October 26, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



515 



seeds were found, and in others the seeds were few or abor- 

 tive, indicating lack of efficient pollination. I see no reason 

 why the failure of Apple-fruit to develop may not result from 

 lack of efficient pollination, as was shown to be the case with 

 Grapes in the article on self-pollination, p. 451. It is well 

 known that pollination from an uncongenial source, while not 

 resulting in well-developed specimens of fruit, still may incite 

 the growth of little fruits, which soon drop away or persist in 

 an abortive or dwarfed condition. It may be true that the 

 dropping of the little apples was not due to lack of efficient 

 pollination, yet there are reasons why this may well be con- 

 sidered as one of possible causes. It was shown by M. B. 

 Waite, in a paper presented at the Rochester meeting of the 

 American Association for the Advancement of Science that 

 certain varieties of Pear are incapable of fertilizing themselves. 

 A few tentative experiments made by Dr. Halsted,* Professor 

 D. G. Fairchildf and the writer indicate that excessive rainfall 

 at blossoming-time may seriously interfere with the setting of 

 fruit in the case of Apples and Pears, and, in a less degree, 

 of Grapes. In many orchards last spring, however, the rainy 

 weather did not prevent the trees from setting full of fruit, but 

 in ashort time most of itfelloff. Some experiments of the writer 

 in cross-fertilization and self-fertilization of the Apple lead 

 him to suspect, as suggested by Mr. M'aite and as proven to 

 be the case with Grape and Pear, that certain varieties of this 

 fruit also can fertilize their own blossoms only in an imperfect 



way. 



Ag^ricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, N. Y. 



S. A. Beach. 



Warm Water for Tender Nymphceas. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — I agree fully with Mr. James Brydon when he says "the 

 best Nymphaeas are grown in deep water," instead of a depth 

 of six or eight inches as sometimes practiced. The most diffi- 

 cult problem to solve, however, is how best to heat the water 

 to a depth of two to three feet below the surface. I have 

 maintained for some years ponds for the cultivation of tender 

 Water Lilies and Victoria Regia, using the ordinary system of 

 hot-water heating by taking the supply to the heater from the 

 bottom of the pond and returning heated water about eighteen 

 inches below the surface at the opposite side of the pond. The 

 plan is a fair one, if no better means can be devised, but the 

 objection is that the hot water ascends to the surface immedi- 

 ately on being discharged and the temperature of the water 

 one foot below the surface is generally very much below that 

 at the surface. 



Now I have a plan, new to me, that I propose to try next 

 season. A large steam boiler used for power is within three 

 hundred feet and it is proposed to take a steam pipe through 

 a small brick conduit laid underground, the pipe being well 

 covered with a good non-conducting material and then the 

 bricks laid in cement to cover. Coils of one-inch galvanized 

 iron pipe will be laid on the bottom of the pond, or rather the 

 pipe will be laid round in increasing circles, and the condensed 

 steam will be taken away by a pipe out of sight or it can be 

 utilized to raise the water, or make up any leakage or evapo- 

 ration. A large bulb of mercury is to be arranged so that by 

 expansion or contraction the steam will be turned on or off. 

 The pond is forty-two feet in diameter and three feet six inches 

 deep, but it is confidently believed that by having the source of 

 heat at the bottom in the form of hot steam pipes the problem 

 will be solved. If any one who may read the views here 

 expressed knows any reason why the plan is not a good one I 

 should be pleased to hear it. 



Northampton, Mass. W. W. Lee. 



A Unique Chr3'santhemuni Show. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Los Angeles has, in the last six or seven years, won a 

 reputation for flower-fgtes that can scarcely be excelled in 

 magnitude or beauty anywhere in the country. In April of 

 each year the Flower Festival Society, a band of pliilantliropic 

 women, gives a fSte which fills a large pavilion. Later, the 

 professional and amateur gardeners of southern California 

 have their annual exhibit, and for three years the Chrysanthe- 

 mum has been exhibited on a large scale by the women of 

 one of the churches. 



The two Chrysanthemum exhibits previously made were in 

 spacious halls. Last spring a plot of unoccupied ground ad- 



* "Influence of Rainfall at Bloomin^-time upon Subsequent Fruitfulness," p. 230, 

 Annual Report N. J. Exper. Station. 1890. 



t "The Effect of Rainfall upon Pollination." Paper presented before the last meet- 

 ing of the American Horticultural Society by D. G. Fairchild and S. A. Beach. 



joining the church was secured. This space, 140 by 165 feet, 

 was placed in the care of a Japanese gardener, who laid it out 

 in beds and winding walks, with reservations for a dozen 

 booths, and planted it with over 10,000 choice Chrysanthemums. 

 An immense cloth tent was placed over it, and here, during the 

 fete, was a scene pronounced by many visitors to be the most 

 beautiful they had ever beheld, even in this land of wonderful 

 flower-shows. 



Directly opposite the entrance a miniature mountain-range 

 extended, its sides covered with verdure, and its cafions dotted 

 with flowers, while on the summit pure white blossoms were 

 massed. Passing around this sierra one came upon a tiny lake 

 bearing rare aquatic plants upon its bosom. The pretty booths 

 were entwined with climbers, mostly Sweet Peas in various 

 colors and Smilax. The smooth broad walks, winding as in a 

 maze, separated gorgeous beds of Chrysanthemums, some in 

 shaded colors, others of a single hue. Nearly 300 varieties 

 were represented in the garden. From the frame-work sup- 

 porting the tent were suspended flags and streamers of all de- 

 scriptions such as are used in Japan. The pillars were covered 

 with a luxuriant growth of the Moonflower-vine in blossom, 

 and the surrounding fence was concealed and transformed into 

 a thing of beauty by clinging Morning-glories. At one side of 

 the garden was a Japanese hut, made entirely of bamboo, and 

 thatched with grasses in the style of that country. Outside its 

 door were bamboo-tables holding tea-services in Japanese 

 ware, and here a cup of the genuine oriental article, served 

 with joss-sticks, could be had. 



Besides the thousands of Chrysanthemums growing in the 

 ground, the property of the ladies, there were many fine speci- 

 mens in pots sent by florists in competition for the prizes 

 offered. There were also about 2,000 Aster-plants, and many 

 Dahlias, Cosmos and Carnations. All the plants belonging to 

 the church were for sale at the close of the exhibition. 



This show, without doubt the most extensive outdoor ex- 

 hibit of Chrysanthemums ever made in this country, it is 

 pleasant to know was a financial success as well as a means of 

 pleasure and instruction for the public. 



Los Angeles, Cal. Clara S. Broitin. 



Periodical Literature. 



An interesting article in the October number of The Atlantic 

 is Professor N. S. Shaler's " Betterment of our Highways." We 

 may not fully endorse his opening remark that "Perhaps the 

 best of the many measures which may be applied to modern 

 states to determine the degree of advancement to which they 

 have attained may be found in the condition of their common 

 roads." For this naturally leads to his conclusion that, 

 "judged by the standard of our local ways, America as a 

 whole must be regarded as the least advanced of all the coun- 

 tries which are commonly classed as civilized." But Italy, for 

 example, has better common roads than ours; yet if "ad- 

 vanced" is taken in any really general sense, few persons will 

 assert that Italy is more advanced than the United States. 

 Professor Shaler acknowledges, indeed, to a fact which has 

 already often been pointed out — that the newly born railway 

 was an extremely detrimental influence upon the extension of 

 good common roads in this country. But we think he might 

 have laid some emphasis upon this tact as mitigafingour still- 

 too-evident sins in the matter of common roads, and entitling 

 us to consider ourselves more civilized than some other na- 

 tions whose roads are better. 



However, this is a minor point. For the most part what 

 Professor Shaler says is so true, and has so long been. true, 

 that it is a disgrace as well as a wonder tliat any one should 

 have to say it again to-day. But it must be said to-day and 

 to-morrow and the day after to-morrow, by many voices as 

 often as they have opportunity, if the public at large is to be 

 awakened to a vivid realization of an evil which means an 

 active concerted effort for its abolition. Therefore, Professor 

 Shaler's article is very welcome as one of the clearest and best 

 expositions of the subject that we yet have seen. He does not 

 waste time in describing how bad most of our roads are ; he 

 devotes his attention chiefly to showing how they may be im- 

 proved. His explanation of the extreme difficulty of good 

 road-making — which means, not the persistent use of one con- 

 sistent scheme, but the perpetual adaptation of sound funda- 

 mental ideas to very different local conditions — ought to show 

 our legislators and our educators how necessary is thorough 

 training in the art of road-making if good roads are to come 

 in all parts of our country. Nothing could lie more evidently 

 true, yet nothing could more insistently need saying, than that 

 " the first step toward our new dispensation is to persuade our 

 greater schools to undertake the systemadc education of road- 



