492 



Garden and Forest. 



[October g, 1889. 



Notes. 



The Engitieering and Mining yournal, in advocating some 

 action by government to protect the forests against fires, 

 asserts tliattliese tires have tliis year destroyed more than the 

 vakie of all the timber planted, the timber stolen and the tim- 

 ber legitimately cut between the Missouri and the Coast 

 Range. 



The Dwarf Gray Willow {Salix tristis) should make an excel- 

 lent plant for the slopes of embankments and excavations 

 along railroads, where it will flourish. It rarely exceeds two 

 feet in height, and has slender stems not more than half an 

 inch in diameter. The roots, however, are often as thick as a 

 man's wrist, so that it is a hard plant to dislodge, and it would 

 render good service-in holding a bank firm. 



The forest-trees in the vicinity of New York are late this 

 year in putting on their autumn colors. Even the Maples are 

 still green, but the Liquidambars are singularly brilliant in 

 chocolate, bronze, maroon and glowing crimson. The Pepper- 

 idge, too, is brilliant in cases where the leaves have remained 

 on the trees, but in many instances the leaves of this tree, and 

 of many others, have fallen prematurely, leaving the branches 

 as bare as they are in winter. 



In his interesting article in this issue, Mr. Jack states that 

 Clematis paniciilata can hardly be called a September-bloom- 

 ing plant in Boston. In the vicinity of New York, however, 

 this admirable species was in full bloom from the ist until the 

 2oth of September. It may be added that C. crispa is still 

 showing flowers, even after quite sharp frosts, and the same is 

 true of C. coccinia, whose light coral-colored flowers are yet 

 seen in considerable numbers. 



We have received from Mr. S. C. Moon, of Morrisville, 

 Pennsylvania, some very large and beautiful chestnuts from a 

 tree said to be a seedling of the European Chestnut. The va- 

 riety has been named Numbo, by Mr. Moon, on whose farm 

 it originated more than thirty years ago. When boiled, these 

 chestnuts are of good flavor, but the quality of the meat in its 

 natural state is inferior to that of our smaller nuts. The tree 

 is said to be very hardy, symmetrical in outline, and unusually 

 productive. 



Worden's Seckel is a new pear which has been in bearing 

 four years. It is a seedling of the Seckel, but is a more vigor- 

 ous tree and produces its fruit in clusters. The Coimfry Gen- 

 tleman describes the fruit as above medium size, pyriform, 

 smooth, with clear yellow skin and a broad, rich-red cheek. 

 The flesh is white, fine-grained and melting and of a mild 

 and sweet, pleasant flavor. Altogether, it is one of the most 

 beautiful of Pears, and its quality would be rated " very good." 

 It was raised by Mr. S. Worden, of Oswego County, New York, 

 the originator of the excellent Worden Grape. 



Syringa oblata in this vicinity has this year sustained its 

 reputation for freedom from mildew. A small plant observed 

 on Saturday last had foliage as fresh and green as in early 

 spring. About Boston, however, many large plants are 

 slightly but distinctly mildewed, and a young plant in the Ar- 

 nold Arboretum is mildewed as badly as many of the com- 

 mon Lilacs. S. Japonica shows no trace of mildew, nor do 

 S. pubescens or S. villosa. The Chinese and Persian Lilacs 

 are as liable to the fungus as are the varieties of 6'. vulgaris, 

 and, by the way, different varieties standing side by side are 

 very unequally affected. 



Agricultural Science for September contains a study of the 

 contents of seed packages obtained from American seedsmen 

 cind from Vilmorin-Andrieux et Cie, of Paris. Very little 

 weed-seed was found, and not enough foreign material or 

 imperfect seed to justify the establishment of seed-control sta- 

 tions. The most harmful adulteration of seeds is that of 

 mixing varieties, or of substituting inferior strains or varie- 

 ties for good ones. But this adulteration cannot be detected 

 by an examination of seeds, and is, therefore, difficult to con- 

 trol. The redress in this case must be demanded of the 

 seedsman by the grower himself after the crop is grown. It 

 is doubtful if the self-asserted irresponsibility of the seeds- 

 man, printed upon all seed packets, constitutes any legal im- 

 munity from damage in the case of harmful substitutions ; at 

 least an English court has decided that such statement does 

 not relieve the dealer. The fact that such instances so rarely 

 come to our courts is proof that adulterations of this character 

 are rare in this country. 



The people of the British Islands, as well as the continent 

 of Europe were surprised by a sudden taste of winter on the 

 i6th and 17th of September. Much damage was done to 



tender vegetation, especially in Belgium, where there are so 

 many large establishments devoted to commercial horticul- 

 ture. A correspondent of the Gardeners' Chronicle, writing 

 from Ghent, says : " About 2 A.M. on Monday, the i6th, 

 frost came on so suddenly and was so severe that every one 

 was taken unawares, and by daylight it was apparent that a 

 serious disaster had befallen the Indian Azaleas, the plants in 

 most places presenting the appearance of having been 

 singed, and for some miles around Ghent the plants have, 

 with scarcely an exception, suffered alike. The disappoint- 

 ment to buyers will be great, and the loss to the growers will 

 prove to be one of the most serious misfortunes which has 

 occurred within the recollection of the oldest horticulturist in 

 Ghent. Packing operations for export were to commence on 

 the very day of the disaster." 



The manufacture of shingles in Oregon and Washington 

 from Red Cedar [Thuya giganted) is a rapidly growing busi- 

 ness. Formerly these shingles were sold in Colorado and 

 Utah only. Several of the largest manufacturers last year 

 united to form the North Pacific Consolidated Shingle Com- 

 pany, which now sells 20,000,000 shingles a month, finding 

 markets in Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and New 

 York. These Puget Sound and Columbia River shingles 

 are absolutely free from knots, and they neither curl, warp nor 

 split, and dampness has little perceptible effect on them. Fort 

 Nesqually, built by the Hudson Bay Company in 1841, was 

 covered with split cedar shingles, which are still sound. 

 Roofs laid thirty years ago, and for years covered with moss, 

 have never leaked and appear little the worse for wear. This 

 Cedar is a great favorite with the Indians who hollow their 

 canoes out of the wood because it is so light, splits so true 

 and works so easily. For the same reasons most of the sash 

 and doors in Washington and Oregon are made of this wood. 

 The tree grows to a diameter of twelve to thirteen feet very 

 often, and in a late number of the Northwestern Lumberman 

 is an illustration of a tree which is eighteen feet in diameter. 



A botanical garden has been established in the Alps of 

 Valais at an elevation of more than 5,600 feet above the level 

 of the sea. It is situated on a cone-shaped knoll, which is 

 about 200 feet high, and composed of a number of natural tei-- 

 races, planted with Pinus Cembra and Larch, and faces north, 

 east and west. On the summit is a plateau facing the south, 

 on which will be a little chalet, containing the library and 

 herbarium of the garden. The Association for the Protection 

 of Plants has bought the land, and converted it into an alpine 

 garden, for plants from all the alpine regions of the globe. 

 Representatives of the floras of the Himalayas, of the American 

 mountains, of New Zealand, of the Antarctic regions, of the 

 Caucasus, of Siberia, of the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Carpathians, 

 and the Ural, will be separated, and each cultivated in a 

 special division. Naturally, M. H. Correvon was named 

 Director of this new trial-garden, in which he had already 

 planted several thousand mountain plants. This garden is at 

 so high an elevation that interesting observations can be made 

 concerning the floras of all the alpine regions of the globe, on 

 the relations of plants with insects, their acclimitization, varia- 

 bility, etc. Already consignments of plants have been sent to 

 M. Correvon, and a German botanist who is traveling in the 

 East, and is continuing the work of Boissier — M. Bornmiiller — 

 has promised some interesting specimens. Other parcels are 

 expected from Canada, Greenland and New Zealand. The 

 Gardeners' Chronicle, from which we take these facts, invites 

 all who are in suitable latitudes to send to M. Correvon seeds 

 or bulbs from the northern regions in which they are travel- 

 ing, for the garden of Bourg St. Pierre, which will neces- 

 sarily serve later on for the temporary reception of plants from 

 high altitudes which cannot be acclimatized directly with us, 

 but require to be subjected to an intermediate temperature 

 first. In this way, M. Correvon is going to try to acclimatize 

 the celebrated but fragile Calypso borealis, which he hopes to 

 introduce into cultivation by accustoming it to this interme- 

 diate position. 



Catalogues Received. 



A. M. C. JoNGKiNDT CoNiNCK, Dedemsvaart, near ZwoUe, Nether- 

 lands ; Coiiiferas, Rhododendrons, etc. — Dammann & Co., San Gio- 

 vanni a Teduccio, Naples, Italy ; Seeds, etc. — R. Douglas & Sons, 

 Waukegan, 111. ; Forest and Ornamental Trees. — Ellwanger & Barry, 

 Mount Hope Nurseries, Rochester, N. Y.; Fruits, Ornamental Trees, 

 Shrubs, Strawberries, Select Roses, etc. — John Gardiner & Co., 21 N. 

 Thirteenth St., Philadelphia, Pa.; Mushrooms, Spring Bulbs, etc. — 

 Herbert A. Jones, Himrods, N. Y. ; Fruit and Ornamental Trees, 

 Plants, Shrubbery, etc. — Jacob W. Manning, Reading, Mass.; Choice- 

 Hardy .Perennials. — Samuel WiLSON, Mechanicsville, Pa. ; Seed Wheat, 

 Strawberry Plants, Fruit Trees, Small Fruits, Grape-vines, etc. 



