292 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 387. 



and that the keynote of beauty everywhere and always is 

 fitness. We know that we may get a good summer cot- 

 tage cheaply. We do not yet realize that we may cheaply 

 keep or put its grounds into the best condition possible for 

 them. We know that we must vary our architecture to suit 

 different environments, but, as a rule, we have only one 

 ideal for villa-grounds — the one that may be called the 

 gardenesque ideal — the one that means doing as much 

 upon a given expanse of soil as it is possible to do, and 

 planting as many as possible of those trees and flowers and 

 shrubs which are the gardener's, as distinct from Nature's, 

 favorites ; and in thus doing too much, and spending too 

 mucli, we frequently ruin natural beauty, or eliminate the 

 possibility of it, without achieving our own aim. It is 

 time to learn that, while upon some sites the intelligent 

 planter will try to bestow all the luxuriance and variety, 

 all the finish and polish that he can imagine and can buy, 

 upon others his intelligence will be most clearly shown by 

 holding his hand and shutting his purse after a very little 

 has been done, and by doing that little in accordance with 

 the indications which Nature has given in regard to the 

 special character of that particular site. 



By an arrangement recently concluded between the 

 President and Fellows of Harvard College and the city of 

 Boston important additions have been made to the Arnold 

 Arboretum. These include two parcels of land with an 

 area of about twenty acres within the boundaries of the 

 original Arboretum, but reserved by the city for its own 

 uses when it was established ; two pieces of land with an 

 area of about three acres on the north-west border of the 

 Arboretum, and purchased by the city last year ; a piece of 

 land, the property of Harvard College, south-west of the 

 old Arboretum, with an area of sixty-seven and six-tenths 

 acres ; this consists of a high, rolling, grassy hill, the 

 second highest land in the city of Boston. From the 

 summit of this hill fine views are obtained; the wooded 

 portions of the Arboretum lie at its base ; to the south all 

 the Blue Hill range is in view ; the waters of Massachu- 

 setts Bay are seen to the south-east, and to the north and 

 west a broken well-wooded country. With these additions 

 the area of the Arboretum is two hundred and twenty-two 

 and six-tenths acres. Two and a third miles of drives 

 have been finished and planted, and under the new ar- 

 rangement the city of Boston is to construct one and 

 three-tenths miles of additional roads. 



Among the scientific gardens in the United States and 

 Europe, only the Royal Gardens at Kew, with an area of 

 251 acres, exceed the Arnold Arboretum in size, and it is 

 probably safe to say that no other scientific garden of such 

 an area is so accessible to the people of a great city or pos- 

 sesses such a diversified surface and such advantages in the 

 way of natural woods. The Arboretum lies entirely within 

 the limits of the city of Boston, and is not more than four 

 miles from the centre of population, being easily reached 

 by one line of railroad and by two lines of electric cars, 

 while the parkway which unites the different parks of the 

 City Park System, starting from the Public Garden, on 

 Arlington Street, in the heart of the residential quarter of 

 the city, skirting the town of Brookline and enclosing 

 Jamaica Pond, forms its eastern boundary and connects it 

 with Franklin Park beyond. By this parkway the distance 

 from the Common to the Arboretum is six miles. 



Plant-breeding at the Experiment Stations. 



THE systematic origination and development of im- 

 proved varieties of plants requires a thorough and 

 comprehensive knowledge of varieties, plant-growth and 

 heredity, and few fields of horticultural experiment have 

 been productive of greater practical results. Before the 

 introduction of the Wilson Strawberry, our markets were 

 not fully supplied with this delicious fruit, not because the 

 people could not appreciate its worth, nor because gar- 

 deners were unable or unwilling to grow it, but because 



no variety had been found sufficiently productive to be 

 generally profitable, or sufficiently firm to endure long car- 

 riage. The thousands of acres of vineyards in nearly all 

 parts of our country are, perhaps, mainly the outgrowth of 

 the Concord Grape. Apple-culture in IVIinnesota, Iowa 

 and Wisconsin is at present waiting for the development 

 of varieties that can endure the climatic conditions of those 

 states, and be equal to those of more favored locations in 

 quality ; and persons best informed on the subject believe 

 that these varieties are forthcoming. 



If these propositions are true, plant-breeding, by which 

 I mean the systematic production and development of im- 

 proved varieties, is certainly one of the most important 

 fields for work in our experiment stations. Yet, how little 

 is being done in this line ! How many of the new varie- 

 ties that are introduced each year come from our experi- 

 ment stations ? The Ignotum Tomato, introduced by 

 Professor Bailey, has become a standard variety, but Pro- 

 fessor Bailey has never claimed that he originated this 

 Tomato. Besides this, I do not recall a single variety of 

 fruit or vegetable that has been disseminated from a state 

 or government experiment station that has attained any 

 prominence. 



It has been said that Mr. Luther Burbank, of California ; 

 Mr. E. S. Carman, of New Jersey, and Mr. T. V. Munson, 

 of Texas, have each of them done more for horticulture 

 in the way of improving varieties than all of the experi- 

 ment stations combined. It would seem that the trained 

 horticulturists of our stations, with all the needed appli- 

 ances and with help at their command, ought to be able to 

 accomplish as good work in this field as private horticul- 

 turists, who must take the time from their own business 

 and develop the varieties at their own expense. Our ex- 

 periment stations should be sending out new varieties to 

 these enthusiastic amateurs, and should keep them so busy 

 with the work of testing that they would have no time to 

 originate varieties. But at present the machine is working 

 in the opposite direction. The amateurs are furnishing the 

 varieties, and too many of our station horticulturists seem 

 to think that they are doing their whole duty in gathering 

 these together, planting them side by side, and publishing 

 notes of their behavior as fit material for an experiment 

 station bulletin. 



I am aware that there is another side to this subject. I 

 know by painful experience how difficult it is to find the 

 time needed for this work, so many are the details that fall 

 to our lot. I realize, too, that our stations are young yet, 

 and that considerable time is required to develop a new 

 variety. Nor am I unconscious of the substantial progress 

 that is following experiment-station work in other depart- 

 ments of horticulture. Nevertheless, I have a deep-seated 

 conviction that results of the first importance must come 

 from plant-breeding and that our stations should devote 

 more attention to this subject. tp c- r> or 



Exjieriinent station, Madison, Wis. E. S. Goff. 



Birds of the Arnold Arboretum. 



ALTHOUGH the suburbs of Boston are peculiarly well 

 j_ fitted for the abode of a great variety of birds, the 

 continual encroachment of urban conditions will eventually 

 make such a place as the Arnold Arboretum a precious spot 

 to the city bird-lover who is obliged to look near at hand 

 for the enjoyment of his favorites. The Arboretum is well 

 favored in its natural features as a home of birds, and the 

 artificial plantations are of such a character as to invite the 

 stay of many species that would naturally retire before 

 the growth of a large city. As the surrounding country 

 becomes more and more densely populated it will be in- 

 teresting to see how many of the present feathered tenants 

 will remain. It seems worth while, therefore, to put on 

 record a statement of the present bird population of the 

 place. The following lists, made from observations during 

 the past few years, are intended to include only those spe- 

 cies actually resident in the Arboretum during the summer 

 or winter. No "account is taken of the numerous migrants 



