442 



Garden and Forest 



[November 7, li 



Correspondence. 



The Mountain Lauixl. 

 To the; Editor ol Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — I have a desire to introduce the Mountain Laurel on a 

 place about fifty miles south of the White IVIountains, in New 

 Hampshire, but have been told by skilled gardeners and 

 others who have given particular attention to the subject, that 

 it is practically impossible to transplant, or to propagate it from 

 cuttings. I have planted the seed (a year ago), but, as yet, 

 with no results. If any of your readers could give anv liints 

 or informatirm on this subject, it would be much appre- 

 ciated. ./. Z. Dote. 



Brooklyn, N. V., October 15II1, 1888. 



[The Mountain Laurel (Ka'inia latifolia) is easily trans- 

 planted from the woods. Young plants, not more than 

 eight to twelve inches higli, should be selected for this 

 purpose. They should be carefully dug during the lat- 

 ter part of September or in October, and if they are to 

 lie planted at a considerable distance from the place 

 where they have grown, the roots should be enveloped 

 at once in sphagnum moss and the plants packed in 

 bo.xes or barrels. 'I'hey will need protection during the 

 tirst winter, and should be set thickly in the ground, in a 

 cold-frame or cellar, or, if there is no opportunity to pro- 

 tect them in this way, they can be heeled in in some 

 sheltered situation and carefully covered with leaves and 

 evergreen branches. In the spring the plants should lie 

 set in nursery rows and cultivated during the season. In 

 the spring of the third year they will be large and strong 

 enough to bear transplanting into the positions they are 

 to occupy permanently ; after that the plants will require no 

 further care or attention. The Laurel grows in almost all 

 soils except those strongly impregnated with lime, but in 

 cultivation it flourishes most freely in a well-drained compost 

 of sandy loam and peat. The Laurel ma)^ also be raised 

 from seed, l)ut the young seedlings grow slowly and re- 

 quire special care, so that persons unfamiliar with the 

 business and without special facilities for raising seed- 

 lings, are not recommended to adopt this method of ob- 

 taining plants. The Mountain Laurel is grown largely in 

 some European nurseries, and fine bushy plants, a foot 

 higli and as much across the branches, covered with 

 flower-buds, can be imported and delivered in this city 

 or in Boston in (Quantity at about thirty cents a plant. — 

 Eri. I 



Gorse and Scotch Heather in New England. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — Can you tell me whether the Fiuve, or Gorse [Ulcx 

 Europ(eus), will stand the winter on the coast of Massachu- 

 setts, in a rather exposed situation ? 



And will any of the Scotch Heathers live in such a situa- 

 tion ? Will you give me the botanical names of such vari- 

 eties .' F. E. G. 



[The Gorse was planted quite largely several years ago 

 in Massachusetts, on the Island of Naushon, lying be- 

 tween the mouth of Buzzard's Bay and the Vinej'ard 

 Sound, for the purpose of covering the ground and pre- 

 venting the drifting of loose sand. It lived for a 

 number of years, and plants may still be seen upon the 

 island. It never spread much, however, and in severe 

 winters always suffered. It cannot be considered hardy 

 in New England, and its cultivation is not recommended, 

 except as a garden-ornarnent in sheltered positions, or 

 where it can be carefully covered and protected. The so- 

 called Scotch Heather is Calluna vulgaris, a low, heath- 

 like plant, with handsoixie purple flowers. It has been 

 found growing spontaneously in one locality in Massa- 

 chusetts, and it is not rare in Newfoundland and far north- 

 ward on this continent. Its true- home, however, is in 

 northern Europe. Although a hardy plant, it cannot 

 be recommended for planting in exposed situations on tlie 

 New England sea-coast, as it often suffers in severe win- 

 ters when not carefully protected. The plant which most 



resembles the Gorse, at least in flower, which is really 

 available for planting on the New England sea-coast, is the 

 Eur(jpean Woad-wax (Genis/a tincloria), a low shrub of 

 the Pea family, with liright yellow flowers. This plant 

 now occupies many hundred acres of sterile, hilly land 

 near Salem, in Essex County, Massachusetts, near the sea- 

 coast. It spreads rapidl}', and when once it has taken 

 possession of the soil, no other plant can dislodge it. 

 The appearance which these hills present when the Genista 

 is in bloom is striking and beautiful, recalling more 

 clearly to the mind a Gorsc-covered moor of Europe than 

 anything which can be seen elsewhere in the United 

 Slates. The Genista, however, has proved itself a dan- 

 gerous and persistent weed in Essex County, and there 

 is always danger that it will, when planted, spread over 

 and ruin valuable land. It is only beautitul while in 

 flower, being quite insignificant during the remainder of 

 the year. There are such a number of dwarf native 

 shrubs with beautiful flowers, or with handsome foliage, 

 which can be used for covering rough and exposed sit- 

 uations 'along our coast, that it docs not appear neces- 

 sary to look to foreign countries for plants for this pur- 

 pose. Plantations made of our native Roses, the Bay- 

 berry, the dwarf Sumachs, the different Blueberries, the 

 Beach Plum, the Hudsonias, the dwarf Cherry, the dwarf 

 Viburnums, the Sweet Fern, are suitable and appropriate 

 for the New England coast. Such plantations, made 

 without the aid of human hands, may be seen in many^ 

 ])laces along the shores of Cape Cod and Cape Ann. 

 Nature, with all the wealth of material at her disposal 

 in more favored climates, has never made combinations 

 more harmonious in color, or more suitable to their 

 surroundings. They put on in autumn, too, after the 

 beauty of the spring and the summer have vanished, 

 a richness of color which gives to our coast scenery, at 

 this season of the year, a character peculiarly its ov\'n, 

 and so beautiful that the mere suggestion of introducing 

 into the scene any foreign element which cannot heighten 

 and must diminish this distinctive charm seems undesira- 

 ble, to sa}' the least. — Ed.] 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — 1 Ikivc l.ieen greatly annoyed by ants in the house, 

 whci'e tliey swarm tln-ough kitchen and pantries, and on the 

 lawn, where they construct unsightly little mounds, and crawl 

 over every one who dares to sit on the grass. What is the 

 best defense against tliis invasion ? 



Lancaster, I-^a. ^- ^'^. 



[First fin<l the ant-hills which harbor them. This is 

 not difficult if sharp watch is made of the directions in 

 wln'ch the)' tra\-el. Professor Cook, of Michigan Agricul- 

 tural College, then attacks them by sinking a crow-bar 

 into the centre of the mound till it reaches the level of the 

 lowest gallery in the ants' nest. Half a gill of bisulphide 

 of carbon is then turned into the hole, and a shovelful of 

 clay- is at once thrown on and trodden down compactly. 

 This holds in the poison fumes of the volatile liquid, and 

 soon destroys the last ant. In the latest Bulletin of the 

 jMassachusetts Agricultural College the same advice, prac- 

 tically, is given by Professor Fernald. A large ant-hill, 

 nearly six feet square, next to the underpinning of a house, 

 was doing much dam'age. The ground was undermined 

 so completely that a person walking over it would sink in 

 quite deeply, and the grass on the hill was nearl}^ dead. 

 Holes were made with a small stick, about fifteen inches 

 apart and six inches deep, and two or three teaspoonfuls 

 of the bisulphide were thrown into each hole, after which 

 the holes were closed and the earth pressed down by step- 

 ping on them. The treatment was successful. The clos- 

 ing up of the (jrifice seems to be essential. Bisidphide of 

 carbon is a chemical preparation that can be found at any 

 drug-store. It has a most disagreeable smell. The bottle 

 in which it is contained should be kept tightl}' stopped, as 

 it quickly loses its strength when exposed to the air. The 

 fumes should not be breathed while using it, because 



