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Garden and Forest. 



[April 17, 1889. 



time for the discussion of this topic in all its aspects and 

 relations. The press of the state, and of the country in 

 general, can render most vital aid in pressing- the matter 

 upon the attention of the Legislature and of the people. 



If the railroads which already penetrate the Adirondack 

 region are extended across state lands through the Forest 

 Preserve, nearly all the timber of the wilderness will be 

 made easily accessible, and can be readily conveyed to 

 market. It will be rapidly cut off, and as much of the soil 

 will be destroyed by repeated burning, the forest will not 

 be speedily reproduced, or only trees of very inferior 

 quality will grow. 



The people of the state should consider the subject intel- 

 ligently and fully before they decide to permit the railroads 

 to be extended across lands belonging to the state into 

 those portions of the forest which are at present inaccessi- 

 ble. The permanent value of the great waterways of the 

 state of New York depends in large measure upon the 

 maintenance of forest conditions on the mountain slopes 

 around the sources of streams and along their upper 

 course. The varied attractions arid interests of the region 

 as a sanitarium, as a place of resort for rest and recreation, 

 are all now menaced by the most serious danger which 

 has ever threatened them. If the railroads are extended 

 the region will be robbed of all the features which now 

 make it of value to visitors and to the people of the state 

 in general, and its attractiveness cannot be restored until 

 centuries have passed away. It would be a most wise 

 and practical step forward — a real advance in civilization 

 — if the people should determine that the forests of the 

 state lands shall be protected from further encroachment 

 and injury, and especially that right of way across them 

 shall not, under any circumstances, be granted to railroads. 



Easter Flowers. 



T7OR generations the white Lily has been the accepted sym- 

 -*- bol of innocence. Purity is expressed by its aspect more 

 plainly than any other quality is expressed by any other flower 

 — not the shrinking, timid kind of delicacy which avoids even 

 the gaze of criticising eyes, but the fearless dignity of an inno- 

 cence that is too well assured of its spotless strength to be 

 afraid of comment. References to the Lily as the type of inno- 

 cence are scattered thickly through mediasval as well as inod- 

 ern poetry, and the force of the association is well shown in a 

 belief which still persists in some of the rural districts of Ger- 

 many that if a person be unjustly executed Lilies will spring 

 up on his grave. It is easy to see, therefore, why the Lily, 

 usually conceived as our common garden species {Lilium can- 

 didum), became the most familiar attribute of the Virgin Mary. 

 Many other flowers were dedicated to her, and among them, 

 of course, the Rose. But the Lily, above all, is the Virgin's 

 flower. Very early pictures, like many of later date, portray 

 her with a vase of Lilies by her side. There are usually three 

 blossoms, each borne on a separate tall and slender stalk ; and 

 in the number we may divine, perhaps, a reference to the doc- 

 trine of the Trinity. The earliest pictures of the Annunciation 

 show the Angel Gabriel bearing either a sceptre or a branch of 

 Olive ; but a Lily-wand soon took their place in his hand, and 

 in the great period of the Renaissance, as well as in modern 

 times, it is rare to find him pictured in a different way. 



To-day in Protestant lands the Lily is chiefly associated with 

 the festival of Easter. But if we accept the evidence in popu- 

 lar works on flower-lore, its connection with this special festi- 

 val cannot be of very early date. Many flowers were recognized 

 as Easter flowers. Among them was the purple Anemone 

 {Anemone Pulsatilla), which thus gained the name of " Pasque- 

 flower, " the white Broom and all white blossoms in general, 

 and a so-called Easter-Lily or Lent Lily. But this last was not, 

 as many readers of English books have doubtless believed, 

 the common white Lily or, indeed, a Lily of any kind. It was 

 the common yellow Daffodil, which is still often called " Easter- 

 Lily " in England. 



Many local European customs which now have a Christian 

 significance, or are supposed to embalm such a significance 

 long-ago forgotten, are in truth survivals of old pagan rites 

 which incorporated themselves with the new faith in ancient 

 days — either with the discreet connivance or in despite of the 

 most conscientious efforts of the missionaries of Rome. Some 

 such customs are still connected with Easter-tide. In Bavaria 

 the peasants on Easter Day make garlands of Coltsfoot and 



throw them into the fire ; in the district of Lechrain (we read 

 in Dyer's "Folk-lore") a sacred fire is lighted at Easter and 

 every household brings to it a Walnut branch, " which, when 

 partially burned, is laid on the hearth fire during tempests as a 

 protection charm against lightning. ... In Bareuth young 

 girls go to a fountain silently, and, taking care to escape notice, 

 throw into the water little Willow rings with their friends' 

 names inscribed thereon ; the person whose ring sinks quick- 

 est being the first to die." 



Of course such customs as these have no existence in our 

 country ; but the use of flowers at Easter to decorate the 

 church, to prove remembrance at the grave, and even to serve 

 as gifts to living friends, is yearly becoming more general. 

 There is no anniversary, indeed, when the use of flowers 

 seems so appropriate as at Easter. Their blooming presence 

 typifies the new birth of the year, and this in its turn the resur- 

 recdon of Christ. Many flowers are employed in America for 

 Easter purposes, but white ones chiefly, and, more than all, 

 the white Lilies ; and it is not strange, therefore, that the old 

 name of "Easter-Lily," so long appropriated by the yellow 

 Daffodil, should now be given to these flowers. 



To Make a Lawn. 



A SWARD thickly and evenly set with the finer grasses, 

 -^^"^ cropped or cut so close as to reveal every undulation in 

 the surface of the land and so smooth and even that the sha- 

 dows of trees and shrubs as they rest upon it are clearly out- 

 lined — this is the foundation element of beauty in home 

 grounds where grass will thrive. The lack of green sward is 

 one of the most serious difficulties encountered by the land- 

 scape-gardener in regions like CaHfornia, where there is a dry 

 season, and in the South, where the grasses are coarse and 

 rank. Even in the most favored parts of the United States 

 our hot summers too often leave a lawn scorched brown, as if 

 it had been burned over. Grass must have moist feeding- 

 ground, and this means a deep and fertile soil. Good drainage 

 is, therefore, essential, as it keeps the land from saturation in 

 wet weather, and hard baking when the rains cease, and in 

 place of these extremes preserves the moist condition most 

 favorable for roots. Good drainage insures for roots more 

 feeding room and more food. It allows air to penetrate the 

 soil and makes it warmer, encourages the grass to an earlier 

 start in spring, helps it to grow later in autumn and lessens 

 the danger of heaving by frost. 



Deep trenching is too expensive for large lawns, but at the 

 outset they should be deeply tilled, with fine, well-rotted stable 

 manure thoroughly incorporated with the soil ; on land of 

 ordinary fertility forty or fifty loads to the acre are recom- 

 mended. If this is done in spring the land should be deeply 

 harrowed, over and over, not only to make a fine seed-bed but 

 to compact the soil, which has not had time to settle, and bring 

 the particles closely and firmly together. After thorough 

 harrowing the surface should be rolled and again lightly har- 

 rowed, when the seed can be sown, brushed in and rolled 

 agairi. This is best done in April in this lafltude, although 

 seed can be successfully sown in early September if season- 

 able rains follow. 



For a small lawn, it is preferable to use sod from an old pas- 

 ture. These sods will contain the most persistent and finest 

 grasses, which have survived the trampling of sheep and cat- 

 tle and developed under close cropping into just such a turf 

 as is desired. Sodding is too expensive, however, for lawns 

 of any extent, and if seed is sown the best and purest should 

 be selected. The so-called "lawn mixtures" cannot be recom- 

 mended. Professor Beal, of the Michigan Agricultural College, 

 published a few years ago the results of a careful analysis of 

 several of these mixtures. In the best of them the great bulk 

 of the seeds were of Blue Grass and Red Top, but they cost in 

 the mixture two or three times as much as when purchased 

 alone. Some of these mixtures, besides the seed of weeds, 

 contained the seeds of Orchard Grass, which is coarse and 

 bunchy; Perennial Rye Grass, which takes the best food of the 

 soil for a few years and then dies out ; Sheep's Fescue and 

 Hard Fescue, which grow in tufts ; Red and Pea-vine Clover, 

 which are coarse and short-lived ; Italian Rye Grass, which 

 will perish the first winter ; Hair Grass, which is a feeble 

 grower, and other varieties altogether unsuitable for the lawn. 

 Manufacturers of standard fertilizers give a guaranteed analysis 

 of the amounts of the different elements of plant-food they 

 contain. Until the venders of Lawn Grass mixtures give the 

 same guarantee of the composition of their wares, buyers have 

 no means of knowing what kind of seed they will sow or what 

 prices they pay for each kind. 



Kentucky Blue Grass {Poa pratensis) is one of the most 

 common grasses in the north temperate zone, and its spread- 



