June 26, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



309 



genus, which is not made enough of in our gardens. This 

 species grows here to a lieight of two or three feet, witli up- 

 riglit brandies, covered with elliptical, obtuse leaves, densely 

 covered on the lower surface with pale pubescence, as are the 

 peduncles and calyxes of the small pink flowers. The fruit 

 is black. This is a widely-distributed plant through the moun- 

 tainous regions of central and southern Europe. 



Cotoneasier laxiflora is a more showy plant than the last, 

 growmg to a height of four or five feet, with slender diverging 

 branches covered with dark-brown kistrous bark. The leaves 

 are oblong, obtuse, smooth on the upper, somewliat pubescent 

 on the lower surface, as are the nodding, elongated racemes 

 of pink flowers, to which succeed showy, scarlet berries. This 

 is certainly one of the most showy and desirable of the per- 

 fectly hardy species of this genus in the collection. The origin 

 and relationship of this plant are iTither obscure. It is possibly 

 a form only of C. vulgaris, and it may have been brought 

 origmally from Siberia. According to Loudon (Arboretum, 

 ii., 871) it was first made known from plants raised in the gar- 

 den of the Royal Horticultural Society at Chiswick, from seeds 

 sent by Professor Jacquin in 1826. But whatever may be the 

 origin and the native country of this plant, it well deserves a 

 place in the garden. 



Syringa villosa (see Garden and Forest, vol. i., pp. 222, 

 520 and f. 83) has, now that the plants are thoroughly estab- 

 lished, and of large size, flowered here more abundantly than it 

 ever has before. It is certainly an ornamental plant of the 

 first-class and one of the most important introductions of late 

 years among hardy shrubs. It has, moreover, the merit of 

 flowering late, and long after the flowers of other Lilacs with 

 long-tubed corollas, with the exception of those of Syringa 

 Josikaa, now believed to be a variety of our plant, have 

 faded. Two quite distinct varieties of S. villosa occur here. 

 The first with narrower leaves and narrower panicles of 

 lighter-colored flowers than the second, which is of more 

 vigorous habit, and promises to grow into a much larger 

 plant. This last, which was raised from seed sent from 

 Pekih by Dr. Bretschneider, flowers about ten days later than 

 the first. It is worth noticing that the terminal bud, which is 

 never developed in S. vulgaris, grows always in this species, 

 generally producing a cluster of flowers, so that the branch 

 may be terminated by three instead of by two panicles. The 

 flowers of this species, unfortunately, have not an agreeable 

 perfume, the slight odor which they emit resembling that of the 

 flowers of the Privet, and therefore rather disagreeable. 



Vaccinium erylhrocarpon, one of the " Bearberries " of the 

 southern Alleghanies, is beautifully in flower. This is a hand- 

 some plant, and botanically a most interesfing one, serving, as 

 it does, to connect the Cranberry and the ordinary forms of 

 Vaccinium — that is, it has the foliage and fruit of the Blueber- 

 ries and the flowers of Oxycoccus. It is a tall, rather slender, 

 divergently-branching, graceful shrub, growing sometimes fn 

 the Carolina mountains to a height of eight or ten feet. The 

 leaves are thin, oblong-lanceolate, finely serrate with bristle- 

 tipped teeth. From the axils of the upper ones the scarlet or 

 flesh-colored slender flowers hang from long nodding pedi- 

 cels. The fruit, which before it is quite ripe, is scarlet (whence 

 the inappropriate name), becomes at maturity deep shining 

 black in color, and is then much more juicy than the fruit of 

 any other species of Vaccinium. The flavor, however, is in- 

 sipid, and the fruit is nowhere greatly esteemed except by 

 bears, who, when it is ripe, resort to the high mountain-tops, 

 where this plant often covers extensive areas, for the purpose 

 of feasting upon it. V. erythrocarpon is not a very easy plant 

 to manage in cultivation. Perhaps it is not quite hardy here, 

 although it now seems well established and to promise well 

 for the future. 



It may be of interest to note that the plants of the white- 

 fruited Huckleberry, described in Garden and Forest (vol. 

 ii., p. 10) and sent to the Arboretum by Mr. B. A. Westbrook, 

 of Montague, New Jersey, are now finely in flower and prom- 

 ise to produce a crop of fruit. 



Rosa miiltiflora is certainly one of the most beautiful of the 

 Japanese plants cultivated in our gardens, and it is a matter of 

 surprise that the natural single form is so rarely seen and so 

 little known. The origin, in a large part at least, of the so- 

 called Polyantha Roses, none of its descendants compare in 

 beauty with the plant which Thunberg first made known to 

 science a century ago. This is a stout bush with long, robust 

 stems, arching above the middle, growing to a height of eight 

 or ten feet and forming a broad mass of pleasant green foliage, 

 ten or twelve feet through. The stems are round, smooth, 

 bright green and armed with remote, broad, recurved spines, 

 and terminated by great compound racemes, twelve to fifteen 

 inches long by eight or ten broad, of flowers the size of a shil- 



ling, the pure white petals contrasting charmingly with the 

 golden stamens. So abundant are the flowers that the plants 

 at this season are comjjletly hidden by them, and as all the 

 flowers in each raceme do not open at once, but gradually, a 

 couple of weeks often elapsing between the opening of the 

 first and the last, the plants are in flower for a long time. 

 There are two forms here. One of them flowers ten days be- 

 fore the other ; this is a less robust plant than the other, with 

 much smaller flowers, and generally a less desirable subject 

 for cultivation. Rosa nniltiflora should be planted in rich 

 soil, where it will not be crowded by other plants, and where 

 it can have sutEcient room to grow naturally and spread out 

 its branches in all directions. It is not easy to imagine 

 a more beautiful object than a well-established specimen, 

 planted in this way, when it is in flower. The fruit, which 

 is hardly larger than a pea, is produced in the greatest 

 profusion, and is rather ornamental, remaining upon the 

 plants until the appearance of the leaves the following spring. 

 The Arboretum is indebted to MaxLeichtlinfor this plant, who 

 sent seeds here several years ago. It has been somewhat dis- 

 tributed from the Arboretum among American collections, 

 but it is hardly known yet or properly appreciated. J . 



June 12. 



The Forest. 



Forest Interests in Pennsylvania. — II. 



THE soil of a large proportion of the mountain region of 

 Pennsylvania was originally of good quality, strong and 

 fertile, as compared with most of the mountain land of the 

 northern and eastern States, and it was well adapted to sus- 

 tain a valuable and permanent forest-growth. Of course, if the 

 mountain forest-land was properly treated it would become 

 steadily richer, would continue to increase in fertility forever. 

 It would thus not only produce more and more timber as fime 

 goes on, but the timber growing upon it would perpetually 

 improve in quality also. That such is not now the case does 

 not result from any poverty or incompleteness of the natin-al 

 resources and adaptations of the region, but is the eft'ect of 

 human ignorance and mismanagement. Much of the land is 

 now poorer than it has been for thousands of years before, 

 and even if it could be well taken care of henceforth — of which 

 there is, of course, no prospect — it could produce only infe- 

 rior timber for ages to come. 



The principal agent in the injury and destruction of the for- 

 ests here is fire. Every year vast values are totally blotted 

 out. Timber worth hundreds of thousands of dollars is con- 

 sumed. But this loss is trivial compared with the mischief of 

 the permanent impairment of the fertility of the soil, which 

 results from burning tiie forests. 



The most intelligent and observing men in all parts of the 

 state say that a very large proportion of forest fires are pur- 

 posely started. In some of the mountain counties the law per- 

 mits cattle to run at large for pasturage, and owners of stock 

 set the woods on fire to promote the growth of grass. The 

 people who gather berries are also interested in having the 

 forests burned frequently ; and fires are convenient for hunt- 

 ers, because they maintain and extend areas of open woods. 

 Large tracts of valuable timber are often set on fire by men 

 who want the job of cutting it off, as they know that it must be 

 utilized immediately after it is burned over, or it will be worth- 

 less. Some fires resiflt from sparks thrown out by railway 

 engines, but the people of Pennsylvania do not believe very 

 much in the accidental origin of forest fires in their state. 



The law which permits owners of cattle to pasture them on 

 other peoples' land should be changed. Pasturage is, in itself, 

 fatal to the perpetuity of forest conditions, and nothing effect- 

 ive can be done for the preservafion of the woods while cattle 

 are allowed to run at large in them. When this arrangement 

 for forest-pasturage operates as an inducement to set the woods 

 on fire it is idle and useless to talk of devising means for pre- 

 serving the forests unless this premium on their destruction 

 is abolished. It is comparatively easy to obtain almost any 

 legislation that may be desired. A little systematic and intel- 

 ligent agitation is all that is required for this object. It would, 

 doubtless, be worth while and profitable for the people of the 

 state to undertake the care of the mountain woods, if any plan 

 for their preservation coidd be made effective. Differences in 

 details, in organization and methods would be of slight impor- 

 tance if the essential object — the protection of the woods from 

 fire — could be accomplished by any system of forest guardian- 

 ship. 



The maintenance of forest conditions on the mountains of 

 the state is indispensable to the permanent prosperity of the 

 people. The woods have most important and vital relations 



