298 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 492. 



annual Larkspurs, came up for years after in the same place, 

 and African Marigolds are apt to become weeds if left to 

 ripen seeds. Begonia semperrlorens sowed itself freely last 

 summer, and this spring we have a considerable number of 

 seedlings up. Garden Geraniums often come up after the 

 seed has been in the ground through the winter. 



Wellesley, Mass. T.D. Hatfield. 



Taxation for Municipal Improvements. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Your correspondent, A. O. Glees, in his letter, pub- 

 lished July 21st, on The Cost of City Parks, has suggested a 

 solution of a vexed question which arises in every special 

 assessment for park and other improvements. I have had 

 some correspondence with the Board of Street Openings 

 regarding a similar matter, and although Mr. Glees' solu- 

 tion appears just, I should like to have some one explain 

 how the scheme proposed can be put into execution. The 

 scheme seems to me impractical, the law and practice being 

 against the plan proposed. 



The Law Department wrote me recently as follows: " Ac- 

 cording to the law as it now stands, assessments are 

 limited to half the value of the property, as found by the Tax 

 Commissioners for the purpose of taxation. When we come 

 to open a street the large unimproved tracts, which are 

 assessed too low, cannot be made to pay their fair share of the 

 assessment, while the small owners who have improved their 

 property, and whose property is valued for the purpose of taxa- 

 tion relatively higher than the large unimproved holdings, 

 have, in consequence, to pay more than their share. So the 

 original injustice is not represented by the relative difference 

 in the amount of taxes actually paid, but they should be 

 increased by the relative difference in assessments made 

 necessary by the disproportionate valuations of the Tax 

 Commissioners." 



Here is a condition of affairs detrimental to municipal im- 

 provement, and it seems to demand attention. 



New York. Benjamin Doblin. 



Roadside Notes. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — When one chances to come upon a piece of road 

 diversified with groves of trees screening it from (he sunshine, 

 and a variety of wild growths clothing the space by the side 

 of the track, the thought always comes, why need we have 

 such barren, sun-smitten roadsides ? I recently drove over a 

 charming road where wild Grapevines luxuriated in freedom. 

 Sometimes they crept from the track along the grass to the 

 fence which they covered for rods, or they would climb trees 

 and wander over shrubs. Smilax rotundifolia, with its globu- 

 lar clusters of berries well formed, made a graceful com- 

 panion, and clumps of Monarda fistulosa were abundant, 

 looking cool in pale purple beside the glowing flame-color of 

 Asclepias tuberosa, now in its glory, and spreading over field 

 and lawn as well as roadside. On the north side of a grove, 

 Rudbeckias were making a rich display among the white 

 Yarrow. Several kinds of the Hawkweed family were stand- 

 ing erect and stately, their branching tops just coming into 

 flower, a striking feature among the more humble growths, 

 though less brilliant in blossom than many of their neighbors. 

 Here, too, was Pokeweed, Phytolacca decandra, a truly regal 

 plant, of which the red-purple fruit is its chief ornament. 

 Tephrosia, though out of bloom, added in large patches of 

 pale green an unusual tint. Along moist places, among 

 fringing Willows and Rushes, Asclepias incarnata spread its 

 crimson umbels. In shady nooks a pretty pink Desmodium 

 was blooming. Such delicacy of color is rare at this season 

 among wild flowers, and even the Swamp Rose, Rosa Caro- 

 lina, is of a deeper hue. Of the latter, beside many fine 

 specimens of usual size, a cluster of bushes were noted that had 

 been cut to the ground by some ruthless hand, and now, though 

 but a foot or two in height, were covered with a profusion of 

 flowers. Upon a shallow pool was growing Water Crowfoot, 

 Ranunculus multifidus, and on a running stream R. aquatilis. 

 These curious plants are of interest owing to their peculiar 

 foliage, which is submerged. 



These wild roadside plants offer a pleasant study to any 

 one who has an eye for natural beauty, and those who make 

 it their business to "clear up" the highway occasionally 

 seldom carry their designs to the extent of drawing away the 

 debris. A little discrimination, however, in eliminating what 

 might prove troublesome, and allowing the rest to grow in a 

 natural way, would add largely to the beauty that is so freely 



afforded us, besides giving us lessons in tlie natural grouping 

 of plants and flowers, which we sadly need. 

 White Pigeon, Mich. Dorcas E. Collins. 



Recent Publications. 



A New Insect Pest in Massachusetts. 



SINCE our allusion to the Massachusetts law against the 

 brown-tail moth we have received a Special Bulletin 

 of the Massachusetts Agricultural College Experimetit Sta- 

 tion, prepared by Dr. Fernald and A. H. Kirkland, which 

 gives an interesting account of the insect which is called 

 Euproctis chrysorrhcea, although other generic names have 

 been used for it, as Bombyx, Liparis and Porthesia. It seems 

 that on the 8th of May this year word was sent to the office of 

 the Gypsy-moth Committee that some insect was destroy- 

 ing the leaves of the Pear-trees of a citizen of Somerville. 

 An agent of the Department was at once sent there, who 

 found no gypsy-moths, but reported that some other insect 

 had made "tents" at the tips of the branches of the Pear- 

 trees. After a time examination of the caterpillars by- 

 Professor Fernald proved them to be the well-known 

 destructive pest of Europe, the brown-tail moth. The 

 males are pure white, with a satiny lustre on the fore 

 wings, which sometimes carry a few black dots and a 

 reddish brown tuft at the end of the abdomen. The anten- 

 nae are white fringed with pale yellowish hairs, and the 

 moth measures about one and a quarter inches from tip 

 to tip of the expanded wings. The females have no black 

 spots on the wings, the anal tuft is larger and lighter, and 

 the antennae are shorter. The expanse of the wings is 

 about one and three-quarter inches. The eggs are laid in 

 July in masses of from two hundred to three hundred, 

 usually on the under side of the leaves, where they hatch 

 in a short time, and the young caterpillars soon leave 

 nothing but the skeletons of the leaves. While still young 

 these caterpillars begin to construct a regular habitation at 

 the end of the twigs by drawing together a few leaves, 

 lining and surrounding them with silk, where they remain 

 all winter. Before the leaves begin to grow, the caterpillars 

 emerge from their winter retreat and feed on the swelling 

 buds. The full-grown caterpillar is sometimes one and 

 three-quarter inches long. When the caterpillars are done 

 feeding they change to pupae in the early part of June 

 among the leaves, spinning an open cocoon of coarse silk. 

 In a short time the moths emerge, and after mating lay 

 their eggs. 



Careful inquiry seems to establish the fact that this insect 

 has been known about Somerville for some five years, and 

 probably it existed in small numbers for several years 

 before it attracted attention, and then it was supposed to 

 be the gypsy-moth. Men employed in destroying the 

 gypsy-moth probably have supposed them to be some 

 common American species, and paid no attention to them, 

 as their work, by act of legislature, was directed against 

 the gypsy-moth solely. The area in which the insect has 

 done serious damage this year is nearly circular in outline, 

 and has a diameter of about a mile. But the pest is already 

 found in single colonies at some distance, and no doubt it 

 has been distributed by traffic to many places from which 

 no report has yet been heard. The Pear seems to be its 

 favorite food-plant, and as these trees greatly outnumber 

 other fruit-trees in the settled portions of Massachusetts, 

 the loss is severely felt by property owners. It feeds, 

 however, on many other trees, and among these the bul- 

 letin mentions the following : Basswood, Sugar Maple, 

 White Maple, Sycamore Maple, Plum, Cherry, Wild Black 

 Cherry, Peach, Crab-apple, Apple, Quince, White Ash, 

 American Elm, Black Walnut and Weeping Willow. Of 

 shrubs and climbers the Grape, Virginia Creeper, Wistaria, 

 Raspberry, Weigelia, Spiraea Thunbergii, Blackberry, Rose, 

 Japan Quince, Currant and Gooseberry are named. It also 

 feeds upon the Geranium, Burdock Plantain, Rhubarb, 

 Strawberry and many other herbs, so that the number and 



