April 17, 1895.] 



Garden and Forest. 



'51 



GARDEN AND FOREST. 



I'UBLISUED WEEKLY liY 



THE GARDEN AND FOREST PUBLISHING CO. 



Office: Tribune Building, New York. 



Conducted by 



Professor C. S. Sargent. 



ENTERED AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER AT THE POST-OFFICE AT NEW YORK, N. Y. 



NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 1895. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 



Editorial Articles : — Public Reservations in the State ot New York 151 



A Memorial for Francis Parliman 151 



Park vs. Grove • F. A. Waugh. 152 



Tlie BanUsian Pine in tiie Nel:)raska Sand ^^\^s . Professor Charles A. Keffer. 152 



Foreign Correspondence: — London Letter \V. Watson. 153 



New or Little-known Plants: — Ecliinocactus WisIizeniandsomeRelatcd Spe- 

 cies. (Witll figure.) J- iV. Tourney. 154 



Plant Note-s '54 



Cultural Department:— A Test for the Quality of Potatoes. 



Professor E. S. Gojjf. 155 



Notes on Orchids E. O. Orpet. 156 



Caladiums for Outdoor Use G. W'. Oliver. 156 



Flowers of the Season J. N. Cerani. 157 



Plants for Spring Forcing W. H. Tallin. 157 



Tliinning Grapes William Scott. 1 57 



The Vegetable Garden W. N. Craig. 1 58 



Eulbocodiuin vernum R. 15S 



C0KRE.SP0NDENCE :— Atrial Roots of Carnations. iWitli figure.) 



Projessor Byron D. Halsted. 158 

 The Preparation ot Bordeaux Mixture E. G. Lodentaji. icg 



Notes ^^° 



Illustrations; — Echinocactus Wislizeni. var., growing in the Foothills of the 



Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona, Fig. 24 155 



Carnation Plant with Aerial Roots, Fig. 25 15S 



Public Reservations in the State of New York. 



FOUR years ago a body known as the Trustees of Public 

 Reservations organized under an act of tlie Massa- 

 chusetts Legislature, for the purpose of acquiring and 

 opening to the public, under suitable regulations, beautiful 

 and historical pUces and tracts of land within that com- 

 monwealth. The establishment of this commission was 

 the act of an enlightened community. It was a step for- ' 

 ward, and offered an example and a challenge to the pub- 

 lic-spirited people of other states to adopt similar measures, 

 until it shall become a recognized policy throughout the 

 country to preserve for posterity the natural beauty we 

 have inherited, and to protect for the inspiration of future 

 o-enerations all those places which are rendered sacred by 

 patriotic memories. Of course, there have been sporadic 

 efforts in this direction all over the country. Pennsylvania 

 has the camp-ground at Valley Forge ; New Jersey has 

 acquired the fine old colonial mansion and grounds at 

 Morristown, where Washington held his headquarters, and 

 this state has taken possession of Niagara and has made 

 some effort to save the Adirondacks. But the Massachu- 

 setts plan has the advantage of being comprehensive and 

 complete. No special legislation is demanded. The trus- 

 tees can accept donations, purchase property, make neces- 

 sary regulations for the maintenance of these reservations, 

 and have all power necessary to acquire and preserve for 

 public use forever any places which it may be desirable to 

 secure. 



It is an encouraging fact that the Legislature of New 

 York has also taken action in this matter, and that Trustees 

 of Scenic and Historic Places and Objects have been organ- 

 ized under law in this state. This result is largely due to 

 the labors of Andrew H. Green, Esq., of this city, who is 

 especially desirous to keep from defacement and ruin cer- 

 tain localities of historic interest in the upper part of this 

 city and elsewhere in the state. In his original memorial 

 Mr. Green called attention to the fact that there were many 

 places in this state made memorable by conllicts during the 

 half century of the French and Indian wars of the colonial 



era and by the stern conflicts of the Revolution, and, be- 

 sides these places which are hallowed by their connection 

 with the past, the varied topography of the state includes 

 landscapes of world-wide celebrity, water spectacles and 

 picturesque islands, incomparable lake areas, wooded 

 mountain ranges and scores of picturesque valleys, which 

 ought to be preserved in their primitive beauty. This 

 Board of Trustees has organized in a practical and busi- 

 ness-like way, with Mr. Green for President ; John N. 

 Francis, of Troy, for Vice-President ; Edward P. Hatch as 

 Treasurer, and John Winfield Scott as Secretary. The in- 

 corporators are all men well known for their public spirit, 

 and as they come from all parts of the state it is e.xpected 

 that through their influence local historical societies, town 

 boards and private individuals will be stimulated to coop- 

 erate with the trustees. 



We need not add that in our view of the case this action 

 of the state of New York is far removed from anything 

 trivial or merely sentimental. We believe that the oppor- 

 tunity to drink in the quiet delights of natural scenery is 

 more and more a necessity, especially to the thronging 

 laborers in our busy towns, and that the contact with nat- 

 ural beauty is distinctly refreshing and uplifting. We also 

 believe that places hallowed by patriotic action and suf- 

 fering, minister directly to the mental and moral health of 

 the people by the appeal they make to our generous pas- 

 sions. Americans are sometimes inclined to reproach 

 themselves for possessing less interest in the past than that 

 which prevails in the older civilizations of Europe, but it is 

 little more than a year ago that a society precisely like 

 those we are discussing was formed in England for the 

 purpose of protecting scenes of natural beauty and histori- 

 cal renown from being vulgarized and ruined. Quarrymen 

 are defacing the Palisades in our own country, but Chedder 

 Cliffs are suffering in the same way in England, and the 

 necessity of cooperating to protect such places has been 

 felt in England just as it has been in Massachusetts and 

 New York. 



Every public-spirited citizen of the Union ought to 

 realize the fact that many places in the country around 

 which interesting memories cluster are in danger simply 

 because there is no custodian lo whom they can be 

 legally transferred, a'nd by whom they may be guarded. 

 The disfigurement of natural beauty will go on, old 

 landmarks will be destroyed and old earthworks leveled 

 under the plow whenever they come under the ownership 

 of men who have no feeling for their beauty or interest. 

 Every state ought to make haste to pass a law incorporat- 

 ing a liody like these trustees. The good work accom- 

 plished by such a body will not cease with the simple 

 protection of a spot here and there. It will invite the atten- 

 tion of all who visit and enjoy these places to their value, 

 and it will develop a sentiment vi'hich will grow by exer- 

 cise, and will assist to a certain extent in inspiring the 

 people with something like a reverent regard for natural 

 beauty wherever it is found. If this sentiment ever be- 

 comes as pervasive- and vigorous as it should be, there will 

 be less need to set apart special reservations, for all the 

 people will be prepared to rise against the obliteration and 

 defacement of natural beauty. The vandalism of the ad- 

 vertiser will cease, the great corporations will no longer 

 needlessly mar the most pleasant prospects in operating 

 their mines and quarries and railroads and factories, and 

 each generation will feel it a sacred duty to leave the world 

 to their successors as fair a dwelling-place at least as they 

 found it. 



N 



A MOVEMENT is ou foot to commcmorate in some appro- 

 priate way the genius of Francis Parkman. As a historian, 

 as a man of letters, as a true hero who added dignity to 

 American scholarship in spite of life-long physical limita- 

 tions, Francis Parkman deserves a grateful recognition by 

 his countrymen. It vi'ould hardly come within the field of 

 this journal, however, to invite attention to this move- 

 ment if Francis Parkman, in addition to his other claims to 



