6o4 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 252 



atmospheric conditions appearslikea screen mist. Aspidiums 

 and Maiden-hair Ferns border our path, the siuishiric wavers 

 across the Spice-bushes and against the trunks of some fine 

 Maples, which give their name to this "Sugar-camp Path." 



Half-liitlden by Ferns, and Spikenard witli its graceful ra- 

 cemes of crimson-purple berries, we see the old troughs at 

 the base of the trees. One moment we are apparently in the 

 depth of a forest, the ne.xt we have passed between Alders into 

 a sunny lane, between the upper Clover-field and the " Spring- 

 house Meadow." This meadow is a complete contrast to the 

 one we have just left, for here the grass shows only a few pale 

 Violets and Spiranthes instead of the crowded life below ; but 

 long after the lower field has faded into anonotonous gray this 

 little sheltered spot remains green, and is a most beautiful 

 setting for the home-acre. 



HarrisliurK, Pa. Mir a Lloyd Dock. 



A Campaign against the Tent Caterpillars. 



DURING the last few years the road-sides in the vicinity of 

 Boston, as also in other portions of the stale, have been 

 infested in the month of May by hordes of Tent Caterpillars. In 

 some districts rural beauty has been seriously impaired by them, 

 and the ravages of these insects have become an insupport- 

 able nuisance. Making their appearance at the season when 

 the leaves of the Apple and Clierry are just unfolding and 

 when the fresh spring foliage is everywhere at its best, the de- 

 struction caused by them is painful and depressing to be- 

 hold. Entire trees and shrubs are completely stripped of their 

 leaves, while myriads of their unsightly nests are left to dangle 

 from the bare branches. To the lover of natural beauty words 

 can hardly depict the appearance which an infected region 

 offers ; nor is the sight less revolting which is presented by 

 the remains of the worms crushed under the foot of man and 

 beast, as they crawl in thousands even to the upper rooms of 

 dwelling-houses in search of proper shelter for weaving their 

 cocoons. 



In the course of the past year the Newton Horticultural So- 

 ciety had its attention called to this subject by several mem- 

 bers, and steps were taken to arrest, or, at least, to mitigate, 

 the evil. A circular was issued giving an excellent plate, illus- 

 trating the various stages of the development of the insect, 

 and offering various prizes for its destruction as well as 

 the following information : " The moth lays its eggs on 

 the small twigs of various trees and shrubs, mostly of the 

 Apple and Wild Cherry, in the form of a belt, which encircles 

 the twig. This belt of eggs is covered by the moth with a 

 brown mucilaginous substance, which serves to fasten it firmly 

 in its position, while it protects it from the weather and from 

 other injuries. The belt should be removed from the tree by 

 cutting or breaking the twig upon which it rests, and pre- 

 served in a cool place. It will be necessary to present these 

 for examination in competition for the prizes to one or more 

 of the committee whose names are signed to the circular." 



In this good work the Horticultural Society had the co-oper- 

 ation of the Newton Centre Improvement Association. As a 

 result, $75.00 were distributed in prizes and gratuities among the 

 competitors, the first prize of $15.00 being given to a young lad 

 who presented over 14,000 belts. The gratuities bestowed 

 were for the purpose of inciting future interest in this direc- 

 tion, and were from the private purse of a generous citizen. 



In order that the work may be carried forward systemati- 

 cally next year, a circular has been prepared and sent to 

 the citizens of Newton, in which it is stated that probably 

 25,000,000 eggs of the tent caterpillar were destroyed last year, 

 and that, in order to stimulate the efforts of the boys and girls 

 of Newton, it is proposed to offer $1.00 for every lot of 1,000 

 belts. As this will require funds, contributions are invited. 

 The circular also invites the attention of landholders to the 

 fact that worthless trees and shrubs growing on their prem- 

 ises, especially Apples and Wild Cherries, should be cut down, 

 as they are favorite breeding-places for numerous pests. In 

 addition to this circular an advertisement was placed in the 

 local papers, announcing that the Newton Horticultural Society 

 would pay a bounty for every lot of 1,000 belts of eggs of 

 tent caterpillars received before the first of April. It may be 

 added that it is eminently wise to prepare for the work at an 

 early date, so that collections can be made during the winter 

 and spring months. 



It is to be hoped that the praiseworthy example of the New- 

 ton Horticultural Society may be followed by the adoption of 

 similar or better plans, if possible, by all towns and villages 

 for the extermination of this pest. It would seem, from ex- 

 perience, that the most feasible method of destruction is by 

 collecting and burning the belts of eggs before the period of 

 hatching, which varies with tfie season, being in this latitude 



from the middle to the last of April. After the nests are 

 formed, the work liecomes one of much greater magnitude 

 and much less satisfactory. 

 Chestnut Hill, Mass. Daniel Denison Slade. 



New or Little-known Plants. 



Galax aphylla. 



THIS is a handsome and interesting plant. It is inter- 

 esting as the representative of a monotypic genus 

 of a small although very vi'idely scattered family (Diapensi- 

 acete), which is represented in the flora of eastern North 

 America by the beautiful Pixie-flower, Pixydanthera, of the 

 sandy Pine-barrens of southern New Jersey and North 

 Carolina, by another monotypic genus, by Shortia, of 

 which a figure and description will be fotmd in these col- 

 umns (vol. i., p. 509), whose only relative is in Japan, 

 and by Diapensia, with a single northern species which 

 extends to Greenland and then eastward to Japan. 



Galax (see page 605) is a glabrous herb with red creep- 

 ing and matted root-stalks, which send up round-cordate 

 thickly crenate-dentate veiny thin leaves, which are per- 

 sistent through the winter, an inch and a half to two inches 

 across and long-stalked. The single flower-scape is slen- 

 der, sometimes two feet tall, almost destitute of bracts, 

 and terminated by a virgate spicate raceme of many 

 small white flowers. These are composed of a five-parted 

 minutely two-bracteolate calyx, a corolla composed of fi^e 

 entire oblong petals, which are distinct except where their 

 bases are adnate with the base of the monadelphous 

 stamen-tube, which is ten-lobed above, the lobes alternate 

 with the petals, being short and bearing sessile introrse 

 anthers, while those opposite the petals, which are 

 really staminodia, are larger, linear-spathulate and petal- 

 like. The style is very short, and is crowned by a slightly 

 three-lobed stigma. The fruit is an ovate capsule filled 

 \\\W\ angular seeds. 



Galax is a common plant in the region of the southern 

 Alleghany Mountains, from Virginia to Georgia. At ele- 

 vations of three or four thousand feet it often covers the 

 ground under Hemlock-trees and other evergreens with 

 great carpets of its beautiful shining leaves, and when the 

 plants are in flower the appearance of this undergrowth is 

 specially beautiful and attractive. 



Galax has a bad name with cultivators, and it is rarely 

 seen in good condition beyond the borders of its native 

 home. It was introduced, however, into English gardens 

 as early as 1756 ; and that it can be cultivated if proper 

 attention is paid to its wants is proved by the great mass 

 of plants in perfect health and beauty which for at least 

 fifty years have been growing and extending in the Knap 

 Hill Nursery in England, where four generations of 

 Waterers have been cultivating and improving American 

 plants. 



Of late years great quantities of handsome circular lus- 

 trous leaves of a dark vinous color have appeared every 

 winter in the shops of florists in this and other northern 

 cities, and numerous inquiries are addressed to us every 

 year as to the name of the plant which produces these 

 leaves and the source of the gupply. They are leaves of Galax 

 gathered among the mountains of Virginia and Carolina 

 and sent north for winter decoration, for which purpose 

 their size, shape and color well fit them. 



Foreign Correspondence. 



Centrosemas. 



I HAVE received inquiries from several American corre- 

 spondents, and also from friends in England, with . 

 respect to the merits of the Centrosemas, and particularly 1 

 of C. grandiflora, as garden-plants. We have two species] 

 in cultivation at Kew — namely, C. Plumieri, an old intro- 

 duction, generally known, I believe, as a Clitorea, and C. 



