February 24, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



85 



GARDEN AND FOREST. 



PUULISHED WEEKLY 1!Y 



THE GARDEN AND FOREST PUBLISHING CO. 



Office : Tribune Building, New York, 



Conducted by Professor C, S. Sargent. 



ENTERED AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER AT THE POST OFFICE AT NEW YORK, N. Y. 



NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1892. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 



Editorial Articles :— The Tree as a Schoolmaster 85 



A Professorship of Forestry at West Point 86 



The Elms of the St. Lawrence Valley T. H. Hoskins, M.D. 86 



Notes of a Summer Journey in Eurooe. — VIII y. G. Jack^ 87 



The Swan's-neck Orchids ' R. A. Ralfe. 88 



New or Little-known Plants :— Symplocos cratsegoides. (With figure.) 90 



Clematis paniculafa. (With figure.) 90 



Prunus hortulana Professor L. H. Bailey. 90 



Cultural Department :— The Adulteration of Copper Mi.xtures, 



Professor L, i. Van Slyke. 90 



Fungous Troubles in the Cutting Beds Professor Byron D. Halsted. 91 



The' Vegetable Garden Professor IV. F. Massey. 92 



Anemone Japonica T. D. H. 92 



Solandra grandiflora M. Barker. 92 



The Kaffir Lily M. Barker. 92 



Correspondence -.—In the Shore Towns of Massachusetts.— VII.. 7. B. Harrison. 93 



Recent Publications :— The Pepino, Solanum Tyvx\:ica.iVim...Professor L. H. Bailey. 95 



Notes •••• g6 



Illustrations :— Symplocos cratsegoides. Fig. 15 8g 



Clematis paniculata, Fig. 16 gi 



The Tree as a Schoolmaster. 



TO those who study it with care and sympathy, the 

 tree is always teaching lessons which help to enlarge 

 and elevate the mind. From it can be derived instructions 

 of profound significance, of high philosophy, of practical 

 suggestion, as one considers its meaning, its history and 

 its economic value in the world. 



First of all it teaches man to reserve judgment by show- 

 ing that the insignificance of a germ is no criterion of the 

 magnitude of its product, that slowness of development is 

 not an index of the scope of growth, and proves to him 

 that the most far-reaching results can be attained by very 

 simple means. A barrel of acorns may be the nucleus of 

 a forest that shall cherish streams to fertilize a desert, a 

 handful of Cedar-cones may avert an avalanche, while a 

 bushel of Pine-seed may prevent the depopulation of a 

 great section of country by mountain torrents. 



Studying little by little the influence of the forest, we 

 come to understand the intimate relation between man and 

 nature — that relation which is a struggle of rival forces, in 

 which the silent, mighty mother inevitably wins the battle. 

 If at the first glance man seems her ruthless adversary, the 

 tormentor of the earth, the wrecker of woods, the destroyer 

 of beauty, the boastful pigmy who would assault a colos- 

 sus, we soon come to learn that in wronging her he but 

 evokes a doom as sure and terrible as his assault has been 

 reckless and violent. 



Like the fierce blow of Thor's hammer upon the face of 

 the giant Skyrmir, mistaken by that mighty one for the fall 

 of a leaf, the puny strokes of man, though they inay scar, 

 cannot destroy, and when the Earth giant awakes from 

 slumber it is to confound the weak assailant with a sense 

 of the impotence of his fancied strength. Then one hears 

 once more the mocking laughter of the Jotuns at the baffled 

 mortal, and hears the echo of their scornful cry, "Better 

 come no more to Jotunheim." 



Of the tree man in due course learns the law of the sur- 

 vival of the fittest, since in the end the forest must prevail 



if he but cease his vigilance. He learns it in the struggle 

 of the monarch of the woods to reach above its fellows in 

 the hungry roots which dwarf less vigorous growths in its 

 broad arms, which push aside its weaker companions ; in 

 the crown of leaves which overshadow its lesser rivals; in 

 the powerful shaft that thrusts its lance skyward above the 

 surrounding conifers ; in every effort of the tree-king to as- 

 sert its right to supremacy above the others. 



Then comes the study of the tree's prodigality of produc- 

 tion, the enormous care for the protection of the species, 

 the thousands of seeds yielded for one that germinates ; 

 that endless provision for the future forest ; that patient 

 shelter of the youthful sapling which shall gain nourish- 

 ment from the decay of parent leaf and stem. 



Slow, beautiful and sure is the yearly development of the 

 young tree. Without haste and without rest it stretches 

 upward, adapting itself to its environment, as man to his. 

 But, unlike him, it will not readily be weaned from its 

 natural surroundings. The Willow clings to the stream, 

 the Chestnut to the stony hill-side, the Pine and Fir to the 

 mountain-top ; and in the useful ends they serve, each in 

 its proper habitat, we learn another lesson of simple duty 

 and faithfulness to our daily lot. Does the Spruce-tree 

 quarrel with its sea-sinitten crag? the Maple with its forest- 

 seclusion .? the Cedar with its lonely swamp } Does the 

 Oak seek to divest itself of its twining Ivy .? the Birch 

 sigh to escape from its marriage with the Pine. Not so ; 

 and here again they preach a needed sermon to the rest- 

 less race that frets away its uneasy life beneath their shade. 



Not even when the fall approaches does your tree put 

 on a wintry countenance. Rather does it array itself in 

 gold and purple for its last pageant, strewing the earth 

 with a splendid carpet, which enwraps the new fallen seed 

 or nut, and thus ensures to it a future growth. Even when 

 the last leaf clings to the stem, the tree is a fair sight to 

 those who truly love it and can rejoice in the exquisite out- 

 line presented by its denuded branches, the soft interlacing of 

 its twigs, the fine curves of limb and bough, the rosy brown 

 shadow of its tips closely interwoven in a thread-like web 

 against the pale blue of a winter sky. 



Even so a fine character meets disaster and loss, braced 

 for the blast. What matters it that adornments are shorn 

 away if the revealed life is full of vigorous beauty, of un- 

 conquered energy, of powerful promise, shall not the 

 future of the brave though shivering tree give courage to 

 the man shorn of his wealth or joy to put forth buds 

 of hope for a spring that is to come 1 Thus does the 

 tree as a schoolmaster lead man from the great pre- 

 liminary lessons of eternal law and progress, of develop- 

 ment and growth, down to the more homely and needed 

 schooling in patience, endurance and calm confidence in 

 a hopeful future. 



Then, when its economic uses are to be considered, a 

 wide field opens to the tree-student, as he learns how 

 great a part it plays in every enterprise of man. To it he 

 owes his dwelling and his boat, his oar and his weapon, 

 often his clothing, and his meat and drink ; it has modified 

 his character, determined his history, and been a staple of 

 his commerce with other lands. Far-reaching has been its 

 influence upon the race from prehistoric days until the 

 time when the wooden walls of England became the bul- 

 wark of that liberty of which our independence is the outcome. 

 Thus the story of the tree leads to the history of the race, 

 which it has so strongly influenced, and opens out the whole 

 human horizon to its pupil. Hence he who makes a com- 

 panion of trees and seriously seeks to learn the secret of 

 their importance, finds his own mind and knowledge con- 

 stantly expanding with the effort to master this ever-widen- 

 ing topic. 



As the subject grows he himself grows, his silent but 

 virise instructor conducting him step by step to higher and 

 wider outlooks ; to a more comprehensive grasp of in- 

 formation ; to a keener understanding of humanity ; to a 

 deeper reverence for nature ; while filling him with unend- 

 ing surprise at the educational resources of that school- 



