II 



i6 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 203- 



All this will come in time. At present we have a great deal 

 of Periwinkle, which we find of an encroaching disposition, 

 but very desirable for planting under the shade of evergreens 

 where grass will not flourish. In some catalogues Osman- 

 thus illicifolius is included among hardy evergreens. This, 

 with many others, I hope to report on in future. Meanwhile 

 I am sure that any of your correspondents who have facts as 

 to the established hardiness. of any shrubs of this sort which 

 are not generally planted will oblige many readers by giving 

 their experience. , r-, j -j 



Rose Brake, West Va. Danske Dandrtdge. 



Winter Rambles in the Pine-barrens. 



IN articles in Garden and Forest of last year some of the 

 characteristics of the Pine-barren flora, as seen at the head 

 of Lake Michigan in the winter, were described. There are 

 additional features, especially in connection with deciduous 

 trees and shrubs, equally attractive to the botanist and ob- 

 server of wood scenery at this season. 



Though a familiar tree throughout the eastern United States, 

 and ranging from the Gulf to our northern limits, the Tupelo, 

 or Pepperidge, as it is better known at the west, is not generally 

 abundant, though frequent in some localities. In the Pine- 

 barrens it is seen in the narrow strips of swampy ground or 

 by the borders of the sloughs^ where it grows singly or in 

 small groups. As it is apt to stand apart from trees of a simi- 

 lar height, rising from clumps of Willow and Alder, or other 

 lowland shrubs, its isolation helps to emphasize its singulari- 

 ties, and here it is the most picturesque tree of the low- 

 lands, or even in the landscape as a whole. None of its asso- 

 ciates has so marked an individuality or a form so strongly 

 outlined. The crooked and elbowed limbs, mostly sloping 

 downward, give the Pepperidge a more pronounced appear- 

 ance when leafless, since they are abundantly provided with 

 short stiff twigs nearly as stout as thorns. When the longer 

 branches are near the top, making a flatfish crown, it resem- 

 bles a great parasol. Its striking characteristics lead to its easy 

 identification as far away as the eye can make out its form. 

 The largest of the trees here have a girth of but six or eight 

 feet, and are rarely more than fifty feet high, their trunks often 

 bushy with short adventitious branches below the principal 

 limbs. Thickets of shrub-like trees are common, where the 

 stiff twigs and limbs make them almost as difficult to penetrate 

 as a hedge. It is not always a graceful tree, but when covered 

 with glossy leaves in summer has a rare beauty, and when they 

 assume the crimson hues of autumn it vies with the Sumachs 

 in being the most brilliantobject in the autumn woods. Some- 

 times it assumes a symmetrical and very handsomeform, with 

 long lower limbs, and those above gradually shortening to near 

 the top. With limbs so sloping as almost to droop, and coming 

 so near the ground that their ends blend with the low shrub- 

 bery beneath, we see a tree when covered with glossy foliage 

 as beautiful as any in the forest. 



The Paper Birch, a more common tree and always a grace- 

 ful one, is found in similar situations, but in poorer soil. It 

 rarely exceeds thirty feet in height, though in some of the 

 more fertile spots, where it shares the ground with the White 

 Pine and Elm, may be double this height. It springs up quickly 

 where the ground has been overrun by fire, making thickets 

 of straight, slender trees. The slim white trunks, frizzled as 

 they grow old with loose bits of papery bark, are in sharp con- 

 trast with all about them, striping with bands of white the 

 background of darker shrubs and trees. But when standing 

 alone, or when grouped with others of its kind, the intensity 

 of contrast is toned down, and it presenls a most attractive 

 picture. The smooth bark of the liinlis, and on the trunks of 

 the young trees, is of a lively chestnut-brown, speckled with 

 small gray dots, also contrasting effectively with that of the 

 white bole and larger limbs. The cylindrical catkins stand 

 out a little stiffly in twos and threes at the ends of the twigs, 

 presenting a fork-like appearance very different from that pro- 

 duced by their long and pendulous habit in spring. Some- 

 times the tree closely resembles tlie Cut-leaved Birch, with a 

 light and airy spray, drooping when heavy with leaves and 

 forming a flowing outline. It gives a striking effect of local 

 color when seen in rows bordering some of tiie long, straight 

 sloughs, which run like avenues of water through the thin 

 woods, and the lines of white, formed by the bright trunks, 

 fade into the distance as the eye follows them down the vista. 



Rivaling the Paper Birch in the color-effects of its trunk is 

 the American Aspen (Populus Iremuloides). It also grows up 

 rapidly in the damper ground of burnt districts, where the 

 smooth, greenish white bark of the slender trees shows con- 

 spicuously. The green tinge becomes less marked as the 



trees increase in size, and the bark assumes an ashen, or even 

 clay color, but always in strong contrast with the mass of trees 

 around, especially in the winter-time when stripped of leaves. 

 A near relative of the Birch, the Speckled Alder (Alnus 

 incana), is one of the most common of wet-ground shrubs. 

 The smooth stems, with polished, reddish green bark, speckled 

 with gray, show finely in the winter season. The recent shoots 

 are reddish gray, slightly downy, and marked with numliers 

 of small, round yellowisli dots. The buds are prominent, of 

 a dark purplish color, and have a shining, waxy coating. Being 

 raised on short, thick stalks, they are somewhat club-shaped. 

 The cylindrical aments are already formed, for it is one of the 

 first shrubs to bloom in spring. They are about an inch long, 

 and hang in clusters of three to six at the ends of the branch- 

 lets. Since the bearing shoots curve near the end, the aments 

 almost always point downward, quite in contrast with those of 

 the Birch, standing stiffly outward, and less graceful in this 

 respect than the Alder. They are reddish brown mottled with 

 green, and by their color and position give this shrub features 

 bv no means devoid of beauty. 



"Englewood, Cliicago, lU. E. j. Hill. 



New or Little-known Plants. 



Chrysanthemum, Walter Hunnewell. 



THIS seedling Chrysanthemum bloomed for the first 

 time in the autumn of 1890. It is the result of a 

 cross between Mrs. J. C. Henzy, a yellow- flowered variety, 

 and Sachem, a bronze. I had a plant of it in a si.x-incli 

 pot, grown to a single stem, in order to test its bloom, a 

 plan, by the way, which was recommended by Mr. Gerard, 

 in Garden and Forest, as the best means of testing the 

 flowers of seedlings so as to avoid the necessity of tak- 

 ing up the whole plant Nevertheless, the seedling's habit 

 of growth was so remarkably distinct that the original 

 plant was lifted, but when it bloomed it did not seem 

 worth keeping, except to use as a parent in future crosses, 

 so tliat its strong habit could be perpetuated. However, 

 Mr. A. H. Fewkes, of Newton Highlands, persuaded me 

 to give it a trial, and assisted me in the second test. The 

 result was a remarkable improvement on the first year's 

 showing, and Mr. Fewkes secured some superior flowers. 

 Mrs. ?Ienzy, the seed-parent of the new variety, was sent 

 out a few years ago. It has a neat, incurved Japanese 

 flower and a dwarf habit. Its constitution is weak, how- 

 ever, and unsuited to single blooms of a large size, such 

 as are now fashionable, so that it fell out of the ranks and 

 is seldom seen. The pollen-parent. Sachem, was raised 

 by Dr. Wolcott. It bears a semi-double flower, and its 

 only recommendations were a vigorous constitution and an 

 admirable dwarf habit The flower of Walter Hunnewell 

 (see page 17) is a good orange-yellow, having the finely 

 incurved form of its seed-parent, and the plant shows the 

 distinct and vigorous constitution of Sachem. The flowers 

 are solid enough in texture to keep them from fading, and 

 for pot-culture the variety is an ideal one. It has marked 

 individualit)'' in its good foliage and erect habit, and needs 

 very little staking to keep it in perfect shape. In my expe- 

 rience, also, it produces a greater percentage of crown-buds 

 than any other plant witli which I am acquainted. 



Wellesley, M:i3s. T. D. Hatfield. 



Cultural Department. 

 Iron-clad Roots. 



T N a recent issue of Rural Life, Professor Budd, of the Iowa 

 -'■ Agricultural College, discusses the subject of root-grafting 

 with both long and short cions and roots, and expresses a 

 preference for long cions on long roots. Of course, this kind 

 of graft, planted as the Professor plants them, with only the 

 top bud of the cion above ground, requires deep preparation 

 of the soil, and a good deal of hard digging in taking up the 

 trees. But he believes that the extra cost and trouble are 

 more than recouped by a much better growth and a much 

 smaller number of second-class and unsalable trees. I am 

 inclined to agree with Professor Budd on this point ; and just 

 here I venture to give a warning to the growers of iron-clad 

 fruits in the nurseries of New York and other states outside 

 of the "cold north." 



