394 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 234. 



may deprive posterity of the enjoyment which it has a right 

 to expect." 



" Tlie relations of the state to tlie third class of forests, tliose 

 belonging to private proprietors, are of a much less intimate 

 nature. The basis of these relations is, however, the same. 

 To quote again from Donner : ' The duty of the state to sus- 

 tain and further the well-being of its citizens, regarded as an 

 imperishable whole, implies for the Government the right and 

 the duty to subject the management of all forests to its inspec- 

 tion and control.' This intervention is to be carried, however, 

 'only so far as may be necessary to obviate the dangers which 

 an unrestrained utilization of the forest by its owners threat- 

 ens to excite, and the rights of property are to be respected to 

 the utmost consistency with such a result.' Prussia, of all the 

 German countries, has respected these rights most highly, and 

 the Government exerts practically no restraining influence 

 . except where the evident results of deforestation would be se- 

 riously dangerous. Here it may, and does, guard most zeal- 

 ously the woodlands, whose presence is a necessary safeguard 

 against certain of the more destructive phenomena of nature, 

 and which have been called in general 'protection forests.' 

 Of their many-sided influence so much has been said and 

 written of late in America — both truly and falsely — that no 

 further reference to the subject seems needful. 



" The state leaves open a way of escape for the private pro- 

 prietor who finds himself unwilling to suffer such restriction 

 of his rights for the public good, and shows itself willing to 

 buy up areas not only of protection forests but also of less 

 vitally important woodlands. On the other hand, it is ready, 

 with a broadness of view which the zeal of forest-authorities 

 sometimes unfortunately excludes, to give up to private own- 

 ership lands which, by reason of their soil and situation, will 

 contribute better to the commonwealth under cultivation than 

 as forest. 



" In this way the forests, whose preservation is most impor- 

 tant, are gradually passing into the hands of the state ; yet the 

 total area of the woodlands is increasing but slowly. 



" The policy of state aid in the afforestation of waste lands 

 important through their situation on high ground or otherwise 

 is fully recognized (a notable example exists upon the Hohe 

 Venn, near Aix-Ia-Chapelle), but the absence of considerable 

 mountain-chains has given to this branch of Government in- 

 fluence very much less prominence than in the Alps of Austria, 

 Switzerland and France, where its advantages appear on a 

 larger and more striking scale. 



" In closing this brief sketch of forest-policy in Prussia, you 

 will perhaps allow me to refer for a moment to the erroneous 

 ideas of German forest-management which have crept into our 

 literature. They have done so, I believe, partly through a de- 

 sire of the advocates of forestry to prove too much, and they 

 injure the cause of forestry, because they tend to make forest- 

 management ridiculous in the eyes of our citizens. The idea 

 has risen that German methods are exaggeratedly artificial and 

 complicated, and not unnaturally the inference has been made 

 that forestry in itself is a thing for older and more densely 

 populated countries, and that forest-management is inapplica- 

 ble and incapable of adaptation to the conditions under which 

 we live. It is true, on the contrary, that the treatment of Ger- 

 man forests is distinguished above all things by an elastic 

 adaptability to circumstances, which is totally at variance with 

 the iron-clad formality which a superficial observation may 

 believe it sees. It is equally true that its methods could not be 

 transported unchanged into our forests without entailing dis- 

 couragement and failure, just as our method of lumbering 

 would be disastrous there ; but the principles which underlie 

 not only German, but all national forest-management, are true 

 all the world over. It was in accordance with them that the 

 forests of Brifish India were taken in hand, and are now being 

 successfully managed, but the methods into whichthe same 

 principles have developed are as widely dissimilar as the 

 countries in which they are being applied." 



So forest-management in America must be worked out 

 along lines which the conditions of our life will prescribe. It 

 never can be a technical imitation of that of any other country, 

 and a knowledge of forestry abroad will be useful and neces- 

 sary rather as matter for comparison than as a guide to be 

 blindly obeyed. It must be suited not only to the peculiarities 

 of our national character, but also to the climate, soil and tim- 

 ber of each locality, to the facilities for transportation and re- 

 lations of supply and demand, and the hundred other factors 

 which go to make up the natural character of a hill-side, a 

 county or a state. Its details cannot be laid down ex cathedra, 

 but must spring from a thorough acquaintance with the theory 

 of forestry, combined with exhaustive knowledge of local con- 

 ditions. It will necessarily lose the formality and minuteness 



which it has acquired in countries of older and denser settle- 

 ment, and will take on the character of largeness and efficiency 

 which has placed the methods of American lumbermen, in 

 their own sphere, far beyond all competitors. 



Correspondence. 



Hardy Plants in Flower at Short Hills, New Jerse)'. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — I went over to the United States Nursery a few days 

 since to see, more especially, what effect the long spell of dry 

 and insufferably hot weather prevailing lately had had on the 

 hardy plants. This is a rather severe test, since the plants 

 are fully exposed on a hillside which is somewhat dry, 

 but I failed to notice any injury visible. This is probably 

 because the plants are well cultivated, with the soil kept 

 loose, a condition of things not always possible in a small 

 garden. Lilies at this season, perhaps, call for the first 

 notice. There was a fine selection of Lilium auratum varieties, 

 L. auratum macranthum (or platypetalum) being the gem of 

 the collection. This variety is very distinct, having broader 

 leaves than the type. In well-established plants the stems are 

 an inch or more in diameter. The flowers are very large, 

 twelve inches in diameter, with pure yellow bands and studded 

 with yellow spots. L. auratum pictum has bands shading from 

 red at the tips of the petals through yellow to green at the centre. 

 L. auratum vittatum rubrum has a dull crimson band, in some 

 cases very broad. L. auratum Wittei is a pure white varietv, 

 with a clear yellow band. The typical Auratum Lilies are 

 such popular plants that these rarer varieties are well worth 

 noting. Some double-flowered Tiger Lilies made a broad 

 mass of color and individually were striking flowers. Del- 

 phinium Sinense was in broad masses in three colors, white, 

 dark blue and light blue, the latter being especially pretty 

 and showy. This is a rather low-growing variety some 

 eighteen inches high at present. 



Pardanthus Chinensis is a rare plant with reddish orange 

 flowers spotted brown. It is iridaceous, with sword-like, stem- 

 clasping leaves, and seems to be a distinct plant worth 

 growing, though probably not reliably hardy further north. 

 Midsummer, of course, brings many yellow Composites to 

 perfection. Besides the ever-present Anthemis tinctoria I 

 noted that Messrs. Pitcher & Manda grow Rudbeckia speciosa 

 (Newmanii) in quantities. This is certainly a showy Cone- 

 flower, very effective in masses. Another plant labeled R. 

 subtomentosa was an interesting variety, with long, narrow 

 petals and greenish yellow cones. 



Heliopsis laevis is a native Sunflower, grown here largely, 

 but it does not strike me as producing a desirable effect except 

 fora wild plantation. Hardy Sunflowers are deservedly popular 

 plants. Probably the best selection that can be made is H. 

 decapetalus, H. decapetalus multiflorus, H. rigidus, H. laeti- 

 florus, H. orgyalis andH. Maximilianii. The two latter have very 

 distinct and attractive foliage at all seasons, the narrow droop- 

 ing leaves proving peculiarly elfective. To the above varieties 

 might be added H. mollis for a bold group, a plant of 

 very stiff erect habit with broad foliage and Inula-like 

 flowers. 



The photographer was busy over a new Sunflower of an un- 

 determined species, which was a very striking plant about 

 three feet high, entirely covered with deep yellow single 

 flowers about two to two and a half inches in diameter, and 

 individually very neat and distinct. The foliage was small, 

 and though not abundant seemed hard and good. 



Few flowers can vie in color with Lobelia cardinalis. A 

 niass of Cardinal-flowers seemed as happy in this dry soil as 

 in its native bogs. The hardy Blanket-flowers (Gaillardia grandi- 

 flora) are effective plants when well-grown, though they seem 

 to decline to take the compact form of the catalogues. There 

 are few hardy plants which have a longer season of flowering 

 or are altogether more satisfactory. Achillea, The Pearl, 

 has deservedly excited much attention lately, as it is a great 

 improvement on the old Milfoil, Ptarmica, one of the weediest 

 and most straggling of hardy flowers, though useful for its 

 small white blossoms. 



Elymus glaucus should interest every lover of grasses. It is 

 very glaucous, and a good clump would excite attention in any 

 garden. Another somewhat effective foliage-plant grown here 

 is Eryngium amethystinum, one of the brightest of the Sea 

 Hollies. I was glad to see a lot of Viola tricolor, the old- 

 fashioned Heartease, or Johnny-jump-ups, of our grand- 

 mothers' gardens. Mr. Manda thinks he has a treasure in a 

 new double purple Datura, which is certainly a vigorous 



