April 20, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



189 



in groups of sub-tropical plants, it succeeds well under the 

 same treatment as Cannas, but for a specimen clump several 

 pieces, according to size, should be set in half a kerosene- 

 barrel, as recommended for conservatory specimens. The 

 half barrel should be sunk until the rim is at the level of the 

 ground and practically out of sight. With applications of 

 liquid manure in hot and dry weather the clump will make an 

 astonishing growth. The plants should not be allowed to suf- 

 fer from high winds and storms, and a few neat stakes can be 

 used, or other means of protection and support should be sup- 

 plied. In the open ground this Papyrus is not inclined to grow 

 so tall or make such rapid growth, but the stems will be 

 stronger and will not need so much protection as the larger 

 plants. Papyrus Antiquorum is propagated by divisions of the 

 roots and by seed, but strong plants only produce seed to any 

 extent. Seedlings raised early in the season make nice plants 

 the first summer; strong clumps the second season. 



Begonia Triomphe de Lemoine. — Plants of this variety were 

 grown in the open border last summer with great benefit to 

 the foliage and much better results in the way of flowers. For 

 profuse and lasting flowers this variety probably heads the list 

 of Begonias. The plants are fairly covered, as they have been 

 for months, with masses of bright ffowers, which scarcely even 

 yet show signs of fading. The color is a bright light red, 

 almost pink. A good stock of this plant in small sizes is very 

 useful and attractive in the greenhouse in winter for decora- 

 tion of the benches. 



Corydalis bulbosa (or C. solida), the purple Fumitory, is a neat 

 little bulbous plant now in flower. The leaves are attractive, 

 and the effect is somewhat like that of a small Dicentra, the 

 plant being only a few inches high, with numerous purplish 

 red flowers, not especially attractive except as a patch of color 

 in a dull season, when all color is welcome. The bulbs are 

 hardy, and rapidly increase from offsets. There is also a white 

 variety of this species, but this has not been grown by me. 



EUzabeth, N.J. J.N.G. 



Correspondence. 



The Northern Limit of Sabal Palmetto. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Jutting out into the ocean at the mouth of the Cape 

 Fear River, thirty miles below Wilmington, North Carolina, is 

 the delta-hke formation known as Smith's Island. Formerly 

 the river had two mouths, one opening eastward at the north 

 end of this island, and the other running out to the south. For 

 the improvement of the entrance the mouth at the north end 

 of Smith's Island has been closed by a stone dam nearly a mile 

 long, connecting the island with the beach at Fort Fisher, of 

 historic fame. This work has caused the current to scour out 

 the southern channel until the river is now navigable by large 

 ocean steamers, and its depth is still increasing. Having often 

 heard of the sub-tropical character of the forest upon Smith's 

 Island, I was glad to embrace the opportunity to visit it in com- 

 pany with Professor Holmes, State Geologist, and Mr. T. K. 

 Bruner, Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture. Professor 

 Holmes wished to study the geological character of the island, 

 and Mr. Bruner and I had in view the lifting and preparation 

 for removal to Chicago next spring of some specimens of the 

 native plants, particularly the Palmetto. 



Our course to the island was by Wilmington, and thence by 

 steamer to Southport, the pretty pilot-town near the mouth of 

 the river, from whence we reached the island in open boat. 

 Southport occupies an elevated plateau on the right bank of 

 the river, and its twelve hundred inhabitants are now stirred 

 up with the idea of getting railroad communication to the 

 Virginia coal-fields and making their beautiful village a great 

 coaling-station. At present it is unspoiled. The streets are 

 broad and clean, and all about, even in the middle of the 

 streets, magnificent widespreading Live Oaks have been left, 

 which add a peculiar charm to the place. In the cottage-yards 

 native plants are not neglected, and I found beautiful speci- 

 mens of the Ilex vomitoria, the North Carolina Tea, densely 

 packed with its brilliant red berries, looking like glass beads 

 from their translucent character. In one yard stood an Orange- 

 tree, with leaves only slightly yellowed, testifying to the mild- 

 ness of the locality. Phlox Drummondii, Verbenas, Sweet 

 Alyssum, Violets and many other plants were blooming, as 

 many of them had been all winter. Though an easterly gale 

 was blowing, our boatman decided that we could cross to the 

 island, four miles away, which we swiftly did, and landed in a 

 quiet creek near the Bald Head Lighthouse. The island is 



about six miles long and four wide. Its only inhabitants are 

 the lighthouse-keepers at one end and the life-saving crew at 

 the other. The larger part, and, in fact, all the upland part, is 

 covered by the densest forest-growth imaginable, so dense, in- 

 deed, that it can only be penetrated by cutting paths with an 

 axe. It is literally a forest of evergreens. Hardly any decidu- 

 ous trees are found, and few deciduous shrubs. The principal 

 forest-growth is Ilex vomitoria, which forms impenetrable 

 thickets. Holly, Live Oak, Water Oak, Red Cedar, Osmanthus 

 Americana, Pinus Taeda, called here Rosemary Pine, and 

 lastly, but not least, Sabal Palmetto. Sabal Adansoni is plen- 

 tiful on the mainland far north and east of Wilmington, but 

 we found none of this dwarf plant here. 



The magnificent growth of Sabal Palmetto here in what 

 seems to be nothing but pure sand and shell fragments sur- 

 prised me. We found plenty of trees with tall columnar stems 

 thirty feet tall to the crown of leaves, and an immense multi- 

 tude of young ones. I cut and brought home with me single 

 leaves which measure five feet from base to apex, seven feet 

 broad, with petioles six feet long. This shows that, althougli the 

 tree does not range farther north, for none are found in tlie forest 

 on the mainland north of the Cape Fear River, it nevertheless 

 reaches its full development on the island. The forest is in- 

 habited by countless numbers of raccoons, a great many wild 

 hogs and feathered game, both land and water fowl, while the 

 waters abound in fish, oysters and clams. We selected some 

 grand Palmetto-stems for our forestry exhibit at Chicago, and 

 made arrangements to have a large number of moderate size 

 carefully lifted and planted in large boxes, which will be 

 plunged at once where they grow, in hopes of getting a 

 fair number established so that fhev can be transported 

 to Chicago next spring to plant arounil the North Carolina 

 building. Specimens of the Ilex vomitoria and Osmanthus will 

 be treated in the same way. In the high mountains of the 

 west we are also lifting the Balsam Fir and other plants of that 

 locality, so that we can illustrate the wide range of climate in 

 the state with plants of the climate of Canada and of the IVIexi- 

 can Gulf side by side. 



The size of the Live Oaks on this island is surprising when 

 the character of the soil is considered. We bored seven feet 

 in the soil near Live Oaks four feet in diameter, and found only 

 sand and shell fragments. Over the tops of the tallest trees 

 the Smilax, probably S.laurifolia, made a cover as dense as Ivy, 

 and in all the hollows back of the sand-dunes Mitchella repens 

 made a thick soft carpet. On the beach Sea Kale (Cakile) was 

 in bloom, and furnished an acceptable dish to the lonely 

 dwellers at the lighthouse. 



Raleigh. N. c. W. F. Massey. 



A Plea for Warm Tints in House-painting. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — I have read with much interest the arficle on " Color in 

 Rural Buildings," in your issue of March 30th, and while de- 

 ferring to your contributor's well-known judgment in matters 

 of taste, I would like to say a word on the side of those deeper 

 and warmer colors in houses which she finds less well adapted 

 to our atmospheric conditions than the whites, pale yellows 

 and grays, to which she gives the preference, and at the same 

 time to ask for some suggestion about the proper coldrs for vil- 

 lages. 



Mr. Downing's rule for painting was to turn over a clod 

 and paint the buildings the color of the soil disclosed, which 

 he esteemed a method likely to bring the house into harmony 

 with the surrounding earth. The color of the soil when wet 

 would yield one tint, when dry another. 



This rule, of course, if applied to a village, would produce 

 monotony ; but it was intended more especially to refer to the 

 treatment of isolated country houses, which might be expected 

 to rise from foundations widely different in hue, according to 

 the geological formation of the region in which they were built. 

 This method accounts for the unobtrusive and rather dingy 

 shades which were employed in his time, which had, at least, 

 the merit of not particularly forcing mistakes of construction 

 upon the attention, and kept the building subordinate to the 

 landscape. But, to my mind, the chief difficulty in painting a 

 northern country house is that it must be adapted to two 

 seasons, and, consequently, must hold its proper place in two 

 widely differing color schemes. 



In New England, for instance, for nearly eight months out 

 of the twelve, every country house stands in a landscape from 

 which all green but that of conifers has disappeared. It mat- 

 ters little of what hue a building is, when it has the vivid con- 

 trast of foHage to help it out, the soft dappling of leaf shadows 

 upon its surface cast by surrounding trees, the relief of turf 



