March 31, 1897.] 



Garden and Forest. 



123 



but it has not yet been given a practical test in most parts of 

 the country. My Presly, tried in Space 2, (ills the requirements 

 fairly as to earliness and vigor, also in color of berry, but it is 

 lacking in size both of cluster and berry, although it is as large 

 as the Delaware ; neither is it prolific enough in the weight of 

 fruit, nor of good enough quality, yet it is considerably better 

 than Champion. 



In season, Winchell (or Green Mountain) might be applied 

 to Space 6, and would fill it quite well, except that it is too 

 green and too subject to black rot. Niagara might fill the 

 same space (6), and would do fairly well in size, productive- 

 ness and vigor at the north, but it is not quite good enough 

 (too foxy), and the skin is too tender for long shipment. And 

 so we might go on through the list and find vast room for 

 future work in originating- better varieties and many to oc- 

 cupy spaces yet vacant. 



The next question is, what material have we from which to 

 create these needed varieties ? 



It is very certain that the Labrusca varieties alone can never 

 fill the diagram, neither can any other one species; neither 

 can Labrusca and Vinifera jointly, as will be apparent when 

 you apply all the known simple and hybrid varieties of these ; 

 neither can Labrusca and Riparia, which would take in ad- 

 dition the Labruscas in our catalogues and all the Labrusca x 

 Riparia hybrids, such as Clinton, Taylor, Elvira, etc.; neither 

 Labrusca, Riparia and Vinifera. 



But add the large-clustered, large-berried Vitis Linsecomii, 

 and we go forward at once to the medium and later seasons, 

 and fill better many of the already partially filled spaces. V. 

 aestivalis and V. Bourquiniana join well in the work. So will 

 V. Champini, V. Doaniana and V. rupestris, among the extra- 

 early and mid-season varieties for the south, and finally the 

 V. rotundifolia will come in for a share in the subtropical Gulf 

 regions. V. Solonis in the hot south-west will take the place of 

 the sprightly V. riparia of the moist cold north-east. No one 

 generation of simple or hybrid varieties will do the work. It 

 will require generation upon generation, combination upon 

 combination. 



I have found that grapes of a certain color, as of red, yellow 

 or black, yield a great majority of their own color in their 

 progeny, and especially so if such colors are crossed or 

 hybridized together, as naturally would Ire expected ; hence, 

 in breeding for color, use only parents of that color if they 

 possess the other desired properties. A careful study of ma- 

 terial in hand in connection with above general considerations 

 will lead readily to the minute study of special qualifications ; 

 such, at least, has been my experience. 



The Mexican Taxodium, although it grows to a much 

 greater size, is specifically almost identical with the 

 Taxodium or Bald Cypress of our southern swamps, being 

 chiefly distinguished from that tree by its autumnal flowers 

 and by the persistence of its leaves, which do not fall in 

 the autumn, and, although most botanists now consider it 

 a distinct species, it may on further investigation prove to 

 be only a geographical form of our tree. 



The C)'press-tree of Tulc. 



ON page 125 of this issue is the portrait of the Cypress- 

 tree of Santa Maria del Tule, made from a photograph, 

 for which we are indebted to Baron Thielmann, the Ger- 

 man Ambassador at Washington. This tree stands on the 

 grounds of the little church in the town of Tule, on the 

 road from Oazaca to Guatemala, by way of Tehuantepec, 

 and is the largest of the Mexican Taxodiums, and perhaps 

 the most famous tree in the New World. According to a 

 note in the eleventh volume of Sargent's Silva of North 

 America its trunk at five feet above the ground, according 

 to late measurement, has, in following all its sinuosities, a 

 circumference of 146 feet, while the actual girth is 104 feet, 

 the greatest diameter being forty feet and the least twenty 

 feet. Its height is estimated to be 150 feet, and the spread 

 of its branches is 141 feet. As measured by Baron Thiel- 

 mann last autumn its height was between 160 and 170 feet 

 and its largest diameter forty-two feel. This tree is be- 

 lieved to be two thousand years old. It was mentioned 

 by Humboldt, and his name is inscribed on the bark. 



In the third volume of this journal the portrait of another 

 of these wonderful Mexican Taxodiums was published on 

 page 155. This was the Cypress of Montezuma, the largest 

 of the great Cypress trees in the gardens of Chepultepec, 

 near the City of Mexico, and a noted tree nearly four cen- 

 turies ago. The Cypress of Montezuma is a tall and still 

 graceful tree, 170 feet high, with a trunk to which travelers 

 have ascribed a girth varying from forty to nearly fifty 

 feet, these discrepancies being due, no doubt, to the dif- 

 ferent points above the surface of the ground at which they 

 were made. 



The Flower Industries of Southern France and Paris. 



T7ROM December till May is the season for the flower indus- 

 -*■ tries. It is only within the last fifteen years that the com- 

 mercial culture of Howers in France has attained its present 

 large proportions. The area now devoted to flower-farms, 

 where entire fields, not beds, are cropped with the most lovely 

 and odoriferous flowers, lies in the area twenty by ten miles in 

 extent which takes in Cannes, Nice and Grasse. The climate 

 as well as the soil are especially suitable to the enterprise in 

 question. Subdivisions of the area have also their peculiar 

 floral outputs. Cannes, Nice and Antibes are reputed for their 

 famous Roses ; Grasse for its Jonquils, Violets, Tuberoses, 

 Jasmine, Mignonette; Hyeres and Frejus, for Violets; the 

 suburbs of Cannes, for Pinks. Bulbous plants succeed every- 

 where. 



In the matter of profit, the districts of Antibes and Cannes 

 rank first ; excellent outputs are also secured about the Golfe 

 de Juan and Beaulieu. The total area actually cropped with 

 flowers is nearly 1,800 acres, of which the commune of Nice 

 represents 500, and Cannes, Antibes, Mentone and Grasse each 

 250 acres. The villa residences commence to encroach on the 

 flower lands, but the house proprietors themselves grow 

 flowers, and that, with letting their villas, helps to make up 

 the means of living. The very large growers of flowers re- 

 semble, it may be said, large farmers ; they sell their produce 

 to the laboratories or to contractors, or they enter into partner- 

 ship with intelligent laborers and divide profits. In the winter 

 season the culture is confined to the raising of cut and orna- 

 mental flowers. In summer the aim is to cultivate for the 

 laboratories — that is, to distill for perfumery, to prepare 

 essences, pomades and scented "waters"; it is also the sea- 

 son for harvesting seeds. 



It is a popular error to suppose that no skill or outlay is re- 

 quired to produce the supplies of flowers for northern latitudes 

 between Christmas and May. Flower culture exacts capital 

 and increasing care. Doubtless many conclude that the flow- 

 ers grow naturally in the open air — this is an error ; some do, 

 but the most delicate and the most beautiful species are raised 

 under glass. In the regions of Nice, Grasse and Mentone 

 there are 200 acres of land covered over with glass frames, 

 each frame costing at least 7s., so that much capital is sunk in 

 the industry. Other flowers are raised under canvas tents, and 

 many are protected by matting. Roses and Pinks are grown 

 under glass; while white Lilac, Lily-of-the-valley, and also 

 Pinks are forced into bloom in the space of eighteen days. 

 The Lilac is white, because grown in darkness, but when 

 exposed to the sun it rapidly assumes its tints, and no fewer 

 than 200 shades of Lilac have been recorded — a collection the 

 late Monsieur Chevreul never could delineate. It is in the 

 bloom and color-producing efficacy of the sun that much of 

 the secret of flower-farming resides. Violets are generally 

 grown beneath the shade of Orange-trees or under the shadow 

 of walls. The Russian variety is classed first, then the Queen 

 Victoria, which is of a deeper hue. 



Flower culture could never have succeeded were it not for 

 the railway companies facilitating the industry. They guar- 

 anteed the quickest trains from the south to the north of 

 France, accepting the flowers packed in special osier-baskets, 

 and limited to parcel-post weights, never exceeding eleven 

 pounds. It is thus that Nice and other places supply London, 

 Berlin, Stockholm, etc. None go to St. Petersburg; the par- 

 cels, even for the imperial family, are too severely handled 

 while passing through the customs. Germany is the best cus- 

 tomer of France for flowers. The prices ol flowers depend 

 upon the weather and fashion. Formerly Berlin gave the top 

 prices, now all are on a level ; while the cultivators have their 

 own daily latest market quotations published the same as for 

 corn, pork or coal. At Cannes, roses range from 2d. to 7s. 

 per dozen ; pinks, id. to 4s. ; Orchids, is. 6d. to 3s. ; narcissus 

 that sell at one time at id. each, can at other times bo had at 

 the same price per dozen. Occasionally taste runs in favor of 

 white, red or yellow colors. During tin- General Boulanger 

 craze in France, and especially Paris, red carnations obtained 



