March i6, 1892.) 



Garden and Forest. 



12: 



tetraptera and others looked very forlorn, but Clethra ainifolia 

 was flourishing and seemed quite at home. Our Wild Crab 

 (Pyrus coronaria) was thriving quite as well as any member of 

 the genus to which it belongs, but it was not fruiting. 



In one or two places in Germany inquiries were made for 

 the Rose Acacia (Robinia hispida) on its own roots instead of 

 grafted. In this neglected arboretum it was found springing 

 up spontaneously, over considerable ground, from spreading 

 underground roots. These plants were slender and diminu- 

 tive, appearing almost herbaceous by growing among the 

 heath, which they hardly exceeded in height, but were 

 freely bearing flowers. 



Adjoining the park are the mineral baths of " Hermanns- 

 bad," which were developed and brought into notice by Prince 

 Puckler, and which are annually visited by large numbers of 

 people from the German cities. tv /- ~ / 



Arnold Arboretum. /• G. JaC/:. 



Notes in the Woods. 



ALTHOUGH I have been a farmer for years, I have never 

 until lateh' owned anv considerable stretch of woodland. 

 But my " neck of woods" interests me now more than any 

 other part of my farm-lands. It lies in a deep valley on both 

 sides of the Clyde River, a stream fed by many springs, and 

 passing through or contriljuted to by a number of small lakes 

 of remarkable beauty. Its source is Island Pond (a name fa- 

 miliar to many as a station on the Grand Trunk Railway), and 

 it has run nineteen of its twenty-one miles of length before en- 

 tering Lake Memphremagog, when it becomes, for some 

 hundred rods or so, my own particular property. This deep 

 gorge, between ohe and two hundred feet below the level of 

 the surrounding territory, is covered chiefly with Maples, consti- 

 tuting what is known as the " Sugar Place " of the farm. But 

 there are also a goodly number of Beeches, Canoe Birches, 

 Spruces, Hemlocks, Firs, Poplars, Ashes, Pines, and by the 

 river-banks dense thickets of Arbor-vita; in sizes from two feet 

 in diameter down to those just right for hop-poles and bean- 

 poles. The narrowness and depth of the valley causes all these 

 trees to run up very straight and tall, with but a small 

 amount of top, many'being as much as forty feet from the 

 ground to their lower limbs. All among them copious springs 

 burst forth, one of the largest furnishing water to actuate a 

 hydraulic ram which supplies the buildings of the farm with 

 the purest and softest water. ' 



One of the first things that attracted my attention in regard 

 to the trees of this valley or ravine was that a large proportion 

 of those of much size are rotten at the heart or hollow. This 

 is noticed in more than one-half the logs that are drawn up to 

 the house for firing. Not many of the Spruces or Firs are thus 

 affected ; but I was astonished' to note that what are called our 

 most durable timber-trees, used everywhere for fence-posts, 

 the Arbor-vitass, become thus decayed by the time they are a 

 foot through. I had thought that perhaps this might be due to 

 the severity of the climate ; but a visit to the Aroostook coun- 

 try, in Maine (whose southern extremity is one hundred 

 miles north of my latitude), showed me, in its beautiful 

 and perfectly sound Arbor-vitee timber, that this could 

 hardly be true. I have since noticed that a very large 

 proportion of the Arbor-vitK logs brought to our mills 

 to be sawn into shingles, or sold for posts, are rotten at 

 heart. 



In my experience the Firs make a better and more lasting 

 roof-covering than the Cedars. Some twenty years ago, in 

 building a house upon my old "home place," on the Memphre- 

 magog shore, being desirous to avoid the Cedar taste in cis- 

 tern-water I had the part of the roof from which the water was 

 taken covered with Fir shingles, the remainder being- covered 

 with the best cedar to be had. Sixteen years later, when re- 

 shingling became necessary, the Fir shingles were found to 

 be considerably sounder than the others. 



The Maples interest me greatly. Not only the Sugar Maple, 

 but the Red and White Maples abound, covering both flanks 

 of the valley above the wetter portions near the river. Some 

 months ago I mentioned that we had a sort of Maple which 

 neighboring farmers say is not the White Maple, though they 

 have no other name for it, and it looks to me like a White 

 Maple. The sap of this tree acts quickly and strongly upon 

 the iron spouts used to conduct the sap into the buckets set 

 to catch it, and makes the syrup quite black and unfit for 

 sugar. One can notice the quickness of its attack upon the 

 iron as it trickles over it ; but this appears only with a few 

 trees, the sap of other White Maples not showing this quality. 

 The only difference I can note between the trees which do and 

 those which do not have this peculiarity is a darker bark on 

 the former. 



T 



I cannot distinguish even the slight difference I have referred 

 to, except in the larger trees, and I l>ave been waiting until 

 another season to notice, if possible, any difference m the 

 blooming time or anything else of a specializing character. 



I was struck by a short notice in the Boston Daily Traveler, 

 .of February 20th, relating to Indian basket-makers in Maine. 

 In this notice it was said, speaking of the bright colors that 

 were secured from the woods by these sylvan workmen, that 

 "Alder is steeped for pale red ; White Birch bark for bright 

 red ; Cedar-boughs for green ; Sumach for yellow ; black 

 comes from White Maple bark. A light solution of Maple, 

 however, shows purple instead of black." It may require 

 the skill of a chemist, along with that of the botanist, to get to 

 the bottom of this little problem. It seems quite proba- 

 ble that this blackening of the sap by contact with the 

 iron spouts occurs only in the case of a few out of many of 

 the trees supposed to be all White Maples. One old farmer 

 said he thought these might be a cross between either the 

 Red or the Sugar Maple with the White — but he was no botan- 

 ist. Is it not possible that this peculiar tree may be a hybrid 

 between the Red and White Maples ? „ ,^ ,, , , 



Newport, Vt. T. H. HosklllS. 



Cultural Department. 



Housetop Gardens. 



HE eftbrt of the directors of the Columbian Horticultural 

 Exhibition to show roof gardens on an extensive scale is 

 a step in the right direction. City life cannot only be made 

 more comfortable by a supply of fresh flowers and vegetables 

 but it can secure considerable of the greenness and aroma of 

 the country. The present style of building is, with slight 

 adjustments, welladapted to this. I have seen the roof of a 

 house and wing utilized with a lean-to glass roof, without any 

 heat beyond that obtained by an open door into the upper 

 hall. But, if needed, portable heaters could be used. In one 

 case a friend has conducted steam pipes from his furnace into 

 his roof-room, where he makes a specialty of growing Cacti. 

 Housetops, when flat, can be covered with glass and used 

 for a great variety of fruits, flowers and vegetables. This also 

 can be heated in winter, mainly by the hot air that is wasted 

 in the house. Better yet, it is carbon-laden air that goes up ; 

 and is ready to be used by vegetation. As a matter of health, 

 the roof garden has decided advantages, provided it be wisely 

 constructed. I know a dweller in a western city who grows 

 his tomatoes and cucumbers in half-barrels and tubs filled 

 with rich soil. His garden is on a second story roof, and a 

 door opens into an upper hall. His purpose is not so much 

 a winter garden as a summer garden. Besides vines, he grows 

 an abundance of lettuce and radishes, and even gooseberries 

 and currants. Probably most cultivators would prefer to ex- 

 periment with grapes, figs, and perhaps dwarf oranges. This 

 is a matter of taste. The roof garden may be made conveni- 

 ent for almost any sort of vegetable growth not too heavy for 

 the framework of the house. I have seen pumpkins grown to 

 perfection on a New York roof, and tubs of charming ever- 

 greens, six or eight feet high. The growth of flowers on a 

 roof may be conducted in connection with fruit and vegetable 

 growing, or alone, and I have had some choice bouquets from 

 such gardens. 



I have spoken of roof gardens with glass overhead. This is 

 but one, and the more expensive method of establishing 

 such culture. The ordinary garden has no cover, and 

 it may be as well established on a housetop as in the back yard. 

 The only thing necessary is to make the weight proportioned 

 to the timbers of the house. The London Horticultural Times 

 is urging this sort of summer garden on the people of that 

 metropolis. It proposes an iron spiral staircase ascending 

 from the upper floor through a turret leading to a pla- 

 teau where the growth is established, and seats are provided 

 for rest and pleasure. Protect the roof with a strong parapet 

 and then lay out your garden as you please. The same London 

 journal proposes as follows: "At the back, partly or right 

 across, one could erect a simple and cheap little glass house; 

 or it could stand exactly in the centre. Around all the sides 

 of the parapet and the glass house one, two or even three 

 rows of pots of various sizes could be placed, in some of which 

 the seeds of plants or flowers could be grown, and the glass 

 house could be utilized for the production of such seeds and 

 bulbs as required, or are improved by being raised undercover 

 or in heat." But this at once turns the open garden into a 

 matter of care and expense. I should prefer simply to use 

 large tubs or boxes, and grow such plants as require only sun- 

 shine, air and water. The cultivation would be simple. In 

 manv cases water could be carried to the roof as it is to the 



