624 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 253. 



Notes. 



The Irish Land Commission is planting large numbers of 

 forest-trees on the west coast of Ireland. 



The Ice Crop is the title of a little book pulilished by the 

 Orange Judd Co. which gives explicit instructions for cutting, 

 storing and handling ice, the construction of houses for refrig- 

 erating and cold houses for keeping fruits and other perish- 

 able substances. It contains 114 pages and is profusely illus- 

 trated. 



Belgium has two Government establishments where horti- 

 culture is taught, one at Ghent, with an average attendance of 

 forty-four pupils, and oneat Vilvorde, with an average of thirty- 

 eight, and besides these the Government subsidizes six other 

 institutions in which tuition is given and experiments in horti- 

 culture are carried on. 



On the fringe of the Colorado desert, near the old railroad 

 station of Seven Palms, horticulturists have proved that the 

 production of early fruits is possible. This year oranges from 

 this place were in market as early as the 20th of Novem- 

 ber, while figs, pears, apricots, small fruits and vegetables 

 ripened especially early. 



The order for a forest-reservation in San Bernardino County, 

 California, which will protect the watershed of the Sierras for 

 fifty miles, is giving delight to the horticulturists of southern 

 California. The new reservation includes the sources of all 

 the large irrigation systems of that part of the state, and here- 

 after the Sheep-men will be prevented from starting fires in the 

 protecting forest. 



One is rather surprised to find Yuccas in bloom out-of-doors 

 in the last days of December, but visitors to Central Park liave 

 been favored' with such a spectacle this year. Tlie plants that 

 have fiowered are labeled Yucca recurva, but look as if they 

 might be some form of Yucca gloriosa. Tlie cluster of long 

 green leaves, without any filaments, starts from the summit of 

 a stem about two feet high, and the flowers, although they 

 look rather limpsy and unhappy in the frosty air, are fairly 

 well opened. 



At Walter's Station, on the Southern Pacific Railroad, in the 

 desert, a hundred miles west of Yuma, a boring of five hun- 

 dred feet has found a supply of artesian water, which rushes 

 to the surface with a strong flow. It is all that could be de- 

 sired in clearness, coldness and quantity, and, if the flow 

 proves permanent, this will mean that the' desert is to blos- 

 som like the Rose. These arid lands, although at present 

 worthless, are rich in the elements of plant-food, and only 

 need water to produce abundant orchard and field crops. 



In"a recent description of Penrhyn Castle and its grounds, 

 in North Wales, it is said that many plants, which are usually 

 grown in greenhouses, are standing in sheltered nooks about 

 the castle, where they flourish with but little protection. 

 Among them are Agapanthus umbellatus, Lapageria rosea 

 and a huge Bamboo, Arundinaria falcata. It might be su[)- 

 posed that, in such a favored spot. Palms, which flourish in 

 northern China, would be at home, and, as a matter of fact, a 

 magnificent pair of Chamasrops Fortunei has stood out for 

 years. 



In speaking of the Globe flowers, the London Garden savs, 

 that occasionally, in England, old-established plants give a few 

 flowers in September and October. We have found that it 

 is the general habit of the Mountain Globe flower (Trollius 

 Europreus) to bloom with some freedom through the late 

 autumn months, when the bright yellow globes, an inch or so 

 in diameter, are very attractive. These Globe flowers deserve 

 a more prominent place than has been given to them in our 

 hardy gardens. Their roots like a cool, well-drained soil, but 

 one where moisture can be reached. 



Since the latter part of November, Mandarin oranges, grown 

 in Japan, and imported by steamer, have been selling tiv the 

 wagon-load on the streets of San Francisco at ten cents a 

 dozen. The fruit is fair, not fully ripe, but palatable and 

 easily prepared for eating. The very best of these oranges 

 are carefully wrapped, singly, in strong white paper, upon 

 which is printed, in legible English, "This is a genuine Man- 

 darin orange, imported direct from Japan. Any persons wish- 

 ing to obtain the trees from which such oranges are grown, 



may apply to ■ ". This shows a shrewdness in advertising 



which may give a hint even to Yankee enterprise. 



A correspondent of the Gardeners' Chronicle notes the fact / 

 that this year has passed without the celebration of the cente- ' 



nary of the Camellia, which, although it had been introduced 

 earlier, flowered for the first time in Europe in 1792. It is also 

 suggested as a matter worthy of historical research that some 

 one should find out how long the various single-flowered va- 

 rieties were in cultivation before the first double flowers ap- 

 peared. It is only a few years since the Bolivian Begonia and 

 its allied species were introduced and double-flowered tuberous 

 varieties began to appear as if by magic. On the other hand, 

 the Persian Cyclamen has been generally cultivated for a much 

 longer period^ and yet we rarely see a plant which bears 

 double flowers. 



Rev. C. Wooley Dod writes to the Gardeners' Chronicle that 

 having noticed among some plants of Chrysanthemum maxi- 

 mum a seedling with abnormal leaves and habit he potted it 

 to flower in the greenhouse. It has now produced a yellow 

 flower new to the writer, and he infers, with some reason, that 

 the plant is a hybrid between C. maximum and Anthemis tinc- 

 toria, as these two plants were near together. Mr. Dod adds 

 that in his garden, where accidental seedlings are usually al- 

 lowed to flower where they come up, spontaneous hybrids be- 

 tween distinct species are of common occurrence. If this new 

 plant is a hybrid between members of different genera it is the 

 second probable case of the kind in Mr. Dod's garden, the first 

 having been a supposed hybrid between Chionodoxa LucilliEe 

 and Scilla bifolia. 



We are glad to know that a report on Nuts and Nut-growing 

 is in course of preparation by the Department of Agriculture, 

 under the direction of Mr. H. E. Van Deman, the pomologist. 

 Several very large Chestnuts have, within a few years, been 

 brought before the public, among them the Ridgely, which 

 originated near Dover, Delaware, and was once thoug'ht to 

 be an American variety or cross between our native Chestnut 

 and the European. Mr. Van Deman is convinced, however, 

 that this is a seedling of purely foreign stock, just as Paragon 

 and Numbo are. These three kinds bear while very young, 

 and they bear abundantly, and although the flavor is not equal 

 to our own wild Chestnuts, they are very good when cooked. 

 It is to be hoped that more attention will be given to varieties 

 of our native Chestnuts that are particularly large-sized, so 

 that, by careful selection and propagation, we can have Chest- 

 nuts which, in addition to considerable size, will have the un- 

 equaled flavor of our native nuts. 



In the issue of Tlie Tribune, of this city, for December 25th, 

 Professor Charles H. Peck, of Albany, Botanist of the State of 

 New York, gives some account of a Mushroom which he pro- 

 nounces a new species. This Mushroom has been cultivated 

 for some time by a market gardener whose place adjoins that 

 of Mr. Charles A. Dana, at Dosoris, Long Island, and Mr. Wil- 

 liam Falconer, Mr. Dana's gardener, forwarded a specimen to 

 Professor Peck. A few weeks later Mr. Falconer found a 

 specimen on Mr. Dana's grounds, and sent that also, and from 

 an examination of the two. Professor Peck has established a 

 new species which he calls Agaricus subrufescens. The stem 

 is thicker toward the base and is generally longer than that 

 of the common Mushroom. The collar about the stem is 

 thicker, and on the under surface is covered with little floc- 

 culent scales. The spawn is coarser and more stringy. lis 

 scales are at first white, the cap is grayish white, often with a 

 reddish tinge and obscurely spotted. The merits of the new 

 plant are said to be that it is strong and hardy, and can be 

 profitably raised in the summer; that the Mushrooms appear 

 from ten days to a fortnight sooner after planting the spawn 

 than is the case with the ordinary species. 



Cataloc^ues Received. 



^ 



J. E. BoLLES & Co., 336-342 River Street, Detroit, Mich.; Wrought 

 Iron Fences, Grills, etc. — A. Blanc & Co., Philadelphia, Pa.; Illustrated 

 Catalogue of Rare Cacti, Bulbs and Tubers. — S. W. Call, Perry, Lake 

 County, Ohio; Fruit and Ornamental Trees, Small Fruits, Vines and 

 Deciduous Shrubs. — ^Jacob C. Cassel, 709 Arch .Street, Philadelphia, 

 Pa.; Terra Cotta Vases, Hanging Baskets, Rustic Settees, etc. — Herb 

 & WULLE, Naples, Italy ; Trade List of Seeds of Flowers, Vegetables, 

 Trees and Shrubs, Flower Bulbs. — The Mapes Formula and Peru- 

 vian Guano Co., 143 Liberty Street, New York ; The Mapes Tobacco 

 Manures. — Pitcher & Manda, tiniled States Nurseries, Short Hills, 

 N. J.; New Importations of Orchids and Cycad Circinalis. — Sher- 

 wood Hall Nursery Co., 427-429 Sansome Street, San Franci.sco, 

 Cal. ; Choice Seeds, Bulbs, Roses, Shrubs, Vines and Trees. — James 

 Stewart, Elmwood Nursery, Memphis, Tenn.; Roses, Flowering 

 Shrubs, Shade, Ornamental and Fruit Trees, Small Fruits and Vines. — 

 West Jersey Nursery Co., Bridgelon, N. J.; Descriptive Catalogue 

 and Wholesale Price List of Fruit and Ornamental Trees, Grape- 

 vines, Small Fruits and Flowering Plants, Canada Unbleached Hard 

 Wood Ashes. ."X 



