June 22, 1892,] 



Garden and Forest. 



297 



not strong-, but in time may improve antl ,s;aiu vigor, since 

 it is now Movvering for tlie first time from seed. 



Iris Troyana belongs to the rlii/.omatous section of Iris, willi 

 such varieties as tlie German Iris, and is quite distinct in color 

 from most of tliese, tliough of tlie same habit and time of 

 flowering'. I cannot find any account of tlic species published, 

 and am at a loss to know more of the plant, as it is hardy, and 

 is in bloom in eighteen months from seed, tjuite an imusual 

 occurrence for an Iris. 



I wrote of Lathy rus tidierosus last year as a very pretty luuxly 

 tuberous-rooted Pea, all of which is true, and it is equally true 

 that this I'ea, like Apios tuberosa, has the remarkable ability 

 for coming u|> in all ijlaces but the cue in which it is planted. 

 Though the i>lant is exceedingly pretty when in bloom, it is not 

 fit for a tlower-bortler, as it spreatis loo rapidly anil takes hold 

 of other plants and chokes out. ISut if planted where it could 

 be left to its own way of grovviiig, as in a wild-garden, it would 

 be a thing of beauty many weeks. 



■Adinmia cirrliosa, or Climbing Fumitory, is a graceful twin- 

 ing plant in the second year of its growing, with small incon- 

 spicuous flowers of very little value, but we find the plant of 

 much use when raised in spring and planted out where it will 

 quickly form a dense mass of most elegantly cut leaves, which 

 makes a good substitute for Maiden Hair Fern with cut flowers, 

 and lasts much longer. We used these leaves all last summer, 

 and saved the FerH for winter use. The second year the Ad- 

 lumia loses all its tufted habit and throws up tall stems that 

 need support, as it is a true climber. Unlike most of this 

 family, the Adhmiia is readily obtained from seed sown early 

 in spring. Another of the Fumitory family recently noted in 

 these pages is Corydalis nobilis, a truly noble l.rorder-plant when 

 well grown, liut very seldom seen in gardens. It needs to be 

 left alone when once planted, as the roots have the appearance 

 of being half-decayed. These are easily obtained in fall from 

 Holland with the Dutch bulbs. C. nobilis is the finest of the genus, 

 and well deserves to be much better known. e- ^ ^ 



South Lancaster, Mass. E. O. Orpet. 



Iris cuprea. — Of the species of Iris now in flower this is one 

 of the most distinct and attractive. The leaves are sword- 

 shaped, slightly lax, and grow to a height of about eighteen 

 inches in a dry position. The flowers are rather numerous, and 

 of a peculiar dull copper-color, quite distinct from any others in 

 the same family. The standards and falls are broad, and in 

 some stages for.m a fiat flower somewhat in the style of I. 

 Keempferi. A native of the southern states, this plant proba- 

 bly requires a rather warm place. It proves a thrifty plant in 

 such a position. 



Iris ochroleuca, or I. gigantea. — This may be recommended 

 where a noble tall-growing variety is desired. The leaves are 

 deep green and about three feet tall, above which the long 

 stems carry the clustered white, slightly mauve-tinted flowers 

 with orange markings. 



Iris Anglica, in the same border, makes a perfect succession 

 to the Spanish Irises, whose flowers have passed before the 

 middle of the month. Both sections of these bulbous Irises 

 are desirable and popular garden-plants, but require care in 

 the selection of a suitable position. They evidently need a dry 

 hot place, where the bulbs will roast while resting. The 

 Spanish Iris throws up its leaves in early winter, and some- 

 times there are complaints that these are injured in hard 

 weather. Mine, planted under the lee of the house, have never 

 so suffered, and prove reliable plants. Their flowers are 

 quaint beauties, showing great variety, though not as large as the 

 English Irises, neither are the plants so vigorous. Of the 

 English varieties the white variety, Mont Blanc, is a well- 

 known kind, very beautiful and desirable for a special clump. 



Elizabeth, N.J. J.N.G. 



The Forest. 



The Woods of Minnesota. 



IN the nineteenth Annual Report of the Geological Survey 

 of IMinnesota, the State Geologist, Professor N. H. 

 WincheU, has devoted a chapter to the forests of that state, 

 and has entrusted its preparation to Mr. H. B. Ayres, then 

 agent of the Forestry Division at Washington. In his gen- 

 eral description of the forests of the state Mr. Ayres sepa- 

 rates them into groups, the most important of which is the 

 White Pine region, varied with hardwood, Norway and 

 Jack Pine, Cedar and Tamarack swamps, with open or 

 Spruce bogs bordering the numerous lakes or occupying 



their old beds. This region is so well watered and has so 

 little fall that very little of the White Pine is more than five 

 miles from streams through which it can be driven. Nearly 

 all of the streams head \\\ the open bogs, which, where 

 partly shaded by Spruce, make an enormous growth of 

 sponge-like Sphagnum-moss, and this holds the ice of win- 

 ter until June or July, and preserves a supply of water, so 

 that the explcjrer may find it under some upturned root well 

 into the droughts of August and September. The soil is 

 usually loam or clay, and supports a considerable growth 

 of hardwood, among which the White Pine reaches its 

 most perfect development. To give some idea of the re- 

 cent history and the prospects of this region we quote 

 directly from Mr. Ayres' paper : 



Much of this whole area was stripped by fire even be- 

 fore the loggers increased the liability to fire f)y the tops they 

 leave in the woods, and by the greater drying of the forest- 

 floor by exposure to the sun and wind in the openings they 

 have made. It has been estimated that thirty years ago over 

 40.000,000,000 feet of Pine were standing on the 25,000,000 

 acres of forest in the state. Since that time busy milling-towns 

 have started up here and there as if by magic, and loggers and 

 choppers have swarmed into the forest until the average num- 

 ber of men now employed in preparing forest-products for 

 market reaches about 17,000, and the value of the product as 

 placed upon the market amounts to about $31,635,000. 



Must the industry soon decline .■' The answer is a prompt 

 and positive No. 



If timfier were a deposit like beds of iron-ore, with no power 

 to reproduce itself, we could readily estimate the time of the 

 end. In such a case we could see that, with the present sup- 

 ply of standing timber, say 20,000,000,000 feet, seventeen years 

 more would leave the state stripped. But where fire is kept 

 out forests reproduce themselves, and the accretion by growth, 

 while small and of comparatively little value in woods cut 

 without any view to reproduction, in woods cut at such a time 

 and in such a manner as to give the seedlings and sprouts the 

 best chance to make a rapid "second growth," the annual in- 

 crement under the best forest-management in Europe has 

 averaged about fifty-five cubic feet per acre, one-third of 

 which should be estimated as log-timber. To produce an an- 

 nual growth of 1,200,000,000 feet B. M. (the latest annual cut) 

 would at this rate require 5,500,000 acres. 



In mournful contrast with these results obtained in Prussia, 

 stands the estimate, though roughly made and presented with 

 some hesitancy, yet approximating the fact, that the 24,960,000 

 acres of wooded area in the state did not last year grow more 

 than 200,000,000 feet B. M. of log-timber. In other words, 

 50,000,000 acres of such forest as ours in its present condition 

 would lie required to grow the amount grown on 5,500,000 

 acres of well-managed forest, and our forests are thus only 

 producing less than one-ninth of what they might. We must 

 not, however, forget that of the 24,960,000 acres now wooded, 

 probably one-half will eventually prove more valuable as agri- 

 cultural than as forest land, and should be partly cleared. 

 This would leave the area thatshould always be kept in forest — 

 that is, the lands unprofitable for agriculture as compared with 

 forestry, about 12,500,000 acres, which should, under manage- 

 ment, produce twice our present annual cut of log-timber, and 

 400,000,000 cubic feet of other material for wood-working, 

 fuel, etc. 



Every considerable tract of forest in the state is more or less 

 depleted by fire, and can only be brought into full production 

 after many years of renovation ; but should any reader be 

 tempted to cast these estimates aside as overdrawn, I must ask 

 him not to do so without a careful study of the subject, such 

 as I have given it during four years of exploring that have 

 taken me all through the wooded region and formed in me a 

 deep conviction that, while these estimates are necessarily 

 rough, they are based on sound principles, and at least point 

 toward and approximate the truth. 



Theoretically, therefore, it seems possible that the present 

 yield of log-timber alone may be doubled permanently and 

 that a vast increase of manufacturing industries would follow 

 the assurance of a constant supply, and, locating themselves 

 throughout the woods, would in every way tend toward the 

 greatest development of the state. Practically, however, the 

 difficulties in the way of attaining this ideal state of affairs are 

 so great as to try the determmation and skill of our best 

 citizens. 



The difficulties attending the question of ownership before 

 operations of any kind can be commenced are the greatest 

 that are to be met in the whole subject. In Europe, however. 



