September 12, 18 



Garden and Forest. 



347 



neglected, insects swarm upon the trees, and the pond and 

 fountain-basins are foul and filled with rubbish. The 

 tropical plants stuck about the garden, to which our corre- 

 spondent calls attention, are a new feature, which, with 

 the hardy and half-hardy shrubs, plunged in pots wherever 

 a place can be found for them, only serve to decrease its 

 beauty and diminish its real usefulness. The money 

 which it costs the -city to buy these plants, and build and 

 heat the green-houses in which they must be stored in 

 winter, might be spent more wisely in destroying injurious 

 insects or in cleaning the filth from the pond. The Boston 

 Public Garden is visited by thousands of people every 

 week. Its educational importance, therefore, is great — • 

 greater, probably, than that of any other garden of its size 

 in the United States. It is a misfortune, therefore, not only 

 for the people of Boston, but for those of the whole 

 country, that it cannot be made to express the real mean- 

 ing of what such a garden should be. — Ed.] 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — Referring to the article on "The Street Trees in Wash- 

 ington," in Harper's Magazine for July, let me say that nine 

 years ago I examined these trees in company with the late Dr. 

 John A. Warder. We thought it a good idea to plant these 

 common, rapidly-growing trees to make shade, while valuable 

 trees, that grew more slowly, were being established, and re- 

 gretted that tliey were planted so closely as to give insufficient 

 room for tlic permanent trees that we supposed would be 

 planted between them to take their places. It seems from Mr. 

 Peter Henderson's remarks that these trees were intended to 

 remain. Of tlie 63,014 trees planted, 43,914 are of Silver Ma- 

 ple, Bo.x Elder and Poplar. The climate of Washington would 

 admit of a selection of street trees that could not endure the 

 climate of our Northern cities. In that climate especially trees 

 shouki be selected which hold their leaves fresh in the late 

 summer months. The Silver Maple, Box Elder and Poplars 

 (over two-thirds of the whole number planted) are certainly 

 not the best that could be selected on that account. Compare 

 them in this respect with the Sugar Maple, the Cucumber tree, 

 "Magnolia acuiiiiiiafa," the Tulip tree, the Oaks and many 

 others. 



The foliage of the Silver Maple is poor in the late siunmer 

 compared with the above named, and, besides this, the 

 branches are l^rittle, and the trees are disfigured witli broken 

 and dead branches before growing old. The foliage of the 

 Box Elder is quite dense and rich in color early in the season, 

 but never fresh in the latter part of the season after it has 

 reached the age of twenty-five or thirty years, and especially 

 away from the margins of streams. Nearly all the Poplars, 

 with the exception of the Lombardy, are a nuisance in the 

 streets in early summer, shedding their down like rain upon 

 the just and the unjust. 



If longevity is taken into consideration, how will the Silver 

 Maples, Box Eklers and Poplars appear when fifty years old .' 

 Here where I write (Hanover, New Hampshire) the White 

 Elms and Sugar Maples, a hundred years old, line the streets, 

 and are noble trees still. Does any of these 43,914 trees com- 

 pare with the White Elm ? Will any one of them endure the 

 city smoke better than the White Elm ? I am not finding 

 fault with what has been done, I only wish to call attention to 

 what has not lieen done. No trees would make a shade 

 quicker nor so cheaply as these 43.914 trees, and if they shade 

 the streets for even twenty years they will have paid their way, 

 but it is already time to arrange for filling their places. Seeds 

 of trees of valuable and durable kinds should be sown now, the 

 trees grown and transplanted, with plenty of room, so that 

 they will be strong and vigorous before being planted into the 

 intermediate spaces. Then the soft-wooded trees can be cut 

 back on the sides, more or less, allowing the newly-planted 

 ones room to become well established, and by that time the 

 White Maples, Cottonwoods and Box Elders will be in a failing 

 condition. Robert Douglas. 



[This letter was written before Mr. Douglas had seen an 

 editorial article on the same subject in this journal. — Ed.] 



ingly distinct and picturesipie plant. The rich colors of its 

 stem and its graceful manner of growth are especially notice- 

 able. A marked trait is, that on the same spray, where tlie 

 berries are ripe, there will be not only green berries, tint 

 flowers and buds. The stem of the spray alone is remarkable 

 for beauty. I have stripped them of the berries and arranged 

 them in a vase-bouquet, and every one was desirous of know- 

 ing what the new and rich-colored thing was. So with the 

 flowers, wliich arc unique and pretty. A party of visitors once 

 gathered around a [ilateau of flowers in which I had arranged 

 the Poke blooms, and were curious to know what sort of Wax- 

 plant it was. The odor of the plant is not pleasant, but this is 

 slight in the flower, if at all noticeable. I raised my crop of 

 Poke from seed, but as the plant is perennial, it will come 

 up from year to year, faithful to the appointed time. 



Palmyia, N. J. //_ ;/ ^^_ 



Recent Publications. 



Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information. — Roval Gartlens, 

 Kew, No. 19, July, 1888. 



This, the last number of the useful puljlication which has 

 reached us, like its predecessors, is filled with valuable infor- 

 mation. It contains, among other articles, the following: On 

 Bhabur Grass [Isehamu/n augustifoliuni), with a figure, a plant 

 closely resembling the well-known Espartu Grass in habit and 

 in ciualities, which make it valuable in the manufacture of 

 paper. Bhabur Grass is a native of northern India, where it 

 grows on dry, bare slopes, and is used mostly in the manu- 

 facture of cordage. It is believed that this plant, were it culti- 

 vated on a large scale, might become important in furnish- 

 ing excellent material for paper-making, and that it can lie 

 easily cultivated this paper gives abundant evidence. 



(2) On the Cayman Islands, a group of three small islands — 

 Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brae — situated in 

 the Caribbean Sea about 200 miles west of Jamaica, and rarely 

 visited by travelers. They contain, however, a population of 

 more than 4,000 persons, who are described as temperate, 

 strong, tall, healthy-looking people, chiefly white or colored, 

 "and who are doubtless descended from the original settlers 

 of the last century." The population of black people is com- 

 paratively small. The vegetation of their islands is similar to 

 that of Jamaica, as are the crops, which are principally Sugar- 

 cane and Cocoa-nuts. 



(3) On the Prickly Pear in South Africa, being a discussion 

 of the best methods for exterminating the Prickly Pear from 

 South African fields, and of the uses to which these plants can 

 be applied, by Prof. MacOwen, director of the Botanic Garden 

 in Cape Town in South Africa. It is based upon the rapid spread 

 of the Prickly Pear, as one or more species of Opuntia are 

 called, in all dry regions of the Old World. These plants are 

 of American origin, but they are as much at home in the Old 

 World as on their native Mexican plateau. They render the 

 land thev occupy worthless for all purposes of agriculture, 

 and it is becoming, therefore, a matter of real importance to 

 determine how such plants are to be effectually eradicated at 

 a small cost, or if they cannot be eradicated, how they can be 

 profitably cultivated. 



There are also articles in this issue upon V;ilonia (the 

 acorn cups of Ouercus yEgilops), of which large quantities 

 are imported annually into England from Greece and Asia 

 Minor, and upon Star Anise — Illiciuni veruni. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — The quotation from an article entitled, " Among My 

 Weeds," in a recent issue of Garden and Forest, brings to inind 

 some " weeds" of my own cultivating — among them the Poke. 

 It is a matter of wonder that the Poke has not a place in beds 

 where strong, vigorous plants are growing. It is an exceed- 



Recent Plant Portraits. 



Cattleya Wai.KERL-vn.^, Revue dc l' Horticulture Beige, June. 



Rhododendron Maiden's Blush, Revue dc V Horticulture 

 Beige, June ; one of the earliest of the race of green-house 

 Rhododendrons raised l)y the Messrs. Vcitch, and deri\-ed 

 from R. Javanieuni. 



Hakea LAURINA, Bullctino de la R. Societa Toscana dl Orti- 

 cultura, June. 



Rose Bardon Job, Journal des Roses, May ; a haiulsome 

 Tea Rose, with semi-double scarlet flowers, raised from the 

 well known Gloire des Rosomanes by Narfionnard & Sons, of 

 Golfe Juan, and recommended as a strong-growing pillar Rose, 

 or fcr bedding. 



Bahia (Eriophvllum) confertiflora, Gartenflora, June 

 15th ; a half shrubby Californian Composite, with small heads 

 of yellow flowers. 



CH.tNACTis TENITFOI.IA, Gartenflora, June 15th; a loosely- 

 liranched, diffuse Composite ti'om the coast of soullicni Cali- 

 fornia, like the last, of little horticultural interest. 



Antirrhinum Nuttallianum, Gartenflora, ]unc 15th; a late 



