420 



Garden and Forest. 



[October 24, 1SS8. 



The heavy storm which passed over Washington on tlie 

 16th of September did much damage to the green-houses both 

 at tlie White House and the Botanic Garden. Many trees in 

 the Botanic Garden were likewise injured and tliree well- 

 l^nown "memorial trees" destroyed. The Garland Elm, 

 planted by the present Attorney-General, was split in two; the 

 Buckeye, Mdiich was transplanted a nimiber of years ago from 

 the grounds of the late Vice-President Hendricks, was up- 

 rooted; and a Robinia, which commemorated President Gar- 

 field, was laid prostrate. 



Professor Budd believes that alternating varieties in the 

 Cherry or Plum orchard favors regular fruitage. A variety 

 that might prove to be a very poor bearer when depending on 

 its own pollen supply, may be found regularly fruitful when 

 intermingled witli other sorts. In our climate, if the weather 

 diu'ing tlie blossoming period is hot and windy, a variety may 

 mature and waste its pollen before the stigmas are ready to 

 receive it. In such the pollen of adjoining sorts may perform 

 the needed work with the aid of the insects or the breeze. 



Tlie current issue of Insect Life gives credit to W. W. Meech, 

 of Vineland, N. J., the well-lvnown author on Quinces, for 

 the discovery that the ways of the common beetle {A//o!-kina 

 niiida) are not altogether bad. He found the adult beetles 

 eating the fungus Rass/i/ia aurantiaca upon his Quince trees. 

 They even alighted upon it in the basket when he was gather- 

 ing the fungus, and ate it greedily. Mr. Meech savs " for this 

 meritorious service I desire they should have full credit as 

 among the insects beneficial." This beneficial habit, however, 

 is more than counterbalanced l.iy their appetite for fruit, to 

 say nothing of the damage done by the larva. 



A correspondent of the Springfield Republican consMXexs the 

 600 square miles comprised in the Annapolis and Gaspereau 

 Valleys of Nova Scotia destined to become one great Apple 

 orchard. One-tenth of this area is now planted with Apple 

 trees, over one-fourth of tliese being yovmg trees, and from 

 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 l)arrels will be annually produced in ten 

 years. Under competition between American and English 

 buyers the Apples sell for fnjm three dollars to five dollars 

 per barrel. About half a million barrels of Gravensteins, Bald- 

 wins, King of Tompkins, Nonpareils, Russets, Ril)ston Pip- 

 pins and other choice varieties are now produced and e.\- 

 ported every year. The fruit is of the best quality, the trees 

 yield from three to seven barrels each, and trees are being 

 planted at the rate of from 100 to 10,000 annually on each 

 Apple farm. 



According to the Country Gentleman, this season has been 

 a favorable one in many places for heavy crops of Apples and 

 Pears. The trees blossomed abundantly, but the fruit, when 

 about a quarter grown, began to drop, to the great discourage- 

 ment of owners. This proved, however, the best thing that 

 could have happened, especially to Rhode Island Greenings, 

 and to the Sheldon and Lawrence among Pears. It effected 

 an excellent thinning of the fruit, and what remained devel- 

 oped into such fine specimens as are rarely seen. An expert 

 estimate placed the quantity of Greenings in a portion of one 

 orchard at forty bushels, and there afterwards proved to be 

 more than a hundred bushels. For an estimate of five bush- 

 els of Lawrence Pears there were twenty-four. The Sheldons 

 were superb and the Seckels large and fine. This result 

 could be reached any year when an abundant crop is set by 

 artificial thinning, without anv diminution of the number of 

 Ijushels. 



The government has decided to abandon and sell the 

 Custom-House and Sub-Treasury, on Wall Street, in this city, 

 because of the insufficient size of the buildings and the great 

 value of their sites. In the recent rejiort of Mr. Fryer, United 

 States .Superintendent of Repairs for New York, it is recom- 

 mended tliat land for the erection of new buildings shoidd l)e 

 taken on Battery Park, or, preferaljly, the Bowling Green. 

 Certain local newspapers have interpreted this to mean that 

 Mr. Fryer would like to see the buildings placed in one or the 

 other of these parks, but we prefer to believe that his recom- 

 mendation merely refers to sites facing upon them. After all 

 that has been said of the deploralile lack of breathing-spaces 

 in the lower part of New York, and in face of the Mayor's wise 

 advice that they shoidd be at once increased in number, it 

 seems preposterous that any one can seriously think of saving 

 government money at the expense of any of the little parks 

 which now exist. The outrage perpetrated bv the national 

 authorities in placing the Post-Office where it stands, has not 

 yet been, and never ought to be, forgiven. And a sister huild- 

 ingon the Bowling Green or Battery Park would never, we feel 

 sure, lie permitted even fiy oui' long-surt'ering fellow citizens. 



It is interesting to learn from English newspapers that Gen- 

 eral Prejevalsky, a distinguished Russian explorer, is about to 

 try for the third time to reach the capital of the " Dalai Lama " 

 in Thibet. Although this town — Lhassa — is only 300 or 400 

 miles from the frontier of India, not more than six or seven 

 Eiu'opeans have ever set foot in it — and of these not one is 

 alive to-day. The Russian general's first attempt was made 

 through Mongolia and occupied three years. He was then 

 forced to turn Ijack when within twenty days' journey of 

 Lhassa. About three years later, in 1876, he tried for the 

 second time, but was again unsuccessful. Now he will make 

 the attempt by the way of western and south-western Mon- 

 golia, and expects to Ise absent at least two years. The im- 

 portance of his travels to naturalists is shown by the facts that 

 from his first expedition he brought back five thousand speci- 

 mens of plants, together with large collections of mammals, 

 fish and insects ; and that, taking all the collections together, 

 about one-tifth of his specimens were found to be new to 

 science. The country over which he will travel is extremely 

 difficult and dangerous, and many of the tribes are fanatically 

 hostile to Europeans. If he accomplishes his attempt, his 

 account of Lhassa will excite the greatest interest, and if he 

 returns in safety, even without reaching the capital, important 

 additions to scientific knowledge may be expected. 



The largest and finest collection of Orchids ever offered at 

 public sale in this country by a nurseryman or dealer was dis- 

 posed of by auction at the rooms of Young & Elliott, of this 

 city, on Tuesday of last week. The sale included the entire 

 stock which Messrs. F. Sander & Co., of St. All>ans, England, 

 had collected at their establishment in Jersey City, and con- 

 sisted of more than 1,000 lots. The total amount realized was 

 about $7,000, and it would have been considerably more if 

 the sale had been concluded. The day was too short, how- 

 ever, and some 200 of the lots catalogued were not reached. 

 As a rule satisfactory prices were obtained, but some of the 

 very finest Orchids sc>ld for less than their real value. This 

 was true of the super!) specimen of '[''anda Sanderiana, which 

 brought only $230. The original plant of Cypripcdiicm Boxallii 

 atratuin, which was certificated Ijy the Royal Horticultural 

 Society of England, sold for $160 ; Cypripediuin Chantinii, Phil- 

 brick's variety, brought $160, and a wonderful specimen of 

 Cattleya Mossier sold for $145. Perhaps the Cypripediums, 

 all things considered, were sold to the best advantage. It 

 was noted that the bidding was quite as brisk when darkness 

 put an end to the sale as it was at the beginning. It was 

 noted, too, that a larger proportion of the plants than is 

 usually the case went to the trade about New 'York and Phila- 

 delphia, showing a confidence on the part of alert dealers that 

 the demand for Orchids, and the best Orchids, is steadily 

 growing in this country. 



Referring to the popular idea that sulphur i>laced in lioles 

 bored in the trunks of trees will be dissolved and carried 

 by the sap to the foliage in such quantities as to render it offen- 

 sive to insects, a recent Bulletin of the Massachusetts Agri- 

 cultural College Experiment Station says that it has been 

 found upon cutting down trees which have been plugged 

 with sulphur that the material remains unchanged for many 

 years. It is added that while we are spending so much effort 

 to prevent injury to our trees from borers we certainly ought 

 not to make holes in them many times larger than those made 

 by any known species of insect. In order to ascertain 

 whether sulphur in soluble form can be introduced into a 

 tree so as to aftect the fiuigus growths causing rusts, blights 

 and mildews, some large Rose bushes, badly mildewed, were 

 treated with satiu'ated solutions of potassium sulphide, hydro- 

 gen sulphide and ammonium sulphide. The liquid was 

 forced into holes bored in the main stem with a small gimlet, 

 and the orifice was plugged with grafting-wax. At first a 

 slight improvement in the amount of mildew upon the leaves 

 was noticed, but in September all the bushes but one were 

 dead, presumably from the effect of the holes. Until further 

 trials are made, this experiment indicates that while there may 

 be some promise that antiseptics introduced into the sap cir- 

 culation may prevent the growth of fungi, some safer means 

 of introducing the solutions must be found. From the nature 

 of the case it is hardly possible that anv substance can be 

 introduced into the circulation in sufficient quantities to affect 

 insect life. Professor Maynard, who prepared the Bulletin, 

 suggests that an inspection be made next season of the Elms 

 in Boston which were bored and filled with chemicals last 

 spi'ing to make the leaves distasteful to beetles. Careful 

 weighing' woidd determine how much of the powder hail 

 escaped from the hole, and analysis could delect the presence 

 of any excess of sulphur in the leaves. 



