November i6, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



543 



And ag'ain he says of these roads, "There is none of that 

 dandy-Jack nonsense which weeds up by hand Rue and Mint 

 and Cumin, whicln is the pharasaic passion of the people who 

 have our great paries in charge. As a consequence, Epping 

 Forest is kept in order at a cost which would sound impossible 

 in Boston or in New York." 



From these remarks by Dr. Hale it is to^be feared that he 

 does not recognize the distinction between a public park and a 

 public forest. A pubhc park, like Central Park, in New York, 

 or Franklin Park, in Boston, represents for the entire people 

 what the wealthy gentleman's private grounds do for that indi- 

 vidual. They furnish pleasant open-air recreation of various 

 kinds for multitudes. The way in which they are used requires 

 the preservation of a high degree of order and neatness, and 

 these are best secured by the most careful planting and main- 

 tenance ; moreover, as in private grounds, a considerable de- 

 gree of elegance is both appropriate and desirable. Ragged 

 edges, ill-kept walks, etc., would give an appearance of shab- 

 biness and neglect which could not fail to be reflected in a loss 

 of respect for the place and consequent abuse on the part of 

 the public. 



Experience has always proved that it is easier to preserve 

 neatly kept grounds from wanton or careless disfigurement 

 than it is to protect open spaces which are not well maintained. 



A public forest, on the other hand, using the word in its 

 stricter sense, although in important respects different from a 

 public park, is a most desirable form of pleasure-ground, and, 

 fortunately, one that is coming into favor on this side of the 

 Atlantic. The Lynn Woods, with its 2,000 acres of forest and 

 lakes, may be compared with Epping Forest, and in the sim- 

 ple form of its development for recreative purposes there is a 

 close resemblance to that of the London pleasure-ground. A 

 public forest, by its nature, does not demand the finish of ap- 

 pearance required for an urban park. Park finish would be as 

 much out of keeping here as an unkempt and shabby treat- 

 ment would be in a city park. The roads should, of course, 

 be as well constructed as possible. But the more their borders 

 are left to a natural growth the better. The main things de- 

 manded are to give the trees the best chance possible to make 

 the most of themselves ; then to provide for an agreeable di- 

 versity of growth, and to open out from the roads and paths 

 the best points of view and most attractive landscape-passages. 

 The footways need simply to be made comfortably passable 

 by the removal of obstacles that otherwise would cause un- 

 necessary fatigue in their use. With provisions made for rest 

 and refreshment of the public at convenient points here and 

 there, and with proper policing and precautions against fires, 

 little needs to be done in the adaptation of a forest to public 

 uses. 



The public forest, therefore, while one of the most delight- 

 ful and attractive forms of pleasure-ground, is also remarkably 

 economical in maintenance. Possibly, as time goes on, it may 

 even be made to maintain itself from its products in fuel 

 and timber. Both the public forest and the public park form 

 exceedingly desirable, and even essential, features in the 

 equipment of a large city. 



Notes of a Summer Journey in Europe. — XVII. 



TVrURSERIES for the propagation of plants are so abundant 

 ■'■^ in certain directions in the vicinity of Paris that a trav- 

 eler is very likely to wonder what can become of all the young 

 trees and shrubs and other plants with whicli the fields seem 

 filled for miles along the lines of travel. Large sections are 

 given up to the raising of seeds, while it takes no small area 

 to furnish all the fruits, vegetables and flowers consumed in 

 the great city. Railroads, of course, bring much produce from 

 a distance, but the largest and best portion of it is raised within 

 a comparatively short early-morning drive from the point where 

 it is to be marketed. The French are a horticultural people, 

 and although pgpiniferes, or propagating establishments, ap- 

 pear so numerous, they all seem to find a good and profitable 

 patronage. 



Of course, establishments of this kind vary as much here in 

 the manner in which they are conducted and in reliability as 

 in our own country. It is often interesting to note the special- 

 ties of particular dealers, for specializing has come largely into 

 this business as into every other branch of trade, and there 

 are now many firms which do a very large business in a quite 

 limited variety of stock. Unfortunately, there was no time or 

 opportunity for me to visit the famous seed, flower and test- 

 ing grounds of the -Messrs. Vilmorin at Verrieres and other 

 places, but, on the recommendation of Monsieur Ed. Andre, I 

 had the pleasure of inspecting the nurseries of Monsieur 

 Croux at Sceaux, probably the largest and most interesting of 



the suburban nurseries of Paris which are devoted to the busi- 

 ness of raising trees for shade, ornamental and fruit purposes. 

 The establishment is situated in a charming little valley in the 

 midst of a beautiful undulating and highly cultivated country, 

 and surrounded by other concerns practicing the same busi- 

 ness. In the nurseries of Monsieur Croux a considerable pro- 

 portion of the trees are grown unfil they are quite large, so as 

 to meet the demand for specimens for city planting, which will 

 make a show or give some shade at once. The nearness to 

 the city and easy transportation renders this possible, and the 

 trees commonly sold are each large enough to make a good 

 load for a team. 



The artificial training of fruit-trees is here carried on to a 

 surprising extent. Probably in no other country are Pear and 

 other fridt-trees so often trained to peculiar shapes, and there 

 are in this nursery great numbers with forms varying from 

 different degrees of espalier, which are most largely grown, to 

 vase-formed, pyramidal, weeping, spiral and other artificial 

 shapes. Of course, the standard, or normal, forms are very 

 largely grown, but a foreigner is surprised at the proportion 

 that are trained to peculiar shapes and_at the^care taken to get 

 them perfectly symmetrical. 



The collection of shade and ornamental trees and shrubs is 

 a rich one and in admirable order, the soil being good and the 

 climate congenial to healthy growth. The winter of 1890- 

 1891 was unusually severe, said to have been the coldest in 

 twenty years, the thermometer registering as low as eighteen 

 degrees below zero of Raumur, with no snow to protect the 

 ground. In consequence, handsome sturdy plants of ever- 

 green Magnolia were very much injured, while even the com- 

 mon Ivy was badly frozen, especially young plants which trailed 

 on the ground. The handsome Andromeda Japonica is grown 

 here in quantities and frequently has its flower-buds blighted 

 in winter, as it does in the much colder climate of Boston. Our 

 Rhododendron maximum is much used as a stock, instead o£ 

 the more generally employed R. ponticum, upon which to 

 graft other varieties of Rhododendrons, as it is considered 

 superior. 



It is said that this section of the vicinity of Paris did not 

 suffer so greatly as did some other suburbs from the shells of 

 the Germans during the siege ; but the extensive nurseries 

 were ruined by the encampments of the enemy, and stories 

 are told of greenhouses full of Orchids and other rare plants 

 of great value, which, being abandoned, withered and died 

 amidst the scene of desolation. But there were trees which 

 came through these trying times without permanent injury, 

 and Cedars of Lebanon, with trunks over four feet in diam- 

 eter, are examples of them. Some good-sized trees of the rare 

 Cedrela Sinensis are growing here. Although the regular 

 blossoming period is said to be June, one of these trees was, 

 at the time of my visit, in early September, bearing many long, 

 loose, somewhat pendulous panicles of small white flowers. 

 This Cedrela seems to be almost unknown to European and 

 American cultivators, except in the vicinity of Paris, where it 

 was introduced from Japan through Monsieur Eugene Simon, 

 and in a few other localities. The tree has very much of the 

 aspect of an Ailantus, and, indeed, after its introduction into cul- 

 tivation at Paris it was described by Monsieur Carriere as Ailan- 

 tus flavescens. But when it flowered in 1875 it was determined 

 from the blossoms that it belonged to the genus Cedrella of 

 another family, and that the species had already been de- 

 scribed in a flora of China. Although the Cedrela has flowered 

 for a number of years about Paris, it has not borne the fruit 

 which would furnish the most striking character in distinguish- 

 ing it from the common Ailantus glandulosa, or "Tree of 

 Heaven." There is, apparently, still some confusion about it, 

 for we find English authorities calling it A. flavescens. Its 

 leaves closely resemble those of the common Ailantus, but they 

 are usually not so large, the leaflets not so numerous, and they 

 are without the peculiar little lobes on the margins near the 

 base which characterize the leaflets of the "Tree of Heaven." 

 When bruised they do not give out the disagreeable fetid odor 

 of the latter. The flowers are said to have an agreeable fra- 

 grance. The wood is rather brittle, and the bark of the trunk 

 is dark gray and rough, exfoliating in strips of considerable 

 size. It is some years since this tree was first tried at the Ar- 

 nold Arboretum, but it has not yet shown sufficient hardiness 

 to withstand our winters without receiving serious injury. It 

 appears to be little hardier than Paulownia, but, no doubt, in 

 some sheltered and favorable situations in a climate as severe 

 as that at Boston it will survive to become a tree. As botanists 

 have collected specimens near Pekin and other northern parts 

 of China there is reason to believe that a hardier race may yet 

 be procured than that already introduced. It is said that this 

 tree is commonly cultivated for ornament in China, and that 



