May 5, 1897.] 



Garden and Forest. 



177 



makes a nice green carpet, and its flower-stems are produced 

 about four inches above the foliage. The color of the flowers 

 is white. D. stellata also makes a good green carpet on the 

 ground, but its flower -stems are six inches high, and has 

 fairly good-sized white flowers. Other species in bloom now 

 are D. rupestris, D. hirta, D. lactea, D. confusa and D. 

 arabisans. 



Near relatives of the Drabas are the Aubrietias, which 

 clothe the ground thickly with their evergreen stems, and at 

 this time they have a fine show of blue flowers. In a dry 

 sunny position and partially rich soil they grow freely and are 

 welcome additions to our garden at this season. The Scurvy- 

 grass, Cochlearia angelica, is a dwarf British plant with white 

 flowers, which are borne freely now. It grows and flowers 

 well in a shady position. It is about six inches high and its 

 stems are clothed with ovate leaves. 



Viola Munbyana is one of the earliest of the hardy Violets to 

 bloom here. It has flowers nearly as large as those of V. 

 cornuta and of a deep purple-blue color. It has proved quite 

 hardy here for two years, growing freely in a shady 

 position and producing flowers in profusion. Another Violet 

 in bloom, with pretty but small light purple flowers, is V. 

 sylvatica, var. Reichenbachiana. The variety cucullata ot V. 

 palmata and its white form are also in bloom, and when they 

 are grown in masses they are very effective, as their flowers 

 are borne in such lavish profusion. 



The first of the Leguminous plants to blossom is Orobus 

 Vermis. This excellent, hardy, early-flowering plant, when 

 the frost is out of the ground, grows so quickly that one is 

 always surprised to see it in bloom so soon after it begins 

 to grow. From its black roots rise healthy green leaves, and 

 in a brief time they are almost hidden from view by blossoms 

 of purple and blue. The flowers have red veins, and the 

 keels are tinted with green and then change to blue. The 

 plant is very easy to grow and it is quite happy either in the 

 sun or when slightly shaded, and it enjoys a light rich soil. 



In one of the borders some fine tufts of the lovely Anemone 

 Pulsatilla, the Pasque flower, are producing their violet sub- 

 erect flowers. The flowers are about the same size as those ot 

 Adonis vernalis, and are made up of six spreading silky sepals. 

 The plant grows six inches high and its leaves are pinnate, 

 and the segments many-parted. This lovely Anemone ought 

 to be more common in gardens. It is quite happy here in a 

 slightly shaded border and in rather stiff loamy soil. Large 

 clumps of Adonis vernalis are grown along the front of the 

 herbaceous border, and their big bright blossoms have been 

 enjoyed for several weeks. When the plants are once estab- 

 lished it is better not to disturb them too often. If there is 

 occasion to remove them, this should be done with care and 

 as much soil as possible should be taken with the roots. 



The large, stately Crown Imperials are in full bloom now, 

 and they are the tallest plants in the border at this time. 

 Fritillaria Meleagris is also in bloom, and its drooping, curiously 

 colored flowers are very interesting. Masses of the common 

 Grape Hyacinth and its white variety are conspicuous in the 

 front row, making a bright show of blue and white. They not 

 only thrive in this climate, but they multiply in a sunny posi- 

 tion and in a light, sandy soil. Arabis albida, one of the 

 easiest plants to grow, never fails to give an abundant 

 crop of white flowers. The Erythroniums are blossoming 

 freely now, a large bed-planting of E. albidum being covered 

 with white flowers. E. grandiflorum, a rarer plant with yellow- 

 ish flowers produced singly or two or three flowers in a small 

 raceme, is past its best. Another rare variety now in bloom 

 is E. dens-canis, var. Sibiricum. It has flowers of a light 

 chocolate color. 



Harvard Botanic Garden, Cambridge, Mass. R- Cameron. 



I 



Summer Pruning the Raspberry. 



N the spring of 1892 an experiment was started at the Wis- 

 consin Agricultural Experiment Station to determine the 

 effects of summer pruning upon the growth and fruiting of the 

 Raspberry-plant. This experiment was continued through the 

 season of 1895, but as a portion of the plants, in the mean time, 

 were attacked by the disease known as curl-leaf, the results 

 were not regarded as sufficiently conclusive for publication, 

 and the work is to be repeated. 



A few points were, however, clearly brought out in this ex- 

 periment, one of which is the evidence that summer pruning 

 tends to increase the number of canes, both in the Red and 

 Black Raspberry. When the plants in the differently pruned 

 rows were dug out in the spring of 1896 the crowns were 

 noticeably different in the number of stumps whence canes 

 had been cut off in the annual removal of the dead fruiting 



branches, and in the thinning out of the young canes to a 

 definite number. The stumps were more numerous in the 

 pruned rows. In one series the canes had been pinched twice 

 each season — that is, the primary shoot was pinched at the 

 height of twelve to eighteen inches, and the lateral shoots that 

 appeared later were pinched about twelve inches from the 

 main stem. In these twice-pinched plants the increase in the 

 number of stumps was marked. In the once-pinched plants 

 the difference was manifest, but to a less degree. 



The structure of the stem in the Raspberry and several 

 allied plants is peculiar in the fact that the stems, while living 

 over winter, die back each year after fruiting, nearly or quite 

 to the crown, while new branches grow out each spring from 

 the crown at the base of the stems of the preceding year, or 

 very often from these stems, slightly above their juncture with 

 the crown. In healthy plants the base of the dead cane is 

 sloughed off from the living portion, which heals beneath 

 the juncture. Since the young shoots have the nature of 

 branches, either from the old stem or from the crown at its 

 base, we might expect that pinching the tips of the growing 

 shoots would stimulate the growth of new canes, as we know 

 it stimulates branching of the canes above ground. 



Since the number ot young canes in cultivated plantations 

 of the Raspberry is usually too large to permit the best devel- 

 opment of the fruit, unless they are thinned out, it would 

 seem that the wisdom of summer pruning may be questioned. 

 In our experiment there was no positive evidence that the 

 yield of fruit was increased in any case by summer pruning, 

 while it was very clear that it was decreased by the twice- 

 pinching process mentioned above. 



The formation of gall-like excrescences on roots has been 

 ascribed to excessive pruning. In this experiment the pruning 

 appeared to have no direct influence upon the number or the 

 size of the root excrescences, a few of which were found on 

 the roots of certain plants in all of the rows. 



University ot Wisconsin. -£•• *J. doff. 



Plum-trees for Ornamental Plantings. 



ALMOST any well-grown Plum-tree is ornamental, though 

 those of American species are usually more so than the 

 Japanese Plums, and much more so than the European 

 Plums. I remember to have seen attention called to the 

 desirable qualities of Prunus Americana in Garden and 

 Forest, but P. angustifolia, P. Watsoni, P. maritima and sev- 

 eral members of the Hortulana group have quite as much to 

 recommend them. Prunus angustifolia is a more graceful 

 plant than P. Americana and bears foliage of a fresher green, 

 while P. Watsoni makes a good showing in thick shrubbery 

 borders. A Plum-tree in full blossom is one of the most 

 charming touches in the spring landscape. I was especially 

 struck by the beauty of these trees this spring during a visit to 

 the Plum orchards of the Maryland peninsula. There the 

 white drifts of Plum blossoms interspersed among the pink of 

 the blooming Peach orchards introduce an element of almost 

 dazzling beauty into the rural landscape. Plum-trees there are 

 very commonly planted in farmyards near the dwelling- 

 houses, where they certainly give a better effect than many of 

 the sorry exotics left by the tree agent. Many of the views 

 which one gets in eastern Maryland in Plum-blooming time 

 suggest the paintings of Mr. Alfred Parsons, and give one a 

 real appreciation of the Japanese love for Plum blossoms. 

 The Japanese Plums, by the way, are especially beautiful in 

 blossom, but are not so attractive in habit of growth. [The 

 popular garden tree in Japan is Prunus Mume, an Apricot 

 rather than a Plum, and probably not a native ot Japan, but of 

 Corea. — Ed.] 



But while American Plums are all to be rated together as 

 useful for ornamental planting, there are wide differences 

 among the members of any group. This can be quickly 

 marked among cultivated varieties. Of Americanas, Cheney, 

 belonging to the Nigra section, is remarkably beautiful at 

 blooming-time. Its blossoms are very large and abundant 

 and have a beautiful rose-pink tinge approaching the charac- 

 teristic tint of Peach blossoms. Cheney also remains in blos- 

 som longer than most varieties. In the Hortulana group 

 Sucker State might be noted for special beauty at flowering- 

 time. Moreman and all the varieties of its class, including 

 Wayland, Golden Beauty, Reed, Leptune and Garfield, are not 

 only magnificent in blossom but have a graceful, slender, 

 drooping habit of growth which would mark them out for 

 ornamental planting. Mr. Kerr's Sophie is a tree of the 

 same form and bears an abundance of blossoms, which show 

 a pretty and peculiar pink in the opening buds. 



There are varieties of Prunus Americana with nicely doubled 

 flowers if one must have something of that sort. 



