May i8, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



229 



GARDEN AND FOREST, 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



THE GARDEN AND FOREST PUBLISHING CO. 



Ofsice : Tribune Building, New York. 



Conducted by 



. . . Professor C- S. Sargknt. 



BNTERKD AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER AT THE POST OFFICE AT NEW YORK, N. Y. 



NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 1892. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



E'liTOElAL Articlrs :— Tlio Preservation of Natural Scenery 229 



The Love of Trees .• 230 



American Conifers in Scandinavia Dr. C. E. Hansen. 230 



Quaker Burial Grounds Mrs. J. H. Robbins. 231 



Notes of a Summer Journey in Europe.— XV J. G. Jack. 231 



Early May in West Virginia Mrs. Danskc Da7idridge. 232 



New or Little-known Plants :—Menispernium Dauricum. (With figure.) 234 



Plant Notes :— Some Recent Portraits 234 



A Double-flowered Cyclamen. (With. figures.) Theo. Holm. 234 



Cultural Department:— Winter Protection in Mild Climates, 



Professor IV. F. Massey. 234 



Garden Strawberries Win. F. Basset/. 235 



Notes from the Harvard Botanic Garden N. Cameron. 236 



The Spring Garden jf. JV. Gerard. 236 



The Wild Garden T. D. Hatfield. 237 



The Forest :— The Forests of California.— II Hon. IVm.Alziord. 237 



Correspondence :— A Greenhouse for Amateurs JD. D. Slade. 238 



No Flowers Sold in the Streets of Boston E. 293 



Recent Publications 239 



Notes 240 



Illustrations : — Menispermum Dauricum, Fig. 42 233 



A Double-flowered Cyclamen, natural size, Fig. 43 ; Proliferous flower of 

 Cyclamen, natural size. Figs. 44 and 45 ; A small flower from the same 

 plant, twice the natural size. Fig. 46 235 



The Preservation of Natural Scenery. 



MORE than two years ago Mr. Charles EUot called 

 attention, through these columns, to the fact that 

 within ten miles of the Boston State House there were 

 several surviving fragments of the primitive New England 

 wilderness, which possessed uncommon beauty, and 

 more than usual refreshing power. One of these was the 

 steep moraine of Waverl}^, set with its group of mighty 

 Oaks ; another was at the upper falls of the Charles River, 

 where its rugged banks are covered with dark Hemlocks. 

 Two others were groves of great White Pines, the tree 

 which the forefathers of New England blazoned on their 

 flag, and another was a bolder-strewn hillside which com- 

 manded a distant view of the ocean. Scenes of this kind 

 in the older portions of our country are rapidly disap- 

 pearing before the axe and fire, and carelessness of visitors 

 and campers whose destructive invasion soon robs them of 

 all their poetic charm. Mr. Eliot suggested that some 

 association should be formed to protect places of this sort, 

 and he argued with force that while lovers of art in 

 great cities had shown themselves willing to found 

 museums where select works of painting and sculpture 

 were kept for public exhibition, lovers of nature who felt 

 that natural scenery supplied a pure and elevating enjoy- 

 ment as well as an education in the love of beauty, which 

 was at least as valuable as that afforded by cast or canvas, 

 might well unite in rescuing from destruction these choice 

 bits of scenery so that they could be held secure for the 

 delight and instruction of successive generations. The 

 national Government has recognized the force of sentiment 

 in this direction by setting apart the Yosemite Valley and 

 the Yellowstone Park, and by empowering the President 

 to reserve certain forest-areas as public possessions forever. 

 By special enactment the state of New York has acquired 

 possession of Niagara Falls, and by another special act 

 Chittenango Falls has been protected from destruction and 

 vulgarization. But we argued then that isolated efforts 



would avail little in comparison with organized associa- 

 tion, and finally some public-spirited citizens of Massachu- 

 setts prepared a plan which has since then been embodied 

 in a state enactment. From time to time we have given 

 reports of the progress of this movement, and we have 

 now received the Fi'rsi Annual Re l>orl of the Trustees of 

 Public Reservations, which furnishes strong ground to 

 hope that, as the machinery of the law is understood, the 

 intelligent and patriotic people of that state will see to it 

 that many scenes of natural beauty and historic interest, 

 now endangered by private occupation, will be rescued 

 and dedicated to public use forever. 



The act incorporating the Trustees of Public Reservations 

 enaliles them to acquire and hold by gift, purchase or other- 

 vi^ise such real estate as may be worthy of reservation and 

 to keep such property open to the ijublic. According to 

 the report, Massachusetts is shamefully lacking in spaces 

 reserved for enjoyment by the public. The cliffs and 

 beaches of the seashore, the mountain-tops of the interior 

 and almost every scene of special beauty in the state are 

 passing into the ownership of persons who hold them for 

 their private pleasure or for the profit which may be reaj^ed 

 from fees collected from visitors. As the population 

 grows, the destruction of the most beautiful passages of 

 scenery which remain will go on more rapidly, so that the 

 committee did well in the beginning to explore the field 

 and secure some delinite information as to the actual 

 situation. Mr. J. B. Harrison was engaged to go through 

 the seashore townships of the state and to discover to what 

 places on the shore the public had a right to resort and 

 what further provision was needed in this direction. The 

 interesting letters from Mr. Harrison, which were published 

 in this journal last year, are reproduced in this report, and 

 we need not repeat the story of public holdings which have 

 been assaulted and invaded until over a large portion of 

 the coast there are few places of any kind to which the 

 people can repair without the danger of being arraigned as 

 trespassers. It is to be hoped that this work of examina- 

 tion will be extended throughout the state, so that a record 

 can be made of all the beautiful and memorable places 

 which it will be advisable to secure as public property. 

 • As'it is, many other places which are notable for historical 

 or literary associations or romantic beauty are mentioned, 

 and the hope is expressed that this permanent Board of 

 Trustees will find means to secure and protect them. 



The first actual gift to the Trustees is one by Mrs. F. H. 

 Tudor, ofa diversified tract of woodland of some twenty acres 

 in the south-eastern part of Stoneham. This is situated so that 

 it will serve as a delightful retreat for a large population in a 

 thickly settled district. A second proposal comes from a 

 gentleman who expresses his desire to present one of the 

 most interesting groves near Boston, and to give it into 

 the keeping of the Trustees in memory of a young man 

 who had a singular love for all natural beauty. The com- 

 mittee believe that, in the future, there will be many inter- 

 esting examples of natural landscape preserved in memo- 

 riani, and it certainly is a beautiful idea to have a living 

 landscape religiously guarded for this purpose as a monu- 

 ment much more impressive and enduring than any work 

 in marble or stained glass. A third suggestion comes from 

 one the name of whose ancestors is permanently attached 

 to a picturesque situation, which will make a useful and 

 handsome public reservation. There can be little doubt 

 that many other places identified with honored names can 

 be found which can be permanently preserved under the 

 care of this Board. 



Altogether, the formation of this Society and the ener- 

 getic and broad-minded way in which its work has begun 

 are most encouraging, and too much credit cannot be 

 given to the originators and promoters of the movement, 

 and especially to Mr. Eliot, who seems to have been most 

 active in the enterprise. The single fact, that a way has 

 been opened for securing places of recreation and assem- 

 bly for the throngs in the rapidly growing cities and towns 

 of Massachusetts, is of itself a matter for congratulation. 



