May 22, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



251 



had copied for the Society many years ago, from the orig-inal 

 in the Bodleian Library, at Oxford, Mr. Williams discoiu-ses 

 not only on the language of the Indians, but also on their birds 

 and on the vegetable products of the soil, as well as on their 

 religion and traditions. 



In his introducdon to the work, he says : "It is famous that 

 the Sow-west (Sou-an-iu) is the great subject of their discourse.' 

 From thence their traditions. There they say (at the South- 

 west) is the Court of their Great God Kau-tan-tou-wit ; at the 

 Southwest are their Forefathers' soules ; to the Southwest they 

 go themselves when they dye; from the Southwest came their 

 Corne and Beanes out of their Great God Kau-tan-tou-wit's 

 field ; and indeed the further Northward and Westward from 

 us their Corne will not grow, but to the Southward better and 

 better."* 



Subsequently, when discoursing on the Birds or " Fowle," 

 Mr. Williams comes to the "Crow, Crowes," he observes that 

 " These birds, aUhough they doe the Corne also some hurt, yet 

 scarce will one native amongst a hiuidred kil them, because 

 they have a tradition that the Crow brought them at first an 

 Indian Graine of Corne in one eare, and an Indian or French 

 Beane in another, from the Great God Kau-tan-tou-wit's field in 

 the Southwest, from whence, they hold, came all their Corne 

 and Beanes." t 



The pre-historic traditions of the Narragansetts thus concur 

 with, and, as far as they have authority, confirm, the conclu- 

 sions of Professor Wittmach and odiers from the discovery of 

 pre-historic Beans in pre-historic graves of Arizona and Peru. 



Providence. R. I. William D. Ely. 



Pearl River Nurseries. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — Few people of the thousands who daily cross the Hacken- 

 sack as it winds sluggishly through the salt marshes near 

 its mouth have any idea of the beauty of the valleys down 

 which this river and its affluents flow from the highlands in 

 which they take their rise. A few miles north of the line which 

 divides Rockland County, New York, from Bergen County, 

 New Jersey, on a long ridge which separates the Valley of the 

 Hackensack from the Valley of the Pascack, or rather of a 

 rivulet which joins the Pascack a short distance below, are 

 located the Pearl River Nurseries. From the crest of Pearl 

 River Ridge the view across the broad valley to the east is 

 bounded by the Palisades, while to the west stretches a pros- 

 pect equally attractive across a country of glittering streams 

 and fertile farms and frequent woodlands, with the distant 

 Ramapo Mountains against the sky. It is a most attractive 

 location, where Mr. John Thorpe established himself rather 

 more than a year ago, but the nurseries belong rather to the 

 future than the present. Just now the active work of the place 

 is directed mainly to growing flowers for the market while the 

 preparations are in progress for the production of plants which 

 will in time be the principal business of the establishment. 



No man in the trade is more widely known or more gener- 

 ally respected for his skill and for his unselfish devotion to the 

 cause of horticulture than Mr. Thorpe. He was the founder 

 of the Society of American Florists, its first president, and con- 

 tmues to hold a most influential position in its councils. He 

 has been a most successful hybridizer, having originated many 

 admirable Gladioli, some of the most popular Geraniums 

 in cultivation and such standard Carnations as Black Knight, 

 May Queen, Portia, Petunia, Rosalind, Charles Henderson and 

 E. G. Hill. He was conspicuous among those who helped to 

 bring the Chrysanthemum into the public favor it now enjoys 

 in this coimtry, and he originated such notable varieties as 

 Jennie Y. Murkland, Wm. Elliott, Sam Henshaw, Mrs. J. H. 

 Spaulding, Thorpe Jr., Mrs. Charles Pratt, Mrs. R. Brett and 

 many more besides the famous Mrs. Carnegie. I found Mr. 

 Thorpe making large preparations for the summer flower trade 

 in New York. He says that, in spite of the great simimer exodus 

 to the country, there remains an immense flower-buying pop- 

 ulation in your city. These are not the wealthy society people, 

 and they do not buy flowers because it is the fashion. They 

 are men and women in comfortable circumstances who 

 buy flowers because they love antl enjoy them. They 

 spend about the same amount of money for them in one 

 season as in another, and in the summer they buy a great 

 many more because flowers are cheaper. Formerly the 

 great wholesale and commission flower-dealers closed tlieir 

 places in summer, but now the shops are kept open ihe year 

 round. Mr. Thorpe added that sinnmer buyers liked variety, 

 and that he raised many kinds of flowers in aliundance now 

 which were scarcely known to the trade a few \'fc'ars ago. 



*R. I. Hist. Coll.. i., p. 21. 

 tR. I. Hist. Coll., i., pp. 85-6. 



Among such flowers he named Coreopsis lanceolaia, Gaillardias 

 and the smaller Sunflowers like Helianthus orgyalis and H. cu- 

 cwner if alius. 



To meet this summer demand Mr. Tliorpe has planted 2,500 

 ruiming feet of Sweet Peas, 60,000 Asters, Ijesides Mignonette, 

 Dahlias, double and single, Corn-flower, Hydrangeas, Lilies, 

 Calendulas, Stocks and many other kinds in similar abundance. 

 He will have 20,000 Chrysanthemums for early winter, includ- 

 ing 500 plants of Mrs. Carnegie. I was curious enough to in- 

 quire which varieties of Chrysanthemums he considered the 

 best for cut flowers, and he replied that his list was compara- 

 tively brief. A Chrysanthemum to be profitable in this direc- 

 tion must, in the first i:)lace, be of a clear and desirable color, 

 then it must be a good shipper — that is, it must be able to endure 

 the rough handling of expressmen without becoming bruised 

 and disheveled ; and lastly, it must wear well— that is, hold its 

 form and color well after it reaches the wearer. His list of 

 the varieties, combining in the highest degree these good 

 qualities, would be something like this : For yellow flowers — 

 Golden Desgranges, first early; Gloriosum, early; President 

 Hyde, medium, and Grandiflorum (a splendid shipper), late. 

 For white flowers — Desgranges, Robert Bottomly, Blanche 

 Neige and Puritan, named in order of earliness. Lilac or pink — 

 La Triomphante, M. Boyer and Troubadour, and to these Mrs. 

 Fottler would probably be added another year, since it is a most 

 promising flower. Crimson — Thibaut and Keleleer and Cul- 

 lingfordii. Bronze — Compte de Germiny, Val d'Andon-e and 

 G. F. Moseman. 



Of the flowers now going to market I was especially struck 

 with the Gladioli, which were really better tlian they can be 

 grown in the open air. The varieties which Mr. Thorpe uses 

 most freely for forcing are Shakespeare, Rortiulus, John Bull, 

 Eugene Scribe and Brenchleyensis. The La France Roses 

 were remarkably good, but what particularly struck me was a 

 row of Niphctos Roses extending along the entire length of one 

 side of a house some 125 feet long. These were grafted on 

 seventeen strong plants of Marechal Neil four years ago, and 

 they sliowed remarkable vigor. From these seventeen plants 

 16,000 Roses had been cut since October. They were l)earing 

 abundantly still, and Mr. Thorpe assures me that they are 

 never without flowers. I noticed a distinct blush shading in 

 the buds that is unusual in Niphetos, and thicker petals with 

 a firmer texture than belongs naturally to these flowers, and 

 readily agreed with the suggestion of Mr. Thorpe, that these 

 variations can be attributed to the influence of the stock, which 

 is much more vigorous than the Niphetos, which is naturally 

 a weak grower. 



A house full of Peach trees was an interesting sight, although 

 from the Early Alexander trees — more than half the entire 

 number — the fruit had already been gathered. The trees of 

 Hale's Early still bore many Peaches. The ripe ones are sent 

 to market every day, and have brought during the season from 

 eight to twelve dollars a dozen. The trees are only two years 

 old from the bud, and they are planted in boxes a foot wide, a 

 foot deep and four feet and a half long. Four trees are in each 

 box, and a man at each end- can easily cany them out to a 

 stone-boat, so that a horse can draw them to their out-door 

 quarters. These boxes are now arranged across the middle 

 space of the house, and are l>ut little more than a foot apart, so 

 that about 200 trees can stand in a house 100 feet long. When 

 first brought in they might stand much closer, if necessary; but 

 early in the winter the cool temperature of this house makes 

 the space between the boxes available for growing Narcissus, 

 and after the bulbs have flowered the space is again used to 

 force Astilbe for Easter. During the summer the house will be 

 used for growing Chrysanthemums. The Peach-trees show 

 wonderful vigor, which Mr. Thorpe largely attributes to bone- 

 dust and hard-wood ashes in the soil and waterings with liquid 

 manure. 



But amid all this diversity of occupation and the preparation 

 for forcing vegetables as well as fruits and flowers, Mr. Thorpe 

 has not neglected his experiments in cross-fertilization, and lie 

 now has some 800 seedling Chrysanthemums from special 

 crosses — that is, from seed in which the parent plants have 

 been selected for some special excellence. Ninety-nine out of 

 every hundred will probably prove of no commercial value, 

 but iMr. Thorpe's experience is that good varieties do not come 

 by chance. His greatest successes have been those which 

 came from a long and careful series of trials to ascertain the 

 qualities likely to be transmitted byagiven strain oraparticular 

 cross. Here is a field in which knowledge is gained only by 

 years of patient application. The men who persevere in unre- 

 quited studies of this kind merit the gratitude of every one 

 interested in horticultural progress. 



Pearl River, N. Y. ■->• 



