28o 



Garden and Forest. 



[August 8, 1888. 



There is no cause to fear the extermination of any Iierba- 

 ceous or shrubby plant, or of many trees, for the planters are 

 constrained to leave skirts of forest around their clearings to 

 protect their crops against the much dreaded hurricanes which 

 sometimes visit these shores. For this reason none of the 

 keys appear to be denuded of their forest covering, though 

 we often perceive that the forests have receded a considerable 

 distance from the outer shores. On the inner shores, and in 

 many other places where the ground is too low for cultivation, 

 the trees are secure against destruction. 



There is a group of keys, to which allusion has been made, 

 which presents a singular contrast to the range as a whole, in 

 physical as well as botanical features. Throughout their whole 

 extent of nearly one hundred and fifty miles in length the keys 

 lie nearly parallel with the coast, but on the western side of the 

 open waters called Bahia Honda, in a direction south-west 

 from Cape Sable, there are several long keys whose trend is 

 almost at a right angle with that of the other keys — namely, 

 from north-west to south-east. The vegetation of these is 

 strikingly different from that of the other keys, and most re- 

 sembles the vegetation found on the mainland south-east of 

 the Everglades. 



This group of keys is covered with low and thin forests com- 

 posed of Pinus Cubensis, Th?-iiia.x argentia and T. parviflora. 

 The Pine is wholly lacking on the main range of keys. Tliis 

 and the Palmetto, which is represented by a few trees on Key 

 Largxi, are the only trees common to the southern and north- 

 ern extremities of Florida. The Scrub Palmetto {Sabal ser- 

 rii/a/a)also occurs on these piney keys, and slender specimens 

 of the Wax Myrtle {Myrica cerifera), which on the peninsula 

 attains tree-like proportions. These four species, with two or 

 three herbaceous plants, are the only ones common to the keys 

 and the northern portion of the state. 



A person who is acquainted only with the vegetation of 

 more northern states, 01 with that of northern Florida, in tra- 

 versing these keys will find scarcely a tree or herb identical 

 with or even resembling those with which he has been ac- 

 quainted. He may hear familiar names in use liy the inhab- 

 itants, such as Cherry, Mulberry and Cedar, but on examination 

 he will find the species thus designated to be entirely different 

 from those which he has known by such names before. The 

 curiosity is piqued at every step by some unfamiliar and in- 

 teresting form of vegetation, and if the tourist be accompanied 

 by one of the inhabitants he will learn much of the popular 

 lore regarding names and uses, for these people ai'e remarka- 

 bly intelligent in regard to the vegetable and animal life of the 

 region they inhabit. It will be found that almost all the adult 

 inhabitants come from the Bahamas, that nearly all the trees 

 and other plants are conimon to those islands, and, in short, 

 that these islands have much more in common with the Lesser 

 Antilles than with the Florida mainland. 



A tour of the Florida keys reveals nature and society under 

 such peculiar conditions that any one who has never visited 

 this insular region may rest assured that there remains in 

 store for him at least one source of novel and enjoyable expe- 

 rience, though he may have traversed the mainland of the 

 United States from Maine to California. As regards conforma- 

 tion and soil, the inhabitants and their pursuits, the surround- 

 ing waters and the marine life they support, these coral 

 islands differ essentially from all other portions of our vast 

 country ; but in no particular do they present so striking a 

 dissimilarity as in the vegetation which covers them. 

 Jacksonville, Florida. A. H. Clirtiss. 



Foreign Correspondence. 

 London Letter. 



THE Rose Show season began in London with a great 

 exhibition at the Alexandra Palace in the last week 

 of June, and rather early for exhibition blooms. On nearly 

 every stand were fine flowers of Lady Mary Fitzwilliam, 

 not a new Rose, and yet not common in cultivation, one 

 of Mr. Bennett's great successes. Everybody is charmed 

 with the Rose, its large size, superb form, and delicate, soft 

 pink color. Then, again, its vigorous growth and free 

 habit of flowering make it a first-rate garden Rose. It 

 will certainly in time divide honors with the beautiful old 

 La France, with which an uneducated eye always com- 

 pares it. A sport from Lady Mary is called Lady Alice, 

 which, I believe, originated in the Cheshunt nurseries. It 

 differs from its sister Rose in color only, or rather in the 

 absence of color, as the bloom is almost a pure white. 



The best white hybrid perpetual at the show was Violette 

 Bowyer, but this, as well as other white Roses, like Mer- 

 veille de Lyon, will be better later in the season. A very 

 rich-colored Rose is Ulrich Brunner, which still may be 

 called a new Rose, and one that is likely to become a 

 favorite, as the "build" of the flower is admirable. 



Among the newer Tea Roses were Madame Cuisin and 

 Madame de Watteville, both of which differ from most 

 other Teas in color. Their flowers, instead of being en- 

 tirely of one tint, have the petals exquisitely washed or 

 flushed with a clear pink, while the form in both is perfect, 

 especially in the half-expanded stage. Ladies fix upon 

 these two Roses at once, and that is not a bad test of 

 their merits. Grace Darling, another of Bennett's seed- 

 lings, was very fine, the richness of the color, a clear 

 pink, being most pleasing. This is a Rose of the high- 

 est merit, not only for exhibition, but as a garden Rose. 

 I saw to-day a bed of it, and every bush (there were a score 

 or more) was literally covered with bloom — good, well- 

 formed flowers, fit for exhibition. The habit of growth 

 and foliage also being so vigorous, leaves nothing to be 

 desired. It has been in flower in the open since the first 

 week in June. A new Tea, shown by Mr. Prince, of Ox- 

 ford, named S. A. Prince, has flowers of fine form, pure 

 white, and scented strongly. It is, of course, premature 

 to speak of its merits from exhibition blooms alone. 



The new hybrid (also, one of Bennett's) named Mrs. 

 John Laing, was marvelously fine, as may be gathered 

 from the fact that it took the first prize in the class for any 

 kind of Rose. This Rose is a triumph of English Rose 

 raising, and will tend to refute the prevalent idea that good 

 new Roses can only be expected from the Continent. I 

 have this week had a private view of a very beautiful 

 new Rose, which Mr. Bennett has named Cleopatra. It is 

 a true Tea, and if I were asked to compare it with an old 

 sort I should say it was most like Catherine Mermet. But 

 it is different, because finer in size, in form, in color and in 

 perfume. It is one of the deepest "built" Teas I have 

 seen, and the petals are large, of wonderful substance, as 

 if chiseled out of some hard material. The color is a soft 

 rose pink, with a suspicion of buff in the tint, and therein 

 lies its peculiarity. The flowers, three parts open, are, 

 matchless in form, and the perfume is exquisite. Cleopatra 

 has been seen by a few people only, but all agree that she 

 is a veritable queen among Roses. I also saw at the same 

 nursery the lovely Princess Beatrice, which has always 

 seemed to me one of the very best of Tea Roses, and yet I 

 was told the other day by an American nurseryman that 

 it was considered of no value with you. But surely the 

 flowers cannot have been seen in perfection. It could 

 scarcely have had a fair trial, seeing that it was only sent 

 out last June. The flower is large, the form perfect, the 

 scent unsurpassable, and the color delights everybody. In 

 fine blooms the outer petals are yellowish white, washed 

 with rose, the inner all closely packed, an apricot yellow 

 deeper towards the centre. The leaves have ruddy- 

 tinged stalks, and are broad and of a very deep green 

 color. If I were confined to a select dozen Tea Roses, 

 Princess Beatrice would certainly be one of themj; Another 

 new Tea that has been talked about a good deal this sea- 

 son is Sappho, which Messrs. Paul, of Waltham Cross, have 

 exhibited. I should compare it wiith Madame Berard, the 

 near relative of Gloire de Dijon, as the blooms are alike in 

 color, though different in form. Sappho has prettily- 

 shaped flowers, very full and deep, and of a warm apricot 

 yellow, and perfumed with the delicious scent character- 

 istic of the old Gloire de Dijon. As a pot bush it is un- 

 commonly vigorous, and the large number of flowers and 

 buds show it to be a free flowerer. 



This year has brought an exceptionally large crop of 

 new varieties of the Polyantha Roses. Bennett has sent 

 out two named Golden Fairy and Little Dot, which look 

 uncommonly like twins. Both have tiny„ very double 

 flowers of a deep apricot tint, flushed with pink, but 

 Golden Fairy is the lighter of the two, and the half-open 



