8 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 358. 



a tree must be before it Ijecomes too unwieldy to handle in 

 this way. To put down these young trees this fall was a very 

 simple operation. Fifty-five trees were laid down and snugly 

 covered with about four hours' work, thus costing only about 

 a cent a tree. Indeed, the ease with which it was done raises 

 the question whether it would not be well to lay down all 

 young trees for the first year or two, until they become thor- 

 oughly established and better able to withstand the winter. Of 

 course, the cost will rapidly increase with each succeeding 

 year until the trees reach their full growth. 



Lincoln, Neb. 



Fred W. Card. 



Chorozemas. — These New Holland plantsare worthy of a place 

 in every greenhouse, flowering as they do at a dull time of the 

 year, when the last Chrysanthemums have disappeared. They 

 are easily cultivated and readily propagated. Short, firm cut- 

 tings, rubbed off with a heel and inserted in bottom-heat of 

 seventy-five degrees now, will make nice plants in six-inch 

 pots in a year's time. For compost, good fibrous loam two 

 parts, leaf-mold one part, and a good admixture of sharp sand 

 will be found suitable when the plants reach a moderate size ; 

 some well-dried cow-manure can also be mixed in the soil 

 with advantage. The pots should be drained ei¥iciently and 

 the soil rammed firmly, as for Ericas and other hard-wooded 

 plants. We have frequently seen Chorozemas trained on bal- 

 loon trellises ; treated in this way they make a very pleasing 

 effect with their lirdliant flowers and fresh evergreen leaves. 

 They are also effective when trained to pillars and posts, and 

 they are admirable as loose bush plants. They should not be 

 tied up too tightly ; if the outer shoots are allowed to droop 

 naturally they will hide the bareness of the lower part of the 

 plant and almost cover the pots. In a cool house they will last 

 in bloom for three months or longer. Early in June they can 

 be plunged outdoors in a bed of ashes, pruned back a 

 little, and treated like Azaleas. They should be housed 

 before danger of frost, although a light frost will not hurt 

 them at all. There are several varieties of Chorozema, in- 

 cluding Ilicifolium, Laurenceana, Henchmanni, Cordatum and 

 Cordatum splendens. The last-named variety is the only one 

 we now grow ; the flowers are orange and red in color, and 

 are borne in great profusion. We consider it much the best 

 of the family. 



Streptosolen Jamesonii. — Too much cannot be said in favorof 

 this as a winter-blooming plant. It begins to flower early in 

 the new year, and lasts until May in good condition, and so 

 floriferous is it that I have seen blooms on it every month in 

 the year. It is easily propagated, and cuttings of soft wood 

 inserted in a good bottom-heat will be nicely rooted in 

 a month's time or less, and if potted on as required fine plants 

 can be had in eight and ten inch pots for next winter's bloom. 

 If grown as a half-standard, with a stem two feet long, it is 

 more effective than when grown in regular busli form ; trained 

 in umbrella fashion it also makes a remarkably handsome 

 plant. For compost we use good rich loam, to which is added 

 some cow-manure or pulverized sheep-manure and a little 

 sharp sand. The soil should be pressed moderately firm. The 

 plajits do best plunged out-of-doors in the summer and treated 

 as "Chrysanthemums are. They will need frequent water- 

 ings with liquid-manure when pot-bound. Unless extra large 

 plants are desired, it is best to raise a fresh stock from cut- 

 tings each year, and this is a good time to insert them. In 

 Great Britain this plant is better'known as Browallia, and it is 

 becoming increasingly popular there. The bright cinnamon- 

 red flowers are of a color distinct from those of almost any 

 other winter-flowering plant, and, although not of any special 

 value for cutting, its lasting qualities merit a place for it in 

 every greenhouse collection. 



Taunton, Mass. IV. M. Craig. 



Correspondence. 



The Chestnut Weevil. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — I have been interested in the growing of Chestnuts, 

 and especially in what you have said about the "Ridgley Chest- 

 nut, but I observe that a writer in the Rural Neio Yorker 

 condemns this variety, as well as the Numbo and Paragon, 

 because of their liability to injury from the Chestnut weevil! 

 He states that the Japan chestnuts are not "wormy," owing 

 to the fact that they ripen early. Now, is it true that our native 

 varieties, or those of European blood, are more subject to 

 attacks from the weevil than varieties of the Japan type, and 

 does the early ripening of chestnuts exempt them froni the 

 attacks of this insect ? This seems to me to be a very impor- 



tant point, for a crop of chestnuts which is largely wormy is 

 useless. 



Montclair, N. J. R. A. S. 



[These points we can only answer by reference to ex- 

 periments which have been made by skilled entomologists. 

 Professor John B. Smith, of the New Jersey Agricultural 

 College, gives an account of the weevil and its work in his 

 report for 1893, and the trees he examined in southern New 

 Jersey did not bear out the views of the correspondent of 

 the Rural Nnv Yorker. The fact is, that while imported 

 trees had up to that year been comparatively free from 

 wormy fruit, in 1893 the imported and improved varieties 

 suffered as much as any. The Paragon, which is noted 

 in the Rural New Yorker as the most affected, was here 

 the least attacked of any, while the native as well as the 

 Japanese varieties were largely infested. The time of ripen- 

 ing has certainly nothing to do with the trouble, but the 

 time of flowering may have some significance, because 

 the attack is made by the beetles, which appear early in the 

 season, when the Chestnuts are still in bloom. A small 

 hole is bored into the young bur and the eggs are deposited 

 in the embryo nut by the long, slender beak of the beetle. 

 The minute puncture made by the insect heals completely, 

 so that it is impossible when the nuts are ripe to discover 

 how the larvse entered. These larvje feed upon the nut 

 and leave it any time between the middle of September 

 and the first of November, when they go under ground for 

 a short distance and remain until the following spring, or, 

 perhaps, lie over until the second year, which is nature's 

 provision for continuing the species if there should be a 

 failure of the chestnut crop in any season. It will be seen 

 from this that there is no period in the life of the insect 

 when it is within reach of the poison. Where the ground 

 is cultivated most of the larva; are killed by the operation, 

 especially where mineral fertilizers are applied, but Pro- 

 fessor Smith advises those who wish to plant improved 

 varieties of Chestnuts in land which is not tilled, to get rid 

 of all the wild trees in the vicinity which might serve to 

 perpetuate the species. As soon as the nuts begin to drop, 

 every nut under the trees should be gathered at once and 

 sent away or destroyed before the larvse leave them. If it is 

 found that any variety is specially attractive to the insects, 

 trees of this sort should be scattered among those less 

 liable to attack, in the proportion, say, of one tree to ten. 

 The insect will be most numerous under these trees and 

 the ground here should be kept clean so that the nuts can 

 be seen as they fall. The crop from these trees will contain 

 by much the greatest percentage of the larvse in the grove, 

 and these trees will protect to a certain extent the others. 

 Systematic early gathering will of itself appreciably lessen 

 the number of the weevils. Of course, wormy nuts should 

 not be thrown on the ground, but should be burned. Nuts 

 which cannot be marketed at once should be put into tight 

 boxes or barrels through which the larvse cannot make 

 their way, and when the nuts are removed the larvae should 

 be destroyed by boiling water or in some other convenient 

 way. — Ed.] 



Some Aspects of British Forestry. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — This was the title of a paper read by Dr. Somerville, 

 of the Durham College of Science, before the Imperial Insti- 

 tute, at London, December 14th. 



The extension of sylviculture in this country was discussed 

 chiefly as an agency for bringing profit to the landlord and 

 benefit to the state. The absence of satisfactory returns from 

 many of our existing woods was traced to excessive initial 

 expenses, unscientific management, game, and the inferior 

 quality, and consequently low price, of much of our home- 

 grown timber. The poor quality of the timber was shown to 

 be largely due to the way in which our plantations are man- 

 aged, and especially to their being usually over-thinned, and 

 too limited in extent. Reference to the Board of Trade statis- 

 tics did not justify a common prediction that timber will be- 

 come both scarce and dear in the near future. If, however, 

 timber-exporting countries are cutting into their capital stock 

 of trees, and are shipping more timber than is annually pro- 



