82 



Carden and Forest. 



[Number ioS. 



only about one-tenth as many eg-g-clusters as in the beginning 

 of the year before the leaves were out. The work of the com- 

 mittee in fixing the boundaries of the infested district is also 

 much to be praised. 



But all this is not extermination, nor is it a great way toward 

 it. It is an easy task to destroy a vast number of insects when 

 they swarm. To wipe out the straggling and scattered rem- 

 nant is an infinitely greater undertaking, nor could it be 

 greater than with an insect wliicli thrives on almost every green 

 thing, and is spread over so wide a tract densely covered with 

 vegetation. Not a half-million of dollars carefully spent would 

 effect it. It must be remembered that the insect originated 

 from a few individuals introduced into Medford ; a few indi- 

 viduals left over from " extermination" would again introduce 

 a reign of terror and frantic effort. What we now need is a 

 patient and well-directed control over the increase and spread 

 of the insect, and nothing more. 



The report of the board assures us that the back of the 

 offender is broken. There are now no large colonies. 

 "Where in past seasons the trees bore neither leaves nor 

 fruit, this year (1891) a good crop has been realized." The re- 

 gions of their greatest abundance are well known and mapped ; 

 the position of every outlier is niarked. Work for the future 

 can be better and more economical because more intelligently 

 directed. Work that was possibly justifiable when the insect 

 swarmed, and when " extermination "was the fad, is so no longer. 

 The cutting down and burning of brush sprayed with petro- 

 leum, similarly spraying and firing stone-walls, spraying indis- 

 criminately with Paris green all foliage in a given district — 

 work which the committee repeats is costly and very expen- 

 sive — would be a reckless waste of effort and of money. 



There are practically but two modes of attack on the insect ; 

 one while it is in the egg state, more than half the year, and 

 when the leaves do not hide it ; and the other for a few weeks 

 only, while it is a roaming caterpillar, more or less concealed. 

 The director of the field-work the past year, speaking of the 

 former, says, "experience has shown that this is the most 

 practical method of dealing with the moth." The details of 

 the report bear out the assertion. 



If, then, work is to be directed simply to keep the insect well 

 in check and prevent its spreading, no such expenditure as was 

 made last year is at all needed. A steady force of twenty, or 

 possibly of ten trusty men skilled in the work, and under effi- 

 cient direction, ought to suffice for two or three years. They 

 could go systematically over the ground for eight months in 

 the search for eggs, and for the remainder of the year on watch 

 against outbreaks, and when such outbreaks occur the cater- 

 pillars could be captured and destroyed by the best devices, 

 and the trees next to roadways could be specially guarded. No 

 doubt we can learn by longer practice still better and more 

 economical means of contesting the ground with the foe. It 

 might be well to add a small bounty to boys for every ounce of 

 eggs delivered, though they are now prohibited from aidmgin 

 this way, for fear that, in removing them from the trees, some 

 eggs of the cluster may be left behind — a precaution bred of 

 the " extei mination " craze. 



t^ambridge, Mass. •^. 



Aquatics at Farview, Staten Island. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The southern end of Staten Island has long been a 

 favorite residence of New York families, and all the eligible 

 locations outside of the Government reservations held for the 

 harbor defenses are occupied for country-seats, generally 

 handsome residences and extensive pleasure-grounds. The 

 island at this part rises rapidly from the beach, with a succes- 

 sion of gently sloping eminences known as the Dongan Hills. 

 Farview, the estate and summer home of Justice C. L. Bene- 

 dict, of the United States District Court, bears an entirely ap- 

 propriate name, for the handsome villa commands one of the 

 most remarkable outlooks in the vicinity of New York city. 

 At the south-west the eye ranges over Raritan Bay at its 

 widest, with Sandy Hook in the dim middle distance, while to 

 the left the noble entrance of New York harbor is in full view. 

 The Narrows at the east are always full of the movement of 

 the commerce of the port, and present a constantly changing 

 picture, full of life, no sound of which reaches the observer. 

 The view at the north is bounded by irregular hills, while at 

 the west the ridge which makes the backbone of the island 

 furnishes a quiet sylvan view in contrast to the others. Such 

 a site seems to be an ideal one for a country retreat for a 

 dweller in a large city, for here he can enjoy quiet surround- 

 ings, with the suggestion of activities in full view, and yet with- 

 out disturbance. 



The extensive grounds of Farview are mostly well-kept 

 lawns. There are a few good trees on the place, though many 

 have been thinned outfor interferingwith the outlook. Conif- 

 erous evergreens are used freely, with a good collecfion of 

 the smaller sorts. Some beds of hardy perennials are gay in 

 their season, as are the many tender plants. But the charm of 

 the place to many would be the Lily-tanks, which, in the sum- 

 mer, under the supervision of your correspondent, i\Ir. Wm. 

 Tricker, have become famous. Mr. Tricker will be remem- 

 bered by many as the first man in this vicinity to grow large 

 exhibition-blooms of Chrysanthemums and as a winner of first 

 prizes for several years. Mr. Tricker, besides being superin- 

 tendent of the estate, has become a trade grower of Chrysan- 

 themums and aquatic plants. It was especially to see the latter 

 in their winter quarters that I called a few days since. 



The borders of the outside tanks were covered with littery 

 manure and evergreen boughs to prevent the walls from being 

 broken by the frost. The water was retained in one deep tank, 

 while from another it was drawn off and the rhizomes deeply 

 covered with leaves. Both methods are said to preserve the 

 hardy Nymphaeas successfully in this latitude. In the houses 

 I found a very large and complete collection of Nymphasas in 

 all stages, which were especially interesting, as their propaga- 

 tion in quantity is a comparative new industry, and in some 

 respects is still somewhat tentative. Mr. Tricker seems to 

 have succeeded admirably, having new houses fitted up gradu- 

 ally as experience suggested. Besides the half casks in avail- 

 able spaces, where proper temperature could be secured, 

 used to store stock, the plant consists of shallow wooden tanks, 

 zinc-lined, occupying the bench room of a low span-roofed 

 house. These are heated with a one inch pipe led from the 

 four-inch floor and carried back to the return. Mr. Tricker 

 thinks this furnishes too much heat, especially when the main 

 pipes are very warm. Seedlings are grown in flats and pots 

 plunged in these tanks and shifted on as they develop. It is a 

 simple matter to germinate seeds of Nymphaeas, but the neces- 

 sary warmth as quickly develops algse, and the problem is to 

 carry the seedlings through the weak stage without being suf- 

 focated by those minute organisms. The necessary trouble 

 would scarcely commend itself to a small grower. Possibly 

 the difficulty may be obviated by arranging for a flow of fil- 

 tered water at proper temperature. Judging by the stock 

 grown, the favorite Nymphseas §eem to be N. Zanzibarensis, 

 N. Devoniensis, N. dentata, N. chromatella, N. alba candidis- 

 sima, N. odorata rosea and N. speciosa. Monsieur Martiac's 

 newer kinds, N. albida, N. sulphurea, N. rosea and N. ex- 

 quisita, are still very scarce, and hardly known to ordinary 

 growers. N. flava has been discarded here, N. Mexicana, 

 though very close to it, being much freer in flower. The beau- 

 tiful seedling of Dr. Bahnsen's, described in Garden and 

 Forest as N. superba, is being distributed from here as N. 

 Caroliniana, and promises to be a vigorous plant. ^ ., ^ 



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



Hardy Broad-leaved Evergreens. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — This place is nearly in the latitude of Philadelphia, but 

 the ocean is only thirty miles away on the east. Tide-water in 

 the Delaware River is about the same distance on the west, 

 and the ocean about twice that distance on the south. Our 

 soil is light and warm, and I have noticed that cold waves re- 

 ported as coming across the country are quite apt to be headed 

 off by a counter current from the ocean, and therefore fail to 

 reach us. These conditions should be kept in mind in order 

 to check or explain some statements I am about to make in 

 response to Mrs. Dandridge's request for experience with half- 

 hardy plants. Magnolia fcetida does finely without protection. 

 I have one which is now going through its third winter, and 

 there are three standing singly and fully exposed in the lawn 

 connected with Mr. Parry's nursery, about six miles north-east 

 from Philadelphia, but on the New Jersey side of the Delaware. 

 These were planted in 1887, and were then two to three feet 

 high. I suppose they are now about fifteen feet high, and 

 pictures of health and vigor, and one of them produced seven 

 flowers last summer. The only injury they have received is 

 from retaining so much snow as to breaksomeof the branches, 

 but they areat present full and symmetrical, and show no signs 

 of ever having been injured in this way. I should feel safe to 

 plant it anywhere in the southern half of New Jersey, and 

 there are many places nearly as far north as Philadelphia where 

 it will succeed in favorable positions. Araucaria imbricatahas 

 stood out here for twenty years, and has never been injured by 

 cold except in one unusually severe winter, when a portion of 

 the top was killed. It is now thriving again, although it grows 



