4o 



Garden and Forest 



[Number 466. 



the continental divide through the low pass which has 

 since borne the names of our explorers, noticed east of the 

 mountains on Maria River (iii., 1097) "three species of 

 Cottonwood, the narrow-leaved, the broad-leaved and the 

 species known to the Columbia, though here seen for 

 the first time on the Missouri." This third species was, no 

 doubt, our eastern Populus balsamifera, and not the Pacific 

 coast Populus tricocarpa, which has not been noticed, we 

 believe, on this side of the Rocky Mountains. 



Phis is the last interesting entry in these journals relating 

 to trees. The two parties into which the expedition had 

 been separated, before it recrossed the continental divide, 

 were now speedily reunited near the mouth of the Yellow- 

 stone River, and, rapidly descending the Missouri, were 

 soon surrounded by the familiar trees of the Atlantic 

 forests. C- $• $■ 



Notes. 



As in many other garden flowers, great improvements have 

 been made of late years in the Mimulus, or Monkey-flower, 

 and now seed of such good strains can be had that it is worth 

 while to sow them even in small gardens where flowers are 

 wanted for cutting. The fine seed should be sown rather 

 evenly in cold frames, and they will give an abundance of 

 rich-colored flowers for a long period from midsummer on. 



Mr. John E. Lager, of Summit, New Jersey, who is collecting 

 Orchids in the United States of Colombia, states in the Florists' 

 Exchange that the plants are becoming scarce, not only on 

 account of the constant drain upon them for export, but 

 because large tracts of forest are being cut down to make 

 room for Coffee plantations. The belt in which the Coffee- 

 plant thrives ranges from 2,000 to 7,000 feet above the sea- 

 level, and very few garden species of Orchids are found above 

 or below it. 



The most beautiful trays and cabinets which come from 

 Japan are made of the dark, irregularly grained and wavy- 

 lined wood of the Keaki-tree, Zelkova Keaki once classified 

 by botanists as a Planera and closely allied to the Elm. Many 

 of the, trays are ornamented with the bark of a species of 

 Pterocarya, the eastern representative of our Hickory. This 

 bark is apparently flattened and cut into thin sheets which 

 sliow attractive concentric markings of daik brown on a 

 lighter ground. 



Mr. S. D. Willard, at the meeting of the Ohio State Horticul- 

 tural Society, spoke of an interesting experiment tried at 

 Geneva last year. An orchard of Greening, Baldwin and 

 Hubbardston Apples was thinned on some of the rows so that 

 an apple was left every four inches, and on others so that there 

 was only an apple for every six inches. On the trees where 

 no thinning whatever was done the apples were small and 

 hardly colored ; the apples on the trees thinned to four inches 

 apart were colored well and of fair size, but no buds formed 

 for the next season. On trees thinned to fruit six inches apart 

 the apples were large and so finely colored as to attract the 

 attention of passers on the road several rods away. Besides, 

 this there were well-grown fruit-buds for next year, so that, if 

 nothing prevents, the trees will bear two seasons in succession. 



The current issue of the London Garden has a colored plate 

 of the old Tea Rose, Madame Charles, as it is grown at 

 Gravetye Manor, and Mr. Robinson, who has tried it in his 

 Rose garden for years, has found nothing more satisfactory or 

 constant than this hardy, patient bloomer with its beautiful 

 buds of exquisite color. This Rose was sent out in 1864, having 

 been raised from seed of Safrano, and it resembles Madame 

 Falcot, which is also from the same parent, but of a feebler 

 growth. The flower is of an apricot color, without the saffron 

 tinge found in Safrano. It is a free grower and has a half- 

 climbing habit, which makes it an excellent variety for the 

 greenhouse in the winter. It is a Rose rarely seen in America, 

 but we remember one plant of it which lived many years on 

 Staten Island with a protection of some burlaps tied about it in 

 the winter, against which coarse manure was piled to the 

 height of some eighteen inches and covering a circle with a 

 radius of two or three feet. 



In Farmers' Bulletin No. 45, Mr. F. H. Chittenden, Assistant 

 Entomologist of the Department of Agriculture, gives many 

 interesting facts about the nature and extent of the damage to 

 stored gram caused by insects. Aside from the loss in weight 

 brought about by the ravages of insects, the infested grain is often 

 unfit for human consumption and has been known to cause 



serious illness. It is also undesirable forlive stock and for seed. 

 Most of our indoor insects are indigenous to the tropics and do 

 not thrive in the cold climate of our northern states, but in the 

 south they have become acclimated, and there they do the 

 greatest damage. It is said that in the state of Texas nearly 

 half the grain is actually destroyed by weevils and rats. The 

 loss to the corn crop in Alabama in 1893 was more than a mil- 

 lion and a half dollars. There are seven other states which 

 are subject to the same climatic influences as Alabama, and if 

 we estimate the annual loss at the same percentage we would 

 have a total destruction of nearly twenty millions of dollars in the 

 item of corn alone, while other grains and mill products suffer 

 correspondingly. We have no space to give descriptions of the 

 many weevils, grain moths, flour moths, flour beetles, meal 

 worms and grain beetles which do this injury, or to give anything 

 like a summary of the remedies and preventives advocated. 

 It may be stated in a general way that bisulphide of carbon is 

 the best known remedy against all insects which affect stored 

 products, and for this purpose it is becoming indispensable to 

 the owners of mills and granaries. The vapor of this substance is 

 deadly to all forms of animal life if inhaled in sufficient quantity, 

 and mills and other buildings can be easily fumigated with it. 



Besides the large assortments of choice fresh and dried 

 fruits, the displays of preserved fruits in first-class fruit and 

 grocery stores are a surprise in their range and variety. 

 Strawberries, raspberries, red and white cherries, blood 

 peaches and apricots, from Wiesbaden, Germany, are among 

 the handsomest preserves. These rich sweetmeats come in 

 glass, as do many preserved fruits from England and this 

 country. With blackberries, pears, pineapples, quinces and 

 other generally used fruits, there are preserved citron, crab- 

 apples, figs, gooseberries, limes, sweet oranges and tamarinds. 

 A large selection maybe made from the less syrupy "canned" 

 fruits in tins, as also in glass, including cranberries, green- 

 gages and many other varieties of plums. Sweet pickled fruits 

 are highly esteemed, and yet more costly are fruits in brandy. 

 These choice specialties are carefully prepared in good brandy 

 by experts selected by the first-class grocers. The brandy is 

 supplied by the firm to insure its uniform quality. Other fruit 

 preparations are jellies, jams and marmalades, and shelves of 

 these smaller packages in plain and fluted tumblers and in 

 white pots include many foreign and native products of really 

 choice quality at remarkably low prices. Cherries in Mara- 

 schino, figs in eau-de-vie and in cordial, marrons in brandy and 

 marrons glacis in vanilla syrup, guava syrup and many syrups 

 of domestic fruits, and lime and grape juice give some idea 

 of the variety of treatment in the way of preserving and serv- 

 ing fruits. Extracts for flavoring are another manufactured 

 product of fruits. Bar-le-duc, a French compote of white cur- 

 rants in syrup, is one of the choicest tidbits, and a club-house 

 favorite as a relish with cream cheese. A small glass costs 

 forty cents. The petals of preserved Smyrna roses prove a 

 delicately perfumed and delicious morsel, a small tin costing 

 fifty cents. Canton stem ginger and Kumquat oranges come 

 from China in stone pots, and from India lemon and tamarind 

 syrups, pineapple and mango preserves and marmalades, and 

 guava jelly and guava cheese, besides chowchow of mixed 

 fruits. Among India relishes, mangoes, tamarinds and lemons 

 appear. Pickled products further extend the use of fruits in 

 such delicacies as young walnuts and olives, the latter in great 

 variety of color and form and size. 



William Elliott, who nearly forty years ago inaugurated the 

 business of selling plants at auction in this country, and who 

 for a still longer time was one of the leading seedsmen 

 of the country, died on the 16th of January at his home in this 

 city. Mr. Elliott's ancestors for several generations had been 

 gardeners in Scotland, where he was born in 1824. After pass- 

 ing an apprenticeship in the gardens of the Earl of Minto he 

 was employed by Sir John Trevelyan, and Sir William Ingleby, 

 at Ripley Castle, Yorkshire, and afterward in the nurseries 

 about London, and came to this country in 1851. He was em- 

 ployed by Andrew Reid, a Broadway florist, and three years 

 later established the well-known firm of Young & Elliott, on 

 John Street, which is still in existence under the name of Wil- 

 liam Elliott & Sons. Mr. Elliott was as well known for his 

 kind heart and upright character as for his bluff ways and his 

 ready, though somewhat caustic, wit. He was a man of sturdy 

 constitution, commanding appearance and marked individu- 

 ality of character. His alertness of mind, his penetrating voice, 

 his fine physical proportions and aggressive manner made him 

 singularly successful in his special business, and for many 

 years he was one of the most prominent figures in the com- 

 mercial horticulture of this country. 



