May 4, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



215 



felt an affectionate interest, it would strengthen local attach- 

 ment and add a fresh charm to rural life. 

 Harttord, Conn. Wilhelmine Seliger. 



Hardy Plants at Short Hills. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — It would add very much to the attraction and probably 

 the property value of the average American village to follow 

 the example of Short Hills, New Jersey, and make the vicinity 

 of the station and entrance to the hamlet picturesque. Cer- 

 tainly the requirements are very simple and the expense very 

 slight, the details being only well-kept paths and roads and 

 well-arranged clumps of shrubs, the commonest of these being 

 the best for the purpose. The Spiraeas, Forsythias, Japanese 

 Quinces and others at this season make such beautiful masses, 

 that, familiar as they are, we gain pleasure from them at every 

 view, and even those who are whirled through Short Hills 

 on the train must carry away a pleasing impression. 



Looking over the hardy-plant nursery of Pitcher & Manda, 

 which Qccupies the area nearly opposite the station and bor- 

 ders on the main drive, where handsome plantations are main- 

 tained, I was reminded of a late editorial of Garden and 

 Forest calling attention to the fact of our great dependence 

 on bulbous plants for an early display of flowers in this lati- 

 tude. Of course, few bulbous plants except surplus stock are 

 planted out in a commercial establishment, and the season so 

 far having been abnormally cold herbaceous plants have made 

 little progress. Adonis vernalis seemed least affected by chill, 

 and its cheerful flowers and bright foliage made handsome 

 clumps of color. The Aubrietias were well forward, A. Eyrii, 

 A. Grteca and A. purpurea coming on in the order named. If 

 planted on a rockery these valuable plants would be still 

 earlier. The Dwarf Phloxes, P. subulata and P. amoena, were 

 well forward, while in a damp spot the double-flowered Marsh 

 Marigold (Caltha palustris) was covered with its Buttercup-like 

 flowers. In the frames Priinula Sieboldi was covered with 

 its graceful clusters of red flowers. - There were also stray 

 flowers of Papaver alpinum and a few lingering Hellebores. 

 Of the large variety of Irises grown only I. biflora was sho wing- 

 flowers, in shades of purple. This seems in the way of I. pu- 

 mila, very dwarf, and suitable for dry edgings. In one of the 

 houses was a collection of herbaceous material which had been 

 forced for Easter. The Pasonies were well grown and flowered, 

 and seem valuable for gentle forcing, and certainly make bold 

 decorations. Some Foxgloves were about as good as one sees 

 in the open. A large stock of Azalea Indica and A. mollis is also 

 carried liere, and perhaps the most enjoyable part of the estab- 

 lishment at this season is the section containing these beauti- 

 ful plants — brilliant above most others. It speaks much for 

 the demand for Orchid-flowers that in the houses containing 

 so many thousand plants there is scarcely a flower to be seen, 

 the demand at Easter having taken every available flower on 

 the place, with inquiry for more. Several scores of cases 

 of Orchids were just arriving from collectors in South 

 America, a field which the firm seems to have entered in full 

 force. One might pass a day very pleasantly in wandering- 

 through the Palm-house and the numerous side houses, which 

 contain wonderful collections of Bromeliads, Ferns, Dracaenas, 

 Anthuriums, Crotons, Nepenthes, Palms, etc. In the Fern- 

 house was a grand specimen of the new Pteris Victoria, 

 one of the most beautiful introductions of recent years. A 

 curious thing is the Shingle-plant (Rothos flexuosus), an 

 Aroid from India, which, growing on a block or wall, 

 creeps up with rooting-stem and throws out leaves alternately 

 to right and left, which partly overlap and lie flat. Calamus 

 ciliaris is a rare Palm with fine foUage, which is wonder- 

 fully soft and velvety to the touch. 



New York, Lr. 



Sabal Palmetto. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The editorial reference in Garden and Forest to a 

 letter of Monsieur Naudin on the alasence of the Sabal Pal- 

 metto in the gardens of southern Europe is of interest in 

 southern California. We also have had no success with this 

 Palm. The only living specimen that I know of is on the Kir- 

 meloa Ranch. This Palmetto is now twelve years old, and yet 

 it is still no tree. The trunk is three feet from the ground to 

 the leaf-stalks. These are long, and look vigorous. The hand- 

 some crested curve of the new leaves is very marked. In the 

 same garden there are a number of other Palms, all of which 

 make a fine showing for their age (twelve years). The Cali- 

 fornia Palms, for instance (Washingtonia filifera), are in a num- 



ber of instances over fifty feet high. The Chamaerops are 

 between twenty and twenty-five feet, and the Date Palm, which 

 is a slow grower, about the same. This garden is exception- 

 ally well situated for the Magnolia fcctida (grandillora), for the 

 most vigorous specin-icns of this beautiful tree in southern 

 California are found there. As this tree is a native of the 

 south, like the Palmetto, it would seem a reasonable presump- 

 tion that the Palmetto should at least do as well in this garden 

 as anywhere in this section. The Magnolia, as a rule, does 

 not make a large tree in southern California. Speaking gen- 

 erally, it is niost successful when near tlie coast. In the inte- 

 rior, where the air is very dry, it is smaller and flowers but 

 little. At Riverside it lives, but amounts to nothing. My idea 

 is that the long dry summers, with cool nights, are unfavora- 

 ble to both the Magnolia and the Palmetto, but less so to the 

 Magnolia. The Magnolia, while never so large as in the south, 

 is still a favorite ornament in our Coast belt. The Riviera, like 

 southern California, has a comparatively dry clin-iate and cool 

 nights, but it has a lower average winter temperature and 

 naturally an inferior soil. The dryness common to both these 

 climates may be the common cause for the practical failure of 

 the Palmetto. 



Lamanda Park, Cal. Abbot Kiniicy. 



Araucaria excelsa. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — May I ask for some information about the beautiful 

 evergreen, Araucaria, which we see offered so abundantly in 

 the florists' shops in New York ? What is its home and history .? 



New York. J. W. K. 



[This Araucaria is a native of Norfolk Island, and it is 

 frequently known as the Norfolk Island Pine. It is only 

 within three years that the value of young trees for decora- 

 tion has been appreciated in this country, and last year it 

 was extensively used on or about Christmas. The plants 

 are propagated either from seed or cuttings, both being 

 rather unsatisfactory, as it is difficult to import seeds fresh 

 enougli for germination, and, on the other hand, the plants 

 furnish but few cuttings, and these are difficult to root. 

 They must be grown in a cool greenhouse, with an abun- 

 dance of air and moisture at the roots. Plants raised from 

 cuttings are generally more bushy than those raised from 

 seed, which are spindly and not so well furnished at the 

 base. The great majority of plants used here are imported. 

 —Ed.] 



Notes. 



Mr. Gifford Pinchot, of this city, has been appointed to make 

 the collection of woods from the state of North Carolina for 

 the Columbian Exposition. 



Iceland Poppies are opening in the gardens about this city, 

 although the plants were covered with three or four inches of 

 snow a little more than a fortnight ago. 



Several forest-fires, of an extent which would excite com- 

 ment even in this country, have recently occurred in Prussia, 

 devastating large areas near Berlin and near Werdohl, and de- 

 stroying 1,750 acres of good timber in the vicinity of Niebeck. 



The Norway Maples near this city are flowering in unusual 

 abundance this year. Many of the trees are completely cov- 

 ered with clusters of light straw-colored blossoms, and their 

 round heads are conspicuously beautiful now in the sunshine. 



In the neighborhood of this city very many Retinosporas and 

 other coniferous evergreens have died during the late winter 

 and early spring. In many cases the trees seem to have been 

 injured by high winds and a low temperature which followed 

 close after a very few warm days in early March. 



Our native Carpinus, or Hornbeam, is one of the most orna- 

 mental of our small trees. Its clean Birch-like foliage in the 

 summer, its furrowed bark in the winter, and its trim appear- 

 ance at all times should encourage its more general use. For 

 a week or so past its catkins have pushed suddenly forward 

 before the leaves so as to cover the tree with a mist of soft 

 green, and present a special feature of the landscape on the 

 borders of swamps and streams. 



A correspondent of The Garden, London, remarks on the 

 deficiency of color in the English Daffodils this year. In the 

 springs of 1890 and 1891 the crowns of several varieties of the 

 Incomparabilis class, such as Leedsi, Cynosure, Princess Mary, 



