624 



Garden and Forest. 



[December 25, 1889, 



Notes. 



In all our eastern cities Carnations are scarce and high, 

 owing" to the unusually wet summer. 



The growers who have succeeded in obtaining a very late 

 crop of Chrysanthemimis have been reaping a rich harvest. 

 The variety named Christmas Eve has been an especial 

 favorite in Boston. 



The demand for Violets for the holiday trade has been 

 urgent, both in Boston and New York, in spite of the high 

 prices, caused by a limited supply, while in Philadelphia single 

 Violets have never been so abundant. There is little call for 

 white Violets. 



Philadelphia llorists are growing Cypripediuin Lawrenceanuni 

 quite extensively, as its bold flowers, on long stems, are always 

 salable, and generally one-third higher than those of C. in- 

 signe. Of the latter kind some 2,500 flowers were ready for 

 market in Philadelphia on Monday. 



Mistletoe has become very popular, and has been sold in 

 great quantities this year in northern cities. The supply comes 

 from the south, where collectors have learned to pack it prop- 

 erly, so that it reaches our markets in excellent condition. A 

 few years ago a considerable quantity was sent here from Eng- 

 land, but it was packed so carelessly that it was almost useless 

 for any decorative purpose. 



For the Christmas trade in Boston, Roses of various shades 

 of pink and red have been in greatest demand. In Philadel- 

 phia a rather deep pink Hybrid Perpetual Rose has proved 

 something of a sensation. It was at first considered a sport, 

 but experts have identified it as Mademoiselle Marie Cointet. 

 It is a globular flower, though not of such good form as either 

 Mrs. Laing or Madame Gabriel Luizet.and it is rather darker than 

 either. Its chief value is its earliness, as it will bloom a week 

 or ten days before either of the above popular varieties. 



The December number of the Botanical Magazine com- 

 pletes the iisth annual volume. It is dedicated by the ed- 

 itor, Sir Joseph Hooker, to Isaac Bayley Balfour, Professor of 

 Botany in the University of Edinburgh, "the greatest and most 

 influential botanical chair in the Queen's dominions," and the 

 author of important books on the botany of Rodriguez and 

 of Socotra. Seventeen years ago the same editor dedicated 

 the ninety-eighth volume to Professor Balfour's father, then 

 the distinguished occupant of the Edinburgh professorship. 



A new industry seems to have been started in the Bermudas, 

 where the culture of Lilium Harrisi has been made such a 

 success. Early this fall there came to this market the first 

 supply of dry rhizomes of Calla Lilies in sizes fit for forcing. 

 Some of these are now in flower, having been potted about 

 sixty days, but they would probably have bloomed in less time 

 had careful attention been given to them. As these rhizomes 

 can probably be produced very cheaply, no doubt the industry 

 will increase, for there will be a large market for roots ready 

 to throw bloom promptly, at a moderate price. 



The new vegetable, Stachys ajffinis, has become quite popular 

 in France, and is found now in all the principal fruit shops in 

 Paris, the price varying from twelve to twenty-five cents a 

 pound. At Amiens, one of the principal centres of producfion, 

 it has been sold for fifteen francs a hundred pounds. Some 

 one in that city conceived the happy idea of making a preserve 

 of the tubers. Prepared in this way they lose nothing of their 

 quality, and the question of keeping them is settled — a ques- 

 tion of considerable importance, as the tubers in their natural 

 state cannot bear exposure to the air for many days without 

 decaying. 



The sudden death on Tuesday, December 3d, of Dr. W. R. 

 McNab is announced. Dr. McNab, the son and grandson of 

 the distinguished curators of the Royal Botanic Garden at 

 Edinburgh, was at the time of his death Professor of Botany 

 at the Royal College of Science, Dublin, and the director at 

 the Botanic Garden at Glasnevin. He was distinguished by 

 his investigafions in physiological botany and the minute 

 anatomy of plants, both recent and fossil. Dr. McNab is, per- 

 haps, best known by his researches into the minute anatomy 

 of the leaves of conifers. He has for many years been an 

 active and successful teacher. 



The last issue of Forest Leaves, that for December, contains 

 an interesting portrait of a specimen of the Bald Cypress from 

 a photograph by Professor Rothrock. This specimen, which 

 is growing on the borders of the James River, is a fair repre- 

 sentative of the tree as it is seen sometimes standing alone in 

 the water. It retains its wide-spreading branches, which 



spring from the trunk at nearly right angles and which give to 

 the top the ilat appearance which characterizes the species. 

 The trunk in the particidar specimen selected for this illustra- 

 tion is surrounded by an unusual nvmiber of the peculiar 

 growths known as "knees," which are unusually well devel- 

 oped. 



In a speech before the Forestry Commission of New Hamp- 

 shire, at a m.eeting held at Manchester, Mr. Joseph B. Walker, 

 chairman of the commission, stated that $2,500,000 were an- 

 nually expended in New Hampshire by summer boarders. 

 People more and more are coming to want country homes — 

 and the charm of these country homes, he thought, lay in the 

 forests that covered mountains, purified the air and beautified 

 the landscape. He urged upon the people that if they de- 

 nuded the moimtains of their forests no one would want to 

 come to New Hampshire, and the large revenue already re- 

 ceived, and which was increasing from year to year, would be 

 cut off. The Southern Ltimberjnan, in commenting on this 

 reason for forest-protection, shrewdly asks whether the same 

 arguments could not be used for preserving the forests which 

 help to make attractive the winter resorts of the south. 



In view of the depression of the Orange market. President 

 Fairbanks, of the Florida Fruit Exchange, publishes a state- 

 ment of what he considers the material facts of the case. He 

 first observes that while West India oranges mature in 

 September and October and the Mediterranean and California 

 oranges are not sweet until March, the fruit growers of 

 Florida should have control of the market from the first of 

 December until the first of March. Very few Florida oranges, 

 however, attain much sweetness before the middle of Decem- 

 ber, but this year half a million boxes, probably more than 

 one-fourth of the entire crop, of partly green and altogether 

 sour fruit were thrown on the market in November. As a re- 

 sult of this excessive supply of green and acid fruit, which was 

 a libel on the good name of Florida oranges, buyers became 

 few and suspicious. The lesson to be learned from this re- 

 cital is not far to seek. 



A carefully illustrated bulletin, just issued by the Experiment 

 Station of the Kansas Agricultural College, is devoted to the 

 smut in Oats caused by the minute parasitic plant, Ustilago 

 Segetum. The parasite is carried with the seed oats, and per- 

 haps never by manure from smutted straw. The disease is 

 more destructive than is generally believed, causing a loss this . 

 year of more than eleven per cent, of the crop on the college 

 farm and a probable financial loss of more than a million dol- 

 lars to the farmers of the state of Kansas every year. Various 

 fungicides were tried, which lessened the amount of smut, but 

 at the same time affected injuriously the germinating power of 

 the seed and reduced the vigor of the plants. The chief inter- 

 est of the bulletin, liowever, lies in the fact that a trial of the 

 hot water treatment, first published in the Gardeners' Chron- 

 icle by Professor Jansen, of Copenhagen, showed that the smut 

 could be entirely prevented by soaking the seed for fifteen 

 minutes in water heated to a temperature of 132 degrees. A 

 chapter on the natural enemies, both vegetable and animal, of 

 the smut, contains much that is interesting, although of little 

 practical importance, since the disease can be so easily con- 

 trolled. 



The endeavor to establish a botanic garden in the City of 

 Montreal, three years ago, though it met with great opposi- 

 tion at the time, is likely to be realized at no distant day, 

 though the original plan has been greatly modified. For 

 some time past efforts have been directed toward the estab- 

 lishment of a garden in connection with McGill University, 

 and the end has been so far attained that a portion of the 

 grounds, embracing somewhat more than three acres, has 

 been set apart for that purpose, the intention being to occupy 

 eventually about six acres. During the past season a pond 

 for aquatic plants has been constructed, and walks and beds 

 have so far been laid out that planting will begin with the 

 opening of spring. There are already in the grounds upward 

 of one hundred native and exotic trees and shrubs, besides a 

 fair collection of herbaceous plants. These will be added to 

 from the native flora. There are also on hand several hun- 

 dred specimens raised from seed received from the Imperial 

 Botanic Gardens of St. Petersburg, and the Royal Gardens, 

 Kew, all of which have been raised and cared for in private 

 grounds and conservatories. Active efforts are being made 

 for the construction of a conservatory, which it is hoped may 

 be erected soon. It is the intention to adapt the garden to the 

 purposes of collegiate work and the representation of the 

 native flora, together with such exotic species as may be 

 hardy and prove otherwise. desirable, 



