276 



Garden and Forest. 



[June 5, 1889. 



remarkable display can be made with them alone. Hardy 

 varieties with flowers of the lirightest scarlet are common now, 

 as are those with white, pink, rose and all the self-colors. Only 

 dark flowers, with light centres, and white or pale flowers, 

 with dark blotches, are wanting among the hardy varieties. 

 These, especially the last, are exceedingly beautiful and showy, 

 but they are, unfortunately, very shy bloomers, and produce 

 their flowers very sparingly even when they are not trans- 

 planted, as they must be in this climate every autumn. 

 Mr. R. T. Jackson exhibited sixty-seven varieties of the Ger- 

 man Iris, many of great beauty ; and there were several un- 

 usually large and attractive collections of wild flowers staged. 

 The exhibition, owing to the advanced state of vegetation in 

 eastern Massachusetts, was held one week earlier than usual. 



Notes. 



Along one of the boundaries of the Germantown Nurseries 

 is a fine hedge of " Elaagnus parvifolia." This plant endures 

 cutting well, and makes a close, solid growth. When the 

 plants are in bloom the hedge is very fragrant, and the boys 

 find its fruit palatable. 



On the nursery-grounds of Messrs. Hoopes, Brother & 

 Thomas, near West Chester, Pennsylvania, stands an Acer 

 pictum (sometimes called Acer Icetuin and Acer Colchicuiii 

 riibruin), the trunk of which measures six feet three inches in 

 circumference. The tree is about thirty-five feet high. 



A charming combination of colors can be obtained by 

 planting some of the variefies of the German Iris with pale 

 blue flowers among plants of the Japanese Azalea mollis. 

 They flower simultaneously, and a large bed arranged in this 

 way, which recently came under our notice, was a refined 

 and beautiful object. 



Last week Mr. John MacElvery, of Flatbush, Long Island, 

 sent to this city some fine spikes of the white variety of Gladi- 

 olus Colevillei which had bloomed in the open air after having 

 received no special protection during the winter. The flower 

 is delicate and graceful, and is largely grown in England by 

 florists, who supply Covent Garden. 



A correspondent, interested in Professor Goff's ardcle on 

 Muskmelons in a recent number, enquires how the vines can 

 be saved from the attacks of the Squash-bug. To this Pro- 

 fessor Goff replies : That if a tablespoonf ul of kerosene is 

 stirred through two quarts of common land-plaster and the 

 mixture is sprinkled on the vines, the effect will be good, al- 

 though he cannot vouch for this as a sovereign remedy against 

 this troublesome enemy. 



The new Strawberry, known as the Pearl, is yielding a large 

 crop of fruit, of very uniform size in some parts of southern 

 New Jersey this year. The fruit is sharply conical and of 

 excellent flavor. Colonel Pearson, of Vineland, and other 

 large growers consider it most promising both for market and 

 home use. Whether it will succeed on heavier soils remains 

 to be seen. On the highly-manured lands of Bridgeton, a 

 few miles away, it does not thrive as well. 



Temple & Beard send us a specimen of a remarkable va- 

 riegated-leaf form of the Sugar Maple which has been grow- 

 ing for several years in the yard of a house in New York, 

 and which they have now transferred to the Shady Hill Nur- 

 series. The whole blade of the leaf, with the exception of the 

 principal veins and a few green blotches, is clear, bright yel- 

 low. If the yellow color is constant this will make an intei'- 

 esting addition to the list of abnormally colored trees — which 

 many people consider beautiful. 



In response to a request made in behalf of the West-End 

 Improvement Association, the Torrey Botanical Club and the 

 Park Commissioners of this city, Mr. Frederick Law Olmsted 

 and Mr. J. B. Harrison, have prepared a paper upon the plan- 

 tations of Central Park, with special reference to the alleged 

 excessive thinning out of trees during the past winter. The 

 report agrees with the views already expressed in this journal. 

 Nothing was found to indicate that any of the cutting had been 

 done without regard to the requirements of the Park design, 

 but, on the contrary, evidences were apparent that a more lib- 

 eral use of the axe is needed. 



Mr. Carmen, of the Rural New Yorker, brought to his office, 

 on Saturday, some flowers of a new Rose, which he obtained 

 by crossing Harrison's Yellow upon Rosa rugosa. The flow- 

 ers resemble those of General Jacqueminot closely in color, 

 and they are veiy fragrant. The foliage is not quite as dark 

 as that of R. rugosa, nor quite as leathery, but the leaflets are 

 much larger. The plant seems to be as little liable to the at- 

 tacks of insects and fungous diseases as its female parent. 



Mr. Carman assures us that the plant bloomed constantly 

 through the summer last year, and altogether it seems to pos- 

 sess a combination of sterling qualities. 



A committee has beerf appointed to receive contributions 

 for a monument to be erected in memory of the late William 

 Court, who for so long a time represented in this country the 

 house of James Veitch & Sons. Mr. Court was widely known 

 and highly esteemed here, not only among dealers but among 

 buyers of Orchids and other choice plants. The moninnent, 

 as designed by a London architect, will cost about $500, and 

 all moneys above that amount will be disbursed for the benefit 

 of Mr. Court's four orphan children. Contributions may be 

 sent to Mr. Alfred Outram, of the firm of B. S. Williams & Co., 

 London, or to any member of the American committee, which 

 is constituted as follows : Robert Craig, Philadelphia, Chair- 

 man ; A. D. Cowan, New York, Treasurer; Peter Henderson, 

 New York ; Wm. Elliott, New York ; John Thorpe, Pearl 

 River, New York; Wm. Gray, Albany, New York ; John N. 

 May, Summit, New Jersey; Robert Halliday, Baltimore; W. 

 R. Smith, Washington ; Wm. Robinson, North Easton, Massa- 

 chusetts ; David Allan, Mt. Auburn, Massachusetts. 



A correspondent of The Garden (London) writes that he has 

 preserved all the plant and flower catalogues which have been 

 sent him during a period of forty years, and that they now 

 supply much interesting information with regard to changes 

 in taste and in commercial enterprise. Their lists, we are 

 told, offer "hosts of beautiful and most interesting things 

 never heard of now, and most likely very many lost to culti- 

 vation. One list offers: Acacia, 59 species ; Berberis, 15 ; 

 Canna, 57 ; Chorozema, 10 ; Genista, 14 ; stove and green- 

 house Hibiscus, 9; . . . ornamental fruit-bearing Solanums, 23; 

 . . . Kennedyas, Hardenbergias and Zichyas, 25 ; ornamental 

 Gourds and other cucurbitaceous plants, 117 ; and so on. 

 Where are the seedsmen now that can offer us anything ap- 

 proaching this ? . . . Why do not some of our great nursery- 

 men, instead of ransacking the furthermost corners of the 

 earth for some new orchid, or seedsmen, instead of giving us 

 the everlasting Cineraria, Calceolaria, Primula and such like, 

 . . . re-introduce some of the multitude of beautiful and inter- 

 esting plants cultivated in the last generation ? They would 

 be noveUies to-day." 



" A plan is on foot," says a correspondent of a New York 

 daily paper, " to make an addifion to Chicago's Lake Shore 

 Drive, which, if carried out, will give this city one of the finest 

 and most extensive systems of boulevards and drives in the 

 world. The present idea is to extend the beautiful drive 

 which runs along the lake, through the handsomest portion 

 of the North Side and through Lincoln Park. This drive now 

 stoics at the north end of the park. The new plan, which is 

 well under way, is to extend it as far north as Lake Bluff, 

 twenty-five miles north of Chicago. This section of country 

 is by far the prettiest in this neighborhood. The flat shores of 

 Lake Michigan gradually slope upward- until at Lake Bluff 

 they assume the shape of almost perpendicular banks, rising 

 to a height of 100 feet, and showing the waters of the lake far 

 below. A heavy growth of timber stretches toward the west, 

 while at other places it is broken by deep ravines that open 

 up iniexpected glimpses of the lake through the dark foliage. 

 The new drive will run along as close to the lake as possible, 

 and through the villages of Evanston, Highland Park, the new 

 military post. Fort Sheridan, and Lake Forest. 



Accounts of the opening of the Paris Exhibifion prove that 

 it will be of great interest to horticulturists and lovers of the 

 art of gardening. The gardens of the Hotel des Invalides 

 contain the products of the French colonies and of the sev- 

 eral Ministries. Along the Quai d'Orsay are the halls of agri- 

 culture and viticulture, the fisheries and the general food 

 products, while the great Trocadero gardens are given up to 

 fruits and flowers, grown under glass and in the open air. 

 The whole of the Champs de Mars, formerly nothing but a dusty 

 desert, is transformed into a charming park, with verdant 

 lawns, shady paths, masses of shrubbery and multitudinous 

 flower-beds. The plans were traced more than two years ago 

 by Monsieur Alphand, Director of Pubhc Works, and were 

 mapped out on the site itself. Trees and shrubs were then 

 set out and sods were laid, and the place now looks like a park 

 of many years' standing. A good deal of injury was done by 

 the crowds that attended the opening ceremonies, even the 

 energetic gendarmerie of Paris being unable to control so vast 

 a multitude. Scores of blooming flower-beds were trampled 

 into mire, and many shrubberies and lawns were seriously 

 injured ; but the damage was being repaired, and in a few 

 weeks no trace of it will appear. 



