May 1 6, 



S.] 



Garden and Forest. 



141 



cultivate, and thrives and flowers freely during' February and 

 March in a warm green-house or stove, if potted in a compost 

 of fibrous peat, leaf mould and silversand, and grown on rapidlv 

 in summer in heat and abundant moisture. Like many other 

 beautiful winter blooming stove-plants, it is too rarely seen in 

 American collections. A fine specimen was shown by Mr. 

 Hunnewell at the recent exhibition of the Massachusetts Hor- 

 ticultural Society. 



Rhododendron Dauricum sempervirens is the earliest of all 

 the Rhododendrons in flower. It is an erect, very hardy shrub, 

 with small evergreen leaves and rose-colored flowers, single, 

 or in twos and threes, on the end of the branches. In ordinary 

 seasons it flowers in New England early in April, often before 

 the snow has disappeared. S. 



Tulipa Kesselringii was the earliest of the Tulips in flower in 

 the New England rock-garden, where it was blooming freely 

 diu-ing the last days of April. This is a dwarf and very hardy 

 species, discovered a few years ago in Turkestan by Dr. Albert 

 Reg"el, and distributed from the St. Petersburg Garden. The 

 leaves are glaucous, lance-strap shaped, about six inches long, 

 and crowded at the base of the stem. The flower-stem is 

 short, four to eight inches long, and bears a bright, clear yellow 

 flower, one and one-half to two inches long, the outer seg- 

 ments at first slightly flushed with red and green on the back. 

 It is a very handsome and desirable species, recalling in habit 

 and in the color of the flowers the Greek Tulip ( T. Orplianich-a), 

 although belonging to a quite distinct group of the genus. 

 Ttilipa Kesselringii appears in some garden catalogues as 

 T. Hoeltseri. It will thrive in any good, well-drained garden 

 soil. 



Primula rosea, protected in a cold-frame, is in full liloom on 

 the I St of May. This is one of the loveliest of all the Prim- 

 roses, and deserves a place in every garden where spring 

 flowers are cultivated. It is a dwarf, compact Alpine plant, 

 with tufted leaves, only a few inches high, and intensely 

 brilliant colored rosy-pink flowers, nearly an inch across and 

 with a conspicuous yellow eye. The stout, low flower stems 

 are four to ten flowered. Primula rosea is a native of the 

 snowy ravines of the western Himalayas, Kashmir and 

 Afghanistan, where it is found at an elevation of ten to twelve 

 thousand feet above the sea. Its hardiness has not yet been 

 established here, but it is well worth the protection of a frame 

 in winter, from which it can be transplanted in April to flower 

 in the rock-garden or in the open border. It would not be 

 easy to find among early flowering hardy plants a more strik- 

 ing and beautiful object than a mass of this Primrose. 



Primula cortusoides, in its Japanese form known as var. 

 amcEna, and sometimes as var. Siebaldii, is perfectly hardy 

 here, and although not yet in flower, is now pushing- up its 

 crown of leaves vigorously. It is a handsome plant with ovate, 

 cordate, dark green leaves, with many lobed margins, tall, 

 slender scapes, and mauve or lilac colored flowers. It is often 

 culflvated and much prized by the Japanese. 



The Bloodroot {Sangidnaria Canadensis), a native of our 

 northern woods and an excellent rock-plant in cultivation, is 

 also in bloom now. The pure white, star-shaped, handsome, 

 solitary flowers appear before the leaves, which are large, 

 rounded and palmately lobed, and make an attractive and con- 

 spicuous mass of green throughout the summer. 



Boston, May ist. ^. 



Streptosolen Jamesoni. — This plant deservesall that " W. F." 

 says about it (page ;i;i), but the fault that gardeners find with it 

 here is its somewhat straggling habit of growth. But perhaps 

 we grow it here in too high a temperature. A cooler treat- 

 ment would probably induce a more compact growth. I have 

 never seen it so fine as when Cannell of Swanley showed it a 

 few years ago for the first time. Though an old plant with 

 several of those who were at the show, the profusely flowered 

 specimens, brilliant like balls of fire, took many by surprise. I 

 think " W. F.'s" treatment in plunging out-of-doors in sum- 

 mer is the secret of success. 



Aquilegia longissima, the new Columbine that Mr. Sereno 

 Watson describes at page 31, may be a fine plant, but from the 

 description I imagine that it is too much like the common 

 yellow^, clirysantha. A. Skinneri'\s no good out-of-doors with 

 us here, beautiful though it be. A. Canadensis is the best red 

 Columbine for borders, but it is a trouble to keep it pure. 

 So readily does it hybridize with^. chrysantha?a'\Ao\\vco\w\\'\on 

 A. vulgaris, that if seedlings are raised and they come up self- 

 sown everywhere they are sure to lie hybrids if the three kinds 

 grow within reasonable distance of each other. You probably 



h:j\-e the race of beautiful hybrid Columbines tliat Mr. Doug- 

 las, one of our most noted gardeners, raised a few years ago. 

 He said he intercrossed A. ewrulea, A. chrysantlia, A. Canaden- 

 sis and others, the result being a charming race of varieties 

 with large, long-spurred flowers of every shade of tint possible 

 to find in Aquilegias. They have now found their way into 

 most good gardens, and being hardy and giving no trouble to 

 grow well, they are favorites. 



Parry's Lily. — That note from Mr. Pringlc concerning the 

 habitat of Lilium Parryi is most valual;)le, as it gives us just the 

 information we wanted as regards the conditions best suited 

 to this lovely Lily under culture. Hitherto it has been con- 

 sidered rather a delicate kind, but during the last two or three 

 seasons some growers have apparently hit upon the treatment 

 the plant likes, and the finest specimens I saw of it last sum- 

 mer were growing in a damp spot in peaty soil, in such a place 

 as Mr. Pringle says it grows wild. Like L. Canadense, L. par- 

 dalinuin and other of your native Lilies, I think that L. Parryi 

 needs moist treatment and partial shade such as that afforded 

 by a thin wood. 



Narcissus in Water. — The beautiful illustration given on 

 page 44, showing a Narcissus Polyanthus in water, is a revela- 

 tion to most people in England. The majoritv of those to 

 whom I showed the picture were unaware that Narcissus 

 Polyanthus could be grown so finely in water, and no doubt 

 the experiment will be tried before long by not a few. 

 It is by bringing these somewhat out-of-the-way methods of 

 flower-culture into notice by good illustrations that the best 

 interests of progressive gardening are served. 



W. Goldring. 



The Forest. 



The Forest Vegetation of North Me.xico. — IV. 



TO come now to the dry mountain ranges which rise 

 at intervals from the plains to an elevation of 6,000 

 to 8,000 feet, between the Sierra Madre, which is the 

 eastern \'erge of the plateau, far more favored as respects 

 rain-fall, and comparatively rich in the number of its arbor- 

 escent species, and the other Sierra Madre, or Cordilleras, 

 of the western verge, we find Pinus Chihuahuana , Engehn., 

 pre-eminent in value among their sparse and stunted growths. 

 In that fringe of the forests of the Cordilleras, which spreads 

 out for a few miles upon the plains at their eastern base, I 

 have seen this species developed into a noble tree, three 

 feet or more in diameter, and sixt)' or seventy feet in height; 

 but on these mountains its diameter is commonly less 

 than twelve or fifteen inches, and its height less than forty 

 feet. Of slow growth here, and showing more or less of 

 dead branches or their stumps, with its sooty bark and its 

 burden of old persisting cones, its aspect is unlhrift)' and 

 melancholy. 



To the building of Chihuahua, and other towns and 

 villages, and the scattered homes of rich and poor through- 

 out that region, this Pine must have contributed largely. 

 The small amount of wood used in the construction of a 

 Mexican house is astonishing to an American; yet none but 

 cliff dwellings are possible without a little wood. The 

 walls are composed entirely of earth and stone, and the 

 floor may be of earth or tiles ; but for the few doors and 

 windows a little sawed lumber must be had; and, to sup- 

 port the heavy covering of earth, straight and strong tim- 

 bers about eight inches in diameter (vegas) are indispen- 

 sable, though they must be brought on the backs of mules 

 and donkeys from mountains 50 or 100 miles dis- 

 tant. Just such timbers, straight, strong, and light for 

 transportation, when disbarked and seasoned, this Pine 

 supplies ; and there is hardly a mountain crest or slope to 

 which the peon and his donkey could climb, that has not 

 been searched to procure the vast number required. For the 

 other lumber needed the trunks of the larger specimens in 

 cafions have been sawed in the mountains with whip.saws. 

 Juniperus occidentalis. Hook., var. conjugens, Engelm.. 

 juniper, is a common species of these ranges, and ranks 

 next to the last in importance among their non-deciduous 

 species. With a diameter of eight or ten inches in its 



