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Garden and Forest. 



[Number 463. 



the work for the general reader. Judging from the best 

 data at hand, Mr. Fernow concludes that the pine timber 

 standing and ready for manufacture may reach two hun- 

 dred thousand million feet, while the lowest annual con- 

 sumption of the future will probably be seven thousand 

 million feet. He does not, therefore, prophesy that the 

 pine supply of the south will be exhausted in forty or fifty 

 years, for if we should begin rational forestry now, the 

 forests may be kept as a source of natural supplies even 

 though these supplies are reduced. But, after a review of 

 the recuperative powers of the various species, he says : 

 "Considering that the timber on which we now rely and 

 on which we base our standards came from trees usually 

 from 150 to 200 years or more old, and that none of these 

 Pines make respectable timber in less than from sixty to 

 125 years, the necessity of timely attention to their renewal 

 is certainly apparent. " To this moderate statement every 

 thoughtful person will give unqualified assent. 



Notes. 



The bushy tops of branches of young Long-leaf Pine-trees 

 were among the handsomest offerings for decorations during 

 the holiday season. Gray Spanish moss and large Palmetto- 

 leaves, also from Florida, were more freely used than ever 

 before, and the supply of English and southern mistletoe was 

 all sold before Christmas Day. 



Mr. I. H. Cammack, in a recent address before the Southern 

 California Fruit-growers' Institute, says that the Anona Cheri- 

 molia, the tree which produces the chermoyer, is now growing 

 in several places in California, and it probably will thrive in 

 any climate not too severe for the Lime. The fruit matures 

 in the winter and spring, and it can be gathered while firm 

 and shipped for several days' journey successfully. The color 

 of the fruit is brownish yellow witli a reddish cheek. It is 

 somewhat heart-shaped, contains few seeds, and it is very rich 

 and is considered by many as a most delicious fruit, although 

 it is not relished by all persons when they first taste it. The 

 trees come nearly true from seed and begin to bear about the 

 fourth year. 



The Roselle, Hibiscus Sabdariffa, is a native of tropical 

 Asia, resembling the Okra in growth, possessing great resist- 

 ance to drought and yielding an acceptable food-product. It 

 has been tried in agricultural stations of southern California, 

 where it is said to be ornamental, with dark red stems and pods 

 showing through rather scanty green foliage. The juice from 

 the fleshy calyces makes a cooling acidulous drink and is use- 

 ful for jelly. The mucilaginous properties of the juice render 

 the setting of the jelly certain, and its dark cherry color and 

 sprightly acid make it very desirable. As it will grow in hot, 

 arid situations, Mr. Wickson, of the Experiment Station at 

 Berkeley, is distributing seed to those parts of the state where 

 it will thrive. 



Winterberries may now be seen in the wholesale markets by 

 the crate, and cost fifteen cents a quart. Large bright red 

 Tangerines, from Florida, cost sixty-five cents a dozen, and 

 the smaller and paler Mandarins, from Italy, sell for the same 

 price. Grape-fruit, which is becoming scarce, costs twenty- 

 five cents for large fruits of even color, from Florida. Coe's 

 late red plums are still seen in some of the high-grade fruit- 

 stores, and luscious, fully ripened persimmons, from Florida, 

 the latter costing $1.50 a dozen. Small round baskets holding 

 fifteen beautifully grown strawberries, picked with long stems, 

 sell for $2.25 to $3.00. Hot-house melons, Spanish melons and 

 prickly pears may be had at fancy prices. The last of the 

 Cornice pears were sold during the holiday season, and the 

 russet Winter Nelis, the deep green Easter Beurre, the bright 

 Forelle and spicy Seckel pears are now among the best. 

 Small Strawberry pineapples, from Florida, cost fifteen cents 

 each, and large Abaco pineapples, grown under shelter, from 

 Orlando, in the same state, cost $1.00. Mushrooms, cucum- 

 bers, tomatoes as even and showy as any choice fruit, and 

 asparagus, are offered in the best fruit-stores. The latter vege- 

 table is tied in bunches containing a dozen stalks a foot in 

 length, and costs $1.00 for this quantity. 



The possibility of growing Cauliflower under glass with 

 profit was last year tried in the Missouri Botanical Garden, and 

 at the meeting of the Society for the Promotion of Agricul- 

 tural Science, held in Buffalo last summer, Mr. H. C. Irish 

 gave an interesting account of the methods of cultivating the 



crop. An interesting part of the experiment was the successful 

 growing of Lettuce between the rows of Cauliflower. Lettuce 

 will not mature good crops among the Cauliflower-plants 

 unless they are set eighteen inches apart, but since a given 

 area will produce nearly as much Cauliflower in weight when 

 the plants are set at this distance as it will when the plants 

 are set more closely, it is possible to get crops of both vege- 

 tables, and the lettuce will be clear profit beyond the income 

 of the Cauliflower. Later on, Cucumber-vines were set around 

 the sides of some of the benches between the Cauliflower, with 

 a view to training them up the roof, and others to run over 

 the benches when the Cauliflower were removed. A row of 

 Chervil was also planted around the sides of the benches, 

 from which many leaves were cut for garnishing, and it proved 

 to be a good plant for that purpose. Mr. Irish estimates that 

 since one man could attend to a house 170 feet long by twenty- 

 four feet wide, with two walks and 100 square feet of bench- 

 room, that the cauliflower, lettuce and cucumbers would bring 

 in the winter a total income which might amount to $1,150, 

 which, after deducting expenses, would be something over 

 $860 for interest on the investment and the labor of one man. 



Bulbous plants are now represented in the florists' windows 

 by flowers of Freesia, Daffodils, Chinese Narcissus, Roman 

 Hyacinth, Lily-of-the- valley, Lilium Harrisi and L. longiflorum. 

 The yellow and white French daisies, white lilac, forget-me- 

 nots, sweet peas, camellia, daphne odorata and showy bracts 

 of poinsettia are noticeable. In collections of standard 

 varieties of roses Ulrich Brunner and Magna Charta are 

 occasionally seen, and the comparatively new President 

 Carnot. Many lots of Orchids and other costly flowers were 

 frozen in transit to the wholesale dealers during Christ- 

 mas week, and the prices and sales of cut flowers were greatly 

 affected by the cold weather. Much of the stock had been 

 held back for the holiday trade, and the proportion of low- 

 grade flowers was thus unusually large. As the dealers handle 

 only the best stock and the Greek street venders could not 

 carry on their trade, sales were limited to the best grades, and 

 immense. quantities of poorer flowers remained unsold and 

 went to waste in the wholesale establishments. Red carna- 

 tions were in marked favor, and Meteor, Portia and Garfield 

 sold readily at fair prices, as did good yellow carnations, while 

 there was almost no demand for white ones, and pink 

 varieties sold slowly, except those of the highest quality. 

 On Christmas and the day preceding about 1,700 bunches 

 of violets, each containing a hundred blooms, were bought by 

 retail dealers. American Beauty roses were most in demand 

 in their class, and selected flowers sold at retail for $2.50 apiece. 

 The Christmas trade in cut flowers was, altogether, satisfac- 

 tory to the retail dealers. Growing plants in fancy baskets 

 were more popular than ever before. New Year's day failed 

 to stimulate the flower trade, and the day was scarcely more 

 busy than an ordinary Saturday during the winter season. 



According to the London Times, the forests of western Aus- 

 tralia are exceedingly rich in trees of economic importance, 

 among which the Jarrah, or Eucalyptus marginata, is now the 

 most important. In constructive work, where wood is brought 

 into contact with soil and water, this timber is superior to that 

 of any other wood in that forest. A healthy tree of average 

 size is from ninety to a hundred feet high and from two and a 

 half to three and a half feet in diameter at the base, and it 

 will grow so as to produce logs two feet through at the base 

 in about fifty years. It grows in sections where the rainfall 

 ranges from thirty-five to forty inches in the year, and the 

 wood when dried weighs sixty pounds a cubic foot. It is red 

 in color, takes a good polish, is easily worked, and is good for 

 piles, bridges, boats, furniture, railway-sleepers and charcoal. 

 It is usually found mixed with or near the Karri, or Eucalyptus 

 diversicolor, a giant species, straight and regular in growth, 

 umbrageous in appearance, good specimens being two hun- 

 dred feet high, four feet in diameter breast-high, and with a 

 stretch of 120 to 150 feet from the ground to the first branch. 

 It is a rapid grower and will produce marketable timber in 

 from thirty to forty years. This wood is red in color, very 

 much resembling that of the Jarrah. Its texture is hard and 

 heavy, and it is tough and not easily dressed. For bridge 

 planking, flooring and beams it is unequaled by any wood in 

 the colony. Karri timber is largely exported to London for 

 paving the streets since its surface is not easily rendered slip- 

 pery. There are other valuable trees in this forest, the tim- 

 ber in which is estimated to be worth more than six hundred 

 million dollars. Two thousand men are now employed in 

 cutting timber, and the output last year represented a gross 

 value of two million dollars, and this will be increased by the 

 end of the century to at least ten million dollars. 



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