200 



Garden and Forest. 



(Number 377. 



used in the adornment of the fountani-niclies. The large bed 

 which hes in iront of the balcony in the brst rooni is edged 

 with Box, but filled with tropical plants too high for tlieir posi- 

 tions. It should never be forgotten that such beds as these, 

 however beautiful their design may look on paper, are never 

 effective in actuality unless one can recognize the patterns 

 they make at a glance ; and this, of course, is impossible, ex- 

 cept from an elevated position, unless they are filled with very 

 low-growing plants. 



This is not the place in which to speak in detail of the works 

 of sculpture which were the raison d'etre for the exhibition. I 

 can only say that there are many very good ones among them, 

 and that, as a wdiole, they will probably give the public a truer 

 idea of the development of this art in America than it has 

 hitherto conceived. Moreover, it is now enabled to form 

 some judgment with regard to the kinds of work which are 

 best fitted for outdoor display, while even our sculptors them- 

 selves ought to learn much in regard to tfie necessity for 

 placing their outdoor figures with care. The beautiful effect 

 of white stone against green backgrounds is not the only point 

 made plain. We realize that a work of a scale too small to 

 look well if stationed quite "in the open" may look admirably 

 out-of-doors if it forms an adjunct to some architectural mo- 

 tive or is set in some verdant corner where it will not be pal- 

 pably out of scale with its environment. And also that, when 

 a statue or group is not equally beautiful on all its sides, it is 

 as possible as desirable, out-of-doors no less than indoors, so 

 to place it that only those sides which are most satisfactory 

 shall be visible. 



On the whole the executives of the Sculpture Society deserve 

 high praise for the originality, the energy and the good taste 

 they have shown in organizing and arranging this exhibition. 

 So pretty and attractive is the general effect of these galleries 

 just now that even persons possessed of no distinct artistic or 

 horticultural tastes ought to find much delight in visiting them. 



New York. 



M. G. Van Rensselaer. 



Notes. 



A writer in The Strawberry Cultitrist has been testing dif- 

 ferent varieties of strawberries for fruiting under glass, and he 

 finds that the comparatively newBrandywine yields the greatest 

 amount of good fruit. 



A "-rower of strawberries in Maine fintls boughs or small 

 trees" of Spruce or Pine the best material for covering the 

 plants in winter. These collect and hold the snow, which is 

 the best non-conductor of heat, while permitting, at the same 

 time, a sufTicient circulation of air. 



European orders are arriving in California for considerable 

 quantities of redwood, to be used in the making of lead-pen- 

 cils. This timber varies a good deal in the quality of its grain, 

 l>ut the best of it is found to be an acceptable substitute for 

 Florida cedar, which is becoming rare. 



Texas did not escape the cold weather which visited other 

 southern states, and snow two feet deep fell along the coast in 

 February. The season was, therefore, unusually late, and 

 such plants as Dog-tooth Violets and Bluets, which usually 

 flower in February, did not appear until the middle of March. 



Daphne Cneorum, always an uncertain little evergreen here, 

 seems to have come through the winter unusually well, and is 

 now covered with its fragrant pink blossoms, and there is 

 nothing better than this trailing shrub for rock-work. Flow- 

 ering at the same time, but a good deal more hardy and trust- 

 worthy, are the half-shrubby perennial Candytufts. The Howers 

 of these Candytufts are as white as snow, and since the plants 

 resemble the Daphne in habit the two make admirable com- 

 panions. 



Mr. J. H. Hale writes to the Florists' Exchange i\\'dA,a\\\\o\.\g\\ 

 the Fay Currant has been introduced more than ten years, and 

 has been propagated ever since by all the nurserymen of the 

 country, it still commands a higher price than the older 

 varieties of Currants. It seems strange that when this is 

 known to be the case that the stock of the country is invaria- 

 bly sold out every year before the end of the season's trade. 

 Perhaps one reason for this is that this variety does not root 

 readily from cuttings, and that when it does root it never 

 makes as strong a growth as the Victoria, the Cherry or the 

 White Grape, so that from an equally-sized block of plants at 

 least cne-third more salable bushes of other varieties can be 

 dug than of the Fay. Of all Currants the North Star is the 

 easiest to grow and propagate, and under ordinary conditions 

 it has grown to a height of four feet from cuttings in a single 

 season. 



Writing to the American Agriculturist. Mr. John N. May 

 advises any one who can afford to buy only one Rose-plant to 

 select Clothilde Souijert. Tliis Rose belongs to the Polyantha 

 class; it is perfectly hardy and blooms until frost; the flowers 

 are a beautiful soft pink when they first open, changmg to a 

 pearly white as they get older ; they are of excellent form and 

 sweet-scented. After Clothilde Soupert, Mr. May recommends 

 Mrs. Degraw, a Rose of the Bourbon class, glossy pink, and 

 continuously in bloom ; Souvenir de la Malmaison, another 

 Bourbon, large, Hesh-colored ; La France, a Hybrid Tea, clear 

 soft pink; General Jacqueminot, a Hybrid I^erpetual, crim- 

 son ; Duchess of Allxiny, another Hybrid Tea, a sport from 

 La France, deep pink in color ; and Dinsmore, a Hybrid Per- 

 petual, coral-red. To these can be added Empress Augusta 

 Victoria, white ; Papa Gontier, bright red ; Etoile de Lyon, yel- 

 low — Tea Roses which are not quite hardy, but which can exist 

 through ordinary winters with good protection. 



The very warm weather of the past two weeks has hurried 

 forward large supplies of southern vegetables, the crops that 

 were planted in Florida after the February freeze having be- 

 come marketable at the same time with vegetables from North 

 Carolina and Virginia. Asparagus, for example, on Friday of 

 last week sold at wholesale for as little as thirty to seventy-five 

 cents for a dozen large bunches. Hundreds of crates of beans 

 and peas from Florida were left unclaimed on the docks by 

 consignees, since they could not be disposed of at prices which 

 covered the expenses for freight, and these perishable vegeta- 

 bles were carted away and destroyed at an additional expense 

 to the steamship companies. French artichokes from New 

 Orleans, much smaller than those which have been coming 

 from Algiers, bring seventy-five cents a dozen. New Brussels 

 sprouts from Bermuda cost twenty-five cents a quart, and 

 celery from the same islands twenty-five cents a bunch. Straw- 

 berries are plentiful, and those from Norfolk bring as much 

 as thirty cents a quart retail for the choicest. The Maryland 

 crop is expected to arrive during the current week. 



California oranges, both Navel and seedling, are still arriv- 

 ing in large quanties, ten car-loads of this fruit having been 

 sold at auction in this city on Monday. Prices are low, and the 

 cost of shipment is hardly covered. Bananas are bringing 

 extreme prices, the best grade from Aspinwall, Banes and 

 Sama realizing from $1.75 to $2 00 a bunch by the truck-load 

 on the docks. About 23,000 liarrels of pineapples came into 

 this port from Cuba during last week, and schooners from the 

 Bahama Islands are bringing large quantities in bulk. The 

 shipments from Nassau will continue until about the middle 

 of July, or a month later than those from Havana. Much of 

 the Bahama fruit was canned at home last season, but the 

 experiment seems to have been unsatisfactory. The decay in 

 pineapples is a very considerable item in determining prices 

 tor the sound fruit. The first pineapples of the season are 

 naturally rather green, and they carry better because they are 

 more firm than riper fruit. The percentage of decay in the 

 green fruit amounts generally to ten or fifteen per cent., 

 though the average decay in the riper Havana fruit reaches 

 thirty-five or forty per cent., and the loss sometimes amounts 

 to as much as ninety per cent. The weather is largely respon- 

 sible for decay, especially in the loose cargo lots, the moisture 

 from rains in the green tops occasioning fermentation. 



According to Dr. T. H. Hoskins, the Apple known as Scott's 

 Winter is practically the only valuable native variety which 

 will thrive in his climate on Lake Memphramagog and in the 

 Clyde River valley and yield fruit that will keep all winter. 

 This fruit is not at its best until about the first of April, 

 and it will keep well a good month longer. All through 

 the north-west, as well as in northern Vermont, especially 

 in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, it is considered the 

 best apple for the late winter market. No other variety so 

 productive of such handsome fruit will grow north of the 

 point where the Baldwin fails to endure the cold. A fence- 

 corner seedling, it was introduced by Dr. Hoskins some twenty 

 years ago and named for the owner of the farm where it origi- 

 nated on the west shore of Lake Memphramagog, less than a 

 mile from the Canada line. The original tree is said to be 

 in good contlition still. Dr. Hoskins is propagating another 

 late winter Apple-tree from Russia, which bears what he re- 

 gards a better dessert fruit than Scott's Winter. A specimen 

 of this apple sent to this office is of fair size, a beautiful color 

 and pleasant aroma. The flesh is firm in texture and fine in 

 grain. The flavor is hardly sprightly enough to suit an edu- 

 cated taste, but for the cold north, where few good kinds will 

 grow, the hardiness of the tree and the admirable keeping 

 qualities of the fruit ought to make it a most desirable variety. 



