238 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 381. 



white, one of the finest ; Roi d'Hollande, deep red, brilliant in 

 tone ; Etendard de Flandres, cerise-pink, a very large flower, 

 with wavy edges ; Due de Nassau, salmon-pink, large flower, 

 very effective ; Dame Mellain, blush, with a deeper blotch; 

 Eulalie Van Geert, charming blush ; Madame Verschaffelt, 

 crimson blotch on light pink ground ; Iveryana, old, but an 

 excellent white variety with pink stripes. 



Stored with the Azaleas last autumn, in deep glass-covered 

 pits, unhealed, and with no protection beyond the ordinary 

 covering of shutters, were several large plants of the lovely 

 greenhouse climber, Trachelospermum jasminoides. They are 

 trained on wire, column fashion. These are all remarkable 

 specimens, some of them eight feet tall and literally covered 

 with pendent cymose panicles of sweet-scented white flowers. 

 There is al)undant shiny, deep green foliage, and the plants 

 are so neatly and skillfully trained as not to show the least 

 trace of the wire framework. They are in tubs, which are 

 replaced for larger ones in every three or four years, and 

 manure- water is supplied during the growing season. 



It was a treat to me to see the Glory Pea of Australia, Clian- 

 thus Dampieri, in bloom for the first time. It is considered 

 quite an achievement to firing a plant along so far. The flowers 

 are vinous-red, with a dark, almost black blotch, at the base of 

 the standard. The species is herbaceous, and is generally 

 raised from seeds sown in small pots in the autumn and held 

 over until the next season, when they are expected to bloom. 

 If sown in spring they might attain a fair size, but would not 

 bloom by autumn, and the chances would be considerably 

 against saving them through the winter. Those who have 

 succeeded with this plant never water it directly in tlie pot it is 

 growing in, but have the pot plunged in some material which is 

 watered. 



Conspicuous on the grounds was a fine tree of Pyrus cora- 

 naria in full bloom. No one who sees this handsome tree 

 and enjoys its delicious perfume will ever forget it. Its odor 

 is most penetrating, being appreciable fifty yards away, and 

 so acute that I was unable, after passing the Pyrus, to realize 

 the slightest trace of perfume from near-by bushes of the well- 

 known aromatic Calycanthus floridus. 



On the rock-garden is an interesting lot of plants, but my 

 time being limited, I could only note a group of Primula cor- 

 tusoides, very effective in pink shades, and Verbascum pho;- 

 nicium, in purple and white, which made a most striking 

 show. 



The drive-ways and shrubberies of the Arnold Arboretum, at 

 Jamaica Plain, are thronged with visitors every fine day. The 

 splendid collection of Garden Lilacs, of which there are more 

 than a hundred varieties, is a great attraction, and judging from 

 the way note-books are brought into use, it is safe to assume any 

 nurseryman near Boston who has a good stock of these Lilacs 

 will do' a good business. I noted Ludwig Spath, deep purple- 

 red, large flowers ; Philemon, dark purple, very tine ; Al- 

 phonse Lavallee, deep blue ; Virginite, double, rose-tinted in 

 bud, violet when open, sweet-scented and evidently a great 

 favorite ; IVIonsieur Jules Finger, rose-colored, very fragrant ; 

 President Massart, reddish purple, very large ; Renoncule, 

 double blue, fragrant ; Marie Le Graye, showy white. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



Trees and Shrubs at Madison, Wisconsin. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The climate of the north-west is a trying one for many 

 trees and shrubs which are at home on the Atlantic seaboard, 

 and I send a few notes on the hardiness of certain species 

 tested here. Engelmann's Spruce, Picea Engelmanni, gen- 

 erally shows the effects of the winter a little on the south-west 

 side — at least in young trees — by the browning of the tips of 

 the younger shoots. This defect is not sufficiently marked to 

 destroy the symmetry of the tree, nor to prevent its being one 

 of our most l>eautiful lawn trees. Abies concolor has proved 

 less hardy, young trees having suffered quite seriously from 

 winter-killing. Even the White Pine, Pinus Strobus, some- 

 times shows the effects of the winter a little in young trees by 

 the browning of the foliage on the south-west side. The Col- 

 orado Spruce, Picea pungens, and the Douglas Spruce, Pseu- 

 dotsuga taxifolia, endure the winters without perceptible harm, 

 though the young growth of both received quite a setback by 

 the recent frosts. 



Eleagnus longipes is not hardy here unless protected. Dur- 

 ing the winter of 1893-1894 unprotected plants showed little 

 injury to the wood, but the flower-buds were destroyed, as 

 was shown by the fact that protected plants bore fruit luxuri- 

 antly while unprotected plants of the same age gave none. 

 During the past winter unprotected plants were killed to the 



snow-line, while beneath this line the same plants are not only 

 alive, but have bloomed profusely. The large-flowered 

 Hydrangea, H. paniculata grandiflora, endures our win- 

 ters without perceptible harm, but unless well-watered 

 through our long summer droughts the flower-clusters are so 

 small and develop so unevenly that they have little beauty. 



The purple-leaf Plum, Prunus Pissardi, has proved unable 

 to endure our winters. Teas' Weeping Mulberry seems 

 entirely hardy with us and forms an attractive lawn tree. The 

 weeping Mountain Ash, however, has suffered badly from 

 sun-scald on the south-west side. The Camperdown Elm 

 seems entirely hardy, and the Kilmarnock Weeping Willow, 

 in sheltered locations, endures the winter with little harm. 



The Amoor Tamarisk, Tamarix Amurensis, is not at home 

 in Wisconsin. The young growth kills back more or less 

 every winter, and in the winter just past it suffered more than 

 usual. A variety of Rosa rugosa, from Russia, obtained from 

 the Iowa Agricultural College, has thus far proved hardy with- 

 out protection. Its large, deep rose-colored, single flowers 

 appear profusely in June, and occasionally afterward, and are 

 very attractive. This Rose will surely become popular in 

 climates where few other varieties can t)e grown without pro- 

 tection. 



The Yellow-wood, Cladrastis lutea, is hardy in sheltered 

 locations, as are also the Maiden-hair Tree, the Gingko and 

 the White Fringe tree, Chionanthus Virginica. 



Deutzia gracilis kills to the ground every winter unless 

 protected ; in spite of a covering of earth it received serious 

 damage last winter. Three species of Caragana, received 

 from the Iowa Agricultural College, appear entirely hardy. 

 These shrubs are attractive and popular. The foliage 

 is pleasing, and their yellow pea-shaped flowers appear 

 in May. The Japan Ivy, Ampelopsis tricuspidata, while not 

 hardy in exposed situations, is not a complete failure when 

 planted on the east or north walls of buildings. In the past 

 severe winter vines thus planted suffered little. 



University of Wisconsin. ^. 'J. (jOff. 



An Enemy of the Larch on the High Alps. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir, — The ravages of Steganoptycha pinicolana, Zell, in the 

 forests of Larch, Larix Europea, on the high Swiss Alps, is the 

 subject of an important monograph by M. I. Coax, Inspector- 

 General of the forests of the Swiss Confederation. Tliis paper 

 is illustrated by a colored plate representing the insect in its 

 different stages of development, the branches of conifers at- 

 tacked by it and the principal enemy of the pest, which is a fly 

 of the genus Tachina. The work is further enriched by a well- 

 executed map of the Engadine, showing the afflicted area in 

 different years. 



From time to time the forests of Larch of the high Alps in 

 Valais, Engadine, Dauphiny and Tyrol have been invaded by 

 this little butterfly, the injuries inflicted by it being in propor- 

 tion, as the forests consist more or less exclusively of Larch. 

 All the adult Larch-trees are affected by the larva of the Ste- 

 ganoptycha, which appear in spring, and at the end of a few 

 weeks the leaves are eaten or entirely skeletonized. The for- 

 est then offers in summer a deplorable appearance ; its ver- 

 dure completely disappears ; the trees present a uniform red- 

 dish brown appearance, and are more or less covered with little 

 caterpillars, wiiich descend from one branch to another by 

 means of threads sometimes several meters long. During the 

 months of July and August the caterpillars are transformed 

 into chrysalis, and at the end of ten or eleven days the little 

 gray butterflies emerge and cover the branches of the trees 

 with their eggs. 



The damages which these insects cause are not immedi- 

 ately apparent. The following year the trees clothe themselves 

 again with leaves and continue to vegetate, but if the ravages 

 of the insect are renewed during several consecutive seasons 

 the forest suffers severely ; old trees die, and the existence of 

 even the most vigorous is threatened, for at elevations of from 

 five to six thousand feet above the ocean in the Alps, where 

 plant-food is scarce and the climate is exceedingly rigorous, 

 little is needed to weaken the vitality of trees. 



It is practically useless to try to destroy artificially these 

 minute insects, innumerable in numbers. They can only 

 be kept in check by indirect methods, such as the effec- 

 tive protection of insectivorous birds and the mixing of other 

 species of trees with the Larches in the forest. It is only the 

 pure forests of Larch that are exposed to destruction by the 

 attacks of the Steganoptycha, which requires for its existence 

 the light found in forests of Larch, which cast very little shade. 

 In the dense shade and humidity which exist in forests of 



