478 



Garden and Forest. 



[October 2, 1889. 



be made to have an interest of their own. It should be added 

 that the soil should be well enriched with well decomposed 

 cow-manure. About one-third of this with the rest of ordi- 

 nary garden soil, with a sprinkling of charcoal added, will be 

 found a suitable compost for the purpose. If it is desired to 

 increase the stock, this is easily and rapidly done by means of 

 seeds, for after the flowers have been in full beauty for a 

 month the bracts begin to turn green, and seeds are formed, 

 and when these are ripe the bracts dissolve and the seeds sink 

 at once to the bottom and germinate in about seven days. 

 These will form small bulbs the size of a pea the first season, 

 and will flower the second year of their growth, and these in- 

 crease in size with the strength of the bulb or tuber. After the 

 plants have flowered for six months they manifest a desire to 

 rest, and when this is the case they may be allowed to gradu- 

 ally die off. We then, for convenience sake, keep them out of 

 the water, but never allow them to become dust-dry, just keep- 

 ing them moderately moist until fall, when they are started 

 again. We are acquainted with no more suitable plan for 

 planting in aquaria or any similar situation. 0. 



Passaic, N.J. 



The hybrid Montbretias seem to increase in attractiveness 

 every year, and one can hardly help feeling grateful to the 

 French growers who first obtained them by intercrossing M. 

 Pottsii and the old Tritonia aurea, or Crocosfiia aurea, as it is 

 otherwise called. It was M. Lemoine, of Nancy, who first 

 effected this cross, calling the progeny .M crocosmiaflora. The 

 hybrid combines the vigorous growth and abundant flowering 

 character of M. Pottsii, with the large flowers and richer color 

 of the Crocosma ; while, as is often the case with hybrids, 

 it possesses a more vigorous constitution than either parent. • 

 The flowers are about half as large as those of the Crocosma, 

 but of a much richer color, being almost entirely scarlet, and 

 many flowers are borne on each stem that overtops the nar- 

 row foliage. The habit most resembles that of Montbretia 

 Pottsii, and so rapid is its growth that a small plant will, in a 

 season or two, spread into a mass several feet across, instances 

 of which may be seen at Cheswick and Kew. The hybrid is, 

 moreover, very persistent in bloom, lasting for several weeks, 

 and it does not sufter from excessive rain. The graceful flower- 

 spikes are invaluable for cutting, though they do not last long 

 in vases. There is a bright yellow variety named Boule d'or, 

 and other fine varieties have been raised by M. Lemoine. 



Kew. W. G. 



The Forest. 



The Forest Pavilion at the Paris Exposition. 



WE have already given some notes on the forestry 

 exhibit made by our own government at the Paris 

 Exposition, and we are glad to add some account of the 

 display made by the French government in the same direc- 

 tion. The following description of the pavilion and the 

 principal forest-material which it contains is the translation 

 of part of a letter to the Independence Beige, which was 

 kindly furnished us by a lady much interested in forestry. 

 Next week we hope to publish the more important part of 

 the article, which explains how the actual work of the 

 Administration des eaiix etforets is exhibited in photographs, 

 dioramas, models, etc. : 



Among the marvels of the Exposition is the pavilion of the 

 Executive Department of Forestry on the Trocad^ro, con- 

 structed entirely of the trunks of trees. Leaving the broad 

 walk and following a foot-path through the turf, we come 

 to a little hillock of natural rock covered with Ivy and creeping- 

 plants, and, mounting a few steps, hollowed in the rock, or 

 made of natural pieces of wood, we reach the verandah 

 which surrounds this picturesque pavilion. 



The peristyle is formed of high columns, which are mag- 

 nificent trunks, carefully selected, and straight as arrows. Each 

 species is represented by a perfect specimen and all are dis- 

 posed so as to bring out soft harmonies and contrasts of color. 



There are Oaks of various forms, Hornbeams, Elms, wild 

 and cultivated Cherries, deeply-ribbed Locusts, Poplars, black 

 and gray, Firs, with reddish bark. Maritime Pines, with pur- 

 plish scales. Spruces, Lindens, Ashes, glittering Birches, 

 Beeches, with bark of the finest texture, and Service trees, 

 with a covering like a coat of mail. Every specimen carries 

 its certificate of birth in a label fastened to the bark. Most 

 of them are centennarians, and many are 150 years old. 



The walls are covered with a mosaic formed of natural 

 wood, bark and tresses of ligneous fibre ; the ceilings are also 



composed of original designs in wood, carved and sawn ; the 

 capitals, cornices and balconies are of branches, knotted and 

 twisted, as if they were carved ; the roof is made of shingles, 

 with the gray and violet shades of slate, and the eftect of the 

 whole is charming. 



Under the verandah, where Jasmine, Clematis and Ampe- 

 lopsis climb, rustic seats are hollowed out of tree-trunks, and 

 those who love the forest, and can understand all its poetry and 

 charm, find an indescribable pleasure in resting here in the 

 shade of this rustic colonnade, where they can inhale the 

 aroma of the trees away from the dazzle and bustle of the 

 exhibition. 



The interior of this monument of skill is a rectangular 

 saloon, lighted from above, and surrounded by columns 

 which support a gallery. These columns, too, are superb 

 tree-trunks, arranged in pairs of the same species, so as to 

 form frames for as many panels, on which are collected the 

 different articles made out of the various woods. 



Near the Chestnut-trees are gathered staves, tubs, pails and 

 floorings; the Larches have churns and bowls; the Alders, 

 kegs for cement, wooden shoes, guitar-handles and tops ; the 

 Beech has sabots, heels and soles of galoshes, porringers, 

 bread-shovels, pack-saddles and saddle-bows ; the different 

 Pines have baskets, wood for packing-cases, lamp-lighters, 

 bungs for barrels, together with felt and bagging ; the Fir has 

 wash-tubs, date-boxes, oars and carved toys. Between the 

 Linden-trunks we find well and capstan ropes, wood for brushes 

 and hoops ; between the Maples, tool-handles, teeth for rakes, 

 spigots, fans ; the Wild Cherry has pipes, fine sabots, canes 

 and parasol-sticks ; the Pear-tree, carved furniture, chests, 

 veneering ; the Walnut, gun-stocks and carriage-panels. Near 

 the Ashes are collected yokes, mast-hoops, shafts, flail-handles, 

 rakes, naves of wheels ; near the Oaks are casks, barrels and 

 flooring ; around the Cork Oaks are hung soles, rosaries of 

 corks and life-buoys. These collections, arranged as trophies 

 and heraldic devices serve as entertaining object-lessons. 



In the centre are the machines which saw, hew, split and 

 work wood and convert it into marketable and useful form. 

 A fountain gushes from among the rocks and Ferns, and here 

 and there are suspended stags'-horns, boars'-heads, skins, furs, 

 while deer, squirrels and other denizens of the forest, care- 

 fully stuffed, are grouped around. 



On the first floor are arranged the glass-cases containing the 

 herbariums and forest-tree seeds ; here, also, are carbonized 

 woods, collections of injurious insects, parasitic fungi, and a 

 complete forestal bibliography. 



Recent Publications. 



Timber and Some of its Diseases. By H. Marshal Ward. 

 Nature Series. Macmillan & Co., London and New York. 

 1889. Small 8vo, pp. 295, fig. 45. 



This work is based on a series of short articles published in 

 Nature, to which the author has added a chapter on the theo- 

 ries advanced to explain the ascent of water in tall trees. This 

 chapter, which fills nearly a third of the whole book, is an ad- 

 mirable summary of what has been written on a very import- 

 ant, but perplexing, subject. The author states in the preface 

 that it will perhaps be regarded as too technical for the gen- 

 eral reader, which is probably true, but it is of great interest to 

 the student. Had it been possible to give a more detailed ac- 

 count of the anatomy and microscopic structure of the tree- 

 trunk in the opening chapters, there would have been no 

 reason why the general reader who seeks genuine informa- 

 tion, rather than mere entertainment, should not find this 

 important chapter not only intelligible, but interesting. The 

 author does not accept the theory of Sachs that the water 

 ascends in the trunk by imbibition, or absorption by the walls 

 of the vessels, nor does he accept without modification the 

 view of Boehm, R. Hartig, and others, that it passes upward 

 in the cavity of the vessels by capillarity and asmasis. The 

 subject, however, is too complicated to be discussed here, and 

 it need only be said that Professor Ward accepts the views of 

 which Godlewski is the most forcible expounder, that the up- 

 ward current of water is not due to the action of the vessels, 

 including traceids, alone, but that the living cells of the me- 

 dullary rays also play an important part in the process, and 

 that the respirafion of the protoplasm in these cells is the 

 force to which the upward flow is essentially to be attributed, 

 while capillarity and osmosis play a secondary part. 



As it is, the remainder of the book, which is devoted to a 

 description of some of the diseases of wood, is somewhat 

 overshadowed by the prominence given to the subject just 

 mentioned. The account of the diseases caused by Agaricus 



