July 2S, 1S97.] 



Garden and Forest. 



297 



came here originally from Japan, but is a native of the Korean 

 peninsula and the Manchurian coast region. Like P. parvi- 

 flora and our native White Pine, it has five leaves in a cluster, 

 but it is a comparatively small tree, rarely being more than 

 thirty feet high. Its pale green leaves do not fall until the end 

 of three or four years, so that it has the appearance of being 

 more densely foliaged than other White Pines whose leaves 

 are shorter-lived. It is perfectly hardy as far north as New 

 England, and its abundant leaves and the bright red color of 

 its young shoots give it a distinct and attractive appearance. 



Abies Cilicica is a comparatively rare tree in collections, 

 although there are fine specimens to be seen in Mr. Hunne- 

 well's pinetum, and in the Hoopes pinetum at Westchester, 

 Pennsylvania — trees forty feet high, standing in compact, 

 sharp-pointed cones and branching from the ground with pale 

 silvery foliage. This Fir is a native of the Taurus Mountains, 

 and in ancient Cilicia it forms extensive forests at elevations 

 of from 3,000 to 7,000 feet above the sea. It does not flourish, 

 however, in western Europe, because its young shoots, which 

 appear very early, are often caught by late frosts, and for this 

 reason European nurserymen do not propagate it largely, and 

 it has never been a common tree in commerce. Nevertheless, 

 it is excelled in beauty by none of the Silver Firs that are 

 hardy here, except the Colorado varieties of Abies concolor. 



Newport, R. I. J- L. 



The Bermuda Lily Disease. 



THE disease which attacks the Bermuda Lily, so largely 

 forced for Easter decoration in this country, usually 

 destroys from twenty to sixty per cent, of the crop, and no 

 one knows how many of the bulbs are lost in the fields 

 where they are grown. The disease has been attributed to 

 various causes, and an investigation has been carried on 

 by A. S. Woods, of the Division of Vegetable Pathology of 

 the United States Department of Agriculture, for three years 

 past, for the purpose of ascertaining its real character, so 

 as to find, if possible, some hopeful remedial treatment. 

 The result of these studies will soon be issued in a bulletin, 

 but in view of the fact that the bulbs are now coming in, 

 Professor Galloway makes a brief statement in the American 

 Florist of the general facts discovered, from which we quote : 



The Lily disease is characterized by the spotting and distor- 

 tion of the leaves and sometimes the flowers and a general 

 stunting of the plants. When the flowers are spotted the plants 

 are unsalable, regardless of the condition of the leaves. Where 

 the flowers, however, and the upper whorls of leaves are not 

 injured the plants may still be sold for certain decorative 

 purposes. 



The disease has been attributed to worn-out soil, premature 

 removal of flowers and stems, premature harvesting, im- 

 proper propagation, bad treatment during forcing, and the 

 attacks of various insects and fungi. All these matters have 

 received more or less attention, and experiments, extending 

 through several seasons, have been made to prove the truth 

 or falsity of the various theories. As a result of the work the 

 evidence is sufficient to warrant the statement that the trouble 

 is not due to any one thing, but is brought on by a combina- 

 tion of factors, involving long-continued improper selection, 

 propagation and cultivation in the field ; the work of a mite 

 (Rhizoglyphus echinops); injuries resulting from the punctures 

 of plant lice, or aphides, and the attacks of certain bacteria and 

 fungi, notably an Oospora related to the one associated with 

 potato scab. The injuries from the mites, aphides and fungi 

 are always more severe on plants which have been weakened 

 by improper methods of propagation, selection, etc., while 

 being forced. 



In regard to preventive measures, it is plain that work must 

 begin where the bulbs are grown in the field. Every plant 

 that shows evidence of disease should be destroyed, and only 

 the strongest and healthiest bulbs should be used for propaga- 

 tion. A second selection should be made when the plants 

 from the scales are being transferred to the field. A third 

 selection should be made when the bulbs are prepared for 

 shipment, so as to reduce as much as possible the difficulties 

 encountered by those who force the bulbs. In the field, rota- 

 tion of crops should be practiced, for bulbs long grown on the 

 same soil will have more of the mites and other parasitic 

 organisms to contend against, and hence will run greater risks 

 of being weakened. The bulbs should be ripened with their 

 stems on and should be dug only when fully matured and 

 rested. 



When forced, bulbs should be planted in well-drained, well- 



aerated soil, containing not more than one-fourth well-rotted 

 manure. All injured bulbs should be thrown out, and in 

 watering the young foliage should be kept as dry as possible, 

 for it may be injured by having water injected into the tissues. 

 In feeding avoid the use of solutions of horse, cow and sheep 

 manures, as they have a tendency to clog the soii, resulting in 

 asphyxiation of the roots and consequent injury to the top. 

 Soluble chemical foods may be used to advantage, but caution 

 must be exercised in applying them. 



Correspondence. 



Electrical Attraction of Trees. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — A Frenchman, Monsieur Dimitrie, in making experi- 

 ments with the resistance of various materials to the electric 

 spark, has sought to know the reason why the different kinds of 

 trees are so unequally susceptible to lightning. Sam pies of beech 

 and oak being exposed to the spark of a Holtz machine, 

 showed that the oakwood had been thoroughly traversed by 

 the spark after one or two revolutions of the machine, while 

 for the beech twelve to twenty revolutions were necessarv. 

 Black poplar and willow required five revolutions. The woods 

 having a watery sap appear to have offered no resistance to the 

 electric spark, but the resinous woods, on the contrary, exhib- 

 ited considerable resistance. Trees of starchy constitution, 

 poor in fats, such as the Oak, Poplar, Willow, Maple, Elm and 

 Ash, offer far less resistance than those rich in fats like the 

 Beech, Walnut, Linden and Birch. Experiments with the Pine 

 (which in winter contains an excess of oil, but in summer is 

 as poor as the trees of starchy fibre), show that in the summer 

 season it is as easily attacked by the spark as the Oak, while in 

 winter it offers the same resistance as the Beech and the 

 Walnut. 



It was also shown that by extracting the oil (by means of 

 ether) from the walnut and beech wood, they became as sus- 

 ceptible to the spark as the woods of starchy fibre. 



Another point of interest in the experiments showed that 

 living, growing woods offered greater resistance than dead 

 wood. Bark and foliage are always bad conductors of elec- 

 tricity, but that is secondary to the conducting power of the 

 tree in its ensemble. Trees, and the parts of trees which are 

 the best conductors of electricity, are more frequently struck 

 by lightning than those trees and parts which are bad con- 

 ductors. Thus, in the forests of the principality of Lippe, 

 from 1879 to 1885, the trees struck by lightning were 159 Oaks, 

 twenty-one Beeches, twenty Fir-trees, fifty-nine Pines and 

 twenty-one other trees of various kinds. The domain covered 

 by observations showed about two per cent. Oak, seventy per 

 cent. Beech, thirteen per cent. Fir and six per cent, of Pines. 

 The danger would then be five times for the Fir, thirty-three 

 times for the-Pine and forty-eight times greater for the Oak 

 than for the Beech. 



The danger to trees from lightning is great in proportion to 

 the electrical conductibility of their wood. The influence of 

 this conductibility of trees upon the frequency of lightning 

 strokes is shown by the fact that dead wood (good conductor) 

 is more frequently struck than green wood (bad conductor), 

 and that the trunks of trees are struck oftener (in the Lippe 

 forests 197 times) than the tops (seventy-eight times . 



The author discusses the influence of the site and soil upon 

 lightning strokes of trees. He recognizes that the proximity 

 of streams augments the danger. Isolated trees appear to be 

 more exposed than those massed in clumps; but when the 

 electric tension is very high, all trees are liable to be struck. 



Chicago, ill. Rosa G. Abbott. 



The Vitality of Seeds. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir, — Nine years ago I took up about fifty chimps of Lily-of- 

 the-valley for forcing, which contained seeds from Foxgloves 

 scattered through the bed. The clumps were placed along 

 the edge of the greenhouse path. After the Lily-of-the- valley 

 had been forced and began to die- away, seedling Foxglovi - 

 came up, and there has never been a spring season since 

 when a large number did not germinate, ami this season there 

 are several hundred. Ten years ago last June I planted see. Is 

 of Hibiscus militaris in the open border, ami every year since I 

 have found a number of seedlings ; this sear hall a dozen. In 

 theplace wheresixyearsago were planted seeds of Rocky Moun- 

 tain Columbine, seedlings continue to germinate, although none 

 have been sown there since. Tobacco, Verbenas, Ageiatum, 



