October 3, 1888.] 



Garden and Forest. 



383 



tlian the other tiiberous-roKted si.iecies, and has been Httle 

 used by the hybridizer. 



From these six species, none of which had been seen in 

 European gardens until twenty-one years ago, the wliole race 

 of Tuberous Begonias, single and double, is descended. The 

 fact is interesting as showing the influence of one commer- 

 cial establishment upon modern horticulture, that five of 

 these six species were discovered and introduced into culti- 

 vation by collectors of the house of James Veiti;li & Sons, 

 which has done more than any one single agency in the last 

 fifty years to increase the numlser of plants cultivated in gar- 

 dens. The earliest hybrid Begonia was raised in their estab- 

 lishment by John Seden, whose skill as a hybridizer is com- 

 memorated in many genera, by crossing B. BoHviensis with 

 an imnamed species, it is said. Other varieties soon appeared, 

 and good strains were raised by English and continental 

 growers, and it may be said by American growers also. 



It is needless to attempt to describe all the varieties of these 

 plants, or t(3 mention the dilTerent crosses to which they owe 

 their origin. This information, and much sound advice about 

 the-care and cultivation of these plants and the use to which 

 they can be put, and other information concerning them, will 

 be found in the little book whose title we have given above. 

 Tuberous Begonias have many claims to popularity. The 

 color of their flowers varies from the most intense scarlet to 

 pure white, and to various shades of yellow. The plants are 

 of neat and graceful habit. Then' is'no plant, not even the 

 scarlet Geranium, which, in flower, can produce a more gor- 

 geous mass of color, or that can be used more effectively for 

 certain decorative purposes. A blazing sun will not cause 

 them to wilt, and the severest and most protracted rain- 

 storm will not dim nor destroy the beauty of their flowers. 

 A green-house is not needed to keep the'm over winter, as 

 tubers enough to plant an acre or two may be stored in a 

 moderate sized drawer. Tuberous Begonias, however, have 

 their drawbacks. As cut tfovvers they do not last well, as the 

 petals soon fall ; they are practically useless for exhiljition 

 purposes, because they lose their flowers in traveling. In- 

 deed, when the plants are grown in pots, it is almost nnpos- 

 sible to move them about for conservatory or interior decora- 

 tion. The Tuberous Begonia is essentially a plant which must 

 be let alone, and allowed to remain where it has grown. The 

 plants are now universally popular in England, and are seen 

 everywhere in the great private show gardens and public 

 nurseries ; — where entire ranges of glass-houses are devoted 

 to their cultivation, in public parks and in the humfilest cot- 

 tage gardens. In this country, for some not very apparent 

 reason, they are much less frequently grown, and yet the 

 climate is better suited to them than that of England or of 

 any part of northern Euroiie. The reason may "be that we 

 have not yet passed beyond the Scarlet Geranium stage, a 

 disease which seems to have nearly run its course in Europe, 

 or it may be that, as they arc not good exhiljition subjects, 

 gardeners do not like them, and that, as they are not good for 

 cut flowers, commercial florists cannot make use of them. 

 The American public, at any rate, really know very little as yet 

 of the possibilities in beauty and usefulness of Tuberous 

 Begonias. 



Periodical Literature. 



In the August number of the Pharmaceutischc RuiuLschaii 

 (a German periodical published in this city). Dr. Carl Mohr, 

 of Mobile, prints the first of a series of articles on "The 

 Distribution of Plants through the Agency of Animals," a most 

 instructive and interesting chapter, dealing with plant-migra- 

 tions in the eastern fiulf region of the United States, in so far 

 as they have progressed Avithout conscious action on the jjart 

 of man. 



The district Dr. ^Mohr's surt-ey includes stretches from west- 

 ern continental Florida to the Mississippi and northward to the 

 limits of the States of Mississippi and Alabama. Here, he says, 

 more than 250 species of plants are known to be foreign in- 

 truders among those of native origin. Two-flflhs of them have 

 so accommodated themselves to local conditions that theyma)- 

 now be regarded as fully estaljlished in their new home. 

 These fielong in greater part to the flora of northern Asia and 

 Europe, antl in lesser part to that of the Mediterranean region 

 or to the warmer zones of the eastern and western continents. 

 Following in the footsteps of immigration, they remain for the 

 most part confined to the vicinity of settlements, although 

 some of them have spread alu'oad into the outer wilderness. 

 Many of them are troublesome weeds which, c<.innng from 

 Europe, are now found over the whole of North America, to 

 such a degree that it is sometimes diltlciilt to decide whether 

 they are naturalized oi- native. Foreign grasses are also found 



in great variety, some of them having come without visible 

 help from man, while others, like Sorghitin vitlgarc, have been 

 first planted and then spread abroad through the agency of 

 birds. Among plants of tropical origin, Ricliardsonia scabra 

 is noted as having spread, in the last forty years, over the 

 whole sandy region near the Gulf, and as now extending 

 into the highland districts of Alabama. This, the Pigeon Weed 

 or Mexican Clover, makes excellent hay, and is a real acquisi- 

 tion to set against many serious nuisances. 



Lcspedeza striata, the Japan clover, a native of eastern Asia, 

 oilers a remarkable instance of rapid migration. First noticed 

 near Charleston towards the end of the fifties, it was found at 

 Macon in 1865, at Augusta in 1867 and at Montgomery in 1868, 

 growing densely on the fields which hail lain untilled during 

 the war, and spreading into adjacent uncultivated regions. 

 In 1869 it had reached Mobile County, in Alabama, having 

 made the journey from near the Atlantic coast in a little more 

 than four years. The war prepared the place for it; wandering 

 cattle sowed its seeds in their excrement, and it now furnishes 

 fodder of good quality in large quantities. 



The Ailanthus tree of China is fully naturalized in the Gulf 

 region, as is the Cherokee Rose, which, although some ob- 

 servers believe it to be a native. Dr. Mohr declares to be 

 an immigrant from the same country. 



Many plants, esiieciallv from tropical regions, have been in- 

 troduced in ballast and cargoes to the neighborhood of coast 

 towns. Some of them have wandered inland and become 

 lirmly established ; others are still local or even sporadic. 

 Birds and cattle have brought others from western America, 

 some of real value ; and birds, again, have brought others 

 from the West Indies, vvliile the track of industry is strewn 

 with immigrants. In Prattville, Alabama, for instance, an 

 interesting colony of Mexico-Te.xan plants has established 

 itself in tlie vicinity of a wool factory, their seeds having been 

 brought from the shores of the Rio Grande in the fleeces. 



Heleniuin tcniiifoliuiii was first noticed by Dr. Mohr, growing 

 in a street in Mobile, in 1878. Since then it has spread through 

 Mississippi and Alabama northward for two hundred miles, 

 crowding out the native plants and subduing the foreign 

 weeds. Its home is in the Indian Territory and the western 

 parts of Arkansas. It is a pernicious weed, spoiling fodder by 

 its bitter taste ; but the same district has sent to the Gulf States 

 the Chicasaw Plum, which is now so thoroughly naturalized 

 that it is often believed indigenous. Its distribution, like that 

 of so many other plants, is attributed, even by the unlearned 

 inhabitants, to the agency of birds. 



Of course the interest of Professor Mohr's article is greatly 

 decreaseil by the necessity we have been under of omitting 

 •the catalogues of plants which he gives in great numbers. 

 We can do no more, however, than wish it may be translated 

 entire for the benefit of those who do not read German. It is 

 not only instructive and most interesting in itself, but, as he 

 rightly believes, valuable as illustrating, with definite and 

 varied factp, the manners in which vegetable transmigration 

 has been carried on during- countless ages in the past. 



Exhibitions. 

 Window Gardening in Boston. 



THE Window Gardening Exhibition at Horticultural Hall, 

 Septeml.ier 15th, was most interesting and instructive as 

 showing the progress of this admiralile work. A marked im- 

 provement was shown in the condition of the plants as com- 

 pared with those exhibited in 1887, and the large attendance 

 of visitors and the number of contributors are most encourag- 

 ing indications of even better results m the future. 



Nearly 200 pots and more than 100 collections of cut flowers 

 were on the tal)les. The display of W. E. Coburn, comprising 

 forty varieties of wild flowers, and arranged with admirable 

 taste, was a marked feature. The plants of nine exhibitors 

 were deemed worthy of special mention as of superior excel- 

 lence, and there were besides about seventy small gratuities 

 presented to exhiljitors. 



A slight collation was served at twelve for those whose 

 homes were distant, and was greatly enjoyed by about sixty 

 children, mostly girls. The admirable deportment of the 

 \oung people was noted by all, and was most gratifying to the 

 Committee, who have given their services to this-enterprise 

 with the purpose of refining and elevating tlie tastes of the 

 voung, providing innocent and usefulemploymeiitand making 

 homes more cheerful and happy. 



It mav be set down as an educational fact that a chikl cannot 

 dailv cai'e for a plant, study it and watch its development, 

 and le.ini to love it. willinut .1 decided moral and spiritual 

 im[)rovement. 



