492 



Garden and Forest. 



[December 5, 18 



Notes. 



During the past summer, a box of Carnations, sent from 

 Providence, Rhode Island, to England, arrived at its destina- 

 tion with the flowers still fresh and fragrant. 



At the Rookery, near Bromley, Kent, there is a Chinese 

 Wistaria trained around the outer wall of a vinery and an- 

 other wall running parallel to it and inclosing a piece of 

 ground in the shape of a parallelogram. The longest branches 

 which make this circuit have grown to a distance of 400 feet. 



Tomatoes were introduced into Europe early in the seven- 

 teenth century, but for a long period were grown merely as 

 ornamental plants. Despite the attractive appearance of the 

 fruit, it was extremely repugnant to those who attempted to 

 eat it, and the fact is perpetuated in the botanical name, 

 Lycopersicum, which means "Wolf's Peach." Indeed, in Ger- 

 many and some other parts of Europe, it is only within very 

 recent years that the Tomato has won general recognition as 

 a palatable and wholesome article of food. 



Rosa riigosa, and the allied species, Rosa Kaintschatica, are 

 being strongly recommended just now in England for the 

 formation of hedges. They grow in that country with surpris- 

 ing rapidity and vigor, and develop so thickly close to the 

 ground, that a single row of seedlings soon forms an impene- 

 trable barrier, while the showy fruit and the beautiful flowers, 

 which continue to appear after the fruit has reddened, and the 

 glowing autumn colors of the foliage render such a hedge at- 

 tractive to the eye for a large part of the year. 



M. Andre, in a recent issue of the Revue Horticoh. calls 

 attention to the value of Begonia semperjiorcns gigantea, a 

 hybrid between B. lucida and B. semperflorens, and its varie- 

 ties, rosea and Kerinisina, for the winter decoration of living 

 rooms and conservatories. The foliage of these plants is 

 thick and lustrous, and the pink or red flowers borne in large 

 clusters continue to appear in the greatest profusion during 

 the entire winter. Few plants can be cultivated more easily 

 or are better suited for the purpose for which M. Andre com- 

 mends them. 



Professor Atwater has been placed in charge of the new Bu- 

 reau of Correspondence with the Agricultural Experiment 

 Stations at Washington. Bulletins will be issued, setting forth 

 the results of experiments in this country, and these will be 

 distributed among the stations. Specialists in this country 

 and in Europe will be engaged to compile articles on sub- 

 jects about which information is needed for general distribu- 

 tion. Another function of the Bureau will be to furnish Con- 

 gress with information when legislation on agricultural matters 

 is contemplated. 



The death is announced of Mr. William H. Crawford, one of 

 the most noted amateur horticulturists of Great Britain. A 

 very rich man and a bachelor, he was, we are told, " person- 

 ally of an ascetic temperament, but unsparing of expense 

 when a good cause — charity, plants, books or pictures — was 

 concerned." He may almost be called the creator of the 

 Botanic Gardens attached to the University at Cork, and his 

 beautiful place, Lakelands, near that city, is widely noted for 

 its splendid collection of rare trees and shrubs from all tem- 

 perate countries. 



Wolffia microscopica, a species of Water Lentil native to the 

 lakes of India, is the tiniest of all known flowering plants. It 

 has neither stem, roots nor leaves, but consists of a fan- 

 shaped body prolonged below into a root-like bladder, which 

 serves to keep it in an erect position. From this bladder 

 others develop, and so rapidly, that although a single plant is 

 hardly perceptible to the naked eye, its offspring may in a few 

 days cover a surface of several scjuare yards in extent. In 

 spite of its exiguous proportions and simple structure, the 

 plant bears true flowers, although likewise of the simplest 

 kind, each consisting of a single stamen or a single pistil. 



The Marysville (California) Appeal has been collecting opin- 

 ions from fruit-canners and shippers as to the desirability of 

 irrigation for fruit. A wide diversity of judgment appears, 

 but the general sentiment seems to be that fruit from trees 

 not irrigated will keep better and endure long distance trans- 

 portation more safely. Fruit from irrigated orchards is larger, 

 fairer, better colored ; but, being more juicy, it goes to pieces 

 more readily. Some persons who prefer non-irrigated fruit 

 for shipping, believe that in the same regions irrigated 

 fruit is best for canning, drying and local use. Whenever it 

 is possible by cultivation and thinning to conserve enougli 

 ground moisture to perfect a crop, irrigation is not generally 

 advised. When it is practiced, great judgment should be 

 exercised. When trees are watered copiously up to the time 



of the fruit harvest, it is said that quality and flavor may be 

 sacrificed for size and color. Winter and spring irrigation is 

 commended, and to have its best effect the land should be 

 well fertilized. 



The new law regulating the forests of Russia, with a view to 

 their preservation, went into effect on the first of last January. 

 The law applies to all Russia, including the Caucasus and 

 Poland, but not to Finland, which has its own forest laws. The 

 rights of property are not unnecessarily interfered with, but the 

 new law provides for the control and management of the for- 

 ests of individuals where the public welfare seems to demand 

 it, and the cutting down of such forests is prohibited when it 

 might endanger the best interests of the whole community. 

 A commission is created in each province, with the Governor 

 at its head, for the purpose of administering the law and pro- 

 tecting tire rights of property-owners. As might have been 

 expected in the case of a law of this character, its application 

 has been beset by many difficulties growing out of the conflicts 

 between agricultural and forest interests and the unwilling- 

 ness of the people to submit to any control in the manage- 

 ment of their property. The law, however, is considered 

 successful, and its application may be expected to increase 

 immensely the material prosperity of the Empire. 



It is well known that a great majority of the insects most 

 destructive to vegetation which now infest this country have 

 been imported from foreign countries and naturalized here. 

 The unusual destructiveness of these species is generally 

 accounted for by the fact that their natural enemies are not 

 imported with them, so that their reproductive powers have 

 freer plav here than they had where such natural checks 

 occur. But in a recent number of Insect Life, Vxol&ssov Riley 

 adds, as an additional reason, that most of such species are 

 introduced from Europe or the older civilizations where, on 

 evolutional grounds, it is natural to suppose that they are the 

 very species whicli have become accustomed to the civilized 

 conditions induced during so many centuries. In other words, 

 the species which most abound and have most successfully 

 accommodated themselves to such artificial conditions, have, 

 in the geologically brief period of man's pre-eminence, ac- 

 quired advantages over species which have not been sub- 

 mitted to such environment. The former, when brought 

 into competition with the latter, under such conditions, rapidly 

 outnumber them and get the upper hand. 



Every one has been writing about Chrysanthemums of late, 

 but no one more interestingly than " Listener," of the Boston 

 Evening Transcript. The yellow Neesimq, for instance, one 

 of the season's novelties from Japan, he says, "is the Chry- 

 santhemum of Chrysanthemums — the loveliest of all the tribe, 



as well as the most characteristic, the most typical 



Its fluffy gracefulness, its long, slender, slightly curved petals, 

 each like the line of Fusiyama's curve, are intensely Japanese. 

 One wonders whether the Japanese formed their art on the 

 basis of this flower, or whether the flower was developed into 

 its present form by contact with the Japanese genius." This 

 praise is not too high nor is the admiration expressed for the 

 variety in color and form shown in every large exhibition of 

 Chrysanthemums. " The most striking feature of the exhibi- 

 tion, taking it as a whole, is, to the amateur without profes- 

 sional knowledge of the Chrysanthemum, the delicacy of the 

 prevailing colors. . . . What a marvelous effect of color, 

 and what a preponderance of delicate shades, 

 especially in light yellows and delicious pinks. . . . The 

 strange and unusual tints ... in almost all the exhibits it 

 would be impossible to dwell upon, they are so infinite. There 

 were many who stopped to admire the Elihu Vedder sort of 

 pmk of a Chrysanthemum called the Monsieur Freeman, 

 . . . and over on the other side of the hall there was a tiny 

 flower, growing in myriads on a big bush, that copied the 

 homely tint of the Red Clover, that has blossomed for a week 

 imder the summer sun. . . . One may stand aghast, in a 

 general sort of way, at the infinite varieties of the Chrysanthe- 

 mum, but he cannot get a better idea of the scope of the 

 flower, so to speak, than by comparing a certain big Peony- 

 red flower of the species, which must be at least six inches 

 across, and which has great, coarse, outward curving petals 

 and a vacant, brown-red expanse in the centre, . . . with 

 a little yellow flower on a big bush which bore the name of 

 La Vogue — a bad name, because there was not the slightest 

 trace of modishness about the little flower. The big red 

 flower was all gloom and severity in its aspect ; the little yel- 

 low flower carried with it an air of positive gaiety. . . . 

 Probably there were 200 of these smiling little blossoms on 

 the bush and every one was a distinct inspiration to merri- 

 ment." 



