May 19, 1897.] 



Garden and Forest. 



199 



it." The story shows alike the goodness of heart of two 

 men, both enthusiastic lovers of trees and nature. 



Besides Bartram, Marshall and Evans, Corson deserves a 

 conspicuous place in the well-deserved tribute of Dr. Harsh- 

 ber°*er. 



Germantown, Pa. Thomas Meehan. 



Early Flowers. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — In early April, Garden and Forest editorially inti- 

 mated, very pleasantly, that those of us who insist on having 

 early flowers in our gardens were braving the elements and 

 courting pneumonia and sudden death, things not to be ex- 

 pected of the average owner of gardens. This scarcely repre- 

 sents either side of the case. The average gardener simply does 

 not appreciate the fact that there are countless Mowers of most 

 exquisite beauty which flower early in the year, and that he 

 very much misses his opportunities if he shortens his gar- 

 den season several months. I mean by average gardeners 

 here those who have some enthusiasm on the subject, not 

 those hopeless people who in these early days of May are turn- 

 ing loose the jobbing gardener in their borders to destroy all 

 living things and " tidy up." As for the growers of early flow- 

 ers tliey have "lived through March" again, for, as a matter 

 of fact, the work in such gardens was finished in the previous 

 year and one had only to enjoy the results, and this does not 

 lead to much exposure. It is not necessary to linger or dawdle 

 over a flower to absorb its beauty. A glance is often enough to 

 fill one's mind with a beautiful image and start one's imagina- 

 tion, and imagination is as useful to a gardener as a spade. And 

 then the first awakening of plant life is a rare experience which 

 we see only a few times in our short lives. The luxury of a 

 garden to me does not consist in spacious plant-houses filled 

 with tropical plants, or in the flowers more especially valuable 

 for the market ; these are only incidents of a complete garden 

 which should primarily contain plants of all seasons growing 

 in the freedom of nature. An ideal garden should, among 

 other things, comprise a few low hills, with a ravine or two, 

 and perhaps a brook. Shrubs one should always have, not 

 only tor the flowers, but tor the shadows which they make. 

 On these hills, with some shrubs, one could naturalize a host 

 of dainty plants, worthy of the early year, which would tempt 

 one to wander afield, and furnish always those surprises which 

 add so much to the pleasures of gardening. In all but the 

 point of view of the lover of flowers this is very unpractical 

 gardening, for many flowers would bloom unseen. Still, even 

 then they would feed the imagination of the planter who could 

 not, perhaps, enjoy sometimes the fruit of his labor at the 

 moment. However, one does not require a large domain for 

 gardening pleasures of this kind. The smallest garden may 

 be so stocked, if one represses a desire for bigness and show, 

 that one can daily discern something new, and often come 

 across some lovely thing planted long since and forgotten in 

 the absence of bloom. One learns in collecting plants not 

 to expect everything to flower each year, and it is curious how 

 many plants one accumulates which for one reason or another 

 flower very infrequently or not at all. The great drawback to 

 the cultivation of any but a conventional garden is the impos- 

 sibility of securing intelligent help for those minor operations 

 which one would prefer to pay tor. Help is very expensive 

 when it results in weeding out everything except familiar 

 plants. The cultivation of dainty plants would not, of course, 

 appeal to those who must hunt their pleasures with a fund. 



Elizabeth, N.J. J.N.Gerard. 



Flowers at the Farmers' Club. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — At the monthly meeting of the Farmers' Club of the 

 American Institute, held Tuesday, May nth, at m-115 West 

 Thirty-eighth Street, this city, there was a large and varied 

 exhibition of flowers of hardy herbaceous plants and shrubs. 

 The general subject for discussion was Hardy and Native 

 Plants, and Dr. N. L. Britton, Director of the New York Botan- 

 ical Garden, gave bibliographical notes of Dodecatheon, 

 together with illustrations and herbarium specimens. Other 

 speakers were Mr. S. B. Parsons, Mr. Samuel Henshaw, Mr. 

 Huested, Dr. Ward, Mr. C. L. Allen, Mr. Leonard Barron, editor 

 American Gardening, and Mr. Holloway, who stated his suc- 

 cessful experience with Japanese Maples in an exposed posi- 

 tion on Long Island. Mr. A. Herrington made a plea for the 

 natural expression of trees and shrubs, and against formal 

 pruning and clipping. Dr. Hexamer, President of the club, 

 spoke of the charm of the hardy plant garden in its variety, 



and said this is the garden for the home and the family and 

 children, rather than for neighbors, and that it is a living kinder- 

 garten and nature's own garden. Mr. John Lewis Childs, of 

 Floral Park, New York, had an exhibit of seventy-six distinct 

 kinds of flowers, including Viburnum lantana, Daphne Cneo- 

 rum, Meehan's Halesia, Spirasas, Polemonium cceruleum, 

 Tritelia uniflora, Iberis Gibraltarica, Jonquils, Lychnis, hybrid 

 Aquilegias, Irises, Erysimum pulchellum, the red and yellow 

 flowering Currants, with many of the Japanese flowering 

 Apples and Plums. There were also several distinct strains 

 of Viola pedata, one of peculiarly rich marking, and supposedly . 

 from the section of Long Island about Hempstead Plains, where 

 these Violets are strongly established. Mr. James Holloway, 

 Glen Cove, Long Island, showed a highly interesting collection 

 in seventy-four vases, among which were Azalea amcena, 

 Eteagnus longipes, Kerria variegata, thickly flowered Cercis 

 Japonica, large clusters of the sweet smelling yellow flowers 

 of Berberis Aquifolium, Sambucus pubescens and Berberis 

 Sieboldii, often called B. Hakodate ; seven forms of Apples 

 were included in this exhibit, the most showy being Pyrus 

 Parkmanni, the more delicately colored P. fioribunda and the 

 large double P. coronaria. The only Rhododendrons shown 

 were from G. J. Aitken, gardener to R. Cook, Esq., Bayonne, 

 New Jersey. Mr. A. Herrington, gardener to H. McK. Twomb- 

 ley, Esq., Madison, New Jersey, had large sprays of Cornus 

 florida, Halesia, Judas-tree, Exochorda and the red-flowering 

 Dogwood. 



Other exhibitors were William Turner, gardener to William 

 Rockefeller, Esq., Tarrytown, New York ; W. Anderson, gar- 

 dener to J. M. Constable, Esq., Mamaroneck, New York, who 

 sent three luxuriantly grown masses of white, pink and purple 

 Campanulas; Mr. S. B. Huested, Blauvelt, New York, had a 

 showy exhibit in twelve vases ; several of the brightest masses 

 were foliage of Japanese Maples and the Japanese Judas-tree. 

 A. Grierson, gardener to Hicks Arnold, Esq., Rye, New York, 

 who, with Iris lupina, I. cristata and I. Korolkowi, showed 

 many of the best Narcissi, Trillium grandiflorum, Summer 

 Snowflakes and the yellow Doronicum Plantagineum excelsum, 

 besides a showy mass of Iceland Poppies and choice Tulips in 

 large variety. M. A. Muller, Oasis Nursery, Westbury, Long 

 Island, and Messrs. Siebrecht & Son also had interesting dis- 

 plays. Branches of Xanthoceras sorbifolia, Epimedium, Col- 

 chicum, English Cowslips and Wallflowers, Alyssum saxatile 

 and single and double Paeonia tennuifolia were all seen. Mr. 

 W. A. Manda, South Orange, New Jersey, exhibited a speci- 

 men of Lilium longiflorum with variegated foliage, and Mr. 

 Barron showed a vase of the dainty little Hoop-petticoat Nar- 

 cissus, N. bulbocodium. Mrs. C. S. Valentine brought an 

 interesting collection of hardy cultivated and wild flowers 

 gathered within the town limits of Cranford, New Jersey, 

 including seven species of native Violets, Bellworts, True 

 Solomon's Seal, Pedicularis Canadensis, Arabis bulbosa, 

 Naked Broom Rape, Podophyllum peltatum and Pansies win- 

 tered out-of-doors. _ 



New York. M, ±S. C. 



Recent Publications. 



Tlie Procession 0/ the Flowers and Kindred Papers. By- 

 Thomas Wentworth Higginson. New York : Longmans, 

 Green & Co. 1897. 



One always picks up a book with a title like this with 

 some apprehension. Men who consider themselves en- 

 dowed in a greater or less degree with what is called a 

 " feeling for nature " are apt to feel that the great mass of 

 their fellow beings are less fortunate in this respect and 

 need to be instructed as to what is going on about them. 

 It too often happens, therefore, that a writer with very 

 little imagination, no sense of humor, and a habit of taking 

 himself seriously, feels moved to describe in a prosaic 

 fashion what he thinks he ought to see, with the depress- 

 ing results which are seen in countless books and magazine 

 articles. This little book, however, is not a collection of 

 such commonplace essays as those to which we have made 

 allusion. The author is a man of scholarship, taste and 

 literary skill. He is an original observer, and without 

 making any pretensions to being a naturalist he describes 

 what he sees with accuracy, and not infrequently his 

 thoughts rise to the realm of poetry. The sketch entitled 

 My Outdoor Study is perhaps the best of the half-dozen 

 which the book contains, and is thoroughly enjoyable 

 from beginning to end. 



