38o 



Garden and I^orest. 



[October 3, 1888. 



and rare species. It was found at a very high elevation, 

 where the atmosphere at all seasons was cool and moist. It 

 is a free flowering species ciuite distinct in habit, differing en- 

 tirely from others of the genus, having long, falcate leaves of 

 a leathery te,\ture, from the base of which stout, erect stems 

 are produced, each Ijearing as many as twelve handsome 

 blossoms of ivory whiteness, with tail-like spurs, measuring 

 from six to nine inches in length. The flowers, whicli appear 

 in February and March, are very fragrant, and, if removed to 

 cooler quarters, will i-emain several weeks in beauty. These 

 plants do not enjoy so much heat as the majority of Angr;i?- 

 cums, but should occupy a light and airy position in the 

 Cattleya house, and, if suspended in baskets or pans, will be 

 found to thrive and flower freely in a mixture of clean, fresh 

 sphagnum, and a small quantitv of rougli, fibrous peat. 



A. D. 



Kniphophia corallina. — Tliis is a free-growing, free-blooming 

 form of A". Mannvcni. On March 6th of last year (1887) I 

 sowed some seeds o£ it in a pot in the green-house, and in 

 due time pricked them out into a flat, which I kept in a cold- 

 frame all summer. Last October I transplanted them from 

 the flat into a frame from which frost had been excluded in 

 winter, and thence into rich ground out-of-doors last spring. 

 They made very little growth last year, but they have grown 

 vigorously this summer, and nineteen out of twenty-three are 

 now, or have been, in bloom. As a rule seedling Kniphophias 

 do not bloom till the third year from sowing-time. As 

 nearly all the varieties are highly decorative plants, and 

 especially useful for late l>looming, we should treat them 

 tenderly over winter. By mulching them deeply with dry 

 leaves we can preserve them over winter in the open ground, 

 Ijut it is safer to lift them in fall and winter them in a cold pit, 

 cool green-liouse or cellar. If an increase of some particu- 

 lar variety is desired at lifting time, we may shorten back the 

 long leaves, then divide the crown into as many parts as we 

 can separate with g'ood roots to each, and plant these close 

 together in a frame from which frost is excluded, in the same 

 way as we do with Ehemann's Canna, and plant them out in 

 the open garden in spring. W. F. 



China Asters arc among the most useful of garden annuals. 

 Tliey are not only beautiful in form and color, but their lastmg 

 ciualities add much to their value. The cut flowers do not 

 easily wilt, and revive quickly in water when they do begin to 

 droop. Early flowering China Asters mature much more 

 quickly than the later varieties; but to prolong their lives 

 take up a few of the choicest plants, place in small flower- 

 pots, water well, and keep in the dark for a day, and you will 

 soon have a living bouquet of rare beauty for in-door decora- 

 tion, giving far less trouble than cut flowers, and remaining 

 fresli and in bloom for weeks. The pots can, of course, be 

 concealed if desired. A plant of Dwarf Bouquet taken up just 

 in time to save it from the frost bloomed last 3'ear for five or 

 six weeks, the opening buds often presenting curious varia- 

 tions of color and greater delicacv of tint. 



Pittsluid, Vermont. ' G, A. Jl . 



The Forest. 



Forestry in California. — II. 



TN California a numl)er of small tree-plantations have been 

 ^ made, and, 1 believe, with very satisfactory resiflts. Sev- 

 eral small groves of Locust trees have been reported as hav- 

 ing proved profitable, the wood being sold for wagons, etc. 

 The only figures I am able to give, however, apply to planta- 

 tions of the Encalyplus globulus. One case is that of Mr. 

 Robt. C. E, Stearns, of Berkeley, who reports on a plantation 

 of General Stratton, made in 1869; twenty acres were cut 

 when eleven years old, every item of expense was noted, and 

 a rental of $5 per year was charged for the land. The net 

 returns on the twenty acres were $3,866.00. Another case is 

 that of Mr. George A. Nadeau, of Los Angeles. 

 His figures are : 



E.XPENSE. 



Cost of trees at time of setting, per acre, . . $7.50 



Labor of replanting, per acre, .... 5.00 



Cultivation, per acre, . . . . . . . 5.00 



Rental of land for seven years at $3 per acre. . 21.00 



Expense for seven years, total, per acre, . . $38.50 



Income. 

 Thirty-five cords of fire-wood per acre, .at $3 per 



cord in the tree, ...... los.oo 



Total expense for ninetv-seven acres, . $3,734.50 



Total return, ..'.... 10,185.00 



Net profits 6,450.50 



California experience shows that tree-planting is piofitaljle 

 within reasonable periods, and gives retmiis as soon as some 

 orchards, while requiring less care and less fh'st cost. 



From these points it will be clear that, looking at the forest 

 in the most commonplace and most narrow practical view, 

 scientific management is both advisaljle and necessary. 

 Without it, this immense crop of the forests must disappear, 

 to the great detriment cif the country. 



White these considerations would doubtless be deemed 

 fully sufficient to a business m:m to warrant a change in our 

 forest policv, looking to the preservation of the woods from 

 waste and tire, and to the maintenance of their natural repro- 

 duction to replace the legitimate demand of trade, there 

 ^n■e still other reasons of more pressing force which demand 

 forest-preservation. These are the sanitary and climatic in- 

 fluence of forests, and still more their efl'ect on the agricul- 

 tural productiveness of the country through the precipitation 

 and distribution of moisture controlled by them, and their im- 

 portance in equalizing the flow of streams and in maintaining 

 springs. The sanitary influence of forests is well understood 

 by investigators. It will be well, however, to give a few illus- 

 trations on this point. 



The Roman Campagna in ancient times was covered with 

 woods and groves. From it sprang one of the hardiest and 

 most forceful races of the world. We must therefore infer 

 that it was a healthy locality. Since the clearing of this dis- 

 trict, and through modern times, the Campagna has been one 

 of the most deadly miasmatic regions of Europe. Within 

 recent years considerable plantations of trees have been made 

 iq)on its desolate wastes. One of the largest of these was 

 made upon a large estate near Civita Vecchia. The trees 

 were principally Eucalyptus. The amelioration in the health 

 of the locality was prompt. Whereas laborers only remained 

 on the estate in tlie day and departed to safe places at night, 

 losing much time in traversing the long distance between their 

 work and their shelter, after the growth of the trees they 

 were able to remain with impunity in the district itself. 

 Another plantation on the Campagna was made by the 

 priests at the grand church of St. Paul. The benefit to the 

 health of the fathers was in this case equally marked ; the ma- 

 larial fevers have become less frequent and less deadly. 



The Island of Cyprus was formerly celebrated for its luxury 

 and refinement; it contained a large population and was at that 

 time, at least in its mountainous parts, covered with forests. 

 It has been cleared and is now a desolate island of bare rocks, 

 with a few cultivated valleys. It is suljject to virulent forms 

 of malarial disease, and contains not a hundredth part of its 

 former popvdation and none of its prosperity. Since the 

 English occupation forest plantations ha\'e been commenced 

 on a large scale, but it is too soon to know their eftect. 



The shores of the Mediterranean show numerous cases 

 similar to these. The island of Mauritius is still another, 

 but we do not have to leave our own country to prove 

 this coimt. The records of the huntsmen and adventurers 

 who first traveled the wooded western States of America 

 make no mention of malaria as a dreaded malady. The 

 record changed when the settlers came ; tliese cut the trees, 

 and it was "then, and only then, that malaria became the 

 scourge to humanity that it is in parts of the United States. 

 While this evidence cannot be held as conclusive, still all 

 experience seems to confirm it. The plantmg of belts of 

 trees in malarial districts protects localities previously sub- 

 ject to malarial influence. It must be understood, also, in this 

 connection, that the clearings in the western States were a 

 necessity, malaria or no malaria. 



Many diseases common in open countries are rare or 

 absent in wooded ones, wherever considerable village pop- 

 ulations exist, as in the Black Forest of Germany. The 

 death-rate in the communities of the Black Forest is lower 

 than that of any other part of Germany. Consumption is the 

 disease whicli, amongst civilized nations, counts the greatest 

 number of victims. In forests this dreadful malady is prac- 

 tically unknown. This fact is now so well recognized by 

 medical men, that they send their patients, even in a climate 

 like that of northern New York, to the Adirondack woods as a 

 cure, to remain not only in summer, but in winter also. The 

 beneficial elfects of the Pine forests at Arcahon, in France, 

 and in our southern States, have been availed of in ijhthisis. 

 Fog, it is now known liv a number of well regulated experi- 

 ments, is impossible without dust of some kind in the air. In 

 this connection it may be well to call attention to the explana- 

 tion of our California coast fog. In summer the upper 



