June 12, lijgs.] 



Garden and Forest. 



239 



■ evergreen Conifers this insect cannot live. And if its larvae 

 attaclc isolated Larch-trees in a mixed forest, wliich is excep- 

 tional, the damage is not great, the space left by a dead Larch 

 being soon filled l>y neighboring trees. M. Coax therefore 

 proposes, in order to save the forests of our high Alps, to 

 plant everywhere in tlie regions exposed as many trees of 

 Pinus Cemljraas possible. P. Cembra is a very compact hardy 

 tree, casting a dense shade, and although it grows very slowly 

 it produces excellent wood, superior in every way to that of 

 the Larch, while the seeds afford valuable and much esteemed 

 food to our mountain population. Witli the P. Cembra the 

 Spruce, Picea excelsa, can be planted ; this tree also, althougli 

 it grows naturally at rather lower elevations, supports the 

 climate of high altitudes, while the Fir, Abies pectinata, is not 

 found at high elevations in the Alps. Witli the Pyrenean Pine, 

 Pinus montana, we have then three species to mingle with the 

 Larch to create a forest able to resist the attacks of this fatal 

 butterfly. M. Coax believes that the actual forests of pure 

 Larch in Switzerland are not natural, but have been produced 

 artificially by cutting tlie ancient mixed woods. On the ground 

 left open by these cuttings it is the Larch which has succeeded 

 so well that it has gradually taken possession of the whole 

 ground. It is necessary, therefore, he believes, to restore, arti- 

 ficially, the ancient and natural condition of the forest. 



Bale, Switzerland. H. Christ. 



Phlox divaricata on the Prairies. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Allow me to say, with reference to the remarks of Mr. 

 Chamberlain, on page 209, that I have collected I^hlox divari- 

 cata this spring on dry upland prairie, in poor soil and quite 

 unshaded. This is, certainly, not its usual clioice ; but in one 

 instance in particular I found an abundance of it growing as 

 described. I have several times collected it in similar situa- 

 tions in Kansas and Oklahoma. I think this is about its west- 

 ern limit. It is moderately abundant as far west as Fort Riley, 

 Kansas, but I have never seen it west of that point. 



Coreopsis grandiflora, spoken of by Mr. Craig in the same 

 number, page 208, is just now — May — in full bloom and in 

 great abundance on the prairies here. It is one of the finest 

 of prairie flowers and a general favorite among our many 

 neighbors, jvhose only garden is the hills and whose gardener 

 is nature. Even in stunted wild specimens the stems are long 

 and the blossoms work up into bouquets with remarkable ease 

 and success. c- ^ ,,^ , 



Oklahoma Agricullural College. ^. A. Waitgll. 



Does Poison Ivy Discriminate ? 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Whenever I see a tree in the embrace of a Poison Ivy 

 I take my knife and cut tlie vine. On the grounds of a few 

 friends and on my own I have cut vines from one and a half 

 to two and a half inches thick, sometimes at the root and 

 sometimes as far up as I could reach, and then tearing down 

 the stems, have uprooted them with my hands. I have done 

 this at all seasons. This spring I have already cut out two 

 dozen Ivies, and have pulled up many others by the roots 

 when my hands were torn by Blackberry thorns, but I never 

 had a trace of poisoning. A friend to whom I mentioned my 

 immunity said, " Of course you are are not poisoned, because 

 you are dark." Since then I have been thinking that in the 

 cases of poisoning which had come to my knowledge the 

 victims had been light-haired. A younger brother of mine, 

 who is very fair, has been severely poisoned. 



Rochelle Park, N.J. I. Ten BoscJl. 



When is Rhus toxicodendron Most Active? 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The Poison Ivy, Rhus toxicodendron, should be 

 avoided at all times of the year, in winter as well as in sum- 

 mer. I make this statement without qualification because I 

 have suffered so frequently from attacks of dermatitis vene- 

 nata, and I can remember no season since 1876, when I first 

 became 'acquainted with the plant and had my eyes swelled 

 shut, that I have not had, at least, two or three attacks. 



Dr. Havard's remarks (page 203) interested me very much, 

 and I, therefore, desire to give my experience as to this worst 

 of poisonous plants, because it is so common and so univer- 

 sally distributed. Several years ago in January I was walking 

 in Fairmount Park and saw a tree up which was clambering a 

 huge Poison Ivy, at least an inch and a half in diameter. I 

 decided to destroy the plant, at least for a while, by severing 



the upper part from the roots. I took a stone and divided 

 the stem by hammering it with a sharp rock which I held in 

 my hand. Some of the juice inust have touclied my hands, 

 forin a few days I had all the symptoms of Rhus poisonin;'! 

 Since then I have been poisoned several times in winter Ijy 

 laying hold of the plants while out in the fields gathering 

 seeds and capsules for class-work. The white fruits, when 

 not eaten by crows, remain on the plants sometimes until next 

 spring, so that I am quite sure of them. 



To sum up in a few words, I have experienced the worst 

 attacks in the months of August and September when the 

 vegetation is rank and the plant is growing vigorously. I have 

 also noticed that in warm autumn weather one is more sub- 

 ject to the poison when actively perspiring. 



University of Pennsylvania. yokll IV. I/ars/llu'ri^er. 



Recent Publications. 



Among the Northern Hills. By William C. Prime. Harper 

 & Brothers, New York. 1S95. 



This unpretending little book, unlike its companion 

 volume, Along New England Roads, does not treat pri- 

 marily of nature. The papers of which it is composed are 

 for the most part character sketches, the subjects of which 

 are " children of the soil " in the best sense of the phrase — - 

 men and women whose lives were contentedly passed 

 under the shadow of the Northern Hills, and whose charac- 

 ters were built up under their influence. Thus the allusions 

 to natural scenery, everywhere interwoven in the body of 

 the narrative, are intended by the author only as the ap- 

 propriate setting- to his series of living pictures. But so 

 deep is his sympathy with nature, so delicate his appre- 

 ciation of the beauty of the outward world, that the very 

 subordination of that beauty to the human interest brino-s 

 into clearer relief the ennobling influence upon character, 

 of a right love of the manifold works of the Creator. The 

 book is a moral tonic, and the pure bracing air of the north- 

 ern Pine-woods is felt on every page. 



The stories are simple, both in subject and treatment. 

 "A Northern Sleigh Ride," while awakening in the memory 

 of the reader (if he be country-bred) all the merry associa- 

 tions incident to such an occasion, flashes upon his inward 

 eye the pure unearthly beauty of a snow-covered landscape 

 under the weird light of a winter moon. " Life seen through 

 a Window" is full of quiet pathos and of quiet hope. Accord- 

 ing to Mr. Prime's observation, life grows very real to one 

 whose vision is narrowed by fate, and there is leisure to 

 learn the spiritual lessons taught by the recurrence of the 

 seasons ; the coming of spring on the meadow and hills, 

 the slow passing splendor of autumn, the white covering 

 of the fields in winter — each has a direct message for one 

 whose nature is awake to their subtle influences. Perhaps 

 the paper on "John Ledyard'' is broadest in scope. The 

 Hartford boy, whose love of adventure led him over wide 

 seas to many strange lands only to find a lonely grave in 

 the yellow sand where the desert meets the Nile flood, seems 

 to have haunted ]Mr. Prime's imagination, and he writes of 

 him with tender affection and sympathy. If, in these short 

 stories, there is a lack of humor, its place is supplied by an 

 almost boyish freshness of feeling very delightful in a man 

 who confesses to having reached the Psalmist's limit of 

 threescore years and ten. In fact, it is this freshness of feel- 

 ing which gives a distinctive charm to this little book. There 

 is a sturdy simplicity and sincerity in Mr. Priine's attitude 

 toward Nature which grows more rare as life grows more 

 complex. His early training was received in the time 

 when, at least, in rural districts, a boy had a recognized 

 place in the household economy. He was rarel}' coddled or 

 indulged, and though for his education great sacrifices were 

 made, the boy himself had his regular work and personal 

 responsibility about the house, and in the garden and upon 

 the farm. The fishing excursions which were his delight, 

 and the almost equally fascinating expeditions in search of 

 nuts or berries, could only be undertaken when the chores 

 were done. Thus, the thousand joys of field and forest 

 and stream ; the ever-changing beauty of the hills and sky 

 of which in boyhood he was scarcely aware, were inter- 



