432 



Garden and Forest. 



[September 4, 1889. 



a bridge. Summer-houses, arbors, rockeries, pools, fountain 

 basins and jets (usually dry), clinnps of trees and shrubs, or 

 l)etls of flowers and foliage plants, are stuck around promiscu- 

 ously in conspicous sites, without any htting relation to the 

 natural conditions of the landscape. 



"A common phase of the same taste is shown in the popu- 

 larity of the class of plants which propagators call ' sports.' 

 This includes that numerous list which pads out the pages of 

 most catalogues, the endless varieties with the leaves abnor- 

 mally shaped or colored, or with a drooping or contorted or 

 dwarfed habit of growth. Nearly all the plants of this class 

 are less hardy and vigorous and healthy than the normal type. 

 It is probable that their peculiarities in color or habit are due 

 to some unhealthy condition of the sap or defect in the chan- 

 nels of circulation. But in spite of this relatively weak growth, 

 sickly color or deformed shape, they are all popidar favorites. 

 The paler and feebler and more distorted the growth, the 

 more they are liked and petted and pampered. A few of the 

 best of this class may be sparingly planted as foils or speci- 

 mens or curiosities merely, but never in proportions to rival 

 those of the true type of each species. For general use the 

 natural color and shape are more pleasing and satisfactory, 

 not only because more vigorous and durable, but also be- 

 cause they are in accord with the true order of nature, while 

 the others are not. Nature, in fact, disowns her 'freaks' of 

 this sort by the general sterility of such offspring. Their re- 

 production depends wholly on artificial propagations. It were 

 better to let them all die a natural death than to treat them 

 as if they were Nature's finest productions. Her sanction to 

 their co)itinued existence is given only when the seed, if pro- 

 duced at all, is true to the parent. 



" On strictly private estates, where chiefly the eye of the owner 

 is to be gratified, he may ride to his heart's content any hobby 

 that may please him. But in places exposed largely to the 

 public eye, as in ordinary villa grounds, suburban gardens and 

 public parks, novel ideas will be introduced modestly and not 

 generally adopted till they have stood the test of the fullest 

 criticism. This means more than the ready applause of the 

 populace which mere novelty, if daring enough, is sure to 

 elicit ; more than the hotbed stimulus of fleeting fashion, how- 

 ever popular for a time." 



Notes. 



It is estimated that the forest-fires which have been raging 

 in Montana for the past four weeks have caused a loss of at 

 least $100,000 a day. 



Tigridia Pringlei, which was figured in this journal nearly a 

 year ago (vol. i, p. 389), has bloomed this year at Kew, and its 

 flowers of fiery scarlet and orange were considered very 

 striking. 



It is reported in a bulletin of the Florida Experiment Station 

 that the annual Crimson Clover (Trifolium incarnation) pro- 

 mises to be profitable in that state as a winter pasture plant, 

 as material for ensilage and for dry forage. 



Several correspondents have sent us the browned leaves of 

 the Horse-chestnut, with inquiries as to thecause. The disease 

 is the work of a fungus, Phyllosticta s-phcsropsoidea, and it 

 seems unusually prevalent this year. It is difficult to suggest 

 any remedy, because the fungus, as now known, is an imper- 

 fect form, and we are unaljle to tell what its perfect condi- 

 tion is. 



The leaf-blight of the Pear and the cracking of the fruit is 

 caused by a minute fungus known as Entoniosporiiiin niacula- 

 timi. Professor Halsted writes to the Rural New Yorker that 

 the spraying of some copper sulphate mixture upon the trees 

 in early spring may help to arrest its ravages, although this 

 has not yet been demonstrated. The National Department of 

 Agriculture promises to publish soon the results of some 

 hopeful experiments in overcoming this disease. 



The Cassava, which has already become a standard product 

 in Florida, is now on trial in several parts of Louisiana, and 

 Mr. J. L. Normand reports in the Southern Cultivator tliat it 

 thrives and produces wonderfully in the latter state. In his 

 judgment it will yield more to the acre than any other article 

 of food. Many nutritious and delicate dishes for the table can 

 be made from Cassava, while as a food for domestic animals 

 — cattle, poultry, sheep and swine — it is invaluable in that 

 region. 



The Governor of South Carolina has appointed the following 

 gentlemen to represent that state at the annual meeting of the 

 American Forestry Congress in Philadelphia, October 15th to 



i8th; Hon. A. P. Butler, of Columbia; Dr. F. P. Porcher, of 

 Charleston ; Professor H. A. Green, of Chester ; Hon. Walter 

 Hazard, of Georgetown ; H. E. Buist, Esq., of Greenville. The 

 Governor of Ohio has appointed Hon. John B. Peaslee, of 

 Cincinnati ; Hon. Leo Weltz, of Wilmington ; Hon. James 

 Poindexter, of Columbus, and Hon. Adolph Lene, of Cincin- 

 nati. 



The exhibition at the late meeting of the fforists in Buffalo, 

 was larger and more interesting than any former one. Some 

 remarkably fine and distinct colored Asters, new Dwarf 

 Cannas, Hybrid Tropseolums and Tuberous Begonias, to- 

 gether with numerous Palms and Ferns, and a collection of 

 Orchids and Stove plants were greatly admired. The me- 

 chanical part of the exhibition was full of interest, the greatest 

 competition being over the hot-water boilers. Twelve pat- 

 terns'were shown, some solely for hot water, others for steam, 

 and others again could be used for either hot water or steam. 

 The "Standard flower pot" which was adopted at the meeting 

 in New York, seems to have been generally accepted by all 

 the flower-pot makers in the country. 



Last week many of the leading fruit-growers of the middle 

 states and New England visited the nurseries of Stephen 

 Hoyt's Sons, at New Canaan, Connecticut, to inspect the new 

 Green Mountain Grape, which has been introduced by that 

 firm. The vine is a strong grower, and bears abundantly 

 large, shouldered clusters of white, or rather green, grapes, 

 which are among the earliest to ripen. The berries are rather 

 small, flavor good, and skin very thin. Considering the fact 

 that this is a bad year for the vine, and that the soil and climate 

 about New Canaan is not favorable to grape production, the 

 visitors werefavorably impressed with the quality and promise 

 of the variety, and feel -confident that it will prove a valuable 

 addition to the list of earliest grapes. 



An interesting exhibition of Tomatoes was on view at the 

 seed warehouse of J. M. Thorburn & Co., in this city, last 

 week. Eighty varieties were named, and although several of 

 them were plainly duplicates, the diversity of form and color 

 and texture was so marked that some fifty distinct types could 

 l)e recognized. The smooth outline and solid flesh of some 

 of the newer varieties, like Thorburn's New Jersey, proves 

 what can be accomplished by patient selection ; and yet the 

 tomato which, perhaps, showed the most compact and yet 

 the finest texture, was Ignotum, which, as its name implies, is 

 from absolutely unknown parentage. The Peach Tomato, so 

 called from its resemblance to that fruit in size, shape, color 

 and even in an incipient down upon the skin, was a novelty 

 to most visitors, and so was another variety known as the 

 Station Tomato, because produced on the grounds of the New 

 York Experiment Station by hybridizing the upright Tree 

 Tomato with one of Livingston's varieties. The plant is up- 

 right, producing a fruit of fine quality, which begins to ripen 

 much earlier than either parent. 



A correspondent of the Gardeners' Chronicle observes that 

 wdiile many bulbs like the Emperor Daffodil are of inferior 

 quality the first year, and gain strength the second season, 

 other bulbs deteriorate, and especially the Tulip, for this rea- 

 son : The outer coat or skin of the Tulip is exceptionally hard 

 and tough, and does not readily decay, as do others with softer 

 skins ; and, further, their mode of increase is so rapid — for a 

 fair-sized flowering bulb will produce in some varieties three 

 and four " chickens" in one season, though all are not equally 

 prolific — that the offsets, being encumbered by these hard 

 skins, have not the chances of putting forth their roots into the 

 soil and are thereby crippled ; the bulb does not make half its 

 growth, and a general weakness is the result. Thus it is that 

 we see clumps of Tulips which have remained undisturbed 

 for several years, producing, it may be, one or two sickly 

 floM'ers where dozens might have been, if they had been 

 annually lifted, cleaned and replanted. Next to the Tulips the 

 English and Spanish Irises are, perhaps, the most liable to 

 deteriorate when left undisturbed in the ground for a year or 

 two. The coats of skin upon the bulbs are very thick, and to 

 keep the bulbs in good health for any length of time they 

 should be annually lifted, cleaned and replanted with as little 

 delay as possible. Erythroniums are benefitted by lifting 

 every second or third year, as by this time they become 

 crowded and require separation. Lilies may, if in good 

 health, be left for an indefinite period ; but where replanting 

 is deemed necessary, it should be done as soon as flowering 

 is complete, because it is just at this time that the new basal 

 roots are emitted, and to preserve these intact should be the 

 aim of all cultivators. 



