290 



Garden and Forest. 



[August 15, 1SS8. 



new species (?) or variety (?) of Potato, under the name of 

 Solanuiii Piireka. The tubers, which are said to possess an 

 excellent flavor, are smaller than those of the ordinary culti- 

 vated Potato and their shape is peculiar. The plant barely 

 differs, however, in habit and in its flowers from Solanwn 

 tuberosnin. Is it a variety or a species ? And, after all, what 

 is a species for the botanist of to-day ? The conception of 

 specific limitation becomes confused in proportion as the 

 knowledge of natural science increases. And tliis remark is 

 applicable certainly to the different plants of the genus Bcch- 

 meria (China Grass, Ramie). We cultivate here, and both 

 are now in flower, B. tenacissima and B. 7iivea; while there is 

 another species (?) here quite unlike either of them. And I 

 learn, by a letter just received from the botanist Balanga, now 

 in Tonquin, that there are in that country several species of 

 Bwhincria, some cultivated and others wild, from which the 

 fibre is extracted. I believe that there are still important dis- 

 coveries to make in this genus of Urticaccce. 



" While there are some North American trees which adapt 

 themselves perfectly to our Mediterranean climate, there are 

 others which cannot be made to grow here. This, for exam- 

 ple, is the case with Carya myri s ticcpforiii is , of which you sent 

 me nuts four or five years ago. The plants, which are not 

 three feet high yet, are alive, but they grow with a slowness 

 which is discouraging, and the leaves are more yellow than 

 green. Tliis perhaps is the effect of the soil rather than of 

 the climate. Some of the other Hickories do a little better 

 here. 



"Our success with a Bolivian plant, Miitizia viiicefoUa, 

 wliich is considered a specific against pulmonary complaints, 

 is certainly astonishing. This curious Composite — which 

 might, judged by its foliage, be mistaken for one of the Pea 

 Family — has proved perfectly hardy here, passing the winter 

 without protection and flowering freely, and, apart from its 

 supposed economic properties, it is an interesting ornamental 

 plant. It wiP certainly succeed in your Southern States — Vir- 

 ginia, Carolina, Florida, etc. — and if really a remedy for con- 

 sumption, its introduction there will be a matter of great 

 importance. 



" I am trying now, for the tliird time, to cultivate Lcspcdcza 

 striata, which heretofore has not succeeded in Provence. 

 It is probable that the climate here is too dry and too hot for it. 

 I have sent seeds to Brittany and into the south-west of France, 

 where perhaps tliis most interesting forage plant will grow 

 more successfully than it does here. 



" You are wise indeed to protest in your journal against the 

 destruction of forests. If the American people, so ready to 

 destroy their trees, could only see the consequences of forest 

 destruction in southern Europe and in northern Africa — the 

 ground scorched by the sun in summer, overflowed and swept 

 away by torrents in winter, the excessive droughts which de- 

 stroy all crops, the dr)ing up of streams, the vast and expen- 

 sive public works necessary to provide means for artificial 

 irrigation, etc., etc., they would understand perhaps better 

 than they do now why nations should preserve their forests, 

 and especially those which cover mountains. Forests are 

 needed in the valleys, too, to furnish lunfl^er and firewood, 

 without which a civilized people cannot exist." 



The fact that the tops of Pine and Spruce trees cut in the 

 Maine woods can be utilized in the manufacture of paper- 

 pulp has more than local or mere industrial significance. 

 The fires which do such immense injury in the Coniferous 

 forests of this country can generally be traced to the tops 

 and branches of trees, left by the lumbermen behind them 

 in the woods. These by the middle of the following sum- 

 mer become perfectly dry and afford the very best ma- 

 terial to start a great fire vi'ith, in case a careless hunter or 

 tramp or berrj'-picker drops a lighted match or a spark 

 from his pipe into it. In Europe there is a demand always 

 for such minor products of the forest ; and the material it- 

 self pays for the cost of gathering up every part of the 

 tree which the lumberman cannot make use of, to say 

 nothing of the increased safety this gives to the 

 forest, and to the priceless surface coating of decaying 

 vegetable mould which fires consume. No one in this 

 country has wanted the tops and branches of trees, and 

 lumbermen ha\-e preferred to take the chance of almost 

 inevitable fire rather Ihan pay the cost of having the woods 

 cleaned up behind their operations. The upper part of the 

 main trunk as well as all the branches and chips and all 



unsound logs, the whole amounting generally to a third of 

 the whole bulk of the tree, has been left in the woods to 

 burn or rot ; while in the case of Hemlock it is only within 

 a comparatively recent time that any use of the tree ex- 

 cept the bark has paid. In some districts in Maine now, 

 however, the tops and large branches of the trees are 

 gathered ; and the wood, from which the knots and sap- 

 wood is first removed, is thoroughly steamed to extract 

 all resinous matter, and then ground into dry pulp. If it 

 is profitable in Maine to do this, it will doubtless prove 

 profitable in other parts of the country ; and one of the 

 principal causes of forest fires may perhaps in time be eli- 

 minated in this way. 



The Pines in July. 



lEAUTIFUL flowering plants greet us at every 

 step in our midsummer walks through the 

 damp Pine-barrens. Conspicuous among the shrubs 

 is the Sweet Pepperbush {Clcthia ahufolia), now cov- 

 ered with lovely racemes of white, scented flowers, 

 and with it the White Sw^amp Honeysuckle {Azalea vis- 

 cosa) is e.x'haling and blending its fine pdor. The flowers 

 of the Swamp Honeysuckle are in large, showy clusters. 

 Some plants bear pure white flowers, while others have 

 pink or pale rpse-colored blossoms. Wild Roses still 

 bloom among the other shrubs, and the Button-bush 

 {CephaJanthus occidenlalis) is too pretty to be passed by 

 without mention. Its round head of fragrant white fl.iw- 

 ers and its foliage are both attracti^'e, and I never pass it 

 without adding some of its sprays to my wild bouquet. 



The ponds are more beautiful this month than last. 

 Their edges are fringed with a tall growth of rushes, 

 sedges and grasses, which sway in the wind, revealing 

 the flowers that hide among them. Charming Orchids 

 are here, more beautiful than many exotic rarities which 

 cost a king's ransom. The Grass Pink {Calopogon ptilchel- 

 Itis), with a scape of from six to twehe showy, rose-pur- 

 ple flowers, is in the height of its beauty, as is also its 

 ever-present companion, Pogonia Opliiogiossoides, with 

 ]ialer rose-colored, sweet scented flowers. And the White- 

 fringed Orchis {Habenaria blephariglotlis), with its many- 

 flowered spike of pure white flowers and cuf-fringed petals, 

 is surpassingly lovely. The Yellow-fringed Orchis {H. 

 ciliiiris), with bright, yellow-orange flowers, is handsome, 

 too, and each makes the other appear to the best advan- 

 tage. And the smaller Yellow-fringed Orchis {H. crisiata) 

 must not he left unnoticed and overshadowed b)' its more 

 pretentious relatives. It is not so abundant as the others, 

 and must be sought for, which makes it all the more ■ 

 charming when found. 



All of these Orchids, with many other native species, 

 will grow and thrive finely in a tub sunk in the ground, 

 where they might be fit companions to the Water Lilic« 

 lately desc:ibed in an editorial in Garden and Forest. 

 They will grow in any common garden soil, but ^vhere 

 it is practicable it is better to fill the tank or tub with 

 the soil from their native haunts, and also to cover the 

 surface of the ground with sphagnum, to give it a natural 

 bog appearance ; and the sphagnum will act as a barom- 

 eter, telling when to fipply water. 



One is surprised to find how many of these plants can 

 be grown in a small space. We can have a constant suc- 

 cession of charming flowers from early spring until late 

 autumn, M-ith no care after they are once established but 

 to add water in times of drought. 



The Cardinal flower {Lobelia cardiiiah's) is just coming 

 into bloom, and the Pickerel-weed {Poii/ederia cordala) 

 holds up its spike of blue flowers in striking contrast with 

 the gorgeous scarlet of the Lobelia. Everywhere under 

 foot are masses of bright, orange-colored flowers of 

 Polvgala lutea. And the large, shovv'y, pink-purple flowers 

 of .Aleadow Beauty [Rhe.via Virgi?iica) mingle with it. A 

 little in the background stands our superb Lily {Liliiiin 

 si/perbu)//), which hits its magnificent pyramid of nodding 



