574 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 249. 



should be able to supply our houses with the exquisite flowers 

 for at least two months. Those who have only seen the Iris in 

 a formal garden, or even in a mixed border, can form no idea 

 of its value and beauty in the wild garden when it thrusts up 

 its bloom on the bank of some quiet pond, to be reflected in 

 the clear water, or mingles its flag-like foliage and exquisite 

 tlower-colors with the rank growth of a swampy nook. 



All who have grown Irises have felt the want of reliable 

 information. Those who have not should have their attention 

 drawn to a source of horticultural pleasure about which it 

 would be difficult to say too much. 



Westbrook, L. I. 



C. B. W. 



[The desire here e.xpressed for information as to this 

 interesting family of plants is likely to be soon gratified to 

 some extent by the publication of a handbook of the 

 IridecE, by Mr. J. G. Baker, which we believe is now in 

 the press. Such a handbook has long been much wanted. 

 Information as to the Iris has been hitherto found mostly 

 in the form of monographs or notes in the horticultural 

 papers, or in "the proceedings of societies," or, in a scien- 

 tific vi^ay, in the encyclopedias. The letter of our corre- 

 spondent emphasizes the fact that in gardens usually the 

 only Irises known or grown are the hybrids or so-called 

 German, the Japanese, and possibly sometimes the Eng- 

 lish and Spanish. This is in spite of the fact that these 

 plants have always been special favorites with the lovers 

 of hardy plants, in whose gardens the Iris occupies the 

 place corresponding to that occupied by the Orchids in 

 collections grown under glass. While the Irises are not 

 exhibition flowers and not adapted to making a stir among 

 those who esteem flowers according to their exhibition 

 value, the possessor of a good collection from the hun- 

 dreds of species of the genus finds them perennially fas- 

 cinating, usually a feast to the eyes, often of great interest 

 botanically, and very frequently most difficult subjects 

 to flower successfully. Our readers will recall the fact that 

 we have given much space to these flowers ; that we have 

 noted the flowering of numerous varieties ; have kept up a 

 current history of the Iris season from February till late 

 summer, after which there is a dearth of bloom outside till 

 Iris stylosa puts out its flowers in early winter. Numerous 

 Irises are not hardy here, but in the cool house the season 

 can be continued till frost again slightly loosens its hold. • 

 One who is fond of plants or flowers which will ornament 

 his garden in all seasons, and who yet wishes mental 

 recreation in collecting and studying variations of species, 

 will find in the Iris an abundant and interesting occupa- 

 tion which seems practically limitless, as new species are 

 constantly being discovered. The genus, too, offers an 

 almost untrodden field for the hybridizer, as work of 

 this sort has as yet been attempted with very few of the 

 species. — Ed.] 



Dolichos Japonicus. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The article in your issue of October 26th on Aristo- 

 lochia Sipho leads me to say that I have found Dolichos 

 Japonicus a more satisfactory vine for trellis or wall or brush- 

 heap, since it is a more rapid grower and the leaves have a 

 remarkable beauty in their shades of green. I have had it in 

 different locations during five years past, and the only trouble 

 has been that it has outgrown all accommodations provided 

 for it, running rampant and throwing out in all directions its 

 feelers or tentacles, for it almost seems to have animal intelli- 

 gence, to embrace and cover everything within its long reach. 

 Three vines now cover the tower of my house, running up 

 over forty-five feet. By fixing a point of departure this vine 

 could be fairly seen to grow, as an hour-hand on a watch can 

 be seen to move by careful watching. Some days showed 

 over thirteen inches of new growth ! These vines were on the 

 corner, where they are simply to run around a balcony at the 

 first]floor. It is not a good "architectural" vine for fronts of 

 houses, but this year I gave it rope up to the loggia, and it was not 

 satisfied with that, and would, I think, have romped clear over 

 the top of the tower-roof if it could have got a leader up over 

 the eaves. The blossoms of this Bean are purple and lavender, 

 but show only from inside ; and, by the way, the inside is, 

 without question, the most desirable place to enjoy the vine, 



as the light coming through the leaves brings out the delight- 

 ful greens of the foliage. A rear piazza, therefore, covered 

 with it would become a well-protected light green bower. 



Harltord, Conn. A. H. Olmsted. 



[This plant was one of the introductions of Thomas 

 Hogg, which has been sent out by nurserymen under the 

 name of Dolichos Japonicus, a name which was once ap- 

 plied to Wistaria Chinensis. The plant is, without doubt, 

 Pueraria Thunbergiana, an Asiatic twiner of ver);- rank 

 growth. In New England it rarely flowers, and, unless 

 well protected, the stems die to the ground in winter. In 

 milder regions they would survive, since they are dis- 

 tinctly wood)r, though soft and pliant. Mr. Thomas 

 Meehan writes that his plants in Germantown formerly 

 died to the ground, but within the last few years some 

 ten or twelve feet of the vine have survived the winter. 

 The plant was at one time called Pachyrhiza Thunbergi- 

 ana, and it has had several other synonyms. — Ed.] 



Wood Roads on Cape Cod. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The following words, which occur in Professor Shaler's 

 arficle called "The Betterment of Our Highways," printed 

 in the October Atlantic, are of special interest to us dwellers 

 near Cape Cod. " Many of the worst roads in this country," 

 he says, "are brought into their abject state by an unreason- 

 able interference with natural processes — an interference 

 which arises from an ignorant prepossession that all roads 

 should have the same general aspect. Thus, in sandy regions, 

 such as those in south-eastern Massachusetts, and in many 

 other districts near the southern margin of the area occupied 

 by the ice during the last glacial period, the first wagon-roads 

 belonged to the class which we may call trackways, in which 

 the path was just wide enough for a single vehicle, with oc- 

 casional turn-outs to permit wagons to pass each other. On 

 these trackways a single pair of parallel ruts were quickly 

 formed, the growth of bushes and low forest-trees pressing so 

 close to the roadway as to form a wall of foliage on either side. 

 In many cases the crease made by the hubs of the wagons 

 could be distinctly traced in the thick-set vegetation. Roads 

 of this description afforded excellent wheeling and were main- 

 tained almost without cost. The falling leaves and small 

 branches were swept into the ruts, and there mingled with the 

 sand, forming a compact and elastic foundation for the wheels. 

 The sandy soil permitted the rain-water quickly to drain 

 away, so that no gutters were required. Although an unrea- 

 soning desire for improvement has led to the widening of al- 

 most all these old-fashioned trackways, we may here and 

 there find bits which have escaped the merciless hand of the un- 

 educated road-master. The present writer is accustomed 

 frequently to pass over a stretch of road which was originally 

 all of this nature ; but a part of it has been altered to the regu- 

 lation width of forty feet, while another portion remains in its 

 primitive state. On the improved road the constantly shifting 

 sands are not readily to be passed over by a pair of swift 

 horses drawing a light wagon at a greater rate than six miles 

 an hour. On the more ancient and natural type of way it is 

 easy to attain twice that speed." 



If ProfessorShaler will come to the shores of Buzzard's Bay 

 next summer, I shall be delighted to show him miles upon miles 

 of these old-fashioned wood-roads, untouched by improve- 

 ment, and unprovided even with turning-out places, the 

 rather wide spacing of the trees in most places permittingone's 

 infrequent opponents (I do not know what other word to use) 

 to turn out comfortably enough into the low growth ot bushes. 

 I put the matter in this way, as a deserved tribute to the chiv- 

 alry of the farmers of this region, for I have very rarely 

 found that, when they saw a lady driving toward them, they 

 were willing to lay even half the task of turning-out upon her. 



There are, I say, very many miles of these roads in this 

 neighborhood, running in all sorts of criss-cross directions be- 

 tween the greater and the lesser highways. As each stretch 

 usually serves only one or two retired farms, which produce 

 little but poultry, market-produce, hay or firewood, there 

 seems little danger of their immediate " improvement." But 

 some are more important and therefore more in danger, and 

 so I offer my litfle appeal for them as a postscript to Professor 

 Shaler's more influential one. These roads with their three 

 ruts, one worn by the horse and two by the wheels, often with 

 tall grasses and flowers growing between them, afford far bet- 

 ter "wheeling" than most parts of our highways. "The 



