76 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 2c8 



^ 



Although the injuries are some years quite serious, the 

 natural parasites and enemies of the pest usually keep it very 

 fairly in check, so that even if it is unusually plentiful one sea- 

 son the fact does not necessarily mean that it will be relatively 

 more abundant in the year following. It is worth noting that, 

 although the Gypsy Moth was once counted in the insect fauna 

 of England, instead of increasing it has of late apparently be- 

 come extinct, as it has not been collected on the island for 

 many years. 



Visits were made to a number of parks and plantations in 

 the vicinity of Berlin, which are being planted under the direc- 

 tion of Mr. John Booth, one of the proprietors of the once 

 famous Flottbeck nurseries, near I-lamburg. Conifers are e.x- 

 tensively used, and a decided preference is shown for some of 

 our American species. Great interest and enthusiasm are 

 manifested in the Douglas Spruce (Pseudotsuga taxifolia), 

 which does remarkably well here and makes a very fast 

 growth. Some fine specimens were shown, in full-fruit and 

 from forty to fifty feet high. The change of name of this 

 fine tree from P. Douglas! to P. taxifolia was commented 

 upon ; very naturally, it is not liked by those accustomed to 

 the former name, and it will be some time before they become 

 reconciled and accustomed to the corrected nomenclature. 

 In some places P. taxifolia was shown as a distinct species 

 from P. Douglasi, but, of course, without reason. However, 

 some individuals of the Douglas Spruce are much more glau- 

 cous than others. 



The Western Hemlock (Tsuga Mertensiana) is highly val- 

 ued here, and great results are anticipated from plantings of 

 Lawson's Cypress. In a sheltered situation and in fairly good 

 soil, some specimens of the latter had attained a height of 

 thirty-five feet in ten or twelve years. A large block of young 

 Catalpa-trees was claimed to be C. speciosa, and complaint 

 was made that it was not very hardy, being liable to more or 

 less serious injury in winter. It is not easy .to distinguish the 

 two species, especially when young, but an examination of 

 these plants showed that they were probably C. bignonioides. 

 It is well known that this is less hardy than the other, although 

 it will do well if not forced into too rapid growth when young, 

 or after it has been established some years and a stem once 

 attains good size by passing through several winters success- 

 fully. I was told tliat the temperature was sometimes as low 

 as twenty-four or twenty-five degrees below zero of Reaumur. 



Dr. BoUe's country retreat, known as Scharfenberg, is on an 

 island in Lake Tegel, some miles out of Berlin and not far from 

 Spandau. His estate is thickly stocked with trees and shrubs 

 in large variety, all having been planted within the past twenty- 

 three years. Here the Douglas Spruce is already over fifty 

 feet high, and Chamsecyparis Nutkaensis nearly equals it. An- 

 other conifer of about the same height is here and in other 

 gardens called Abies lasiocarpa, though many botanists con- 

 sider it merely a geographical form of A. concolor. Libocedrus 

 decurrens here proves quite hardy and is thirty-tive or forty 

 feet high ; Sequoia gigantea does well, but S. sempervirens is 

 liable to be killed in severe winters. The soil is sandy, and, 

 of course, plenty of water is availalile for the trees. 



As Dr. Bolle has, in his letters to Garden .and Forest, 

 given us occasional accounts of his experience and specimens 

 and we may look for more, it is not necesary to speak further 

 of his work now. On the way to his estate a long detour was 

 made on foot to visit the old homestead of Alexander von 

 Humboldt, near the lake. Although the Humboldt family is 

 now nearly extinct, the present occupants keep the place' in 

 beautiful order, and it is so secluded and the surroundings are 

 so natural that it is not easy to imagine it as in the midst of a 

 populous country. Some fine avenues of verv handsome Lin- 

 dens are near the house. A tract of woodland in the vicinity 

 had once been planted largely with American trees, and the 

 largest individuals in it now are some fine specimens of the 

 White or Weymouth Pine. This noble tree thrives perfectly 

 in most parts of Germany, yet in many quarters it seems to be 

 in disfavor, and one is surprised not to find it much more 

 common as a timber-tree. In a given number of years it 

 grows much faster and larger than the Scotch Pine, which is 

 so universally planted. The lig;h(ness and comparative soft- 

 ness of the wood of the White Pine is considered its chief de- 

 fect by European growers. 



Every one who has heard of the famous Berlin street called 

 Unter den Linden has perhaps pictured it as shaded by an 

 avenue of trees of fine proimrtions. That, at least, had been 

 my own conception of it, and, therefore, it was quite a sur- 

 prise and disappointment lo find the trees a varied assortment, 

 none over fifty feet high, or with trunks over eighteen inches 

 in diameter, .'\mong them are Horse-chestnuts, Planes, Nor- 

 way Maples, and occasionally an Elm, the first two kinds of trees 



being the largest. Of course, numerically, the Lindens pre- 

 dominate, but none of them have stems over a foot thick, 

 often much less, and the height is in proportion to the size of 

 trunk. The tops have evidently been somewhat cut back from 

 time to time. These trees are said to be very much oklerthan 

 their size would indicate, and their lack of vigor is due to the 

 poor character of the soil. They are apparently well cared for 

 and frequently watered. The Lindens planted here are chiefi)' 

 what has been called Tilia vulgaris, with a few individuals 

 of T. ulmifolia among them. T. vulgaris is the more at- 

 tractive of the two, and in general aspect it is between T. ul- 

 mifolia and T. platyphylla, with most resemblance to the latter. 

 That handsome Lindens do grow within the city is shown by 

 some very fine specimens of T. intermedia opposite Doctor 

 Bolle's house in the LeipsigerPlatz. Other streets in this direc- 

 tion furnish some fine specimens of Horse-chestnuts, Oaks, 

 etc., and in the famous Thiergarten, close by, there is no 

 trouble in getting trees to thrive. Parts of this fine park im- 

 pressed me as extremely sombre and damp and as though it 

 would be an advantage to let in more light by a thinning out 

 of the trees where greatly crowded together. 



Arnold .Arboretum. ' J . G. Jacll. 



New or Little-known Plants. 



Begonia Baumaiini. 



THIS new species, for the introduction of which 

 we are indebted to Messrs. Lemoine, of Nancy, 

 was one of the notable new plants of last year. The 

 plant, well represented on page 77, will not only com- 

 mend itself to growers of choice flowers by its grace of 

 form and the beauty of its flower, but also for their dis- 

 tinctness of fragrance. Occasionally a slight fragrance 

 has been observed among some of the tuberous Begonias, 

 notably in B. Maritiani, but it is usually only a suspicion. 

 B. Baumanni, on the contrary, has a distinct pronounced 

 Tea rose-Hke odor, which will not only make the species 

 valuable to the growers, but offers possibilities of crosses 

 with the large-flowered hybrids, which will enhance their 

 value, especially for conservator)' decoration. The Messrs. 

 Lemoine recommend that this species should be grown in 

 the open in full sunlight, in which position they are said 

 to grow more sturdily. The flowers have already been 

 described in Garden and Forest. 



Messrs. Lemoine, this season, offer a new fragrant spe- 

 cies, B. fulgens, which was discovered in the same local- 

 ity as B. Baumanni, in the mountainous regions of 

 Bolivia, near the Peruvian border. The flowers of this 

 species are said to have a Tea rose-fragrance, and to be 

 of a deep strawberry-red. , a- ^ 



Elizabeth, N.J. J. .\. G. 



New Orchids. 



Epidendrum pisiLLin, Rolfe. — This is a small Brazilian 

 species which has recently flowered in cultivation. It be- 

 longs to the section Encyclium, and in some respects is 

 allied to E. Tampeiise, Lindl., a native of Florida, though 

 much smaller, as it is only about five or six inches high. 

 The sepals and petals are light green, irregularly freckled 

 with light brown, the side lobes of the lip ver}' pale green, 

 and the front lobe pink, with some paler radiating lines. — 

 Gardeners Chronicle, December 5th, p. 669. 



Appendicula Peyeriana, Kranzlin. — A species introduced 

 b)' Monsieur Peyer, from Sumatra, and flowered by Mon- 

 sieur Ortgies, of the Botanical Garden at Zurich, Switzer- 

 land. It is a small Dendrobium-Iike plant, with long 

 drooping branches, and two or three little white flowers 

 enclosed in while bracts at the apex of the branches. — 

 Gardeners' Chronicle, December 5th, p. 669. 



Odontoglossum X CooKiANiM, Rolfe. — A hanclsome natu- 

 ral hybrid which appeared with M. S. Cooke, Esq., of 

 Kingston Hill, Surrey. It was received as O. blandum, 

 which, however, is very different. The flowers are stel- 

 late, the sepals and petals deep yellow with smallish deep 

 chestnut blotches, and the lip white, with a large bright 

 chestnut blotch in front of the crest, and a few smaller 

 ones near the margin. The sharp contrast of colors is 



