2l8 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number z2o. 



which covers the under surface of the leaves and the young 

 branchlets. Crateegus moUis is the name the White Thorn 

 must bear if it is considered worth)' of specific distinction. 

 It is the largest of the Hawthorns of the northern states, 

 and one of the most widely distributed of the American 

 species growing from the shores of Massachusetts Bay to 

 Missouri and through Arkansas to Texas and "the moun- 

 tains of northern Mexico. It is one of the common spe- 

 cies in the states west of the Mississippi River, growing to 

 its greatest size in Texas. In cultivation the White Thorn 

 is a beautiful plant, of rapid growth and good habit, con- 

 spicuous in winter for the whiteness of its branches and 

 for the number of its large chestnut-brown shining spires. 

 The flowers, with the exception of those of one species of 

 the southern states, are the largest produced by any mem- 

 ber of the genus. The leaves are large and of a lively 

 green, and the fruit, which is as large as that of a small crab- 

 apple, is brilliant scarlet withaconspicuous bloom ; unfortu- 

 nately, it falls as soon as it ripens. Some idea of the beauty of 

 this tree when its flowers are open can be obtained from the 

 illustration on page 22 1 of this issue. It has been made from 

 a photograph of a tree grown in New England, for which we 

 are indebted to Dr. William H. Rollins, of Boston. 



The Washington Thorn of the small-fruited species is the 

 best known in gardens ; it is the Cratsegus cordata of bot- 

 anists, an inhabitant of the southern Appalachian region, 

 and rather a rare plant in its native wilds. It is, however, 

 better known in gardens than any of the other species of 

 the southern states, and its vernacular name is due to the 

 fact that early in the century it was introduced into eastern 

 Pennsylvania as a hedge-plant from the neighborhood of 

 the city of Washington. It is a handsome small tree with 

 an oblong round top, bright triangular leaves brilliant in au- 

 tumn, and small flowers which open later than those of any 

 of the other species, and bright scarlet fruit the size of peas, 

 which hang on the branches until the leaves appear the fol- 

 lowing spring. The Washington Thorn is free from serious 

 fungal diseases and is always a satisfactory tree in cul- 

 tivation. Fifty years ago it was more often planted than 

 it is at present. 



An interesting garden-plant, also, is Crataegus Douglasii, 

 the only representative of the genus in the coast-region of 

 the north-west and in California. In the warm climate of 

 Washington and Oregon this tree often attains the height 

 of forty feet and forms a trunk a foot and a half in 

 diameter. The leaves are large and lustrous, the flowers 

 are small but very abundant, and the fruit, which is black, 

 falls in early autumn as soon as it ripens. It is one of the 

 few trees of western America which are absolutely hardy 

 and satisfactory on the eastern edge of the continent, 

 where it thrives as far north as Nova Scotia. 



Some of the most beautiful of our Hawthorns were once 

 cultivated, but have long been lost from gardens, and a few 

 have never been cultivated at all. Cratsegus flava, a native 

 of the maritime regions of the south Atlantic and Gulf 

 states, where it grows in the arid sandy soil of the Pine- 

 barrens, was first described a century ago from plants cul- 

 tivated in England at that time and the source of endless 

 confusion in the literature of the genus, probably long ago 

 disappeared from gardens, although the name still appears 

 in most garden lists. It is a beautiful small tree, with a 

 narrow round-topped head of graceful pendulous branches, 

 large flowers in two or three-flowered corymbs, and pear- 

 shaped greenish yellow fruit. The Parsley Haw, another 

 inhabitant of the southern states, and beautiful from the 

 shape of its finely divided leaves, was once cultivated in 

 English gardens, from which it has, however, long ago 

 disappeared. But the most beautiful of the southern Haw- 

 thorns are still unknown in gardens ; these are the Pomette 

 Bleue, of the Acadians of Louisiana, 'and the Summer Haw, 

 of South Carohna and the Gulf states. The first of these, 

 Crataegus brachyacantha, although it is one of the largest 

 and most distinct of the whole genus, strangely escaped the 

 knowledge of botanists until very recently, although it was 

 collected long ago without flowers and fru.it. It is the 



most local of all our species, growing only in the extreme 

 vi'estern part of Louisiana, where it borders in broad 

 groves, small low prairies, and in the adjacent portions of 

 Texas. It is perhaps the largest of the genus, sometimes 

 rising to the height of fifty feet, with a tall straight trunk 

 and slender branches, which form a beautiful compact 

 round head. The leaves are not large, but they are bright 

 and shining, and the flowers, which are comparatively 

 small, are produced in many-flowered clusters, which com- 

 pletely cover the branches. The fruit is large and abun- 

 dant and is bright blue — a color otherwise unknown in 

 the fruit of Crateegus. Unfortunately, it falls in early au- 

 tumn. There is not a more beautiful small tree in the 

 southern states than this, and it is to be hoped that the 

 attempts made a few years ago liy the authorities of the 

 Arnold Arboretum to introduce it into the temperate coun- 

 tries of Europe will prove successful. In the Arboretum 

 itself the seedling-plants have not proved hardy. 



That no recorded attempt has been made to cultivate 

 Crataegus aestivalis, the May Haw, and that no figure of 

 this beautiful plant has ever been published, are remarkable 

 facts, although botanists have known of its existence for 

 more than a century. Unlike our other Hawthorns, it 

 flowers before the leaves appear, in February or March ; 

 the flowers are. larger than those of any other species, and 

 the fruit is larger and of better flavor and quality than that 

 produced by any other Cratsegus. It is as large as a me- 

 dium-sized crab-apple, bright red with pale spots, and 

 ripens in May. Pomologists might well devote some at- 

 tention to this tree, for excellent jellies can be made from 

 the fruit, which is gathered in large quantities for this pur- 

 pose and is sometimes sold in the markets of the towns of 

 western Louisiana, where this tree is most abundant and 

 best known. 



We have only briefly mentioned a few of the species 

 which seem best deserving the attention of gardeners, 

 although among the others are several handsome plants 

 which are hardly known to the cultivators of this gen- 

 eration. 



The Love of Nature. — III. 



WE have endeavored to show that the true love of 

 nature means a broad receptiveness of eye and 

 mind which does not need striking scenery to delight it, 

 but finds beauty and interest in the quietest, simplest 

 scenes, and which does not need constant change to 

 stimulate it, but loves familiar things better and better as 

 they grow more and more familiar. Every one realizes 

 that more kinds of art appeal to its real lover than to the 

 ordinary observer, and that striking spectacular kinds are 

 not exalted by him above all others. All the greatest art- 

 ists in the world did not paint Sistine ceilings or Venetian 

 triumphs, and some of the world's most famous master- 

 pieces measure only a couple of spans and do not show a 

 single vivid note of color. 



So it is with nature and its masterpieces. The finest 

 compositions wrought with mountain-peaks and deep ra- 

 vines are not really more beautiful or wonderful than those 

 which can be wrought with a gray boulder, a Pine-tree and 

 a carpet of Moss and Ferns ; the most splendid panoramic 

 background is not more enchanting than may be a fore- 

 ground of flowery meadow with a middle distance of 

 woodland, and no background at all except the luminous sky. 



Some persons, of course, are born with a true and deep 

 love for nature. But even in them, we think, this love does 

 not develop very early in life. In the majority of cases it 

 seems to have been gradually developed rather than spon- 

 taneously felt. And while no one not born with a poet's 

 soul can ever learn to feel Nature's beauties as a Corot or a 

 Wordsworth did, any one can learn to see these beauties, 

 unless his mind is hopelessly sluggish and prosaic. 



How, then, can such knowledge be acquired.? One way 

 is the landscape-painter's way. The practice of painting, 

 even in the most untrained and amateurish fashion, is, if 



