204 



Garden and Forest. 



[Tune 20, 



of serictilture as it passed step by step under his eyes. One 

 cliapter is devoted to tlie Mullierry and other trees the leaves 

 of which liave l>een used or experimented witli as food for the 

 silli-worm. The White iVIulberry — Morus alba — always the 

 favorite Silk-worm food in the east, is pronounced to be the 

 best tree for tliis purpose, althougli the success in Louisiana 

 with the Osage-orange is recognized ; and the manner in 

 which it is propagated and grown are fully explained. 

 The ingenious way in which Mr. Cochran has sandwiched in 

 liis instructive chapters among those which record the merely 

 picturesque incidents and sights of his voyage will undoubted- 

 ly attract to his book a multitude of readers who would not 

 have cared for a mere technical treatise on sericulture. But 

 simply as a treatise of this sort it well deserves attention from 

 all those who, in various parts of the United States, have re- 

 cently engaged in the silk-producing industry. 



Recent Plant Portraits. 



Amaryllis Contess.a. Marianna Cambray Digny, Bulletino 

 de la R. Sociefa di Orfictilficra, April ; a variety with rather 

 dingy red flowers streaked with white. 



Tea Rose, Vicontesse de Wautter, Journal des Kosi's, 

 April ; a handsome pink and very double variety raised by 

 Alexandre Bernaix at Villeurbonne, near Lyons, an offspring 

 of Jifadaine dc Tartas, fecundated by the pollen of Anna 

 Olivier. 



DichorISANDRA pubescens, var. nov. Taliniensis, Revue de 

 r Horticulture Beige, April ; a handsome blue-flowered va- 

 riety, the leaves striped with white, which appeared sponta- 

 neously in 1885 in the soil of a case of plants imported by the 

 Botanic Garden of Brussels from Brazil. 



CORDYLLN'E iNDlvis.A., var. DONCETIANA, L Illustration Hor- 

 ticole, IVIarch 15th; a variegated variety of Belgian origin, tlie 

 edges of the leaves marked with yellow. 



TasCONIA Parrit/E, Z'/Z/z/^/riz/Zi);/ Horticole, March 15th. A 

 handsome stove climber from Brazil with large orange 

 flowers. 



Prlmula Sinensls, var. Edward Morren, L' Illustration 

 Horticole, March 15th ; a variety with pale blue flowers ; a 

 novelty in Chinese Primroses. 



Adansonia Gregorii, Gardener's Chronicle, April 28th; 

 the Australian Baobab ; one of the largest trees known. 



DouglaSIA L/EVIGATA, Gardener s Chronicle, April 28th ; a 

 pretty little alpine plant of the Primrose family, from the 

 mountains of north-western America. This genus commemo- 

 rates the botanical labors of David Douglas, a Scotch botanical 

 traveler, who discovered and introduced into cultivation some 

 of the most important trees of Western America. 



Phal/ENOPSIS Schillerlana, Gardener's Chronicle, April 

 28th. " From an illustration from a photograph of plants in 

 the collection of Fred. Scholes, Esq., of Brooklyn, who has 

 been called the Partington of America, a comphment that is 

 richly deserved, as our engraving undenialily proves. The 

 two plants here depicted are fair representative examples (one 

 being 3 feet in height), and only three years since were small 

 pieces. Mr. Scholes is very liberal in the use of co\%manure 

 in liquid form when his plants are making active growth. 

 That he has practically demonstrated the efficacy of his treat- 

 ment is proved bv the luxuriance both in foliage and flowers 

 of his PltalcEnopsis, one plant in his collection having no less 

 than fourteen leaves from 8 to 15 inches long, and of remarka- 

 ble substance. The plant carried three large branching spikes, 

 and when in flower would be a marvel of beautv." 



Notes. 



Maple sugar was made this year in considerable quantities 

 in California from the sap of the Broad-leaved Maple (Acer nia- 

 crophylluni). The sugar is said to be of excellent flavor. 



The annual meeting of the Society of American Florists in 

 this city next August was to have been held in Tammany Hall. 

 The burning of that building has somewhat embarrassed the 

 local committee, but they have now secured the Fifth Avenue 

 Theatre for that purpose. . 



Utricularia montana. — A splendid example of this showy 

 plant is now flowering in the Orchid Houses occupied by Mr. 

 I. Forstermann, of 50 Storm Ave., Jersey City. Tlie plant 

 mentioned has 26 stout spikes, on which are produced 100 

 large pure white lilossoms of fine substance. This Bladderwort 

 is sometimes classed with the Orchid family, to which genus 

 it has no affinity. Its cultural requirements, however, are 

 very similar, and it is invariably found in Orchid collections, 

 where it thrives vigorously in a warm and very moist situation. 



On the first of June Apples from New Zealand were on sale 

 in San Francisco. According to so good an authority as the 

 Pacific Rural Press, the fruit was not only shapely and hand- 

 somely colored, but firm and well-flavored. Apples from Vic- 

 toria, are sold in the London market at from 2d. to 6d. 

 each, and as the freight charges from the orchard to the seller 

 are about i Jj'd. a pound, this leaves a good margin for profit 

 to the grower in the Southern Hemisphere. 



Retail Flower Markets. 



New York, Jmie ij/k. 



Tile supply of flowers this week has only been fair, but it has been 

 sufficient to meet the demand. The decorations of halls and theatres 

 for Commencement exercises have consisted of a few groups of fol- 

 iage plants; Graduates' favors have been large loose liunches of flow- 

 ers, more often than basket designs. Flowers from shrubs seem to 

 grow in demand e\-ery year and have never brought as high a price 

 as they now do. Syringa sells for $1.00 a bunch of 18 large sprays, 

 Weigela for 50 and 75 cts. a bunch. Snowballs are highly esteemed and 

 cost $1.00 a bunch, fiybrid Roses are smaller, butare of good quality, 

 excepting Baroness Rothschild, which averages poor. All Hybrids 

 cost 40 to 50 cts. each, the latter price holding for those selected. 

 They are $5.00 a dozen. Moss Roses cost 25 cts. a spray. Clusters of 

 these with a few spikes of Mignonette are in demand for dinner favors. 

 Genl. Jacqueminot Roses are small, but of rich colors, and bring $1.50 

 a dozen. Brides, Catherine Mermets, Niphetos and Perles are also $1.50 

 a dozen. Fihe f^a France Roses cost $2.00 a dozen. There are some 

 handsome Orchids (Cattleyas) arriving which cost $1.00 a flower. Pea 

 blossoms are among the choice flowers added to bou<|uets and designs 

 to give the last finish. They cost 50 cts. for a cluster of 18. Carna- 

 tions cost 35 and 40 els. a dozen. Pa^onies range from 10 to 25 cts. 

 each. The pink variety is in the largest request. Heliotrope is 50cts. 

 a bunch. Mignonette is poor and from 25 to 50 cts. a bunch. Field 

 Daisies are very handsome and 15 cts. a dozen, and wild Buttercups 

 cost 15 cts. a dozen. Gladioluses bring from 20 to 25 cts. a spike. 

 Callas are scarce and 25 cts. each. Pansies cost 25 cts. a dozen. Lily- 

 of-the-A'alley is again coming in from green-houses. 



Phti.adelphia, yune istli. 



Roses everywhere, and as a result there is a temporary glut in the 

 market, ft is only in Roses, howe^-er, that the over-supply is notice- 

 able. Many other flowers are scarce, as for example, good Carna- 

 tions, especially the white varieties. The crimson, scarlet and other 

 colored varieties are fair in quality, and cost 25 cts. a dozen. Sweet 

 Peas are more plentiful, and sell readily at from 25 to 50 cts. a dozen. 

 Lily-of-lhe-Valley holds its own at $1 a dozen. Mignonette and 

 Heliotro]3e costs 25 cts. Hybrid Roses cost from $2 to $4 a dozen, ac- 

 cording to quality and variety. Amongst out-door Roses there is a 

 greater variety to select from than in the list of forcing sorts. Jean 

 Liabaud and f.ouis Van Houtte are two fa^'orite^ ; the former is a vel- 

 vety dark crimson, the latter is somewhat brighter and of very fine 

 form. The dark Roses have not met with much favor in the winter 

 for the past two seasons. American Beauty is still asked for, and sells 

 at from $3 to $4 a dozen. Mermets, Bennetts and Brides 'are from Si 

 to $2 a dozen. Perles and Sunsets, 75 cts. to $1.50. Bon Silenes and 

 (lOntiers are getting thin, and bring 50 cts. a dozen. Water Lilies are 

 75 cts. per dozen. Field Daisies are plentiful, and sell at 25 cts. a 

 dozen. Single Dahlias, $1 to $1.50 a dozen. Cornflowers, 25 cts. a 

 dozen. There is a steady demand for any choice good flower. 

 Indeed, June is a better month for the flower trade than May. for new 

 things like Sweet I^eas, Miniature .Sunflowers and the yellow Corn- 

 flowers keep coming into bloom, and are always salable. 



Boston, Jum ijtli. 



The cut flower market has been heavily overstocked during the 

 past week. Belated crops, intended for Decoration Day, but delayed 

 by cold weather, have been coming in from every direction, and the 

 wholesale dealers have been loaded down with surplus stock. 

 Roses in all varieties, excepting the choice hybrids, are very abun- 

 dant. Of choice hybrids there are none. Carnations are also very 

 plenty in all the standard varieties, such as Anna Webb, Grace 

 Wilder, Buttercup, Hinze's White, E. G. Hill and Allagatiere. There 

 is still a small supply of Lily-of-the-Valley obtainable from Canada. 

 After this is exhausted the green-house crop will begin to come in 

 again, at increased prices, and will be in market as a regular supply 

 all summer. The roots from which this is produced are kept over from 

 last season in ice-houses, and are thus held in a dormant condition 

 until required. White Gilliflowers are abundant, and of best quality, 

 very large and double. The choicer varieties of out-door flowers, 

 such as Rhododendrons, Pfconies, Ghent Azaleas and Clematises, are 

 used extensi\'ely in large baskets and decorations, and they help to 

 make the florists' windows bright and attractive. Of Orchids a few 

 Odontoglossums and Cattleyas (mainlyC Ji/ossi,r) are in market. The 

 demand for Lilies of all kinds is brisk, but very few are offered. Tea 

 Roses bring 50 cts., but fancy sorts command from $\ to $2. Jacque- 

 minots of rather inferior quality are held at $3, and Hybrids are scarce 

 at $6. Carnations and Calendulas are 50 cts. a dozen. Stocks and 

 Spirasa, 75 cts. Maidenhair Fern, 50 cts. Smilax, 50 cts. a string. 

 I^ilies-of-the-Valley cost $1 a dozen, and will probably cost twice as 

 much in a few days. Rhododendrons are $5 a dozen ; Ascension 

 Lilies, S2 ; Harris' Lilies, $4, and a few Callas can be had for $3. 



