July io, 1895.] 



Garden and Forest. 



279 



more knowledge based on experience the day will come when 

 the southern people will see that good husbandry consists in 

 management, not destruction, of their forest resources ; that 

 some precautions and some protection are necessary against 

 fire as well as individual greed ; that the present policy of the 

 turpentine workers is lamentably wasteful and short-sighted ; 

 in other words, that it is more profitable to work the Pine- 

 forests for fifty years instead of five years ; and, finally, that 

 the lumber and turpentine industries, while changing the face 

 of nature and even the climate of the country, are slowly, but 

 surely, making loss and trouble for this and succeeding 



L. J. Vance. 



generations. 



New York. 



Conifers in Iowa. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — One of the most interesting features of the fowa flora 

 is the commingling of northern and southern forms. Sargent 

 has called attention to the occurrence of several of the south- 

 ern trees occurring in Iowa as Ouercus Texana. We have 

 also Hicoria laciniosa, H. glabra, /Esculus glabra, Cercis Cana- 

 densis, etc. The northern conifers are but sparingly dis- 

 tributed in Iowa, and definite localities are wanting. Tlie 

 distribution of some of these is so local and interesting that 

 I record the localities. White Pine, Pinus Strobus, Sargent,* 

 records " near Davenport " (Parry). Gray f also gives the same 

 locality, while the later edition gives the general distribution 

 of eastern Iowa. J As the species has been reported to me 

 from several points, these should go on record. The species 

 is quite local ; the sandy ledges or limestone rocks along river 

 courses are the only situations where it occurs in Iowa. 

 Davenport (Parry), Muscatine (Reppert and Calvin), Cleremont 

 and Elgin, in Fayette County (Pammel), near Decorah, Winne- 

 shiek County (Pammel, Holway), along the Wapsipinicon, in 

 liuchannan County (Calvin), Delaware County, not far from 

 Manchester (Calvin), Allamakee County (Calvin), Clayton 

 (Pammel), Guttenberg (Pammel). The mbst westerly locality 

 in Iowa known to me is in Hardin County at Steamboat Rock. 

 This is a little north and east of central Iowa. A dozen or 

 more good-sized trees occur on the rocky ledge of the Iowa 

 River. Other localities probably occur along the Iowa River. 

 This locality is, at least, 200 miles further west than those of 

 eastern Iowa. The species may have been more common 

 once than now, but it is hardly probable that the species was 

 scattered by east winds, although it has excellent means of 

 dissemination. Nor is it likely to have been scattered by the 

 wind from the far north, as there are none for a good many 

 miles. It is said to occur in Mitchell County, which is in tlie 

 north tier of counties, but a little east of Hardin County. 



I was much interested in learning about the occurrence 

 of the Balsam Fir, Abies balsamea. in Iowa. I had been 

 informed by several horticulturists of its occurrence in north- 

 eastern Iowa, especially in Allamakee and Clayton counties. 

 I had considerable doubt about its occurrence, as I had 

 searched south-eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin, in 

 the vicinity of Lacrosse, for the species, but so far I have failed 

 to find it, although it occurs at Spring Valley, in Fillmore 

 County, according to Winchell. ? I spent a few pleasant hours 

 with M. E. W. D. Holway, of Decorali, and found that he had 

 a specimen in his herbarium collected near Decorah in 1878. 

 The specimen was from a single tree which occurred on a 

 steep Ijluff. I also learn from Professor Calvin that a consid- 

 erable number of trees occur along the Yellow River two or 

 three miles below Myron. The hill faces the north, and the 

 trees occur for one mile along the river. The Clayton County 

 localities given to me by Mr. Wragg are therefore confirmed. 

 The topography of the county is rough, and numerous springs 

 and streams occur. The Red Cedar, Juniperus Virginiana, 

 is widely distributed throughout the state, occurring on the 

 rocky bluffs along oar rivers and streams, as at Boone, Ames, 

 Des Moines and west. J. communis occurs quite frequently 

 on bluffs in north-eastern Iowa. 



Another conifer of north-eastern Iowa is the Canadian Yew, 

 Taxus Canadensis. The species delights in sandy ledges in 

 moist situations, occurring along with the Mountain Maple, 

 Acer spicatum. The only other conifer to be looked for iu 

 Iowa is the Tamarack, Larix Americana. A small grove 

 occurs in Houston County, Minnesota, just across the border, 

 but none, so far as I know, has been reported from Iowa. 

 Ames, Iowa. L. M. Pamiiiel. 



Recent Publications. 



The Wonderful Wapenlake. By J. S. Fletcher. John 

 Lane, London. A. C. McCIurg & Co., Chicago. 



Wapentake is an old English term still in use in York- 

 shire to designate the political division of land which, in 

 other counties, is called a district or hundred. The author 

 tells us, in a short but characteristic preface, that these 

 sketches of rural life and manners were contributed from 

 time to time to various English papers under the pseu- 

 donym of "A Son of the Soil." And as we read these 

 simple records of the homely rural life of Yorkshire, we 

 cannot but note that the pseudonym was wisely chosen, 

 for the book smacks of the soil. In a wholesome sense 

 it is of the earth, earthy, and breathes from every page an 

 atmosphere as fresh and invigorating as the smell of the 

 warm earth during a summer shower. 



Mr. Fletcher has the sane and vigorous love of country 

 and the familiarity with all phases of country life which, 

 according to the generally accepted idea, characterizes the 

 Englishman in all grades of society ; and it is this complex 

 English sentiment, this commingling of an instinctive love 

 of natural beauty with the passion of the past, which is 

 reflected in this pleasant volume. In some of the papers, as 

 "An Old-fashioned Christmas " and "Village Feasts," Mr. 

 Fletcher describes, with both humor and pathos, old York- 

 shire customs now fast falling into disrepute. In others, as 

 in "Going into the House" and "A Waif of the Highway," 

 he give us character-sketches, very delightful through their 

 almost homely simplicity. In these and similar sketches, 

 the many apparently careless, yet always accurate, descrip- 

 tions of rural landscape are instinctively subordinated to 

 the human interest, and thus the English rustic laborer, 

 farmer, carrier and woodman, stands before us, each in his 

 habit as he lives ; each so absolutely at one with his envi- 

 ronment, that even those who have never set foot on English 

 soil cannot for a moment doubt the truth of the portrait. 

 In papers like "An October Walk," "A Rainy Day in 

 Arcadia" or "The Last Day of Harvest, " Mr. Fletcher has 

 given us literal descriptions of scenes so common in all 

 rustic life that it would seem impossible that anything of 

 interest could at this late day be written upon such thread- 

 bare topics. 



But the author's idealism is that.of the lover rather than that 

 of the artist, and in his eyes there can be nothing common 

 or prosaic in "The Wonderful Wapenlake of Osgoldcross," 

 which was the home of his boyhood. The distant hills, 

 vaguely outlined against the reposeful sky, are still the 

 Delectable Mountains of his childish imagination ; the sun 

 that shines upon those happy valleys has never faded into 

 the light of common day, and the silver streams that wind 

 through the meadow grass still spring from wells of living 

 water. The glamour is not lifted even from the country 

 roads which bind town and village. The village with the 

 distant hamlet, in his eyes, is lovely as of yore, and the 

 pictures which he gives us of the familiar and beloved 

 scenes are photogra])hs idealized ; that is, they combine 

 photographic truth and fidelity to detail with the atmos- 

 jjhere of poetry. The eighteen fine illustrations which 

 accompany the te.xt would seem to indicate that the author 

 has not too highly praised the beauty of his native shire. 



* Forest Trees of North America, p. igy. 



t Manuiil, fifth edition, p. 470. 



% Watson & Coulter, Gray's Manual, si.\tli edition, p. 490. 



S Upham Catalogiie o/thc Flora 0/ Minnesota, p. 133. 



Notes. 



The Southern Florist for July is devoted almost entirely to 

 Cactuses, and the interesting illustrations and abundant "de- 

 scriptions and cultural notes make it a very useful number for 

 all those who are devoted to the cultivation of this kind of 

 plant. 



Only a few of the late varieties of vegetables are now coming 

 from the south, owing to the cheapness and abundance of 

 local products. Tomatoes are being forwarded from Norfolk 

 and south Jersey, and green corn is comnig from the same 

 sections. Asparagus of fair quality may yet be had, and costs 

 twenty-five cents a bunch. 



The fragrant, clear yellow flowers of the Sweet Sultan, Cen- 



