5o6 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 244. 



A MEMBER of the well-known horticultural firm of Dam- 

 mann& Company, near Naples, recently contributed to 

 Gartenflora an interesting article on certain plants which, 

 for centuries, have been called "Jericho Roses." These 

 are natives of the deserts of Palestine, which, in ancient 

 times, were thought to possess magical powers, because 

 when they had long been in a desiccated condition they 

 would at once expand and seemingly revive if immersed 

 in water. Many specimens were brought home by the 

 Crusaders, and so highly were they prized, £pr semi-relig- 

 ious reasons, that they were often represented in the 

 paintings on old shields which still exist in France. 



One of these plants, says the writer from whom we quote, 

 is AnastaticahierochunticaofLinnasus, which belongs to the 

 Cruciferai, and its name comes from the Greek anastasis, 

 meaning "Resurrection." It was introduced into European 

 cultivation in the year 1597, butthe evidence of old armorial 

 paintings shows that it was known, in imported specimens, 

 at a very much earlier day, while ancient records tell that, in 

 the time of the Crusades, a person who possessed such a 

 specimen vi^on wide distinction from the fact. "Drawn 

 by the hot sun shining on the white sands of the desert," 

 says our author, " into tight blanched balls, the dry twigs 

 expand when placed in water just as a sponge does, or, 

 indeed, any other desiccated plant. When again dried, the 

 twigs contract once more, and this process may be often 

 repeated during a period of several years. About a quarter 

 of an hour is required for the unfolding, and the plant 

 must be completely immersed, preferably in warm water." 

 This "Jericho Rose," which, however, we are told is not 

 the "true" one, is the only known species of its genus, but 

 is most nearly related to our Arabis and Cardamine. Never 

 attaining a height of more than eight centimetres, it spreads 

 so widely that it sometimes forms a considerable bush, 

 with a deep tap-root, furnished with but few rootlets, vi'hich 

 eventually assumes a woody consistency. The outermost 

 ones of its many stiff twigs curve inward, so that a char- 

 acteristically developed specimen looks like a solid ball 

 cut in two horizontally, and presenting a perfectly flat up- 

 per surface. The small white flowers are scarcely visible, 

 and are usually deeply imbedded in the densely packed 

 and somewhat fleshy foliage. The writer says that though 

 this plant is reputed very difficult to cultivate, he has suc- 

 ceeded in raising specimens nearly half a metre in diam- 

 eter, which look like smooth little green carpets. 



The " true Jericho Rose," however, is Astericus pygmteus 

 (formerly known as Odontospermum pygmseum. Neck.), 

 which belongs to the Composite famil)'. Although de- 

 scribed by botanists only in recent times, it is, like the An- 

 astatica, very faithfully pictured on old French crusading 

 shields. Its name, of course, like that of our Asters, was 

 inspired by the starry form of its blossoms. When dried, 

 it has an absolutely dead and wooden appearance, but if 

 placed in tepid water it expands entirely in the brief space 

 of one minute, so that, in more superstitious ages than 

 ours, it was very naturally accredited with non-natural 

 powers. This Jericho Rose grows in the Canary Islands, 

 in Africa and in Arabia, but with especial frequency in the 

 deserts near the Suez Canal, whence, in a dried condition it 

 is brought by the Bedouins to the bazaars of Jerusalem and 

 the other cities of the Holy Land. 



A picture of this Astericus, published with the article in 

 Gartenflora, shows an apparently leafless plant, bearing, at 

 the ends of stout flower-stems, a number of rather large 

 fleshy star-shaped heads forming a flattened group around 

 a larger central head, the arrangement recalling that of the 

 familiar Stone-crop, which our children call " Hen and 

 Chickens." Specimens may be obtained, our author in- 

 forms us, from Herr George Eggers, of Joppa. 



Breweriana). In a private letter he writes of this tree 

 that, " to appreciate its appearance one must imagine a 

 Norway Spruce from a hundred to a hundred and thirty 

 feet high and three feet in diameter breast-high, with 

 branchlets set thick together along each branch and hang- 

 ing straight down sometimes to a length of six feet, 

 although no larger than a lead-pencil at the point where 

 they leave the limb." From a small twig which he kindly 

 sent the foliage seems to be better than that of the Norway 

 Spruce, not so long, but wider and thicker, and of a lighter 

 and more cheerful green. The cones before they open are 

 about as large as a man's middle finger. The seeds are 

 small, although a trifle larger than those of the White 

 Spruce, and Mr. Douglas estimates about 50,000 seeds to 

 the pound. Several persons have tried to collect these 

 seeds, but, so far as we know, Mr. Douglas was the first 

 one to gather them, at least in any quantity. The trees 

 stand on the steep mountain-side, and the cones are all on 

 the very topmost branches of the tree and more than a 

 hundred feet from the ground. In prospecting about this 

 vicinity Mr. Douglas found a few trees that had not been 

 discovered, so that in this station there are about a hundred 

 full-grown trees. Standing where the snow lies over more 

 than one-half of the year, and where the cold is very se- 

 A'ere, they should be able to endure the severest eastern 

 winters, although it is doubtful whether they would stand 

 in a very dry atmosphere. 



Four-score years have not sufficed to chill the enthusiasm 

 or curb the enterprise of the veteran Robert Douglas, who 

 has been making a trip on horseback over the Siskiyou 

 Mountains to visit the famous Weeping Spruce (Picea 



Notes of a Summer Journey in Europe. — XVI. 



"\ A/ITHIN a few years there has been a good deal of contro- 

 ' • versy in some foreign journals regarding the value of 

 schools of horticulture and agriculture, and it is a subject of con- 

 stant discussion among gardeners and farmers as individuals. 

 Among a large class the idea seems to prevail that such insti- 

 tutions are of little value, that the teaching is theoretical 

 rather than practical, and that graduates from these estabhsh- 

 ments are really less efficient and less valuable than men who 

 have been working gardeners and farmers from their youth, 

 and who have never been troubled by scientific considerations 

 in their occupations. Another argument used against the 

 school-training has been that the openings for specially trained 

 men are extremely few, and that a graduate of a horticultural 

 school has less chance of obtaining a good situation as gar- 

 dener, at a satisfactory salary, than the man who never heard 

 a lecture on botany, vegetable physiology or entomology, and 

 who, moreover, would be willing to work for lower wages. 

 But the old adage, " Knowledge is power," seems to hold here 

 as in other occupations, and we find that natives of Germany, 

 France, Belgium and other countries famous for their horti- 

 cultural schools, are, in the majority of cases, to be found 

 taking leading positions in matters relating to horticulture in 

 almost every country in the world. It is true that two or three 

 years of training in a school cannot produce a mature gar- 

 dener, thoroughly experienced in all branches of his craft, but 

 a good training will lay the best possible foundation for the 

 acquirement of knowledge and the highest use of it. 



One of the best of the French schools of horticulture is that 

 at Versailles, being an institution founded and maintained by 

 the Government. The grounds of the school were formerly, 

 for about two hundred years, used as a sort of royal kitchen- 

 garden, being laid out under the reign of Louis XIV. at a cost, 

 we are told, of nearly a quarter of a million dollars. The total 

 area is twenty-three or twenty-four acres. It is now about 

 eighteen years since its foundation as a national school of hor- 

 ticulture, and already the records show valuable and interest- 

 ing results in the number of pupils who have graduated as 

 practical gardeners, and the responsible positions many of 

 these graduates have taken in various horticultural and botan- 

 ical establishments. About six hundred students have 

 already received the benefit of a course of instruction here. 

 The school is freely open to any one between seventeen and 

 twenty-one years of age who can pass a satisfactory examina- 

 tion in the four ordinary studies of the common schools. 



The course of instruction is completed in three years, and 

 includes a general knowledge of botany, zoology, economic 

 entomology, chemistry, geology and drawing, besides the 

 subjects generally considered as pertaining to practical horti- 

 culture. If a student passes a satisfactory examination at the 

 end of his course he receives a certificate from the JVIinisterof 

 Agriculture. Vacations are short, and the students perform 



