156 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 214. 



the plants in the bed. The soil on which the Fern-spores are 

 to be sown should be subjected to a high heat some time be- 

 fore that operation. This will destroy all nematodes in the 

 soil, and after that lime-water, sulphur and other applications 

 known to be injurious to the worms, but harmless to tender 

 vegetation, should be used. 



When flowers are placed near a wall-painting in Japan the 

 greatest care is taken to secure harmony between the two, so 

 that, viewed together, they may form a single agreeable deco- 

 rative composition. I5eside a long painting a low composition 

 will be used, but when the picture is short and broad the flow- 

 ers may stand high and full. If lake or river scenery is repre- 

 sented in the painting, water plants will usually be chosen for 

 a floral arrangement, forming, as it were, the foreground to 

 the painted landscape. The same kinds of plants, however, 

 must never be repeated, because those in the picture would 

 necessarily suffer by close comparison with their natural pro- 

 totypes. In front of a painting which represents some flower 

 of the season, a vase of water is often placed in which lie a few 

 fallen blossoms.and petals of the same flower, thus continuing 

 the idea of the picture without giving rise to unfortunate com- 

 parisons. If a verse of poetry is inscribed on a wall scroll, 

 flowers which illustrate the poem may be set beneath it, but 

 some critics proclaim that this should never be done, as the 

 sight of the natural flower restricts the imagination and may 

 detract from the force of the sentiment expressed by the poetry. 



The last number of the London Garden, which we have re- 

 ceived, speaks of our Newtown Pippin as " an apple of the 

 hio-hest and finest flavor, a delicious combination of the acid 

 an'd the slightly sweet which leaves no unpleasant reaction. It 

 is an apple, too, which shows the weakness of the ordinary 

 classification of dessert apples and cooking apples, for while it 

 is the most perfect of apples for dessert-eating, it is also a per- 

 fect apple when stewed in its own sugar." What is of more 

 interest, however, to American growers is that the demand for 

 it in the London market has led some of our exporters into 

 sending fraudulent barrels containing other kinds of apples 

 and labeled as Newtown Pippins. The writer had seen one of 

 these packages which bore all the external marks of containing 

 the choicest of Newtown Pippins, but the apples, although 

 laro-e and fair, were absolutely devoid of the flavor of the 

 genuine fruit. Such practices as this would soon ruin the 

 reputation of these apples. Since we have a fruit which, when 

 properly grown, excels in delicacy of flavor, the greatest care 

 should be taken to prevent a substitution of any counterfeit, 

 for this will inevitably cause a general suspicion of the stock 

 and break down prices. 



We have received a copy of the Lakes and Summer Resorts 

 in New Hampshire, which has been issued by the Board of 

 Agriculture of that state. It consists of nearly a hundred 

 pa°"es, with many beautiful pictures of lake and mountain 

 scenery, and gives an authentic list of the summer hotels and 

 boarding-houses of the state, with brief descriptions, names of 

 proprietors, charges, etc. Two years ago efforts were first 

 made by the state to advertise its abandoned farms and natural 

 attractions,and it is said thatf our hundred and fifty of these vacant 

 farms have since become occupied and the summer boarding 

 business is largely increased. This pamphlet is issued to reply 

 to the numerous letters of inquiry which are received about 

 these subjects. The enterprise of the State Government is cer- 

 tainly to be recommended. Too much cannot be said of the 

 o-rand mountain scenery and of the six hundred lakes which 

 are scattered over the state. IMany large estates and extensive 

 private parks have already been established in New Hamp- 

 shire, one of the latter containing 21,000 acres. These large 

 estates are multiplying rapidly, and although we can hardly 

 credit the statement of the pamphlet that " the time is fast ap- 

 proaching when New Hampshire will be one grand park," 

 nevertheless it is true that rare opportunities are still offered 

 for those who desire a country home, and especially a sum- 

 mer home. 



Dr. C. B. Graves writes in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botan- 

 ical Club for March that he has found in south-eastern Con- 

 necticut "a small but flourishing station" of Phlox maculata, 

 the Wild Sweet William, which Gray's Mamial describes as at 

 home from " New Jersey and northern Pennsylvania to IVIin- 

 nesota and south to Florida and Arkansas." Dr. Graves saw 

 the plant in a meadow beside Jordan Brook, in Waterford, 

 about four miles from New London, and says : " So far as ob- 

 served it is confined to two patches, the larger of which com- 

 prises an area of thirty or thirty-five square yards, the smaller 

 less than half as large, lying thirty or forty rods farther down 



the brook. The plant grows very thickly in both these patches, 

 and when in bloom fairly illumines the meadow. The interest 

 in this station lies in the question whether the plant is or is not 

 indigenous here. Only a little way from the meadow is a 

 farm-house which has been occupied by the same family for 

 several generations. There is no tradition in this family as to 

 its ever having been introduced, and no one now living re- 

 members a time when it did not grow in its present "position. 

 Furthermore, it is not found in any garden in the neighbor- 

 hood, and, in fact, I have never seen it in cultivation in this 

 vicinity. All these facts point to its being a native. On the 

 other hand must be mentioned its very limited distribution, its 

 occurrence so far north and east of its recorded range, and its 

 nearness to human habitations. If introduced it must have 

 been at some remote time in the past." 



Mr. R. A. Rolfe writes that the economy of fertilization in 

 the Swans-neck Orchids (Cycnoches) is very interesting, and 

 only from this standpoint can we hope to understand the great 

 diversity between the sexes in the majority of the species. In 

 both the lip is uppermost, and forms a kind of landing-stage 

 on which insects which visit the flowers alight. In all proba- 

 bility it is the insect's abdomen which comes in contact with 

 the tip of the column, as the action can easily be imitated 

 artificially. But in the case of the male flower a very curious 

 mechanism coines into play. The stipes of the pollinium are 

 tightly strained around the rostellum, but as soon as the sen- 

 sitive filament is touched the pollinium is liberated and ejected 

 from the flower by its own elasticity. During its short flight it 

 not only straightens itself, but curls up into a spiral in the 

 reverse direction, tightly clasping the anther-case, but leaving 

 the viscid disk exposed, and this becomes tightly glued to the 

 body of the insect. The pollen is now wrapped up in the 

 anther-case, but the filamentis hygrometric, and being exposed 

 to the air it soon dries and straightens itself, when the anther- 

 case, having served its purpose, falls away. Meantime the 

 insect will have visited other flowers, and if one of these is a 

 female the pollen would come in contact with the viscid 

 stigma, between its pair of fleshy wings, and thus fertilization 

 is effected. In the early morning these plants exhale a most 

 powerful perfume, which serves to attract the insects. And 

 now we may see the curious way in which the different 

 structure of the male flower of the section Heteranthce comes 

 into play. In the section Eucycnoches the lip of the male is 

 ovate, fleshy, and immovable (as in the females of the entire 

 genus), so that it is by the movements of the insect that its 

 body comes into contact with the apex of the column. But in 

 the flowers of section Heteranthce the lip is reduced to a small, 

 round disk with radiating teeth, and instead of being immovable 

 it is attached by a slender hinge, and as soon as the insect alights 

 its weight depresses the hinge, and its body comes in contact with 

 the apex of the column with some force, invariably liberating the 

 pollinium. It is marvelous how perfect all these adaptations 

 are, and it has been a work of the greatest possible interest 

 to me to trace their action and use. 



Catalogues Received. 



J. B. Alexander, Hartford City, Ind.; Price-list of Fruit Trees, 

 Small Fruits, Ornamental Trees and Shrubs. — Andorra Nurseries, 

 Chestnut Hill, Philadelptiia, Pa. ; Hardy Trees, Choice Shrubs, Plants, 

 Roses and Fruit. — Joseph Breck & Sons, 51, 52, 53 N. Market St., 

 Boston, Mass. ; Novelties and Specialties in Vegetable and Flower 

 Seeds, Bulbs, Roses and other Flowering Plants, Shade, Ornamental 

 and Fruit Trees. — E. F. Brockway, Ainsworth, Iowa ; Price-list of 

 Transplanted Evergreen Trees.— A. T. CooK, Hyde Park, Dutchess 

 Co., N. Y. ; Vegetable and Flower Seeds. — John W. Douglass, 57 

 Beekman Street, New York, N. Y. ; Illustrated Catalogue of Imple- 

 ments for the Farm. — Graham, Emlen & Passmore, 631 Market Street, 

 Philadelphia, Penn. ; The Philadelphia Lawn Mower and Lawn 

 Sweeper. — John Laing & Sons, Forest Hill, London, S. E., Eng. ; 

 Special Catalogue of Caladiums. — National Hot Water Heater 

 Co., Boston, New York, Chicago, San Francisco ; The Spence Hot 

 Water Heater for Heating by Hot Water Circulation. — Benjamin Rim- 

 baud, Toulon (Var), France ; Special Trade Offer of French Bulbs for 

 Forcing. — Shady Hill Nurseries, Cambridge, Mass. ; Illustrated Cata- 

 logue of Choice Trees, Shrubs, Vines and Plants. Supplement of New 

 and Rare Plants. — C. Thurston, Paterson, N. J. ; Price-list of Begonia* 

 Thurstonii. — Thomas S. Ware, Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham, 

 London, Eng.; New Catalogue of Hardy and Greenhouse Climbing 

 Plants, Single Roses, Rare Fruits, Culinary Roots, etc. Illustrated 

 Catalogue of Pasonies, Primulas and Hardy Ferns. New Catalogue of 

 Hardy Florists' Flowers. Illustrated Catalogue of Hardy Perennials. 

 — Thos. W. Weathered's Sons, 244 Canal Street, New York, N. Y. ; 

 Hot Water Heaters, for Heating Dwellings, Conservatories, Green- 

 houses, Graperies, Poultry Houses, etc. 



