October 9, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



491 



mortar buttresses and openings for discharging the water, 

 twenty-eight feet high and 275 feet long ; its purpose is to 

 Ijeep back all the solid materials which the torrent carries 

 down and to allow only clear water to pass through. And 

 what a ditferent picture does tliis region now present ! A 

 yoimg forest which has been planted covers the scarred sur- 

 face with its protecting growth ; the soil on the steep slopes 

 is now mantled with grass growing thick and fine ; in the val- 

 ley, once so dangerous, villagers cultivate their lands and Bar- 

 celonnette is saved. 



This is what is accomplished by restoring the forest and 

 planting trees on a few hundred acres. How many inunda- 

 tions might be prevented, how many annually-recurring dis- 

 asters averted, if the money and the skill were ready to prose- 

 cute more of these effective works. 



Near these dioramas are dark chamliers, in which the happy 

 idea of picturesque illusions has been carried out. Here is 

 the cabin which serves as a shelter for a gang of twelve work- 

 men ; two camp-beds, made of planks covered with straw, 

 blankets and changes of clothing, then tools, shovels, pick- 

 axes, ropes, cans and all the provisions. Here is the interior 

 of a hut for a forestal agent out on a high mountain : An iron 

 l)edstead, pine furniture, two chairs, a table and a chest, some 

 shelves on which are placed books, instruments and cooking 

 utensils. Elsewhere we see the forge, set up in a shed made 

 of boughs and ferns, with anvils, bellows, tongs and hammers. 

 All this proves most entertaining to the visitors, and it is in- 

 structive as well. 



One can imagine that the gigantic trunks from America and 

 Australia consider our modest trees as poor, degenerate spe- 

 cies. Beside the Eucalyptus from Victoria and New Zealand, 

 the Mahoganys from Mexico, the Cedars from the Argentine 

 Republic, the big trees of the United States, the Pines from 

 Brazil, the Perobas from the Amazon, and other prodiges from 

 the New World, our Poplars, our Elms, our largest and tallest 

 Pines look like a child's playthings. But our trees, nurtured 

 with so much care and cost, might well retort : " You will not 

 always be giants if those who exhibit you do not heed the les- 

 sons taught by the dioramas of Riou-Bourdoux, of Bourget, 

 and of the valley of Peguerre. Let them see what it costs to 

 strip the trees from the mountains without moderation or 

 method ; let them ask our foresters what pains and money it 

 costs to repair the recklessness of former generations. The 

 axe and tire and browsing flocks will too soon make your forests 

 as thin and small, and your torrents as destructive as ours." 



No doubt our trees are right, and the commissioners from 

 Australia and America would do well to take advantage of 

 their stay on our continent to study the art of cultivating 

 forests and of systematic felling. 



Correspondence. 



Some Native Vines. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir. — Your admirable articles on Masking House Founda- 

 tions seem to have had in view suburban houses mainly; but 

 the lack of vines about our country homes is noteworthy. 

 One may ride miles without seeing a well-chosen and carefully- 

 trained vine near a farm-house. There are not infrequently 

 piazzas standing bare in the sunshine, which migiit be made 

 beautiful as well as comfortable places for the household if 

 shaded and fringed by some festooning climbers. This neglect 

 is less excusable since we have so many desirable native vines 

 that can be had for the digging. Perhaps the Virginia Creeper, 

 always thrifty, and with the crowning excellence of rich 

 autumn color, deserves the precedence ; but there are many 

 others worthy of kind treatment. The Ground-nut {Apios 

 tuberosa), which I lately saw in bloom, is certainly one of 

 these. It is a twining perennial, with light green foliage, 

 which is ornamental throughout the season, though its chief 

 interest lies- in the peculiar color of the flowers and their ap- 

 pearance after most of our familiar native climbers are in 

 fruit. The racemes of chocolate-colored blossoms, paler- 

 hued outside, contrast finely with the green leaves, while the 

 inside has a rich velvety appearance and a pleasant odor of 

 Violets. The specimen which I observed had climbed sixteen 

 feet among the branches of a Larch-tree, bearing clusters of 

 l)loom at the axil of each leaf for a good part of the distance. 

 The Moonseed is also easily cultivated, and its twining stems 

 and abundant foliage make a most desirable Vine. Even more 

 abundant is the foliage of the unarmed Smilax, which is also 

 ornamented with umbels of black fruit. And why is not the 

 common Virgin's-bower {^Clematis Virginiana) planted wher- 

 ever any planting is done ? It is the most beautiful of the 



northern Clematises, and can be found in any wooded region 

 It is never more beautiful than it is along a country road-side" 

 but it thrives under cultivation, and makes a wonderful growth 

 in deep rich soil. 7^ ^ „• 



Klinger Lake, Mich. DorcaS h. LoLlUlS. 



Rosa setig-era and Ipomoea pandurata in 

 Southern Michigan. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — Mr. B. W. Steere, an intelligent nurseryman, living 

 near Adrian, Lenawee County, in southern Michigan, gives me 

 the following in reference to the Prairie Rose : 



"About 1846-47, Barber Perkins made considerable money 

 by shipping the Roses east, where extravagant prices were 

 paid for them. As the excitement ran high, men and boys 

 scoured the woods in all directions from Adrian. They were 

 also found in Monroe County, in the south-eastern part of the 

 state. They were sold as the 'Michigan Rose,' 'Michigan 

 Climbing Rose,' ' Prairie Rose,' and ' Eglantine Rose.' 



"They grew mostly on the rich borders of swamps. In 

 going from Adrian by way of Blissfield to Maumee City in a 

 carriage, years ago, in July, I saw them in full l)loom, covering 

 small trees to a height of ten to fifteen feet ; and their gretit 

 clusters of flowers were so abundant and beautiful that the 

 sight of them well repaid one for many miles of travel. The 

 last one that I was sure of here, grew on our place near the 

 river Raisin, but was taken up or destroyed seven or eight years 

 ago. The name ' Prairie Rose,' doubtless came from our 

 habit of calling our swamp meadows, 'prairies.'" 



There is one vine which I think must be about extinct here 

 in the wild state, Man of the Earth, Ipoincea pandtirata. The 

 only one I know of runs over a large quince bush, planted 

 forty or forty-five years ago. It still shows its large flowers in 

 July and August, white, with purple throat. It can look at the 

 sun without blinking. 



Agricultural College, Mich. W. J. Beal. 



The St. John's-worts- 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — I was much interested in Mr. Jack's article on " Hy- 

 pericums," and I wish to endorse his statement that //. caly- 

 cintiin is "decidedly the most interesting and satisfactory." 

 In this conclusion every one must concur who is familiar with 

 the beauty of foliage and flower of this species, to say nothing 

 of the immense value of the plant from its hardiness and 

 adaptability for undergrowth and in shaded locations. There 

 are so few really desirable shrubs which succeed under trees 

 and in shady situations, that it is surprising that this fine va- 

 riety is so little grown or known. 



In a trip through England and on the Continent during the 

 past summer, one of the most pleasing and effective things in 

 • hardy trees and plants I saw was a solid border of Hypericum 

 calycinuni, planted on both sides of a walk directly under 

 some double rows of shade. The foliage above was quite 

 thick. Few, if any, sunrays fell directly on the plants at any 

 time during the day. The soil was an ordinary loam, not spe- 

 cially prepared nor over rich. The shade was sufficientlv 

 dense to preclude the growth of any shrub or plant not con- 

 genial to such conditions, yet the border on both sides, and 

 for the entire length, was a solid mass, about a foot in height, 

 of the most beautiful green, and covered with large, showy, 

 golden-yellow flowers. 



Nearly all the Hy])ericums are largely used for ornamental 

 planting in Europe, Init H. calycinicin is generally considered 

 there — as it will be here in time — not only the most ^•aluable of 

 the species, but for massing in shady situations as almost with- 

 out a rival or equal in all the long list of dwarf-growing hardy 

 shrubs. Fred. W. Kelsey. 



New York. 



A Pleasing Combination. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — A lady, and gardening enthusiast, mentioned to mc, the 

 other day, a combination which she had used with pleasing- 

 effect on her grounds atWyncote, Pennsylvania — the Trumpet- 

 creeper and Wistaria jjlaced together to help one another rise 

 in life, and drape a gnarled old Cedar-tree. 



Possessed of so fine a sense of the beautiful as to have 

 planted the large Dogwood by the lumdred upon an extensive 

 lawn as clumps, sections in Ijoundary planting, and notably as 

 a hedge-backing against a row of stately Red Cedars, tliat 

 forms a protection to one side of her hardy flower-garden, the 

 combination which she em[)hazies must, in the very nature of 

 things be a happv one. 



Rochester, N. V. ' G. H E. 



