May 29, i88g.] 



Garden and Forest. 



257 



of an Elm-tree in any parlicular ; and the name is a much 

 less appropriate one than T. cordala, Mcench (1785), or T. 

 parvi/olia, Erhanlt (1794), which is the best and the one 

 now most frequently used by botanists, although De 

 Candolle adopted for it Ventenat's name of 7! jnkropliylla, 

 which was not published until 1803. 



Fig. III. — Tilia ulmifolia, Scop. 



Tilia ulmifolia is the common Linden of northern Europe, 

 although it is found, apparently, all over the Continent, 

 especially at high elevations. In southern Italy, according 

 to BoUe, it is more common than T. platyphyllos. ' ' Both 

 species," he says, ' ' grow wild in the wooded regions of the 

 Apennines, and both are very commonly cultivated in the 

 Mediterranean countries. I must be pardoned for disagree- 

 ing with Karl Koch when he says ' this tree never grows 

 so old or so large as T. vulgaris or T. platyphyllos,' now that 

 I have seen the beautiful great Lindens at Paelitzaerder on 

 the Paarstein Lake at Uckermark. There enormous trees, 

 which all belong to T. ulmifolia, are scattered in isolated 

 specimens over the whole island and shade the ruins of an 

 ancient abbey built in the thirteenth century. The trunk of 

 the largest of these old trees, which are still in an excellent 

 state of preservation, girths nearly twenty-three feet; and 

 there are many others scarcely inferior to it in size." 



Tilia ulmifolia, although perhaps the most commonly 

 and widely distributed of the European Lindens, has been, 

 so far as my own observation goes, much less frequently 

 planted in central Europe than either of the other species, 

 and I do not remember having seen anywhere a very large 

 or remarkable specimen. It is seen in this country more 

 rarely even than T. platyphyllos and we have succeeded in 

 finding only two or three small trees in the neighborhood 

 of Boston. It does not flower until towards the middle of 

 July or nearly a month later than Tilia platyphyllos. It 

 would be interesting to know if there are anywhere in the 

 United States large specimens of the small-leaved Linden. 

 C. S. S. 



Cultural Department. 



Some Iron-clad Pears, Plums and Cherries. 

 A LTHOUGH the very large number of varieties of Apples, 

 -^^ Pears, Plums and Cherries imported by Professor Budd 

 and Mr. Charles Gibb from north-eastern Europe will re- 

 quire the experience of a great many years before we can de- 

 termine their exact value and relative importance for all 



sections of our cold North, one thing, at least, has already been 

 settled in the last tive years in regard to them. They are, 

 in their earlier years, to a very marked degree more hardy 

 against winter's cold than any we have before had in 

 cultivation, except the few estrays which had already reached 

 our shores from the same regions. It is only necessary to 

 plant an Apple-tree like the Duchess of Oldenburgh, in a 

 locality where the winter's temperature frequently touches the 

 freezing-point of mercury, to become satisfied that here is a 

 class of Apples entirely unlike those we possessed previously. 

 The cheerful indifference with which such temperatures are 

 endured by these trees is entirely unlike the woe-begone 

 results seen upon many of the varieties which are classed 

 among our hardy Apples. 



This is the result, at least, of five years' experience with the 

 Pears, Plums and Cherries brought to us by Messrs. Budd and 

 Gibb from Baltic Germany, Poland and Russia. They are 

 nearly all as indifferent to extremes of minus temperature as 

 our native Plums and Cherries, while we find in them the 

 ameliorations consequent upon centm-ies of cultivation and 

 selection. Among upwards of 100 varieties of Apples, thirty- 

 one of Cherries, seven of Plums and sixteen of Pears, selected 

 from the most promising sorts for trial on my own grounds, it 

 is yet premature to pass judgment upon any except as to the 

 hardiness and vigor of growth exhibited by them for the four 

 or five years that I have had thein, which include two winters 

 neverexceeded, if ever equalled, for severity since thermo metri- 

 cal observations have been recorded in north-eastern Vermont 

 and the Province of Quebec. A few of the Apples, Plums and 

 Cherries have given me specimens sufficient to justify a 

 strong belief that these fruits are likely to meet reasonable 

 expectations as to their size, beauty and quality. The Plums 

 are in color red, white and blue of varying sizes and seasons 

 from early to late. The Cherries that have fruited belong to 

 the Girotte or Morello class, variously crossed upon, and 

 varied under culture, so that among them are several that 

 approach closely to the Hearts and Bizarreaus in size and 

 sweetness. Many are remarkable for the relative smallnessof 

 their pits, and the juice of some is deeply colored. Others, 

 such as the heart-shaped Weichsel, show a cross between the 

 sweet Mirello and the Dukes. This variety is used in east 

 Europe as a lawn-tree on account of its symmetrical growth 

 and its handsome striped leaves. The fruit is large, heart- 

 shaped, purplish-black, and nearly sweet. Nearly all these 

 Cherries are distinguished from our hardiest common sorts 

 (Pie Cherry, etc.) in being hardy both in tree and in blossom- 

 buds, so that they not only live and grow, but bear plentiful 

 crops of fruit. There is a large family of these Cherries, 

 classed together as Amarelles, embracing a considerable 

 variety, along with family likeness. The trees are rather 

 small, and heavy bearers while quite young. The Astherm 

 family is also an interesting one, numbers of which were 

 brought into Iowa and Minnesota by German immigrantssome 

 twelve or fifteen years ago, and have proved reliable bearers 

 in those states where all other sorts failed. The fruit of these 

 varies, yet a family resemblance is seen in all of them. The 

 Vladimir race, from the Russian province of Orel, is quite 

 dwarf, with mild, sub-acid fruit, larger than Montmorency, and 

 in some varieties nearly black, with a mild, sub-acid flavor. 



Of the Pears I can only as yet report a most vigorous growth, 

 so that some of my trees, five years planted (twelve to eighteen 

 inches high at the start), are now fully nine feet high. They 

 are evidently early bearers, as one showed a cluster of flowers 

 last year, and two are this season crowded with fruit-buds. If 

 the omnipresent small boy will allow them to mature I shall 

 be glad to send specimens to Garden and Forest. 



Newport, Vt. T. H. Hoskius 



Orchid Notes. 



Epidendrum prismatocarpum. — Of the three huinlred and 

 more species which constitute the genus Epidendrum, by far 

 the greatest number of them possess inconspicuous and dingy 

 colored flowers, which render them only valuable to botanical 

 collections. There are a few, however, whose flowers have 

 sufficient beauty to make them favorites with cultivators, and 

 among these must be classed the subject of the present note. 



Although E. prisniatocarpuin is a very old inhabitant of our 

 Orchid-houses, it is, nevertiieless, by no means plentiful, which 

 explains why it is heard of so seldom. As far back as 1852 it 

 was described by Professor Reichenbach in the Botanischc 

 Zeitung, but it did not make its appearance in cultivation until 

 about ten years afterwards, when it was sent to Europe from 

 Veragua and Chiriqui, where it was first discovered by War- 

 scewicz. 



This species may be readily recognized even when not in 



