February 13. 1S95.] 



Garden and Forest. 



63 



tween, painfully cleared in spots, and planted with grass and 

 corn, is for the most part wild land thickly overgrown with 

 lesser forms of vegetation, except where richer soil or the 

 nearness of water has enabled native trees to gain a 

 foothold. 



The twenty acres belonging to the forestry station, a 

 little arboretum tract, with hardly any waste upon it, ex- 

 tend from the bottom of the northern Santa Monica canon, 

 up slopes and across levels to the very top of the mesa, on 

 the same plane as the town itself, and look down from 

 thence to the bottom of the south cafion. Three distinct 

 levels and two half-levels, with their connecting slopes, not 

 too abrupt for planting — such is the charming topography 

 of the station lands. Given' five acres more of rough, stony 

 western frontage sloping to the sea, and ten acres toward 

 the east to carry the boundaries to natural lines, and the 

 forestry station need ask nothing else in the way of land 

 endowment. 



The soil is rich and varied, suitable for good tree-growth 

 and easy to till. Frosts, noticeable on the lower part of the 

 tract, lessen as one ascends. Climatic observations are 

 being kept on each of the three principal levels of the 

 station. 



According to the reports of the late State Forestry Board, 

 the Santa Monica Station was founded December 20th, 

 1887. At that time Mr. Abbot Kinney was chairman of 

 the Forestry Board, and I think it probable that he was 

 mainly instrumental in the choice of the beautiful tract 

 now occupied by the station. A fine collection of some 

 forty species of Eucalyptus and Acacia was planted near 

 the foreman's cottage, and these are now beginning to make 

 a fine show. This collection, and also many choice single 

 trees and some avenue work, were done during Commission 

 days. The University has added to the collection, has 

 cleared a good deal of brush-land, has greatly developed 

 the water-supply, and is establishing a choice nursery of 

 rare trees. All this takes time, and it may be several years 

 before the scientific results of observations upon tree- 

 growth here afford much data for publication. 



Mere lists of species planted are seldom valuable. The 

 phenomenal range of soil and climate offered to the forester 

 here can best be shown by a few memoranda : 



On the lowest and coldest level, three or four feet above 

 the creek-bed, are Camphor-trees, several Hakeas, a Banana, 

 Dracenas, an immense mass of the Hawaiian Taro, Cala- 

 dium esculentum, growing in the moist soil that receives 

 the overflow from a hydraulic ram used to lift water to the 

 dwelling-house, a hundred feet higher. Tender species of 

 Eucalyptus and other trees are grown in seed-beds here. 

 The soil is a light sandy loam, mixed with leaf-mold from 

 the Willows, Cotton woods and Sycamores that shelter and 

 half surround the place. 



The bluff between the lowest level and the main or cot- 

 tage plateau is heavily wooded except where nearly per- 

 pendicular. It is moist, with springs and green with vines 

 and beautiful undergrowth. Here Azaleas, Rhododen- 

 drons, Camellias, Kalmias, Magnolias, Clematis and simi- 

 lar species are being planted by the roadside or in the 

 small clearings in the rich loam at the base of the bluff. 

 Broom and Gorse are being naturalized higher up the bank. 

 One more sunny place, a hollow of rich, black peaty soil, 

 has been occupied by a score of Fig-trees of different 

 varieties and by clumps of Bamboos. Olives, too, have 

 been planted — fifty trees in eleven varieties. It serves to 

 illustrate the range of possibilities here, that on a wind- 

 exposed point, not a hundred feet from where the Figs and 

 Olives are thriving, a mass of close-set Pinus Austriacahas 

 proved itself at home. 



The middle plateau, where the Eucalypti and Acacias are 

 chiefly planted, also contains the beginnings of a Palm col- 

 lection, a Jacaranda mimosifolia (one of the Rosewood- 

 trees), and a large number of tender trees and shrubs. 

 The soil is a loose, rocky loam, warm, light, and needing 

 no irrigation for trees set early in the season. The growth 

 of Quercus Cerris and Q. Robur have been most satisfac- 



tory. The scarlet Hibiscus and the scarlet Passiflora, P. 

 incarnata, have not shown a sign of injury in winter. The 

 native growths are Quercus agrifolia, Rhamnus Purshiana, 

 Juglans Californica, and large Elders, some of them thirty- 

 five feet high, with trunks eighteen inches in diameter. 



The second steep bluff, another hundred feet high, that 

 lies between the middle plateau and the mesa, contains 

 enough soil for trees and shrubs, and is being cleared pre- 

 paratory to planting. This portion, as well as the top, 

 requires great care to secure a tree-covering. It may be 

 considered as fairly representative of an immense area 

 of mesa-lands in California. The native growth is Rhus 

 laurina, Rhamnus Purshiana, the so-called wild Coffee- 

 berry of California, with Pseonia Brownii, Salvia spathacea, 

 and the inevitable host of Compositae. In spring-time the 

 mesa is very beautiful. 



Several rows of large Eucalypti border this upland ; the 

 middle portion of seven or eight acres is unplanted, except 

 for some Ashes and Olives, which have done very well, 

 and here, rather than on the lower plateaus, the first scien- 

 tific effort at establishing a mixed high forest will probably 

 be undertaken as soon as the soil is in good condition and 

 the trees ready. The Cork Oak, Quercus Suber, has done 

 so well in southern California, surpassing in rapidity of 

 growth any other Oak, and Oaks are so well indicated by 

 the native growth of the plateau that a grove of Cork Oaks 

 will probably be placed there. But the more valuable spe- 

 cies of Eucalyptus and Acacia seem to be more nearly 

 adapted to the mesa. 



The chief value of a forestry station on so small a tract 

 must be on its arboretum side, and, fortunately, this sta- 

 tion is so near Santa Monica and Los Angeles that a sum- 

 mer school of forestry, with popular lectures, would be 

 vi-ell attended. Its importance as an educational centre in 

 years to come cannot easily be estimated. If the National 

 Government creates an adequate forestry system for main- 

 taining and managing the present reservations in Cali- 

 fornia and elsewhere, a place like the Santa Monica Station 

 might in time offer many advantages for a school of forest- 

 science. 

 Niies, Calif. Cliarhs Howard Shhm. 



New or Little-known Plants. 



New Cypripediums. 



Cypripedium Sallieri pictum. — This is a cross between a 

 fine variety of Cypripedium insigne as the seed parent and 

 C. villosum albo-marginatum as the pollen parent. The 

 dorsal sepal is large and slightly reflexed at the base ; the 

 lower half is greenish yellow, heavily marked and lined 

 with purplish brown, which on entering the pure white 

 upper half becomes rich violet. The petals and pouch 

 much resemble those of C. villosum. Only two plants of 

 this fine variety are known in cultivation, one of them 

 having its home in the well-known collection of Hicks 

 Arnold, Esq., of New York. 



Cypripedium nitens Pitcher.e. — This variety of Cypripe- 

 dium nitens is the result of a cross between C. villosum as 

 the seed parent and a very fine variety of C. insigne as the 

 pollen parent. The dorsal sepal is very large and broad, 

 with a deep white margin. The centre part is light green, 

 heavily marked with large spots of dark brown, some of 

 them measuring from three-eighths to half an inch in length, 

 and extending into the while margin, where they become 

 violet in color. The petals and pouch resemble those of C. 

 villosum, but are muth finer in form and deeper in color. 

 The crossing was done December 24th, 1S91 ; the seed was 

 sown June 19th, 1892, and the plant flowered January 23d, 

 1S95. 



Cypripedium Calypso RoTH\vELLiANUM. — This is a noteworthy 

 hybrid, having forits parents Cypripedium Boxalliisuperbum 

 as the seed parent and C. Spiccrianuin roseum as the pol- 

 len parent. The leaves are broad, about seven to nine 

 inches in length, of a dark green color. The dorsal sepal has 



