3^4 



Garden and Forest. 



[October 3. iS 



An attractive feature of the exhibition wei-e two micfoscopic 

 appafatus, rontributed by the inventor, Mr. Stiles Frost. Tliis 

 instrument surpasses all others in the ease with which a 

 flower can be observed, magnified and analyzed. It can be 

 put into position and focused almost instantly, and is so sim- 

 ple that a child of ordinary intelligence can use it effectively. 

 These instruments were surrounded by a throng of deeply 

 interested little Bostonians, who could not withhold their cries 

 of delight as they saw a flower, which before, to them, was 

 only a mass of color, distinctly unfold under the glass its ex- 

 c|uisite structure, texture and beauty, opening a new realm in 

 tlie world of flowe]'s. 



Dm'ing the summer there have been several local exhibits 

 in other parts of the city, the most successful being at Orienta 

 Hall, in Roxburv. Perhaps the most important work of the 

 Committee has been in su|i|)]ving plants to tliose that wish 

 them. 



These are furnished at cost, delivered free at some conve- 

 nient distributing point. They are specially propagated, and 

 great care is taken that every plant is of superior quality and 

 certain to flower under proper care. L. M. C. 



Notes. 



The second annuul exhibition of the Society of Indiana 

 Florists will be held at Indianapolis from the 13th to the i6tli 

 of November. 



The joint meeting of the American Forestry Congress and 

 of the Southern Forestry Congress will be held at Atlanta, 

 Ga., on November 29th instead of November 12th, as formerly 

 announced. 



Harper's IVct-kly for Septenil.)er 22d contains a four-page 

 illustrated supplement on " Irrigation in the Arid West." The 

 paper was prepared by Richard J. Hinton, and it presents, in 

 a clear and attractive way, the most interesting phases of the 

 great material prolilem which must soon engage the attention 

 of American legislators. 



Some new seedling Gaillartlias are mentioned as most 

 promising among the plants in the early September exhibi- 

 tions in Lc)ndon. The Gaillardia has already become a 

 popidar border flower since its great improvement din-ing 

 recent years; but these new varieties are very double and 

 quite distinct from the single sorts. One of them, made up 

 of tubular florets of bright red and gold, is spoken of as most 

 showy. 



The students of the Miller Manual Labor School of Albe- 

 marle County, Virginia, as a part of their botanical training, 

 have prepared a collection of the native woods of their county, 

 inC(luding more than eighty specimens, for the Richmond 

 Exposition. The woods are prepared in Ijlocks, in radial sec- 

 tions, with neat labels, giving the botanical and common name. 

 The extent of the collection illustrates the richness of the 

 forests of the foothills of the Blue Ridge in arborescent 

 species. 



Professor Budd, in the recently published report of tlie 

 Ohio State Forestry Bureau, says, that his experience with the 

 Honey Locust for fence lumber dates back some twenty-five 

 years. Fence rails of that age nailed on posts have outlasted 

 three sets of posts and two sets of Red Oak rails, and the 

 Locust rails are yet mostly good. The rails were split and 

 nailed on in June and July. Posts made from Locust timber, 

 seasoned one summer before setting, and mixed with White 

 Oak posts treated in the same way, lasted equallv well. 



Of the Viburnums, none are now more showv than the 

 High-bush Cranljerry, as its brilliant scarlet fruit lights up its 

 heavy foliage. The neat Arrow-wood (/'. dentaticiii) is also at 

 its best now, with its large clusters of blue fruit and its shining 

 leaves. The dwarf V. cassiiioides, with pink and blue berries 

 among its deep green leaves, makes a good companion for 

 the others, and when plantetl on rich soil is hardly surpassed 

 by any other shruli of its size. These Viburnums, beautiful 

 during spring and summer in flower, foliage and habit, are 

 doubly useful for the ne^\■ charm thev develop as their Iruits 

 ripen in autumn. 



A correspondent of Nulitrc, writing Irom Noumea, in New 

 Caledonia, upon the dispersion of seeds .and plants, records 

 the fact that thousands of acres of ])asture-land have been ab- 

 solutely ruined on the island l;)y the spread, through the 

 agency of birds, of a species of Lantana, introduced by the first 

 Catholic missionaries sent to tlic island, as a hedge-plant to 

 surround theii' property at St. Louis, or Conception. Tlie 



history of the " Gendaine iilant " is not less interesting. It is 

 an Asclepiad of which ;i seed was lirought to the island 

 from Tahiti by a Gejtdame in his pillow. The Gendames\\oo\'. 

 out his pillow, the seed, with its silky attachment, fioated off, 

 fell upon suitable soil, germinated, and now the " Gendame 

 plant " has injured the island as much as the missionaries' 

 hedge. 



Mr. E. S. Carman, of the Rural New Yorker, early this 

 spring undertook to raise Potatoes at the rate of 700 bushels 

 per acre by planting' them in trenches. These trenches were 

 eight inches deep and one foot wide. The Ijottom of the trench 

 was loosened with a prong hoe, and the cut tubers were laid 

 one foot apart in the row. Then a thin layer of soil was placed 

 over tliem and a dressing of sulphur added to discourage the 

 cut worm. Mapes' potato fertilizer, 880 pounds per acre, was 

 placed Lielow the potatoes and the same amount above. Last 

 week the cro|), in five rows each thirty-tliree feet long and 

 three feet apart, was harvested. The first row yielded at the 

 i'ate of 684 liusliels to the acre, the second at the rate of 605 

 bushels, the third at the rate of 1,076 bushels, the fourth 299 

 bushels, and the fifth 253 bushels, the entire plot yielding at 

 the rate of 5S3 bushels per acre. The Cucumber Hea beetle 

 had injured all the tops, and especially those in the last two 

 rows, whicli were of an early variety. 



The managers of the Pennsylvania Railroad recently passeil 

 a resolution that all the bridges of short spans on the road 

 should be reliuilt in brick or stone, instead of iron. They were 

 actuated by purely practical considerations relating to the 

 recent increase in the weight of locomoti\'es which, the im- 

 provements of tlie past few years have brought about, and 

 the consequent inability of the iron Ijridges to bear the strains 

 to which they are now subjected. But in commenting upon 

 their resolve, Tlic American Architect and Building News 

 riglitly says; "Aside from their greater safety, however, 

 liridges of masonry have the festhetic advantage of being 

 usually interesting and often very beautiful objects, while 

 iron truss bridges have never yet been endowed with any- 

 thing more than an engineering attraction. The roughest 

 stone arch across a roadway presents a beautiful combina- 

 tion of lines, a line contrast of light and shadov,-. and a 

 picturesque effect of landscape beyond, together with an ex- 

 pression of quiet durability which is more needed in our 

 architecture than any other quality. . . . Already our 

 country railway stations, imder ])rofessional care, are fast 

 becoming transformed from hideous sheds covered with 

 clapl:)Oards into charming buildings of stone, picturesque, 

 solid and convenient, often quite richly decorated, and gen- 

 erally surrounded by pretty and well-kept gardens. The 

 b.etter class of these new stations in this country are far 

 more beautifid than those of foreign roads, and if the design 

 of the bridges could be brought up to that of the roads, the 

 line of every well-managed road would furnish a route of 

 considerable architectural interest." 



It is well known that a difference in luxuriance of growth 

 shows, not only in the size and shape of plants, but also in 

 tlieir color, individuals which are well nourished being of a 

 tlarker green than others of the same species which obtain 

 insufficient food. But it is seldom that a knowledge of this 

 fact is turned to good account in so curious a way as has 

 recently been done bv a German archipologist, who has re- 

 cently been excavating the remains of tlie Roman camp of 

 Carnuntum, near Altenburg, a small town on the Danube be- 

 tween Vienna and Presljurg. " It appears," says the London 

 Times, " that Professor Hauser, ever on the alert, had for a 

 month past observed the color of an extensive corn-field, 

 which varied in every part. He found an elevated post of 

 iibservation, and, after a week's close attention, declared it to 

 lie his opinion that the corn-field was growing over the site 

 of an ancient amphitlieatre. His drawings showed that the 

 oblong centre piece was somewhat concave, and the corn 

 was c[uite ripe in that pai't, because there was so much soil 

 between the sm-face and the liottom of the theatre. Elli]:>tical 

 lines of green, growing paler the liigher thev rose, showed the 

 seats, and lines forming a radius from the centre showed the 

 walls supporting the elliptical ro\vs of seats. The Professor 

 waited impatiently for the corn to ripen, and the moment it 

 was cut the excavations began. They have shown that the 

 almost incredible sug^gestion was perfectly correct. Six 

 inches below the soil the top of the outer wall was found, and 

 from there the soil gradually grew thicker until the bottom 

 of the arena was reached, the pavement of which is in perfect 

 condition. From the theatre a paved road leads to the Camp 

 of Carnuntum. As soon as the theatre has lieen entirel\ 

 I reed of soil covering it, all the measurements will be taken. 



