October 17, 1888.] 



Garden and Forest. 



407 



until the leaves begin to crowd the netting, then remove 

 them and place among the plants corn cobs dipped in 

 coal tar. Do not allow the tar to touch the plants. Re- 

 dip the cobs once a month until, the middle of September. 

 This treatment will ward off all foes except, perhaps, the 

 Squash bug (A?iasa In'slis), and this is rarely so abundant as 

 to work much harm. — Ed.] 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — I am inclosing a portion of my piazza tor a conserva- 

 tory. The sashes are so arranged that they can be taken away 

 in the spring. The exposure of this conservatory will be 

 south-east and one of the house chimneys passes up through 

 it. I write to inquire af)out the best method of heating in an 

 inexpensive manner. Is there any small stove made that I 

 can use which will be fairly free from the escape of gas, and 

 with some provision for the evaporation of water, that the 

 heat may not be too dry ? . P. B. J . 



New York, July 26th, 18S8. 



[It is not practicable to satisfactorily heat a conserva- 

 tor)'' with a stove or without hot water or steam pipes. 

 Hitchings &Co., of this city, make a base-burner boiler 

 which is efficient for small work and economical. It 

 heats hot water pipes, and the plan of putting them in 

 should be entrusted to the maker of the boiler or some 

 capable engineer. 



There is also a heater much used for warming lirooders 

 in Hammonton, N. J., where man)' young chickens are 

 raised in the winter. It is the plan there to introduce 

 fresh air warmed by passing over pipes of hot water. 

 The apparatus is simple and inexpensive, and would, 

 no doubt, answer the purpose of our correspondent. It 

 is manufactured by Bramhall, Deane & Co,, of this citv. — 

 Ed.] 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — I was at Charlestown, New Hampshire, during the 

 summer, and saw growing Alfalfa, forty pounds of the seed of 

 which had been sent from Colorado and planted there. It had 

 been cut once, and was ready to cut again, and would proba- 

 bly yield five tons or more to the acre during the season. As 

 is well known, it is a very valualjle crop for cattle, sheep and 

 hogs in California, and planted on ricli, damp land gives large 

 returns. I am told it could be used to great advantage for en- 

 silage, and would like to inquire through your journal whv it 

 is not generally grown in the Middle States and parts of New 

 England ? 



Boston, M.iss. brankltn Hunt. 



[Crops of Alfalfa larger than that reported by our cor- 

 respondent are not rare in the iNIiddle and New England 

 States. At the New York Experiment Station it starts well, 

 does not winter kill, gives two, and even three good crops 

 a year, thrives on the heaviest soil and endures drought 

 admirably. The New Jersey Station reports that Alfalfa 

 can be cut three or four times a year for five or six years 

 in succession, yielding as heavy a crop per acre as fodder 

 Corn. A gentleman near Boston writes that he cannot dis- 

 pense with it as a soiling crop. And yet, for some reason, 

 the use of Lucerne has never become general, although it 

 was successfully cultivated nearly loo years ago in the 

 Middle States. The fact is that it very often fails. At a 

 farmers' meeting in Schenectady last spring. Colonel F. D. 

 Curtis replied to some one who marveled that this plant 

 was so generall)' neglected by saying, that once in about 

 twenty years agricultural writers unite to commend Lu- 

 cerne and quote many instances of success. But the fact 

 that the plant soon drops out of notice again is proof that 

 it lacks some quality essential in a first-class forage plant. 

 Secretary Guld, of Connecticut, says that repeated trials 

 have been made with Lucerne in that state, but they have 

 all resulted in failure. Still, the occasional successes are so 

 striking that the plant is worth trying in a small way on 

 every farm. Some authorities hold that an open, porous 

 subsoil is essential to the best growth of this plant, which 

 roots very deeply. The complaint is often made that a 

 good " catch " of seed cannot be secured. But this could 

 be remedied by care in preparing a well pulverized but 



compact seed-bed. It is often sown broadcast, but the 

 young plants are small and feeble, and easily smothered 

 by weeds. The seed should, therefore, be sown in drills 

 that are far enough apart to admit cultivation between the 

 rows until the plants are established. Probably a lack of 

 cultivation and sowing the seed on a soil that rests upon 

 an impervious hard pan, are the most frequent causes of 

 failure. But, after all, it must be admitted that agricul- 

 tural authorities are not prepared to s]ieak with positive- 

 ness of the conditions which are essential to success with 

 this crop. — Ed.] 



Recent Plant Portraits. 



Eucalyptus calophylla. Revue Horticole, September i6th ; 

 the Australian Red Gum, which Monsieur Andre recommends 

 for general cultivation in southern Europe, for its ornamental 

 quafities. 



Cattleya labiata, var. magnifica, Garienflora, Septemlier 

 15th. 



Ouesnelia Witlmackiana, Gartciiflora, September 15th. 



Pentstemon rotundifolius, Gaj-deners' CJironiile, .September 

 Sth. 



Pinus Pyrenaica (xera). Gardeners' CJironicle, September Sth. 



Arauja graveolens, Gardeners' Cronicle. September Sth ; a 

 beautiful, white-Howered stove-climfier, closely allied to and 

 requiring the same cultivation as .Stephanotis. 



Rhododendron Colletlianum, Gardeners' C/ironie/e, Septem- 

 ber 15th ; a dwarf species from tlie Kuram \'alley of Afghan- 

 istan. 



Ccmvolvulus tenuissinius. Gardeners' C/ironie/e, .Septemf)er 

 15th, 



Chironia peduncularis. Gardeners' Chronicle, September 



22d. 



Pentapera sicula. Gardeners' Chronicle, September 22d. 



I^assiHora Miersii, Gardeners' Chronicle, September 2gtli. 



Ursinia pulchra. Gardeners' Chronicle, September 29tli. 



Ruapellia grata. Gardeners' Chronicle, Septemlier 29tli. 



Botanical Magazine, October, Howea Belmoreana, /, 7018 ; 

 tin's, the Kentia Belmoreana of many gardens, is a small and 

 graceful cool-house Palm from Lord Howe's Island, off the 

 eastern coast of Australia. 



Rhododendron Collettianimi, t. 7019; an alpine white-fiow- 

 ered species, from the high Afghan mountains, introduced by 

 Dr. Aitchison ; of considerable horticultural value. 



Iris Alberti, /. 7020; a handsome species, with large, bright 

 lilac flowers, lately discovered Ijy the Russian botanists in the 

 mountains of Turkestan, whence it was introduced into culti- 

 vation Ijv Dr. Albert Regel, whose name it bears. Its botani- 

 cal interest is considerable, as Mr. Baker points out, in its 

 rudimentary crest and fully-developed beard down the claw of 

 the outer segments of the perianth, thus forming a connecting 

 link between the sub-genera, Pogoniris and Evansia. 



Disa racemosa, A 7021 ; a very handsome Cape species, with 

 bright rose-red flowers. 



Asarum macranthum, /. 7022; a native of Formosa. 



Recent Publications. 



Entomology for Beginners, for the use of young folks, fruit- 

 grower s , farmers and gardeners. By A. S. Packard, M.D., Pli.D. 

 "New York: Henry Holt & Co. 



The modest title of tliis book hardly docs justice to its 

 scope. Many amateur entomologists who are neitlier young 

 folks nor beginners will find instructive hints to aid them in 

 collecting and rearing insects, in preserving and dissecting 

 them for study, mounting thein for the microscope and pre- 

 paring them for the cabinet. It is for beginners, however, 

 that the book has been primarily prepared, and those who 

 wish to enter upon a course of serious study cannot find a 

 fietter treatise upon the elements of entomological science. 

 According to the classification adopted, the class of insects is 

 divided into si.xteen orders, beginning witli the lowest or wing- 

 less order, Thysanura, and ending with the most complicated 

 group, the Hynienoptera. This agrees not only with the suc- 

 cession of insects so far as this is known in geologic time, but 

 it probablv coincides with the order of evolution. 'This change 

 in classification seems to grow naturally out of our increased 

 knowledge, but Professor Packard points out that the adop- 

 tion of a larger number of orders is most convenient in view 

 of the great number of species now existing. There are 

 something like a million of these, and it is unnatural to crowd 

 them all "into the old Linnaean orders. The chapter on 



