23^ 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 221. 



The Redwood, as its scientific name imports, is exceedingly 

 tenacious of life. Cut it down and numerous sprouts shoot up 

 from its roots, and in a short time grow so thick as to liide tlie 

 monster stump, and only repeated cuttings of these young 

 shoots suffice to repress the tendency of the tree to reproduce 

 itself. The wood is durable, light, splits freely, but is not very 

 strong ; nearly all the lumber used before the days of saw- 

 mills was riven from this tree. A dealer in lumber in San 

 Francisco recently filled an order from London for 100,000 feet 

 of Redwood-lumber, cut from the bole, the stump and gnarl 

 chunks, for use in houses, as inside finish in natural wood, and 

 for furniture and cabinet-work. It is so good and handsome 

 for such purposes there is no doubt that the export demand 

 for it will increase. 



T. H. Hittell, the historian, says : "In the eyes of many per- 

 sons the Redwood is tlie most beautiful tree that grows, and 

 the Redwood forest is the most beautiful forest in the world." 

 Nearly all the land upon which the Redwood grows having 

 passed into private hands, these forests are doomed to early 

 extinction unless state or national pride and the good sense of 

 those in authority authorize the purchase of a portion of them 

 for public reservations. 



The Port Orford Cedar (Chameecypans Lawsoniana), though 

 really belonging to the forestry of Oregon, is mentioned here 

 because there are a few groves in California about Mount 

 Shasta. It is a large tree and very valuable, makes white lum- 

 ber, hard but easily worked, takes a very fine polish, excellent 

 forinteriorfinish, alsoforflooring, sliip-building, does not decay 

 rapidly in the ground, and so is used largely for fence-posts. 

 It grows from 130 to 180 feet in height, and is from five to ten 

 feet in diameter. When young, like the specimens in the 

 Golden Gate Park, about twenty-five feet in height, the trees 

 are very handsome, the foliage drooping, and so thick as to 

 hide trunk and limbs and touching the grass, make a grace- 

 ful addition to the beautiful lawn. 



The Madrofia (Arbutus Menziesii) is a handsome ever- 

 green tree, reminding one of a Magnolia, about fifty feet in 

 height, with hard and strong wood and smooth brownish red 

 bark. There is one of extraordinary size near the reservoir on 

 Mount Tamalpais, Marin County, which is seven feet in diame- 

 ter in the small part of the bole, and several branches measure 

 from one and one-half to three feet in diameter. The bark is 

 in demand by tanners, and the charcoal is sold to manufac- 

 turers of powder. 



The California Laurel or Bay-tree (Umbellularia Californica) 

 is a Coast-range evergreen tree, two to four feet in diameter 

 (sometimes larger), fifty to eighty feet in height ; leaves plenti- 

 ful and strongly aromatic ; wood light-colored, close-grained, 

 takes a very high polish, and is valuable for wainscoting and 

 cabinet work, and is quite as handsome as Satin-wood. 



One is attracted to the lumber-forests of California by their 

 agreeable shade, cool clean grounds, resinous odors, and the 

 knowledge that one will not find annoying insects or rep- 

 tiles to trouble, nor will timid tourists find wild animals to 

 frighten them. Much has been said about the wasteful methods 

 of our people in dealing with theirforestsandforestal products ; 

 while these methods cannot be altogether justified, something 

 may be said in their extenuation. Judged by ordinary crite- 

 rions, it would be an easy matter to convict our people of 

 other excesses than these. We were at first just as prodigal 

 in disposing of our gold-bearing deposits as to the casual ob- 

 server we may seem to have been in disposing of our forest- 

 resources. The pioneer miner worked only the richest por- 

 tions of the gold-bearing gravel, leaving the poorer untouched, 

 nor did he work the richer ground with much closeness, sim- 

 ply because it would not pay to do so, food was so high. 



When it came to settling upon and cultivating the land a 

 like policy was pursued — the more fertile and accessible being 

 chosen, and the poorer neglected. So with the pioneer wood- 

 man, needing lumber, he picked out and felled the best frees, 

 and from these selected the parts that suited him the best ; 

 this culling and rejecting was but a rude sort of thrift ; why 

 should he accept the poorer when there was enough, and, to 

 his mind, an inexhaustible supply of the best ? 



But, however it may have been in the past, there is but little 

 of this timber-devastation now going on in California on ac- 

 count of the more accessible lumber-forests having become 

 private property, and the owners are careful to guard against 

 any undue waste. Then, much of the tree that was formerly 

 rejected as valueless is now utilized by the millmen, the crea- 

 tion of new uses for the inferior lumber and the employment 

 of improved machinery having made this possible. Into our 

 larger mills improved mechanisms are constantly being intro- 

 duced, so that even the smaller economies are not neglected. 

 In this manner the percentage of material in the standing tree 



has been increased twenty to thirty per cent. As in the mills, 

 so in the logging-camps, the tendency is toward economy, both 

 in saving the raw material and in the cost of handhng it. 



The continued prosperity of California depends upon its 

 mountain-forests. They should be well protected, and ex- 

 tended where possible, and this truth should be constantly 

 reiterated and amplified. 



Correspondence. 



A Greenhouse for Amateurs. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — I have long desired a small greenhouse for propagating 

 and cultivating a few plants, but have been deterred by the 

 probable trouble and expense until last autumn, when I began 

 to study the matter. Among other authorities consulted, I 

 found in Garden and Forest, vol. iv., pages 55 and 67, an 

 article entitled " Plant-houses for Amateurs," in which Mr. 

 Gerard gave much of the information I wished. This was de- 

 ficient, liowever, in its instructions on several points where 

 novices need information, and I have therefore thought that 

 my experience during the past winter might have some value. 



In the first place, as to location, the greenhouse should be 

 as near the dwelling as possible. This will be found essential 

 to the comfort of those who intend to do their own work. The 

 exposure to the tempestuous nights of winter for the necessary 

 attention to the fire will be lessened by this propinquity. 

 Of course, the structure siiould face north and south, and if 

 possible should be protected by some shelter from the north 

 and north-west winds. My own greenhouse is placed on the 

 eastern end of a children's play-house, with which it is con- 

 nected, while a belt of evergreens sheltered it on the north. 

 The advice of Mr. Gerard was followed as regards size, and 

 this resulted in a span-roof house with seven-foot ridge, 

 eighteen feet in length b)' ten feet in width. The sash extends 

 lifteen feet, and it is boarded for three feet at the western end. 

 The side walls are of hemlock-boards covered with building- 

 paper and clapboarded with the best material. Upon the inner 

 side the walls are sheathed with matched pine- boards. In ad- 

 dition to the five three-foot sashes on east side, which are 

 hinged at the top, so that they can be lifted, the eastern gable 

 end is of glass, for which the sash was necessarily made ex- 

 pressly. In this one or two panes were made to slide for ven- 

 tilation. For the foundation, timbers were laid upon cedar- 

 posts, set deep enough to be secure from frost. Of these there 

 were three on each side. As the surface of the ground fell off 

 to the east and north, and in order to bring the building on a 

 level with the play-house, a stone wall was needed. For this 

 purpose a ditch was dug under the outer walls of sufficient 

 depth and filled with small stones, which serve also as a drain 

 for surface water. Upon this were built the walls of common 

 field stone, laid in mortar, and pointed inside and out. The 

 enclosed area was then filled with good garden-loam, thrown 

 in before the sashes were put on, to a level with the base of 

 the wood-work. This was an expense which would not have 

 been required on level ground. The building is all the better 

 as to durability, but the cedar-posts under ordinary circum- 

 stances would answer every purpose. The foundation-walls 

 upon the outside were banked and sodded for increased 

 warmth and for appearance. 



The greenhouse proper was securely fastened to the play- 

 house by continuing the timbers and shingled roof, thereby 

 affording an additional length of about eight feet in front for a 

 potting-bench, with ample room beneath for potting material, 

 pots and a box for coal. Entrance from the outside was ob- 

 tained by a conmion battened door, and this cosy little space 

 was well lighted by a four-foot sash placed lengthwise. At the 

 back of this room, separated by a partition from the plant- 

 house, was placed the stove. One coat of white-lead paint was 

 given to all the wood-work outside and inside. 



As to heating, since the hot-water apparatus, with its stove 

 or furnace and expansion-pipe, is thought the best by florists, I 

 assumed that it was best for my purpose. Fortunately, I heard, 

 by chance, that several Baker heaters, formerly used by a rail- 

 road company for warming passenger-cars, were for sale at a 

 low price. One of these, in excellent condition, with the ex- 

 pansion-pipe, was accordingly selected, and, being already 

 jacketed, was exactly the article for my house. A simple 

 stove-pipe was passed out through the roof and carried up 

 sufficiently high above the adjacent play-house to secure 

 draft. Tfie heating-pipes consist of a single two-inch flow 

 and return, connecting with a series of five pipes, which com- 

 pletely encircle the house. 



