. 102 



Orchid Notes F. Goldring, A. Dimmock. 103 



Some Choice Narcissus E.O. Orfiet. 104 



Principles of Physiological Botany. IX Professor George Lincoln Goodale. 104 



The Forest: — The Forests of Michigan 105 



Correspondence : — Forest Changes in Rhode Island Henry H. Northrop. 105 



Recent Publications 106 



Periodical Literature 107 



Notes 108 



Illustrations :— Japanese Chrysanthemum — Medusa. Fig. 97 loi 



The Terrace Garden at Wellesley 103 



State Forest-lands of New York. 



THE Annuat Report of the New York Forest Commis- 

 sion for the year ending September 30th, 1888, 

 recommends legislative action to exclude railroads from 

 state-lands, to enable the state to acquire forest-lands by 

 purchase, and to encourage a system of tree planting and 

 forest culture. The proposal that all building of railways 

 on state-lands within the forest-preserve shall be prohibited, 

 and all existing laws permitting state-land to be taken as a 

 right of way for railroads shall be repealed, is entirely 

 judicious, and its practical bearings are important. There 

 has been too much railroad building on the state forest- 

 lands already, and no more should be permitted. The 

 Commission recommends the appropriation from the state 

 treasury of a certain amount for the purchase by the Board 

 of Land Commissioners, upon the recommendation of the 

 Forest Commission, in the name of the state, of forest 

 or wild lands, at a price not to exceed one dollar and fifty 

 cents per acre, and in amount not to exceed in expenditure 

 the annual appropriation for such purchase. If the state 

 can acquire an absolute title to any considerable quantity 

 of land on these terms, and can take care of it afterwards 

 so that forest conditions shall be restored and maintained 

 upon it, this would be a step in the right direction. 



The Commission asks for an appropriation to encourage 

 and begin " a system of tree planting and forest culture," 

 and thinks a beginning could be made at a comparatively 

 small expense. Undoubtedly the beginning could be made 

 so small that it would cost very little, but if the system 

 were continued and extended it would probably be at once 

 the costliest and the most useless enterprise ever under- 

 taken by the state of New York. The scheme is a visionary 

 one, and the work which it proposes is unnecessary. If 

 the denuded tracts are protected from fire, from pasturage 

 and other injuries, nature will reclothe them with forests 

 much more rapidly than it can be done by tree planting 

 under the direction of the Forest Commission. The pro- 

 posal illustrates the need of some degree of special knowl- 

 edge and training in the management of forest interests of 

 such importance. An appropriation for such a purpose 



would not only be thrown away, but would tend to divert 

 attention from the real requirements of the Adirondack 

 region. 



The Commission also desires to obtain authority to lease 

 portions of the state-lands to individuals who wish to 

 appropriate to their own use and enjo3'ment pleasant sites 

 for residences on land which belongs to the state. This is 

 a mischievous proposition. No authority to lease the 

 state-lands for such purposes should be given to anybody. 

 Some arrangement for hotels and lodging-houses for shel- 

 tering the multitudes of people who use the region as a. 

 summer-resort is, of course, indispensable, but beyond 

 this there is no good reason for permitting residence on 

 the state-lands. If a few persons are to be admitted to 

 such residence, there is no sufficient ground for excluding 

 others, and in a few years the best portions of the forest- 

 region owned by the state will thus be wrongfully appro- 

 priated to private uses, and the value of the wilderness as 

 a sylvan resort and sanitarium will be seriously impaired. 

 No facilities should be granted for increasing the number 

 of residents on the property of the state. Those who are 

 there already, the "custodians" on the islands in Lake 

 George, and the squatters on sites along the shores of the 

 Adirondack lakes, should be required to vacate these 

 places at once, no matter how much wealth, or social and 

 political influence, they may be possessed of. 



A joint committee of the Board of Trade of Minneapolis 

 and the Chamber of Commerce of St. Paul recently adopted 

 a resolution, which they will present to the Legislature, 

 regarding the extension of the park systems of the sister 

 cities. It is proposed to form a great River Park extend- 

 ing for a considerable distance along both banks of the 

 Mississippi, and including the islands in its stream. The 

 idea is to take a strip of shore averaging some 300 feet 

 in width, but extending further inland at certain points 

 where ravines and water-courses occur ; to construct a 

 stately boulevard, on the inward side of which resi- 

 dences will be built, and to preserve all the land between 

 it and -the water as ornamental grounds. Boulevards 

 already exist on the St. Paul side, which would form a 

 continuation of the new one and unite it with the remain- 

 der of the park system of the town. The existing State 

 Park, on the Minneapolis side — which includes the Falls 

 of Minnehaha — and the Fort Snelling military reservation, 

 which may easily be opened to the public, can likewise be 

 connected with the new work. The boulevard can be so 

 disposed as to afford not only extensive views of the 

 river, but glimpses down its steep banks in certain spots; 

 and at the foot of these banks there are places which can 

 be effectively laid out, and sometimes even give room for 

 accessory drives, while their slopes are already beautifully 

 wooded with a variety of large trees. Mr. Cleveland has 

 sketched a plan to show what the general effect of the 

 scheme would be, and even from hearsay one can under- 

 stand why local journals predict in its accomplishment the 

 grandest park in the world. The wonderful beauty of the 

 Riverside Park, in New York, is too well known to be 

 insisted upon; and although the upper waters of the Missis- 

 sippi have not the grandeur, of course, of the Hudson near its 

 mouth, they are very beautiful, and a vast gain will spring 

 from the fact that not one side merely, but both, can be 

 utilized. Too many charming river-fronts have already 

 been sacrificed in America to the supposed needs of trade 

 or to mere shiftless neglect ; and it will be a serious mis- 

 take if the authorities of Minneapolis and St. Paul do not 

 preserve their own in the manner now suggested. As Mr. 

 Cleveland points out, the thing must be done now if it is 

 to be done at all. If time is lost, buildings will intrench 

 on the desired locality and the fine forests along the river 

 will be ruined past repair. These wooded tracts, as Mr. 

 Cleveland writes, instead of being the richest ornament, 

 will become the most unsightly portion of the suburbs, 

 " and future generations will only deplore the want of fore- 

 thoug-ht which mio:ht have saved without cost such featirres 



