July 24, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



357 



much larger, with the edges of the petals recurved. This plant 

 is a native of Portugal, but has lived out here during the past 

 two winters without protection. C. maxi7niim is a native of 

 the Pyrenees and near the .Stelvio Pass, so that we may reas- 

 onably expect it to prove hardy in our eastern States, since 

 Stelvio Pass is g, 160 feet above the sea and the highest car- 

 riage route in Europe. Now, that tlie IMarguerites are so much 

 used for floral decoration, both the above plants should find 

 favor with growers, as both are eminently suitable for cutting 

 piu'poses. 



Symphyandra Hoffmann! is tlie name of a new and very beau- 

 tiful Campanulaceous plant, which was figured and described 

 last year as flowering at Kew for the first time, and is now 

 flowering freely in the grounds here, and proves to be a valu- 

 able plant for the border. It grows about two feet high and is 

 much branched, forming a compact \)lant, which has for some 

 weeks been covered over with a profusion of large pure white 

 cylindrical bells, reminding one forcibly of Campanula nobilis. 

 Other species of this genus are biennial and S. Hoff/nanni ma.y 

 also prove so, although it offers, at present, no indications of 

 that character. But even if it is, seeds are produced in abun- 

 dance and these germinate readily. Our plants were raised 

 last year and planted in rich, moist soil, and there they wintered 

 safely without any further care, and they are now covered 

 with flowers and buds that promise to maintain a succession 

 of bloom until frost. 



Passaic, N. J. O, 



Roses in Open Ground. — So far this has been a very peculiar 

 season for these plants. Most of the Hybrid Perpetualsdid well 

 at blooming time, but they do not appear to be making much 

 growth since, and all kinds of destructive larvae are preying 

 upon them. Of the newer varieties the best, so far in this 

 locality, has been Mrs. John Laing. Though not of a very hardy 

 constitution, its pale-pink color, fine form and delightful fra- 

 grance make it a very desirable variety, and it is a splendid 

 autumn bloomer. Earl of Dufferin is a grand Rose of a deep 

 bright crimson, very fragrant and of a good constitution. Lady 

 Helen Stewart is another first-class Rose, with a good, vigorous 

 constitution. Ulrich Brunner, though not particularly new, 

 nor yet generally planted is pleasing in shape and color. 

 Queen of Queens has again proved one of the best bedding 

 Roses, of a pale shaded-pink color and very attractive in every 

 way. To my mind, however, the best Rose of this class in- 

 troduced to this country this year is Gloire de Margottin. It 

 is the clearest bright red yet introduced, very fragrant, a strong 

 grower and a Rose that pleases every one who sees it. Last 

 of aU is that grand Rose, Madame Gabriel Luizet. With its 

 satin-pink color and unsurpassed fragrance it has few equals, 

 and it should be in every garden no matter how small. If it 

 were my fate to be deprived of every Rose but one for grow- 

 ing in the open air, I should choose this one above all others. 

 It is still producing some good flowers, and will continue to 

 do so all summer at intervals. The monthly or everbloom- 

 ing Roses are not growing very well in this section, except 

 where extra good, strong plants were put out early. 



Summit, N. J. Joh7i N. May. 



The Vegetable Garden.— It is not too late to plant Lettuce, 

 Spinach, Turnip, Corn Salad, Kale and many other vegetables, 

 but to secure double crops the soil must be full of plant-food 

 from frequent applications of fertilizers in former years. Cu- 

 cumbers, Melons, Lettuce, Egg-plant, Spinach, Onion and 

 many other crops demand hearty and constant food for their 

 best growth. This can be illustrated more plainly when the 

 crops are maturing than at any other time, for this truth is 

 then brought home with convincing power if the crops do not 

 promise a good reward for the labor given to them. If, on a 

 close inspection, a growing crop seems less vigorous than it 

 should, there are reasons for the failure. The soil may have 

 been too compact, too dry or too wet; but lack of fertility is, 

 four times out of five, the cause of backwardness. And the 

 remedy should be applied at once, in the form of some high- 

 grade commercial ferfilizer, especially prepared for garden 

 crops. This application is valuable now in any backward gar- 

 den. Scatter it along near the growing plants, and hoe or dio- 

 it into the soil with as little injury to the roots as possible. If 

 not too long deferred, this treatment will effect a strikinc>- 

 change in color and vigor of growth. 



Hampden Co., Mass. W. H. Bull. 



Fine Flavor in Fruit. — As the period for the ripenino- of 

 large fruits is approaching, it may be well to remind inelcpe- 

 rienced cultivators of the importance of high culture for the 

 development of the finest quality. Some years ago, two St. 

 Ghislain Pear-trees bore fruit so unlike that they would not be 



recognized as the same variety. There was almost no simi- 

 larity in flavor. One tree, bearing poor fruit, stood in a thick 

 grass sod ; the other, with excellent Pears, was kept well cul- 

 tivated. Early Pears, as well as early Peaches, on crowded 

 trees, which ripen first on the tree, are much inferior in flavor 

 to those which come later. The first are grown so thickly on 

 the branches that they cannot sufficiently mature; those which 

 ripen later, after the early portion of the crop has been re- 

 moved, have plenty of space to develop their fine quality. 

 Hence the great advantage of early thinning. Take the Sum- 

 mer Doyenne Pear, for instance. Those which are first ripe 

 on densely crowded_^nbs are about half the size of those 

 which ripen last, and strikingly inferior to them in quality. So 

 with early Peaches — the last scattered ones on the tree are* 

 commonly observed to be greatly superior in flavor to the first 

 which ripen. These facts teach the importance of good culti- 

 vation and of thinning -the fnut on crowded trees, both of 

 which operations will always repay the grower in large, beau- 

 fiful and excellent fruit, instead of small, knotty and flavorless 

 specimens. — Country Geiitleman. 



Periodical Literature. 



T^HE most interesting articles in the June number of the Kew 

 -•- Bulletin of Miscellaneous hiformation are the following : 



Jamaica Cogwood. — This has long been known as one of the 

 most valuable woods produced in the forests of Jamaica, and in 

 the flourishing days of Jamaica sugar-planting it was everywhere 

 in demand for framing mills and for the cogs of machinery. 

 It is durable in water, and tough, hard and heavy. But 

 although this wood has been used for centuries, and the trees 

 which produced it almost exterminated, it is only now that their 

 true name and botanical affinities have been made out. It was 

 long supposed to be a Laurel and then a Ceanothus, but at 

 last sufficient material has been obtained to enable Professor 

 Oliver to make out that the Cogwood-tree is a Zizyphus (Z. 

 Chloroxylon), a genus not represented before in the Jamaica 

 flora. 



Cocoanut Coir from Lagos. — Large nurseries of young Cocoa- 

 nut plants have been established by the Colonial Government of 

 Lagos, and seedlings are distributed at very low rates, with the 

 view of making the cultivadon of this plant in the colony as 

 general as possible. Samples of the fibre recently sent, experi- 

 mentally, to London, owing, perhaps, to defecfive methods of 

 preparation and shipment, have not been very well spoken of 

 by experts. 



A Wheat Pest in Cyprus. — A report upon a species of Tine- 

 ina, an insect destructive to wheat crops in Cyprus. 



Patchouli. — An abstract of an ardcle entified the " Cultiva- 

 tion and Curing of Patchouli and its Adulterations," from the 

 Journal of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, 

 a portion of which we reproduce here : 



The plant yielding the perfume known as Patchouli is 

 usually stated to be indigenous to the Malayan Peninsula, but 

 there appears to be no evidence that it has been met with in 

 the jungle, except in places where it could be clearly traced to 

 some old cultivation. 



It is grown and much esteemed by the aboriginal tribes of 

 Perak and Pallang, and is met with at an alfitude of nearly 5,000 

 feet amongst the Sakais of the mountains, far away from any 

 Malayan villages. 



The leaves are made into garlands and worn round the waist 

 by the women, and bunches of them are often stuck into their 

 bamboo ear-rings. They are also mixed with other leaves 

 and flowers and formed into ornamental bunches, which are 

 hung up and used in some sort of demon worship or pro- 

 pitiation. 



Patchouli is a very shy flowerer, so much so that by the na- 

 tives it is said never to flower, and a dealer, who has "-rown 

 and bought it for the last thirty years, has never seen or heard 

 of such a thing as a flower or fruit. Mr. N. Cantley, in " Notes 

 on Economic Plants," says : " Plants raised from seed are re- 

 ported to grow well but to have no scent, but retain it when 

 produced from cuttings. I have not been able to verify these 

 statements, but it is well known that plants do sometimes play 

 tricks of this kind — Sandal-M'ood frequently." If this report 

 was obtained from native sources it, probably, only represents 

 another way of saying that the plant hardly ever bears seed. 



The cultivation of Patchouli is carried on almost exclusively 

 by the Chinese in the Straits Setflements. They do not "tow 

 it on a large scale, but a man will plant a patch of pediaps 

 half an acre or an acre at a time. The land is trenched and 

 thrown up into long beds either foin- feet or eighteen inches 

 wide. The former of these will take two rows of plants, and 



