420 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 236. 



which brought $50 a ton, or more than $150 per acre, are 

 mentioned in this year's early reports upon tlie California 

 fruit-crop. 



The Tombstone Epitaph recently spoke of a garden near 

 Yuma, Arizona, in which are growing twenty-five Date-palms, 

 the largest of which is thirty feet in height and fifteen years 

 old. This and five of the other trees are now in Ijearing, and 

 some of the bunches of their fruit weigh fifty pounds, and are 

 estimated to contain three thousand dates each. 



Much attention was attracted among the visiting florists at 

 the recent convention in Washington, District of Columbia, by 

 the fine specimens of Crape Myrtle (Lagerstnemia) to be seen 

 in that vicinity. Chief among these was a magnificent plant 

 in the old garden at Mount Vernon, the specimen in question 

 being eighteen feet high, as many in diameter, and covered 

 with large trusses of its lovely pink blossoms. 



A correspondent of the Journal of Horticitllure complains 

 that Salvia patens is not met with as frequently as it once was. 

 This seems to be true for this country also, and yet in late 

 summer and early autumn we know of no plant whose flowers 

 are of so pure and true a blue. It does not produce flowers so 

 abundantly as does the Scarlet Sage, but it is quite as striking 

 in its way among blue flowers as is Salvia splendens among 

 scarlet ones. 



At the recent meeting of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, in Rochester, it was resolved, in ac- 

 cordance with the advice of the Committee on Forestry, that 

 such legislation as is contemplated by the bill introduced and 

 reported by Senator Paddock (S. 3,235), which provides for the 

 preservation and practical administration of the public timber 

 domain, deserves commendation ; and it was resolved further, 

 that copies of the resolution be sent to the President, the pre- 

 siding officer of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of 

 Representatives. 



Over 250,000 pounds of beet-sugar have been produced at 

 the Chino factory, in San Bernardino, California, from this 

 year's crop, showing an enormous growth of this industry in 

 the state. Four hundred thousand acres of Beets were 

 planted against 2,700 acres last year. The growers have 

 netted $4.50 a ton, and one man, who bought twenty acres of 

 land and raised fifteen tons to the acre, paid for this land with 

 the first beet-crop. Since a bounty was placed on beet-sugar, 

 the farmers of California have been quick to see the profit in 

 this industry. 



Twoveryfine pansof the Brazilian Hippeastrum reticulatum 

 are in bloom in the greenhouse of H. H. Hunnewell. There 

 are twenty scapes in one and seventeen in the other, averag- 

 ing five flowers to a scape. This species is nearly evergreen, 

 and is handsome even when out of bloom. The leaves are 

 a very dark green, sharply recurving, with a white stripe down 

 the centre of each leaf. The flowers are borne on stout scapes 

 a foot or more high, about four inches in diameter ; segments, 

 unequal, spreading and recurving ; color, soft pink, with a 

 deeper-colored reticulation running through the flower, from 

 whence comes its specific name. 



The Horticiilteur chalon7iais, for the benefit of those who 

 may desire to preserve blossoming flowers fresh for several 

 days, says that this end may be obtained by snipping off the 

 tops of their pistils and thus preventing fructification, which 

 hastens the withering of the flower. But it likewise gives a less 

 well-known receipt, which is, that a small incision made in the 

 pedicel of the flower, or near by in the branchlet which bears 

 it, causing the flower to bend a little to one side, wiU retard 

 development by partially stopping the flow of sap. If this 

 operation is performed just before a bud unfolds, it will 

 open much more slowly and yet lose nothing of its beauty or 

 perfume. 



From a recent bulletin from the Florida Experiment Station 

 it seems that while the weight of an orange steadily decreases 

 after it is picked, the specific gravity increases for a while 

 and then falls off — that is, for a period after plucking, the 

 orange becomes more and more compact and afterward it 

 "loosens up," so to speak. The specific gravity of a freshly 

 pulled orange is generally less than unity. It increases for 

 a while, as the drying goes on, and then decreases, the maxi- 

 mum often exceeding unity — that is, an orange which at first 

 would rise in water will after a few days or a week sink and 

 afterward rise again. In making up the scale for honors and 

 medals, weight counts ten points. In view of this fact, it would 

 be manifestly unfair to compare the weights of oranges that 

 have been pulled from trees different lengths of time. 



The practice of enclosing grape-clusters and other fruits in 

 bags of paper or of thin woven tissue as a protection against 

 insects and fungi is perhaps more common in some parts of 

 Europe than it is in this country. A contributor to a Belgian 

 horticultural journal recommends, as particularly well adapted 

 for this service, bags of transparent oiled paper such as is 

 used by draughtsmen for making tracings. "The transparence 

 of this paper," he says, "permits the fruits to profit by solar 

 light and heat. Grapes, Peaches and Apricots trained on es- 

 paliers in the open air find in them something of the atmos- 

 phere of the hot-house. Inside a hot-house they are equally 

 useful, for, being impermeable, they permit that spraying of 

 the vines or trees with insecticides which is now usually aban- 

 doned as the fruit begins to develop. And the bloom of fruits 

 grown in these receptacles is exquisitely preserved." 



In a recent bulletin from the Cornell Experiment Station on 

 the comparative merits of steam and hot water for green- 

 house heating, it is stated that a comparative test conducted 

 there led to the conclusion that under the conditions at 

 the station steam was more economical than hot water, 

 and more satisfactory in every way. While not condemning 

 hot water. Professor Bailey, under whose charge the experi- 

 ment was made, adds that, in his belief, steam is superior for 

 very large houses where the fall is slight, for most forcing- 

 houses and for all establishments which are likely to be often 

 modified and extended. Steam overcomes obstacles such as 

 elbows, angles and obstructions better than hot water, and it 

 travels faster and farther. It can be varied more quickly than 

 .hot water, and yet under proper management it is quite as 

 steady, and requires no more attention. For conservatory 

 purposes, for straight runs and small houses steam is equaled, 

 and possibly, in some instances, surpassed by hot water. In 

 forcing establishments where hot water is used it is most sat- 

 isfactory when conducted in wrought-iron or gas pipes in es- 

 sentially the same manner as steam. 



Many persons have been enquiring of late why there has 

 been so much delay with regard to the establishment of those 

 small parks in the poorer districts of New York which were 

 provided for by a law passed in 1887. Perhaps there has in 

 some cases been more delay than was absolutely needful ; 

 but few people realize how slow are the processes by which 

 city property, in the hands of a great number of owners, can 

 be transferred by condemnation proceedings to the guardian- 

 ship of the city. The sites for several new small parks were 

 long ago decided upon, and the Com missioners of Estimate and 

 Apportionment have been busily at work in the matter, but 

 have not yet brought it to a conclusion. These proposed 

 pleasure-grounds include Mulberry Bend Park, to create which 

 the notorious crooked street of rookeries will be swept away ; 

 a park near St. John's Church ; and Corlear's Hook Park, near 

 the East River. But even sooner than for these we may look 

 for Rutgers Park, at Rutgers Slip, and the extension of East 

 River Park. The land in these two cases already belongs to 

 the city ; plans for both parks have been considered by the 

 Park Commissioners ; $23,000 has recently been appropriated 

 for Rutgers Park, and the work there as well as at East River 

 Park will be begun as soon as the contractors can get to 

 work. 



In the Boston Transcript the Listener describes a garden 

 which is full of interest as showing how a love of growing 

 things and care for their welfare can find expression in the 

 most sordid surroundings. This little garden, not more than 

 fifteen feet in length by twelve in width, is to be found in Bos- 

 ton in a half-slum street largely inhabited by colored people. 

 It contains in one corner a large Mock Orange, and in 

 the opposite corner another similar shrub. Along one 

 side of the area are many plants of Violets and Lilies-of-the- 

 valley, all in a thrifty condition, while pretty bunches of Oxalis 

 in bloom nestle in all the corners. Along the other side of 

 the area is a row of tall Ascension Lilies, now out of bloom, of 

 course, but telling a story of past magnificence. Massed to- 

 gether in the centre are many fine potted plants in flower. All 

 the space is utilized, and there are several plants and creeping 

 vines whose names the Listener did not know. To crown all, 

 a splendid specimen of AmpelopsisVeitchii ascends the house- 

 wall, spreading right and left over the long brick block, and 

 covering the fronts of the adjoining houses, where it has in- 

 tertwined itself within the slats of the shutters so that they can 

 never more be closed. It is in such service as this that the 

 luxuriant climber which the Japanese have lent us finds its per- 

 fect work, covering and cooling the hot walls of humble dwell- 

 ings and bringing something of color and brightness into the 

 dull monotonous lives of the toiling poor. 



