48o 



Garden and Forest. 



[October 2, iS 



Notes. 



A cluster of grapes weighing five pounds was lately taken 

 from a Vine of the Golden Chasselas variety in Contra Costa 

 County, California. 



One of the green-houses in the park of Allegheny City, 150 

 feet long by eighteen feet wide, is now being filled with Chry- 

 santhemums for display in the late autumn. 



Downing's Ever-bearing Mulberry produces ripe fruit for 

 nearly four months in California. In the middle of September 

 the trees were still filled with berries in all stages — from the 

 blossoms to the ripe fruit. 



About thirty papers have been promised for the meeting of 

 the Forestry Congress in Philadelphia, and the prospect is fair 

 not only for an entertaining session but for some practical 

 treatment of the more important problems of forestry. 



The white-ffowered Desmodium Japoiiiciim, which comes 

 into. bloom at this season just after the showy lilac blossoms 

 of the D. pendulijiorwn have faded, is very beautiful just now 

 and is a most valuable plant for its late blooming qualities. 



The published statements that the Plum curculio has at last 

 made its appearance in California are happily without founda- 

 tion. It seems that Fuller's Rose beetle, which has been very 

 destructive in Los Angeles County, on Evergreen Oaks, 

 Camellias, Palms, etc., was mistaken for the Plum-weevil. 



Gordonia pubescens has flowered this year at the Arnold 

 Arboretum, growing in the open ground. The plant was bent 

 over and covered with soil last winter. Though not hardy at 

 Boston it might do well when trained against a sheltering 

 wall. A few of its beautiful flowers would well repay a little 

 trouble and care. 



The large rosy fruit of the Magnolia Umbrella still makes 

 that tree conspicuous as it has been for several weeks. This 

 is one of the smaller of our native Magnolias, and its large 

 tropical-looking leaves and creamy-white flowers in spring 

 would make it a desirable tree for planting, even without the 

 autumn beauty of its fruit. 



The Eaton Grape was grown from seed of the Concord in 

 1869. The vine is vigorous, the clusters large, the berries 

 nearly an inch in diameter, with a dense blue bloom. On the 

 trial-grounds of the Rural New Yorker it ripens just before the 

 Concord. It is juicy, but not of the highest quality. Mr. 

 Carman considers it well worthy of general trial. 



A correspondent of the London Garden makes the follow- 

 ing judicious remarks on the subject of judging vegetables at 

 exhibitions: "Some judges are apt to give weight to exhibits 

 which are out of season, as, for instance, very late Asparagus, 

 which should not have been cut, or very early Celery, which, 

 useful enough for flavoring, would not be asked for as salad 

 during summer weather. Really good products, present- 

 ing substantial crops in season, are much to be preferred." 



A correspondent of Mr. Peter Henderson recently sent to him, 

 from France, a cluster of grapes upon which some of the ber- 

 ries were green, some black, some half green and half black — ■ 

 the colors divided sharply by a meridian line — and some were 

 striped green and black. This seems like another example of 

 the influence of strange pollen. But a letter which ac- 

 companied the grapes stated that all the clusters were mottled 

 in the same way, and had been every season since it began to 

 bear, some nine years ago. The vine is a seedling of unknown 

 parentage. 



It is somewhat surprising that two such popular plants as 

 the Dahlia and the Chrysanthemum should have been intro- 

 duced to English gardens the same yeai' — 1789. The Dahlia 

 Centennial has been celebrated with much gusto, and a grand 

 show at the Crystal Palace, and the Chrysanthemum growers 

 are making great preparations for a still more enthusiastic 

 demonstration. A LondOn correspondent writes that by the 

 the middle of September the early Chrysanthemums were seen 

 everywhere. The most popular of these early flowers were 

 George Wermig, Madame Desgranges and Precocite — all good. 



The September number of Harpers' Magazine contains 

 some striking illustrations of forest-trees and forest-scenery in 

 tlie California Coast Range. Two pictures of Cypresses at 

 Monterey are especially good ; one of them showing the 

 habit and expression of the individual tree with its bare roots 

 hooked aljout the rocks on the coast, and the other giving 

 glimpses of the mystery and delicate beauty of an opening in 

 the Cypress woods. The illustrations of the Fog among the 

 Redwoods, the Scrub Oak and Chapparal are successful in 



catching the spirit of the scenery with much of its indefinable 

 charm. 



The committee appointed by the American Association of 

 Nurserymen for the purpose of obtaining lower rates on ex- 

 press lines, have been successful in securing a new classifica- 

 tion, under which a reduction of twenty to twenty-five per 

 cent, will be saved on all express charges, on shipments of trees 

 and shrubs, boxed or baled. Such packages are now classed 

 with produce. This is good news to fruit growers, nursery- 

 men and many others. Mr. S. M. Emery and his associates 

 on the committee are to be congratulated upon their success. 

 These organized efforts of the nurserymen have now brought 

 about reduced freight, reduced postage and reduced express 

 charges on nursery stock. 



The Gardeners' Chronicle, after speaking of the fine display 

 of color made at this season by Crocosma aurea, adds that the 

 variety Imperialis, introduced by Mr. Max Leichtlin, is much 

 finer than the type. The stems are three feet or more high, 

 and the flowers are fully three inches across, with broad seg- 

 ments, and a deep orange, almost scarlet color. Some of the 

 plants of this variety show a slight tendency to the spotting 

 which is so conspicuous in that recently described by Mr. Baker 

 as Maculata. The flowers are large, and the three inner seg- 

 ments of the corolla have each a broad band of purple a little 

 distance from the base. These plants, with the Montbretias 

 and the numerous progeny of the two so-called genera, ai^e 

 certain to be almost as popular as Daffodils when they 

 become better known. 



The Country Gentleman says that the meagre show of grapes 

 at the New York State Fair brought into prominence an exhibit 

 of the new white grape, Diamond, an entire two-year-old 

 grafted vine with twenty clusters being shown.. The grape 

 originated with Jacob Moore, of Rochester, in 1880, from a 

 cross of lona on Concord. It ripens the last of August or first 

 of September, before the Delaware or Niagara ; is of medium 

 size in bunch and berry ; pulp tender to the centre and of 

 pure vinous, with a trace of the lona, flavor ; seeds, small. 

 The foliage is said to be strong and healthy; certainly the speci- 

 man vine, taken up August 21st, showed well-ripened wood. 

 The name of Mr. Moore, the originator of the Brighton, is a 

 guarantee of a good grape, and from what we have seen of it, 

 the Diamond is the most promising white grape in the market. 

 It is said to keep well and to make a good raisin, characteristics 

 not unusual in choice early grapes, .like the Eumelan for 

 instance. 



An interesting account of the manufacture of "Buhach," 

 the trade name of a well-known insect-powder produced from 

 the flowers of Pyrethrum cinerariafoliwn is printed in a recent 

 issue of the Pacific Rural Press. This plant, a native of Dal- 

 matia, is the source -of the Dalmatian insect-powder, a well- 

 known article of commerce for the past thirty years. Trieste, 

 from which it is shipped all over the world, is the principal 

 market for this product, but California is likely to become a 

 serious rival ffcr the trade. The plant was first introduced into 

 California twelve years ago by Mr. G. N. Milco, a native of 

 Dalmatia. From a small beginning the business of growing 

 the Pyrethrum has been gradually extended. About 300 acres 

 near Atwater, in Merced County, are now devoted to its culti- 

 vation, the product being sold all over the United States as 

 " Buhach." The successful cultivation of the plant requires 

 care and constant, supervision. The fields are irrigated, and 

 three years from the sowing of the seed are necessary before 

 a paying crop of flowers is produced. The plants continue 

 to produce crops of flowers during several years, although 

 they are most productive at the age of four or five years. " It 

 grows to a height of about thirty inches, and is planted in ro-ws 

 four feet apart and from fifteen to twenty-four inches apart in 

 the row. The flowers are generally harvested in the latter part 

 of May. The stalks are cut at the roots of the plant, and then 

 by the hand the flowers are broken off by passing the stems 

 through a sort of comb, which detaches the flowers, and they 

 fall into a box and are then carried to the drying-ground, 

 where they are spread upon sheets and exposed to the rays of 

 the sun. During the day they are often turned, and at night 

 they are covered to prevent them from absorbing any mois- 

 ture. The perfect drying of the flowers is a most important 

 operation, as, in order to retain the volatile oil which gives to 

 the powder its insect-destroying properties, it is very necessary 

 that the flowers should be dried quickly and thoroughly, and 

 be protected during the process from all moisture. A light 

 dew falling upon the flowers during the drying process will 

 color them and reduce their value as an insecticide. In this 

 respect the California-grown flowers are better cured and con- 

 sequently more valuable than those grown in Dalmatia." 



