236 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 381.. 



the falls are richly colored and somewhat vinous-purple in 

 tone. The plant is of medium stature. This variety differs 

 little from the German Iris from Amasia, which has been 

 noted in these columns as a bold flower. 



Iris pallid.^, van Dalmatica. — Among Irises this variety, 

 long since introduced into cultivation, stands prominently 

 as one of the best for the garden. It is a plant of vigorous, 

 free-growing habit, with bold leaves, and flowering-stems 

 nearly four feet tall. The dark lavender flowers are of fine 

 form and highly perfumed, reminding one of the Locust- 

 flowers. In flower this plant has an air of great distinc- 

 tion as well as beauty. There are many hybrids of I. 

 pallida among the German hybrids, usually easily recog- 

 nized by their thin withered spathe valves. One of the best 

 of these hybrids is Madame Elmira (Woolson), whose 

 flowers are not as bold as those of the Dalmatian type, but 

 are of a much lighter lavender color, and also well per- 

 fumed. 



Pyrethrum parthenifolium.- — There are no flowers more 

 popular than the Daisies, albeit they are not specially ap- 

 preciated by the farmers. No composited will probably 

 ever supplant white Daisies in the affections of the public, 

 but in cultivation or the garden the colored Daisies, or Py- 

 rethrums, prove universally acceptable. The plants are 

 reliably hardy, and their handsomely cut foliage is very 

 attractive. They flower very freely in a wide range of 

 color, generally from the faintest flesh shade to a brilliant 

 crimson. Florists have produced many double-flowered 

 forms, which somewhat resemble Anemone-blooms, but 

 the most graceful ones are single, which are decidedly less 

 heavy in effect and. better in color. A good range of color- 

 ings may usually be had from a packet of seed, to be had 

 of most seedsmen. 



ViNCETO.xicuM ACUMINATUM. — This plant, often called the 

 Mosquito-catcher, should have a place in every collection 

 of herbaceous plants, as it is one of the showiest things at 

 this time of the year and remains in bloom several weeks. 

 The flowers are star-shaped, creamy white, in short cymes, 

 generally springing out of the sides of the stems between 

 the leaves, and not from the axils, where most flowers are 

 produced. It would seem to be a climber in its native 

 habitat, as the stems have a manner of growing as if accus- 

 tomed to twine on contiguous herbage, but they do not 

 seem to mind the want of support in the least, and the 

 plants look all the prettier without it. Propagation is easi- 

 est effected from seed, of which the plants produce a plen- 

 tiful supply ; cuttings of the ripe wood will root if put in a 

 humid atmosphere. The flowers of this species secrete a 

 viscid substance and catch insects much in the same man- 

 ner as the "Cruel-plant," Physianthus albens. They both 

 belong to the Milkweed family, along with such plants as 

 the Stephanotis, Hoya and the like. 



Cultural Department. 

 The Russian Tree Fruits in America. — II. 



THE fact that I took up my abode among the hills of north- 

 eastern Vermont, and the added fact that from boyhood 

 I had been an ardent lover of horticulture, and especially of 

 fruit-growing, led me of necessity to^search for such varieties 

 as would endure the almost Arctic severity of that section of 

 New England. The first five years were given to the trial of 

 what were regarded and recorded as the most hardy sorts far 

 north. But I very soon discovered that altitude was an even 

 more important factor than latilude. In Bangor, Maine, on 

 exactly the same parallel (forty-five degrees, N.), many of the 

 standard Apples and Pears can be grown ; while on Lake 

 Memphremagog not one single tree on the list could be relied 

 upon, and, m fact, none of them ever did, in my grounds, 

 reach bearing age. Varieties grown about Montreal were also 

 entire failures, from the same cause. 



My attention was then turned to a search for native varie- 

 ties. Along most of the well-traveled roads there was no lack 

 of Apple-trees capable of resisting the climate ; but all, so far 

 as I could learn, were of very poor quality and small size. 

 Gradually, as I became more familiar with the country and 

 the people, I was able to learn of farmers who liad a few 



Apple-trees producing fairly good fruit and capable of resist- 

 ing the climate ; but I did not find then, nor have I since noted, 

 a single instance of such fruit being increased by grafting or 

 budding, these simple arts being seemingly quite unknown. 

 Continually on the alert foranything of the kind, I have now, after 

 thirty years' resilience, been able to find among our people only 

 three native Apples of any commercial value. One of these, 

 Scott's Winter, is now grown all through the "Cold North," 

 from Maine to Minnesota, and is generally regarded as one of 

 the best native long-keeping ironclads. The others, Magog 

 Red Streak and Newport Winter Sweet, have a local repu- 

 tation and are considerably grown. 



The importations of Russian varieties plainly demonstrated 

 that there was a race of Apples which would resist our severest 

 climate and thrive. But here again disappointment awaited 

 us ; for not one of the hundreds of varieties which were im- 

 ported proved to be a long keeper in our climate. Grown in 

 Russia, up to six hundred miles farther north than our north- 

 ern boundary, they might — at least some of them — be good 

 keepers at home ; but in the northern tier of American states, 

 and even in the Canadian provinces, they all proved them- 

 selves, however otherwise acceptab'e, to be deficient in keep- 

 ing qualities for winter. And this continues to be true to-day, 

 with few and rare exceptions, not only for the imported trees, 

 but for nearly all seedlings grown from them, or from crosses 

 on our older varieties of native origin. Up to date it may be 

 said that fine in size, quality and beauty as are many of these 

 Russian tree fruits, not many of them are reported which are 

 at once good winter keepers and fully possessed of other re- 

 quired market qualities. We are anxiously waiting for such 

 to appear, and all growers will hail their advent with real 

 gratitude. 

 Newport, vt. T. H. Hoskins. 



Shall we Irrigate Orchards in New York ? 



IN the current discussions of fertility of the land, nearly the 

 entire emphasis is placed upon the importance of supply- 

 ing nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash ; but I am convinced 

 that it is quite as often necessary to enlarge upon the impor- 

 tance of water. It is well known that all arable soils contain 

 much more plant-food than any crop, or even any twenty or 

 more crops, can use. The chief aim of tillage is to render the 

 greatest amount of these materials available to plants. In 

 order that they may become useful to crops, these materials 

 must enter into solution in water; and, all other conditions 

 being favorable, the more water the soil has the more plants 

 will grow. In very many cases, an application of water is 

 much more advantageous than an application of fertilizer. 

 This is well shown in many of the arid lands of the west, 

 where a small amount of irrigation renders the soils wonder- 

 fully productive. 



Just how much, if any, water can be added to agricultural 

 lands in the east with profit, must be answered for each indi- 

 vidual instance ; but for orchard lands it is a question if, in 

 general, irrigation can be profitable. We must first determine 

 if fruit-trees can profitably use more water than normally falls 

 in the rains. There are two ways of attempting a solution of 

 this complex question. We might attempt to make an esti- 

 mate of the amount of moisture evaporated by an orchard 

 and then compare this amount with the rainfall ; or we might 

 observe the experiences of careful orchardists extending 

 over a series of years. There are so many uncertainties in the 

 former method that one is forced, in a practical discussion, 

 to rely mostly upon experience and upon general considera- 

 tions respecting plant-life. In the first place, it is to be observed 

 that there have been no careful experiments upon a compre- 

 hensive scale in irrigating orchards in the east, and we are 

 obliged to draw our illustrations from experiences in irrigating 

 annual crops. Practically, all these experiences show that irri- 

 gation is capable of greatly increasing the yield, and this, too, 

 when the natural rainfall has been well conserved. Whether 

 the added yields are ever or always worth the extra cost, is a 

 question which need not be considered here ; the important 

 point to be noticed is that the land is capable of giving a larger 

 product than the average rainfall will allow. 



But does this conclusion apply equally well to orchards ? In 

 this case we generally do not need more growth, but more 

 fruit ; and it is plain that if a tree is capable of bearing as many 

 good fruits as the branches will hold with the normal rainfall, 

 it would be folly to apply more water. We all know that the 

 well-tilled orcliard is capable of doing this. It was done in 

 numerous cases in the drought of last year in New York state, 

 even when there was no attempt to conserve moisture. Irri- 

 gation would unquestionably give us more growth, and con- 

 sequently larger trees ; but it is very doubtful if this would 



