6o 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 363. 



Notes. 



Between sixty thousand and seventy thousand bulbs of 

 Japanese Lilies were disposed of at a single auction sale in 

 London last month. 



Mr. J. H. Hale writes to the Florists' Exchange of a new 

 large winter pear in form like Vicar, but with a color as beau- 

 tiful as that of the Bartlett and of quite as good flavor. The 

 stock is owned by E. G. Mendenhall, Kinmundy, Illinois. A 

 really first-class winter pear of this color and description 

 would be a desirable acquisition. 



A correspondent of the Rural New Yorker writes that after 

 freezing weather set in last fall he planted all his Cauliflowers 

 which had not headed in a trench and covered them with 

 leaves. They continued to grow. Now the leaves are as 

 green and crisp as they were in September, and every plant 

 has formed a fine head. There seems to be no reason why 

 Cabbage and Cauliflower which have not matured in autumn 

 should be allowed to waste. 



At the late meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society, in Lon- 

 don, Mr. May's new Tea Rose, Mrs. Pierpont Morgan, which 

 we have already described as a sport of Madame Cusin, re- 

 ceived an award of merit. The fragrance of the flower was 

 spoken of as one of its distinct features and as delightful as 

 that of any Tea Rose known. It certainly speaks well for the 

 flower that it preserved its fragrance after a journey across the 

 Atlantic before it was exhibited. 



At the late meeting of the American Pomological Society at 

 Sacramento the Wilder silver medals were awarded : To the 

 Cooperative Fruit Company of Newcastle, Placer County, Cali- 

 fornia, for oranges, lemons, pomelos, Japanese persimmons, 

 apples, figs and almonds ; to the California Nursery Company, 

 for sixteen varieties of olives on branches. Bronze medals 

 were awarded to the Pioneer Land Company, Porterville, tor 

 ten varieties of oranges, pomelos and limes ; to P. C. Diescher, 

 of Palermo, for sixteen varieties of oranges ; to the Horticul- 

 tural Society of Sonoma, for Luther Burbank's improved nuts 

 and other fruits. 



An English traveler in northern Russia writes to the Gar- 

 deners' Chronicle that nothing surprised him more than the 

 universal presence of well-grown flowering plants in dwelling- 

 rooms. Even in the cells of monasteries and in the studios of 

 city photographers farther north than Archangel he found 

 such plants as Oleanders, Crotons, Pelargoniums and Fuchsias 

 in almost every room. The double windows, so necessary to 

 keep out the cold, have a draught-tight space between them 

 filled with flowering plants, and it does not seem necessary to 

 open them for air during the short hot summer. From Sep- 

 tember to June the country is buried in snow and shut in by 

 ice. The average temperature for January is only ten degrees. 

 The July temperature, however, has an average of sixty de- 

 grees, Fahrenheit, which is hardly to be wondered at when it 

 is remembered that the sun shines twenty-two hours out of 

 the twenty-four. 



Mr. Thomas Meehan, in the last number of his Mon/hlj, 

 which contains a portrait of Aquilegia Canadensis, gives a 

 very pretty description of a scene in spring along the Wissa- 

 hiciton, in which this wild Columbine was an important fea- 

 ture. It was twenty-five years ago, before the city, with its 

 army of flower-gatherers, had crowded so far out into the 

 country, when this plant was seen among the loose rocks at 

 the base of a huge crag with blue Hepaticas, Spring Beauties 

 and the snowy flowers of Blood-root mingled with the vivid color 

 of the evergreen Fern, Aspidium acrostichoides. Up in the 

 crevices of the crag Corydalis glauca was blooming profusely in 

 the midst of tufts of common Polypody, while the trees and 

 shrubs were just beginning to open their tender leaves, 

 making a sort of half-shade which gives that peculiar charm 

 to forest-scenery at this entrancing season of the year. The 

 final charm to the scene was given by our wild Columbine, 

 whose woody roots had descended deeply in the crevices of the 

 rocks, where the leaves had been caught, to decay and make 

 the rich food in which it delights. Why do not these plants 

 make a nice list for a nook in some wild rock-garden for early 

 spring effect 1 



We have heretofore given accounts of experiments to test 

 the influence of electric light on plants growing in the green- 

 house. The most important of these experiments were con- 

 ducted by Professor Bailey, in which the arc lamp was used. 

 In 1892 Professor Rane, of the West Virginia Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station, began some tests with incandescent lamps, 

 although in ttie bulletin which recounts these experiments it 

 is stated that in the arc light the chemical rays predominate, 

 while in the incandescent light these are only slightly present, 



and the supposition is that the light from an arc lamp contains 

 properties which render it nearer sunlight in quality than that 

 of the incandescent lamp. The results produced in the seasons 

 of 1892 and 1893 were that the electric light had a marked 

 effect on greenhouse plants, and appeared to be beneficial to 

 such as are grown for their foliage, as, for example. Lettuce, 

 which was earlier, weighed more and stood more erect. Flow- 

 ering plants also blossomed earlier and continued in bloom 

 longer under light, and most plants tended toward a taller 

 growth. The influence of the light was objectionable in some 

 plants, such as Spinach and Endive, as it forced them to run 

 quickly to seed. The stronger the candle-power the more 

 marked were the results. 



Just now the stores of the retail florists are bright with an 

 unusual number of cut flowers of different kinds, which show 

 a wide variety of color. Single red tulips sell for $1.00 a 

 dozen, the more popular pink and yellow sorts commanding 

 as much as $1.25, while the double yellows cost $1.50 a dozen, 

 which is also the price asked for the few double pink tulips 

 that have appeared. Other flowers of bulbous plants are sin- 

 gle hyacinths at seventy-five cents a dozen, the limited supply 

 of double hyacinths bringing thirty-five cents a stalk. Poet's 

 narcissus are occasionally seen, and these sell for $1.00 a 

 dozen. Paper-white narcissus, yellow jonquils and freesias 

 are seen in many collections. Well-grown lilacs, with luxuriant 

 foliage, cost $1.50 to $2.00 for a bunch of ten to twelve single 

 sprays for the purple flowers, and the white lilacs bring $2.00 

 to $3.00. The best carnations and a fair grade of mignonette 

 cost $1.50 a dozen. A bunch of two dozen sprays of forget- 

 me-nots may be had for $1.00, and half this quantity of lily-of- 

 the-valley costs seventy-five cents. Roses are in great abun- 

 dance, and vary in price, according to the quality, a great 

 many of them being of more than average excellence. Good 

 flowers of Madame Cusin bring $2.00 a dozen, while the same 

 grade of Bridesmaid, Bride, Catherine Mermet and Meteor 

 sells for $2.50 to $3.00, and the better grades of any of these 

 roses command $5.00 and $6,00 a dozen, and even more. 

 American Beauties, with stems five feet long, bring $1.00 

 apiece and upward. Cattleyas sell for $9.00 a dozen and 

 upward, and white varieties bring twice as much. Cypripe- 

 diums are scarce, and cost $4.00 to $5.00 a dozen. 



On page 344 of the last volume of this journal. Professor 

 J. B. Smith, of New Jersey, gave an account of the way in 

 which the San Josif scale was being brought into the eastern 

 markets upon pears and, perhaps, on other fruits. In the last 

 bulletin from the New Jersey Experiment Station, Professor 

 Smith gives an account of the spread of this scale in New Jer- 

 sey, where it was introduced upon Kelsey Plum-trees imported 

 from California, and probably from Idaho Pear-stock received 

 from western nurseries, and it has spread until it is known to 

 have infested at least a hundred places in that state, and it is 

 not safe to assume that it is absent from any orchard which 

 has not been examined. This scale belongs to the group of 

 armored scale insects, and a complete account of its life his- 

 tory and of its methods of spreading are given in this bulletin. 

 Naturally it moves very slowly, but as it will crawl upon 

 winged insects and the feet of birds, as well as upon ants, 

 which are great travelers, it is sometimes carried great dis- 

 tances. It is probable that all Rosaceous plants will support 

 the species, although it prefers some varieties to others. The 

 recommendations in the bulletin are that every orchard set 

 out during the last six years should be thoroughly ex- 

 aminetl, and if the scale is found to be present and confined 

 to a few trees these trees should be taken out and de- 

 stroyed, unless the infestation is slight, so that they can be 

 gone over with a stiff brush and all the scales actually brushed 

 off. In young orchards where the trees are not too large to 

 handle it will pay to go over all the trees with a brush. Where 

 the trees are too numerous or large they should be pruned 

 back, removing as much wood as the tree can spare ; the cut- 

 tings should be carted off and burned, and the tree should be 

 washed with a potash solution. In California the insect is 

 treated with gas which is formed by the action of diluted sul- 

 phuric acid on fused cyanide of potassium. This is not recom- 

 mended for eastern orchards as the necessary outfit is too ex- 

 pensive, but wherever stock is infested in nurseries, or even 

 suspected of infestation, all trees sent out should be made up 

 in bundles with the roots wrapped to retain the moisture, cov- 

 ered with oiled canvas or other gas-tight material and fumi- 

 gated for an hour, an ounce of cyanide to every one hundred 

 and fifty cubic feet of space being used. This bulletin is worth 

 careful study by all fruit-growers, since the San Jos^ scale is 

 one of the most dangerous insects introduced into the eastern 

 states within recent years, and no fruit-grower ought to con- 

 sider the matter so unimportant that he can afford to neglect it. 



