120 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 211. 



Trianse. Cymbidium Lowii was represented by some well- 

 grown specimens. 



Mr. W. S. Kimball, of Rochester, had a remarkable group of 

 Cypripediums, among them being fine examples of C. Argus, 

 C. Boxallii atratum, C. Calurum, C. Winnianum, and fifty 

 others. The new variety, C. Lathamianum, was seen for the first 

 time by a good many visitors. Mr. F. H.Goodrich also showed 

 some admirable specimen plants, one of Odontoglossumgrande 

 attracting the most attention. The collection of Mr. Hicks Ar- 

 nold was represented by a magnificent spike of Dendrobium 

 Phalasnopsis Schroederianum, blooms of Cypripedium micro- 

 chilum, C. Lathamianum, and many other choice species. 

 Mention should also be made of a wonderful specimen of the 

 true Cattleya Trianae alba, the genuine snow-whiteform, which 

 is so rarely seen. Apart from the Orchids, two magnificent 

 plants of Licuala grandis and some admirable Crotons were 

 the most attractive things in the exhibition. 



Since the last exhibition some changes have been made in 

 the hall, and they do not seem to have improved it as a place 

 for displaying plants and flowers to the best advantage. It was 

 a misfortune, too, that the proprietors of the Eden Musee were 

 unable or unwilling to furnish a better light in the evening. 

 When the owners of fine plants go to the trouble and expense 

 of transporting them a long distance, besides sending compe- 

 tent persons to superintend their arrangement, it is worse than 

 annoying to have their beauty hidden in darkness. 



Notes. 



Mr. John N. May v/riies to the American F'/ortsithatthrough- 

 out the entire eastern section of the country there is complaint 

 that Roses are not producing as well as usual this year. 



The third southern California Citrus Fair, now open in Los 

 Angeles, is said to surpass all its predecessors in variety and 

 beauty of exhibits. Tourists who may be passing through 

 Los Angeles are advised by a correspondent of T/ie Tribune 

 to see this fair, as it demonstrates the important work being 

 done for the improvement of oranges and lemons. One of 

 the features of the display is the new seedless lemon, which 

 promises to rival in popularity the navel orange. 



Number 2,000 of the Gardeners' Magazine, its issue for Feb- 

 ruary 27th, has just been received. This journal was started 

 on the 1st of March, 1833, as a sixpenny monthly, under the 

 name of the Floriculiural Cabinet, by Mr. Joseph Harrison. 

 His sons carried on the paper until 1859, when it was changed 

 to a weekly under its present title. In 1861 Mr. Shirley tfib- 

 berd became its editor, and continued to occupy that post until 

 his death, in November, 1890. Mr. Hibberd was succeeded 

 by Mr. George Gordon, who was associated with him in the 

 literary management of the paper for many years. A horti- 

 cultural journal, with an honorable history of nearly sixty 

 years behind it, is worthy of respect, and deserves the best 

 wishes of all lovers of the art which it represents. 



The bill to incorporate the Yellowstone Park Company, to 

 which editorial allusion was made in last week's issue, was re- 

 ferred to Secretary Noble for his opinion, and he has sent to the 

 chairman of the committee which holds the bill an energetic 

 protest against it. After criticising it in detail, he character- 

 izes it as opposed to the public good, for private interests 

 solely, and in every way perniciou;;. He expresses the opinion 

 that, in view of the growing interest in the park, the Govern- 

 ment should strengthen its control over it rather than substi- 

 tute a corporation in its place and compel the people to feel 

 at every stage of progress amid these wonders that they are 

 there to help a private enterprise rather than to enjoy their 

 own under the control and responsibility of the National Gov- 

 ernment. 



On the German seed-farms labor is very cheap. The aver- 

 age wages of a workingman is from seven to nine shillings a 

 week, and for this he works from five in the morning to seven 

 in the evening, and in winter one hour less, commencing at 

 six instead of five. In summer the hands are employed in 

 the seed-grounds, and during the winter months in the ware- 

 houses cleaning and dressing seeds. Much of the lighter field 

 work, such as hoeing, cleaning and gathering seed, is done by 

 women and girls, who work in gangs under the charge of a 

 foreman. They are very expert in the use of the hoe, and get 

 over nearly as much ground as a man. They earn from ten- 

 pence to one shiUing per day, and many have to walk several 

 miles to and from work, as the majority live in the surround- 

 ing villages. 



Mr. J. M. Samuels, Chief of the Department of Horticulture 

 for the Columbian Fair, writes to the press that P. S. Peterson, 



a nurseryman of Rose Hill, Chicago, has during the past week 

 planted six trees on the grounds near the horticultural build- 

 ing, as a permanent exliibit, and as a practical illustration of 

 the successful methods of transplanting large ornamental 

 trees. They are an Elm, fifty feet high and two feet in diam- 

 eter, brought from the woods in 1876, when fifty years old, 

 and planted on the nursery grounds at Rose Hill ; a Hack- 

 berry, forty feet high and two feet in diameter, also trans- 

 planted from the woods in 1876 ; a Linden, forty feet high and 

 a trunk eighteen inches through ; a Willow, thirty feet high 

 and thirty feet spread ; a Sugar Maple, forty feet high ; an Ash, 

 thirty-five feet high. It required a force of twenty-two men 

 and twelve horses to transplant the trees, and the cost of the 

 work was about $700. 



Surprise is expressed in Meehans' Monthly that the English 

 Heath is not more generally cultivated in the United States. It 

 has been in prominent American nursery catalogues for many 

 years, but the demand for it is small, because people do not 

 know that it may be cultivated readily. The great enemy to 

 it is the sun when the thermometer is very low. It would 

 grow near the North Pole, with a light covering of leaves, 

 snow or anything that would protect it from the sun. It will 

 not grow in heavy clay or in any soil where the earth packs 

 closely together, as the small hair-like roots cannot penetrate 

 this stiff matrix ; but wherever the soil is sandy, gravelly, or 

 in any way so constituted that the little roots can push freely, 

 it grows well. It is a good plan to enclose a plant in a four- 

 sided frame, such as a soap-box without a bottom, and fill in 

 three to four inches of sand so that it gets in among the lower 

 branches. The plant seems to thrive even better under such 

 circumstances than on its native heaths. 



" There are certain flowers," says Mr. Conder in his book on 

 Japanese flowers, " which bloom twice in the same year. These 

 are technically called Returning Flowers. Though considered 

 unsuitable for ordinary occasions, because out of harmony 

 with the season, such flowers are especially appropriate for 

 farewell gatherings. The idea in so employing them is to ex- 

 press the hope for a safe return. . . . Flowers placed before 

 sick persons should be put together in a rapid and unlabored 

 manner, and should be vigorous in style, to suggest the idea 

 of recovery and strength. At the ceremony of praying for the 

 sick flower-compositions should be full and ga)% as well as 

 bold and powerful in style. ... As it is the east wind which 

 brings rain, floral arrangements used at time of praying for 

 rain should have their principal line pointing from right to left, 

 to suggest the east wind blowing ; a reverse arrangement is 

 resorted to on occasions of prayer for fine weather, when the 

 principal line, leaning from left to right, is made to suggest the 

 west wind. 



Among the investigations of timber undertaken by the De- 

 partment of Agriculture was a series of tests to determine the 

 eiTect of gathering resin from Long-leaf Pine upon the strength 

 of the timber. It has been believed that timber from trees 

 which have been "boxed," sometimes known as "Turpentine 

 timber," loses both durability and strength. There can be little 

 doubt that the withdrawal of the resin, which keeps out water, 

 and has apparently some antiseptic qualities, does reduce the 

 capacity of the timber to withstand rot. But the tests so far 

 carried on seem to indicate that turpentine timber possesses 

 greater strength than that from unboxed trees. Of course, this 

 result is not to be accepted without further verification, but 

 the matter has seemed to Mr. Fernow of sufficient importance 

 to justify a circular giving the conclusions of Professor J. B. 

 Johnson, who is conducting the experiments at St. Louis. In 

 a general way these conclusions are that turpentine timber ex- 

 hibits less tensile and shearing strength, but it is stifferand has 

 greater compressive strength endwise and greater cross-break- 

 ing strength. The turpentine timber proved harder to work, 

 however, since the resin seemed to be collected in spots, and 

 gummed up the tools. 



Catalogues 



Received. 



Bulb Growers' Association, Bayonne, N. J. ; Price-list of Summer- 

 flowering bulbs and Seeds. — Chipm.\n Brothers, Sandwich, Cape Cod, 

 Mass. ; The Cape Cod Pond Lily. — M. Crawford, Cuyahoga Falls, O. ; 

 New Strawberries. — Emerson, Smith & Co., Beaver Falls, Pa.; Saws. — 

 Fred. W. Kelsey, 145 Broadway, New York ; Choice Hardy Trees 

 and Plants. — E. W. Reid, Bridgeport, O. ; "Everything for the Fruit 

 Grower," Price-list of Select and Tested Seeds. — ^J. C. V.aughan, 

 Chicago, 111.; Trade-list for Florists.— J as. E. Warner, 19 Park Place, 

 New York; The Thermostatic Incubator. — H. \V. Williams & Sons, 

 Batavia, 111.; Tree and Plant Labels, Transplanting Boxes and other 

 Supplies for Nurserymen and Florists. 



I 



