NovF.^fI!F,R 7. 



Garden and Forest. 



435 



The Pines in OcIoIkt. 



IT is past Ihe middle of Oclubcr, and several light Irosls 

 have cut the more tender herbage, but we still find a 

 good many charming- flowers and plants. The Asters and 

 some of tJie Golden-rods are beautiful now, but the great- 

 est number were in the height of their beauty in Septem- 

 ber. The New England Aster is still beautiful, and its 

 flowers are more brightly colored in the Pines than in 

 most other localities. Occasionally we meet groups with 

 great masses of rose-colored corymbs, and others of deep 

 violet and purple. This fine Aster takes kindly to culti- 

 vation, and graces our garden with its bloom long after 

 Dahlias and other fall flowers are blackened with frost. 

 These garden clumps are from seven to eight feet in height, 

 with many-branched stems, each stem and branch ter- 

 minated with a dense corymb of bloom. The stems are 

 sufficiently strong to stand erect without stakes. The 

 brillianc)^ and sweetness of the flowers attract hosts of 

 butterflies, among them the beautiful Painted Lady (Pyra- 

 iiieis cardui) and the Red Admiral (/*. Atalanta). 



The Silky Aster (^A. concolor) is another handsome spe- 

 cies, which grows in the more dry barrens. It has slender, 

 wand-like stems from two to three feet in height, which 

 sway gracefully among the grasses, displaying its showy 

 raceme of flowers. The ra)'s are violet-purple, and very 

 numerous, and the stems are crowded with grayish silky 

 leaves. A. speclabilis is just now in its prime, and is one 

 of our handsomest Asters. It is a low-growing plant, not 

 more than two feet high, and, when planted about a group 

 of New England Asters, its deep blue rays make a striking 

 picture. Another pretty, low-growing species is A. netno- 

 ralis. This grows in the damp barrens, and has lilac- 

 purple rays and numerous small leaves with revolute 

 margins Many other species grow here which are worthy 

 of notice and cultivation. 



The Golden-ro.ls have been unusually line this autumn, 

 and some are still in bloom. One of the most beautiful is 

 Solidago sempervirens, with smooth, fleshy leaves and 

 spreading panicles of deep golden blossoms. Its habitat 

 is the salt marshes, but it grows here — some twenty-five 

 miles inland — in many places. No doubt the seed has 

 been brought in salt hav. which is fed to stock and often 

 used for mulching. .S'. elliplica is another beautiful species 

 growing in the damp barrens, now brilliant with bloom. 

 The leaves are smooth and shining, and the fl(jwers are in 

 dense, spreading racemes. Numerous other species grace 

 the roadsides and neglected fields, here as elsewhere, mak- 

 ing the ''closing out" the most splendid display of the 

 year. 



The large Bur-Marigold [Bidcns chrysanthetnoides) is 

 still in bloom among the Sedges in the wet barrens. It is 

 showy and handsome, the deep golden-yellow rays being 

 an inch or more in length. Near by, the pretty Ladies' 

 Tresses (Spiran/Jies ceriiua) are scattered among the 

 grasses. This little Orchid has pure white, waxy flowers 

 spirally twisted around the stem, and deliciously fragrant. 

 .S'. graniinca and S. giacdis are also here, each with their 

 several varieties. The species- seem to run together, and 

 are a puzzling group to the botanist. Possitily this mi.xing 

 is due to the work of insects which visit the flowers, and 

 carry the pollen masses to other plants, fertdizing one 

 species with another. 



The False Rocket {Clcoine pungens) is established among 

 our native plants. A stout, much-branched specimen, 

 with long spikes of handsome purple flowers, was grow- 

 ing where white sand had drifted around it. It was much 

 more vigorous than some others found in damp soil. The 

 leaves and stems had lost none of their mephitic odor in 

 this poor soil, and therefore it was not a desirable addition 

 to our wild bouquet. The Swamp Maples and Sour Gum 

 or Tupelo, and the Liquidambar, or Sweet Gum, together 

 with the lower-growing trees and shrubs, have a brilliancy 

 of color which cannot be e.xcelleil in any part of our 

 country ; but, unfortunately, we lack the roll of hill and 



valley, the foundation ol' cliff anil muunlain-side for the 

 proper display of this grand picture. 



Many, trees and shrubs are now bea\itiful with their 

 ripening fruits. The dark foliage of the Hollies is in fine 

 contrast with its scarlet fruit. The Black Alder {Ilex verti- 

 riHa/a) is conspicuous with its deep red, clustered fruit, and 

 the fragrant Wax Myrtle (Myn'ca cerifcrd) is full of its gray- 

 ish, waxy berries. Inkberry and Sumach, Ampelop- 

 sis and Smilax, all liclp, with fruits of varied form and 

 color, the lieauly of the dying leaves, and make our 

 woods and fields moie beautiful, if possible, in October, 

 than they have been at any other season of the year. 

 vineian,!. N, J. Rhiy TrBil/. 



Foreign Correspondence. 

 London Letter. 



TO-D.\Y'S meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society 

 was in strong contrast to that a fortnight ago, 

 when the hall glowed, with the colors of a thousand 

 Dahlias. The hall was very dull, a sharp frost a week ago 

 having promptly put an end to the Dahlia season once 

 more. The reign of the Dahlia continued but three 

 weeks this year, and if all our seasons were so cold, 

 sunless and rainy as the |iresent we should abandon the 

 cultivation of this flower altogether. The gteat feature 

 of the meeting to-day was a marvelous exhibition of 

 Ferns, chiefly stove and green-house kinds, sent b}' i\Ir. 

 H. B. May, of Edmonton, one of the chief Fern-growers 

 for Co vent Garden market. The collection numbered 

 hundreds of plants, representing the ver)^ finest Ferns in 

 cultivation, and included not only such kinds as are 

 grown specially for market, but a host of others, many 

 of them rare, that could not be seen elsewhere than in 

 the largest collections. Mr. May has for years devoted 

 himself specially to these plants, and has succeed'ed in 

 raising many varieties of the highest excellence, among 

 them being such beautiful kinds as Adianlum Reghuv, 

 Pier is Cretica Mayi. P. senulala crislata com pacta, P. 

 Ireiinda flaccida, P. Ireinula e/rga/is, P. Iietnula giaii- 

 diccps, all of which he grows largely for market, and 

 which, no doubt, are known now in .American gardens. 

 The live named first have receive<l the highest aAvards of 

 merit from the Societ)'. Passing over a crowd of species 

 and varieties that would be uninteresting to the general 

 cultivator, I was anxious to know the kinds Mr. .May 

 grows most extensively for C'ovent Garden, and as these 

 may be useful to some readers, I append the list. For 

 cutting — that is, for cui fronds gathered in con\-enient 

 sized bunches — the following are most largely us( d ; 

 Adianlum cunealuiii, the common Maidenhair Fern grown 

 by thousands ; A. Williamsi, with the fronds powdered 

 with gold; A. elegaiis, a form of.l, c!iiieatiim,\\\i\\ longer 

 and larger fronds and smaller pinna='. The list of the 

 kinds grown for sale in pots includes, besides the forego- 

 ing, ^. senium ; A. PcgiiuF. very dwarf, with young fronds 

 co'^lDperjr red ; Pteris Cretica alljo-lineata, P. Cretica J/ayi, P. 

 serndata 7iiajor, a robust growing variety ; P. serrulata 

 cristata coriLpacta; P. argyrcca, with silvery marked fronds. 

 P. Ireniula, and its several A'arieties, all favorites in the 

 market ; Cyrtomiuin falcntuiii, capital as a room Fern, as 

 it wilhstands dust so well; Phlchodiuni aiircuin, Loniaria 

 giliba (when small), Doryo pteris palinata, ()>ycliiin/i Japo- 

 iiicuiii (also for cutting) and Asplenium huIhifcrH)n (and 

 its varieties), which is the most useful of all the Asple- 

 niums for market. These comprise most of the kinds 

 grown specially for Covent Garden, and this list has been 

 compiled from years of experience, and is rarely added 

 to, as few new Ferns possess the requisite qualities for 

 market, which, iirst of all, must be elegant, then robust 

 and easily and quickly grown into plants of salable size, 

 and, moreover, must be easily jiropagated. They nuist 

 also "carry "well — that is, they must not be liable to in- 

 jury from rough usage in getting them to the market anil 

 bv the treatment thev receive there. 



