March 13, 1895.] 



Garden and Forest. 



109 



red furrows and cattle stand knee-deep in clover. Through open 

 windows we look across the broad Santa Clara valley, where 

 occasional gleams of white show the clustered buildings of 

 the ranches, with the steeples of the town of San Jos(?, ten 

 miles to the north-east. At the further rim of the valley is the 

 line of the foothills with their varymg opalescent colors as the 

 shadows of the clouds chase over them, and above these are 

 the ragged peaks of the Coast Range, with Monte Diablo, dim 

 and cloud-like, fifty miles to the northward. While we read of 

 the wild weather of the east, stormy seas and snow-covered 

 earth, we have balmy air and singing birds and blossoming 

 flowers in the most delightful season of the year on this coast. 

 L03 Gates, Calif. /■ E. Jolnison. 



The Preservation of the Colors of Dried Flowers. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir, — In your issue for March 6th I notice your London cor- 

 respondent's remarks on the drying of flowers by means of 

 heat, in order to preserve their colors. I can thoroughly en- 

 dorse the utility of this method, as I have used heat for all 

 dryings which I have made, and with most satisfactory re- 

 sults. I struck upon the idea quite accidentally some seven 

 or eight years ago. ,. , „ 



New York. l^eonara Bar7'on. 



Flowering Branches of Viburnum lantanoides. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — On one of tlie coldest days in February I received a 

 package by express, and after the removal of several layers of 

 thick paper, masses of large showy flowers were found care- 

 fully wrapped in cotton, and suggestmg that it was summer- 

 time somewhere. At first I thought of the Flowering Dogwood, 

 but when they were fully uncovered I recognized them as the 

 large cymes of the Moosewood or ff obble-bush. Viburnum 

 lantanoides. The summer and autumn aspects of this tree 

 are very familiar to many persons, but as lis flowering-time is 

 in late May, the flowers are not so generally known. This 

 plant was figured in Garden and Forest, in vol. ii., page 535, 

 and is there described as the handsomest ot the native American 

 Viburnums, and one of the most beautiful shrubs of our flora. 

 The flowers I had received came from Cherryfield, Maine. 

 The bare twigs had been cut and placed in water and set in 

 the house for a fortnight, when they expanded into the flowers 

 which I had received. No attention was given tliem except to 

 remove them from the direct rays of the sun in the middle of 

 the day. I have often seen branches of our spring-flowering 

 ornamental shrubs and fruit-trees coaxed into bloom after this 

 fashion, but certainly nothing of the kind equals in effective- 

 ness this native wilding, with the hydrangea-like corollas of 

 the neutral flowers on the margin of the cyme an inch or 

 more across. j c n 



Andover, Mass. W. o. JJ. 



Recent Publications. 



/ The Wild Garden. By W. Robinson. Illustrated by 

 I Alfred Parsons. Fourth edition. London : John Murray. 

 *> In the preface to the new edition of this book, vi'hich has 

 become a classic among those who are interested in natu- 

 ralizing hardy plants from other countries, the author tells 

 us that it is more than twenty years since the first edition 

 saw the light. He adds that during all these years his 

 experience has gone to confirm his faith that where the 

 original purpose of the book is carried out with due regard 

 to soil and other surroundings of the plants, the open-air 

 gardens of England may be made more artistic and de- 

 lightful. The Wild Garden, as it is understood in this book, 

 is not a careless and neglected tangle, nor is it the result 

 of sowing the seeds of annual flowering plants in a hap- 

 hazard mixture. Its controlling idea is the introduction of 

 the plants of other countries which are as hardy as the 

 hardiest of native common flowers in places where they 

 will flourish without further care or cost. It has, therefore, 

 nothing to do with what is often called a "wilderness,'' 

 nor can it be confused with a picturesque garden, nor does 

 it interfere in any way with the regulation flower garden. 

 Judging from his own effort and experience, Mr. Robinson 

 has achieved his highest success in the establishment of 

 early-flowering bulbs in the turf of fields mown for hay, 

 where, without interfering with the value of the crop, blue 



Anemones, Snowdrops, Dogtooth Violets, Fritillarias, Wild 

 Honeysuckles and Tulips bloom in the most natural way 

 and have the most effective setting. The mountains of 

 central Europe, Greece and Asia Minor furnish plants which 

 blossom earlier than those of England, and, therefore, in 

 warm soils which are sheltered by groves and banks of 

 evergreens, the meadows which stretch about nearly every 

 English country house can be made bright with early 

 bloom. But the book deals as well with native flow- 

 ers, and one of its most delightful chapters is that on 

 British wild flowers and trees. But tliere is no need 

 of enumerating or characterizing the contents of a book 

 which is, perhaps, as well known as any other work 

 on ornamental horticulture in the language. The very 

 names of the chapters are suggestive of the wildness and 

 freedoin and natural charm of the scenes which Mr. Rob- 

 inson describes and of the compositions he suggests. The 

 art of Mr. Parsons is always delightful, and all his illustra- 

 tions are engraved on wood, and have an effectiveness 

 and finish which can hardly be excelled in works of their 

 class. Mr. Robinson promises that in future editions some 

 ideas of the book, which are as yet only in the type, may 

 be seen more clearly in new illustrations, so that the reader 

 may gain a clearer knowledge of what the author means 

 when he speaks, for example, of the possible beauty of 

 hedgerows and grass walks. 



Of course, many of the cultural directions do not apply 

 to plants in our climate, and many of the plants which 

 thrive in English gardens would never become naturalized 

 here. Nevertheless, the pictures and the text are both 

 instructive and stimulating, and will suggest experiments 

 which cannot fail to bring pleasure and profit to any one 

 who undertakes them. 



Notes. 



Sunday last was the first really spring-like day of the year in 

 this vicinity, and under its genial sunshine some of the Crocuses 

 expanded for tlie first time. Crocus Imperati, the most robust 

 of those we saw in a small collection, had fully opened its rosy 

 purple segments and yellow anthers, while C. bifforus, equally 

 early, but not as showy, was quite attractive with its lilac and 

 white segments and orange-colored anthers. 



The Sweet Pepperbush, Clethra ainifolia, is an excellent 

 native shrub with a peculiar value, from the fact that it shows 

 its long spikes of pure while flowers and yellow anthers late in 

 summer, when it has few rivals in the field. In the last number 

 of Meehans Monthly, one of these shrubs on the editor's home 

 grounds is described as fifteen feet in diameter and twelve feet 

 high at the age of twenty years. With the delightful fragrance 

 of its flowers, in addition to their beauty and attractiveness 

 to honey-gathering insects, it is a charming ornament in its 

 season. 



Catawba grapes from New York state may still be had in 

 fair condition, a five-pound basket costing twenty-five to thirty 

 cents. Almeria grapes continue moderately plentiful, and sell 

 at thirty to fifty cents a pound, the pink-tinted fruit bringing 

 the higher price. Hot-house grapes are always scarce in 

 February and March, and the only truit of this class now to be 

 had here are small lots of Gros Colman from Belgium. These 

 bring the fancy price of $3.25 a pound, but their dry stems and 

 the tendency of the grapes to drop indicate the approaching 

 end of their season. Black Hamburgs from Rhode Island are 

 usually the first hot-house grapes seen here in the spring, and 

 these will not be on the market before the first week in April. 



The scale insects have not been very troublesome hereto- 

 fore in the northern and eastern parts ot the United States, but 

 one of them has a[^peared in New York orchards, attacking 

 Plums and other trees, and threatens to become a serious 

 enemy. It may have inhabited certain orchards in small 

 numliers for some time, but it never caused any alarm until 

 within two years, and now it threatens the total destruction of 

 thousands of trees. Mr. Slingerland, of Cornell University, has 

 been making a study of this insect, and, although its life-his- 

 tory is not yet thoroughly understood, he has discovered 

 enough to enable him to state that it can be destroyed by per- 

 sistent spraying before spring growth begins. In an illustrated 

 bulletin 'just issued by the Cornell Experiment Station, Mr. 

 Slingerland explains how it can be distinguished from the San 



