98 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 472 



It is an easy thing to get all the roots, so that they are not diffi- 

 cult to transplant, although, of course, it is better to take as 

 much of a ball of earth with them as possible. 

 Gernrantown, Pa. J oseph Median. 



Correspondence. 



Diseases of the Snowberrv. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Early in June last I observed on the leaves of my 

 Snowberry-bushes, Symphoricarpus racemosus, a mildew 

 which was accompanied by a black spot, affecting a portion 

 and sometimes the entire leaf. As the fruit began (o develop 

 I noted black spots showing on the berries, and by the first of 

 September it was impossible to find a perfect fruit, and these, 

 with the diseased foliage, gave the shrubs a most unsightly 

 look. About a half a mile from these diseased shrubs I had a 

 hundred plants of the same species which were not badly 

 infected, but they all showed symptoms of the disease in a 

 greater or less degree. Will you be kind enough to tell me 

 whether this is a local trouble, or whether it is one generally 

 known ? I hope to get a vigorous growth of these plants by 

 using manure and check the disease by spraying with the 

 Bordeaux mixture. Is this good practice ? 



Huntingdon Valley, N. Y. L. F. Homer. 



[It is impossible to decide just what malady it is that has 

 affected Mr. Horner's shrubs without examination of speci- 

 mens. Dr. Halsted, to whom the inquiry was sent, states 

 that there is a mildew, Microsphaera Symphoricarpi, which 

 was described by Mr. E. L. Howe, of Yonkers, New York, 

 in the fifth volume of the Torrey Bulletin, page 3 ; and 

 manuals upon Fungi show that this mildew is not unknown 

 in various parts of our country. It also affects other spe- 

 cies of this genus, for Dr. Burrill records it upon Symphori- 

 carpus vulgaris in Illinois, and Dr. Halsted has seen the 

 same fungus on Snowberries in Pennsylvania. The black 

 spots on the leaves are probably due to another fungus, 

 and there is a leaf-spot, Phyllosticta, which infests the 

 Snowberry, but it is a European species and has not been 

 reported in the United States. There is another leaf-spot 

 which is truly American, however, a Septoria, and it may 

 be this which is working together with the mildew upon 

 the foliage of Mr. Horner's plants. It is harder to suggest 

 an identification of the disease which spots the fruit. 

 Almost every one has seen specked Snowberries, but Dr. 

 Halsted says that he has never made any study of the 

 nature of this trouble, and it may be caused by any of the 

 fungi mentioned above in connection with the mildew and 

 the leaf- spot. Very probably these enemies can be con- 

 trolled by spraying with the Bordeaux mixture if it is tried 

 early and continued during the growing season ; and since 

 the disease is probably a widely spread one, this hint may 

 be useful to others besides Mr. Horner. — Ed.] 



The " Ramie " Fibre Plant. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — For a long time this plant has caused a great deal of 

 disappointment to would-be inventors of machinery for the 

 preparation of its fibre for manufacturing, The machine 

 wanted is one that will clear the fibre of gum and separate it 

 into threads. This part of the work is done by hand in India 

 and China, where the laborers are paid an insignificant sum 

 for a day's work. To do it profitably in this country by hand 

 is out of the question. The material which could be cleaned 

 by one person in a day of ten hours would not warrant the 

 payment of more than a few cents as wages, hence the long 

 and tedious work of developing suitable machinery to perform 

 the operation. Mr. S. H. Slaught, of Los Angeles, California, 

 who has given much study to the cultivation of fibre plants and 

 to'.the perfecting of machinery for their manufacture into cloth, 

 has been in this city for some months past, endeavoring to 

 enlist Government aid in the establishing of one or more fac- 

 tories to demonstrate to the people the feasibility of properly 

 preparing the fibre. The inventor claims that the principal 

 difficulties in the way of preparing fibre have been overcome, 

 and that all the infant Ramie industry needs is a lift by the 

 Government. People are slow to invest their money in this 

 industry until it is shown by actual working experience that 

 the project is practicable and profitable. 



Much has been written concerning the different kinds of 

 Ramie, and all agree that one of the species outstrips all the 

 others in yielding fibre. It is called Boehmeria nivea, a plant 

 quite common in gardens all over the south, having been dis- 

 seminated widely by the Department of Agriculture for several 

 years. It does not possess much beauty, being a tall Nettle- 

 like-leaved herbaceous perennial, attaining a height, under 

 favorable circumstances, of about seven feet. It is a native of 

 China, and will not endure our northern winters unless it has 

 protection. It has been killed outright more than once during 

 the past thirty years in Washington, so that this may be said 

 to be the northern limit of its hardiness. It is seemingly not 

 overparticular as to soil or situation, and in ordinary seasons, 

 when there is an absence of long dry spells, from two to four 

 crops may be expected. In some recent consular reports it is 

 stated that Ramie cannot lie raised from seed. This is a mis- 

 take, as there are few plants which yield more seed than 

 Ramie, but it takes intelligent care to raise plants by this 

 method, as the seed is exceedingly small and the seedlings are 

 very tiny for some time after germination. The seed cannot 

 be expected to germinate and grow with the same treatment 

 accorded to most farm seeds. They must be sown under 

 cover in some simple kind of glass structure and carefully 

 tended until large enough for the field. Should the establish- 

 ing of the Ramie industry become an accomplished fact, it 

 may be that the difficulty of raising the plants from seed will 

 deter cultivators from adopting that method of growing it in 

 quantity, and root division may be the most popular method. 

 The fibre is contained in the long straight stems which rise 

 from the roots, and the crop is fit for cutting when the part 

 nearest the root begins to turn brown. After being harvested 

 and denuded of its leaves, the process of decortication, which 

 is a very simple one, is all that is required of the cultivator 

 before delivering the crop to the factory. The decorticating 

 process consists of breaking and stripping the woody matter 

 from the fibre, and is done by recently improved machinery 

 which was exhibited at work at the midwinter fair in the west. 

 The uses to which the fibre is put are many and varied ; it is 

 made into the heaviest ropes and into cloth for every variety 

 of use. It can be used with silk to produce the most delicate 

 fabrics. The cloth made from the fibre is said to withstand 

 more wear and tear than any other. 



Botanic Garden, Washington, D. C. G. W. Oliver. 



Hardy Cacti. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — A few interesting native species of Cacti are found along 

 the eastern foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. They 

 well deserve to be considered hardy, as they are frequently 

 subjected to forty or fifty degrees of frost without harm, while 

 the earth is bare of snow, and to the trying conditions of 

 almost daily freezing and thawing throughout the winter. 

 During early spring wet snows follow in close succession and 

 keep the ground saturated at a time when |so much mois- 

 ture might seem unfavorable. However, the plants take advan- 

 tage of this time to fill themselves with water to last during 

 the blooming and fruiting season. 



Three kinds of Opuntias are common, Opuntia fragilis and 

 O. Rafinesquii, which are usually confined to plains bordering 

 the foothills, and 0. Missouriensis, the most showy sort, and 

 found on high rocky ledges or hillsides. 



Echinocereus viridiflorus is the most common of the glob- 

 ular sorts. It is usually known as Rainbow Cactus, on account 

 of the bright-colored spines. It is found both on the hills and 

 adjoining plains. Mamillaria vivipara is a very beautiful spe- 

 cies, but is rare in this vicinity. The flowers are red or 

 purple, and each of the long tubercles is tipped with a star of 

 long bright-colored spines. Mamillaria Missouriensis is a 

 curious sort, nearly flat, the tubercles mostly upright, with a 

 cluster of white spines at the tip of each. The flowers are 

 yellow and are followed by crimson berries. Echinocactus 

 Simpsoni is a tuberculated species, seemingly intermediate 

 between Echinocactus and Mamillaria. It is very showy at all 

 seasons, and especially while in flower. It is also the largest 

 of our globular sorts. It is densely interlaced with brown- 

 ish purple, or sometimes yellowish spines. The flowers are 

 rose-purple or pink, usually numerous. E. Simpsoni minor is 

 a reduced form found in the high mountains of Colorado, and, 

 doubtless, grows at a higher altitude (9,500 feet) than any other 

 Cactus, latitude being considered. This differs much in ap- 

 pearance from the type, and does not lose its distinctive 

 features after the two are grown under similar conditions at a 

 lower altitude. 



In the garden all of these may be well grown on a low broad 



