November 6, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



539 



northern states. These specimens arc slender, narrow pyra- 

 mids, fully thirty-five feet high, and perfectly furnished with 

 branches. These have a tendency to turn up at the ends, and 

 so expose tlie white under surface of the leaves, thus giving to 

 the whole tree a decidedly silvery appearance, which is strik- 

 ing and beautiful. This species is too rarely seen in collec- 

 tions. It suffers in England from spring frosts, and is, there- 

 fore, rarely propagated in English nurseries; and I have never 

 seen a good specimen in Europe. This will sufficiently ex- 

 plain why the Cilician Fir has not been planted more often in 

 this country, in spite of the fact that Dr. Hall's plants and sev- 

 eral fine specimens in Mr. Hunnewell's Pinetum show that it 

 is able to adapt itself to the climate of New England. 



c. s. s. 



Correspondence. 



Variegated Wild Plants. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir.— In 1888, at Nonciuitt, Massachusetts, I noted the follow- 

 ing variegated plants : 



Spartina cynosuroides. — Finely striped with gold. It did not 

 blossom either in that or in the succeeding year, although the 

 green variety adjoining bloomed as usual. 



Kalmia angustifolia. — Finely gold-blotched. I distributed 

 a number of herbarium specimens. * On visiting the locality, 

 which was along the road-side, in 1889, I found the whole 

 patch had been cleared off and burnt over. 



Rumex acetosella. — In 1889 I found a single specimen 

 beautifully variegated with yellow. It had a more compact 

 growth than usual, and with a little increase of size might 

 have been deemed attractive. 



Barbarea vulgaris. — While at the New York Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station at Geneva, a specimen very prettily 

 variegated with white blotches was removed to the green- 

 house and grown for two years, retaining its variegation dur- 

 ing the whole time. 



Will some of the readers of Garden and Forest add to this 



South FramiiiKham, Mass. E. Lewis Sturtevailt. 



Data Concerning the Growth of Native Trees. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — In the spring of 1835, a considerable number of White 

 Pines {Finns Strobus) were planted about my residence. Of 

 these fifteen are still standing and are apparently in full vigor. 

 My uncle, who planted these l-*incs, states that they were of very 

 uniform size, their trunks measuring about two and a half 

 inches in diameter. At present, the smallest of the series 

 measures forty-three inches in circumference, four feet from 

 the ground, and the largest seventy-nine inches. Nine of them 

 vary from sixty-two to sixty-eight inches. The average circum- 

 ference of the fifteen trees is sixty-two and a half inches. 



These trees were not placed at uniform distances from each 

 other, and some show the certain ill effect of overcrowding. 

 This is conspicuously the case with three of the Pines, and 

 these have sulfered. Had the planting been done with greater 

 reference to the future, and an equal chance given each tree, 

 the average circumference would have been greater by at least 

 three inches ; the girth of the twelve largest being sixty-five 

 inches. As it is, including the three somewhat stunted trees, 

 the growth (circumferential measurement) has been sixty 

 inches in fifty-four years ; an annual increase of one and one- 

 ninth inches.* 



These Pines stand upon a bluff, composed of compact, fer- 

 ruginous sand of great depth, and are exposed to the full 

 sweep of the western and northern winds. In the matter of 

 soil and exposure they have had equal chances. It is not 

 readily seen, if at all determinable, why more of tiiese trees 

 should not have reached the maximum size, and become 

 stately trees, which, in a sadly deforested landscape, are com- 

 manding objects. 



A year later two Wild Cherries {Primus scrotina) were 

 planted near the Pines, by the same person. "These trees 

 were very small," he writes me, "as I pulled them up with my 

 hand and carried them to the yard, as one wouUl a walking 

 stick. Probably neither were more than an inch in diameter." 

 These trees are in full vigor to-day, one measuring seventv- 



* Since the aliove was written, one of tlieso Pines has been felled and the rings of 

 annual ijrowth caiefully counted They are sixty in number, whicli accords with 

 the history j^iven aI>o\'e of the planting, now nearly fiftv-iive years at3;o. It niav I)o 

 well to ac3d that, while each ring is distinctly defined, there are several niuch 

 larger than the others, and a general increase of the width of the rings upon the 

 south-eastern side of tfie trunk. 



three inches and the other sixty-eight in circumferancc. The 

 former is fully fifty feet in height; and the crop of fruit it bears 

 annually is enormous. 



In 1836 my grandfather found among a lot of Peach-trees 

 that he had purchased an Elm {Ulmus Americana) which "was 

 a mere switqli." It was planted in an out-of-the-way corner, 

 and is now a splendid tree, with a spread of branches measur- 

 ing seventy feet. The circumferential measurement, at a 

 height of four feet froni the ground, is 103 inches. 



Of the Oaks, Cedar and Beech, of which I have many fine 

 specimens upon the farm, I have not been able to gather any 

 definite data, but it would appear that the growth is exceed- 

 ingly slow after a certain term of years. My uncle is very 

 positive that a Black Oak in the lane and a Red Cedar nearby 

 have not increased materially in growth in the past half cen- 

 tury. He believes the Cedar to have " quite stood still," and 

 this may not be so strange, for it is known to lie considerably 

 over 100 years old. It was a conspicuous road-side tree in 1802. 

 It measures but eighteen inches in diameter. 



Trenton, N.J. Charles C. Abbott. 



Chr3'santhemums at the United States Nurseries. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — No horticultural event last year aroused more interest 

 than the exhibition in the fall of a few blooms of the Mrs. 

 Alpheus Hardy, a white Chrysanthemum of unique beauty. 

 On the last day of October I visited the establishment of 

 Messrs. Pitcher & Manda, who signalized the opening of their 

 business career by the courageous purchase of this variety for 

 a much greater price than had ever been paid for a Chrysan- 

 themum. The visitors who will throng these nurseries this 

 week, at the invitation of the proprietors, will find the flowers 

 in more advanced condition than when I saw them, but, even 

 then, the Clu'ysanthemums were already massed and taste- 

 fully arranged in one of the larger houses. 



The general effect, as one passes from the Orchid houses 

 and stands on the steps by which entrance is had to the 

 larger and lower house, is one of striking beauty, a great 

 mass of the Mrs. Hardy filling the entire centre, and the fine 

 blooms of the general collection lining the entire outer 

 circuit. Standing here to enjoy the general elfect, one notes 

 the strong and weak points of this favorite fiower. Certainly 

 no other species gives us the wealth and diversity of bloom, 

 such grand flowers here and delicate ones tliere, with innumer- 

 able shades of color — here the soft white of Mrs. Hardy, there 

 whites of all tones ; yellows, from palest primrose to deepest 

 orange ; reds and bronzes of seemingly every possible com- 

 bination. The true blue Chrysanthemum has not appeared, 

 but, unfortunately, there is blue mixed with the reds, and 

 this is the most discordant color in the family. Noting the 

 vigor of the plants and the bold and massive elfect of the 

 blooms of a well grown collection, one is impressed with the 

 masculine beauty of this fiower, and it seems a pity that it 

 has not been dubbed the "King of Autumn" instead of " the 

 Queen." In the centre l)ed were planted some 2,000 late struck 

 plants of the Mrs. Hardy, which were blooming freely, 

 although not yet in perfect form. Judging from some grand 

 flowers on the larger plants at the end of the house, this variety 

 is fulfilling all its promises. 



Messrs. Pitcher & Manda have also been fortunate in secur- 

 ing the rtcwest seedlings of Dr. H. P. Walcott, who is well 

 known as the first raiser of American seedlings and an enthu- 

 siastic amateur. Noticeable among these were Shasta, clear 

 white, globular heads, tubular florets; Semiramis and Tecum- 

 seh, both in the way of Mrs. Wheeler; Adirondack, a fine 

 Chinese incurved sort, very pure white ; Ramona, an incurved 

 Japanese, light amber ; Monadnock, a yellow Gloire Rayon- 

 nante, and Manitou. Here are also some promising Short 

 Hills seedlings, the best of which is said to be Number 26, a full 

 globular flower, pink and rather early. Among a consignment 

 of Japanese varieties received this year the most promising 

 are provisionally named 4xxx (white), 18 (bronze), 9 (yellow), 

 4x (deep yellow). All the well known best varieties are grown, 

 as well as the latest productions of the Continental ilorists. 

 Some of the most promising of the new kinds under trial are 

 "C. Souchct" (Dei.), coppery, reflexed; Suzon (Rcy); La Tosca 

 (Del.) ; M. Louise Leroy (Del.), one of the best of the new 

 whites ; M. Constant Varin (Del.), yellow, fragrant ; La For- 

 tune (L. Lac), yellow (extra) ; Belle Pointevine (Brt.), very fine 

 white, incurved. Those who tio not succeed with Empress 

 should try this and Walcott's Adirondack. Of Fewkes' set L. B. 

 Bird and Kioto seem to be the choice. 



As is well known this nursery has a grand collection of 

 Orchids, and though comparatively few are in blossom at this 



