August ii, 1897.] 



Garden and Forest. 



313 



to their eyes, the ill-clothed sticks that are shrubs, though 

 shrubs ungrown, and the unfurnished poles that are trees, 

 though trees ungrown, give no promise of the rich and 

 scene-changing vegetation that will be ^evolved from 

 these meagre twigs and branches. In a dozen years' time 

 these Snowballs or Mock-Oranges, that now are so mean 

 and insignificant, may fill the view with plentiful foliage 

 and blossom, and hide unseemly objects, natural or arti- 

 ficial ; and the new-planted trees that seem merely to deface 

 the lawn, or stand on the hillside to make their loneliness 

 more conspicuous, may change the entire character of the 

 prospect and give it a breadth and dignity. But the eye 

 of the average spectator only sees the scene of the moment, 

 not of five or ten years hence ; and after having spent 

 thousands of dollars and endured the trouble and anxiety 

 of seeing his place upheaved by grading, cultivating and 

 planting, the employer of a landscape-gardener may seem 

 to himself to have acquired little for his pains and expense 

 beyond such as there may be of the complete and obvious 

 work of the road-maker and mason. 



This is an evil which inheres in the very nature of such 

 work, and the weakness of human nature not to be entirely 

 avoided. It remains for the artist to warn his employer 

 that the work even when pronounced finished will prob- 

 ably seem meagre and unsatisfactory, and to encourage 

 him to console himself by watching its yearly development 

 and increase ; he can point out that in the hopes he has of 

 it lies a great part of his pleasure, which he will lose by 

 giving it up to his impatience. It remains for the employer 

 to exercise what patience he may and to enter into the 

 views of his landscape-gardener as best he can, resting 

 assured that as his sympathy with nature increases and his 

 appreciation of her beauties develops he will have a keener 

 delight in watching the growth of his plants than any other 

 pleasure they can give. And even if at last the landscape- 

 gardener suffers from want of immediate appreciation, he 

 can reflect that, like all serious and conscientious workers, 

 artists or not, he is working for the future. 

 Pittsburg, Pa. H. A. Capam. 



Weeds in Southern New Jersey. 



NOT a season passes but we find some weeds not 

 before observed, and the wonder is how they reach 

 us. This summer I found the Hare's- ear Mustard, Con- 

 ringia orientalis, growing in my garden. This plant is so 

 little known that it is not yet mentioned in any of our text- 

 books, so I was greatly puzzled over it until I saw the 

 circular sent out by the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture entitled " Three New Weeds of the Mustard Family," 

 and here was an excellent figure of my weed, and the mys- 

 tery was solved about its presence in my garden. It must 

 have come from the far north-west in imperfectly cleaned 

 wheat which had been fed to chickens. The gardener 

 had brought earth from the chicken-yard to replenish the 

 flower border, and so this strange westerner had found a 

 home among our familiar flowers. It is not a dangerous- 

 looking plant, but rather attractive, as will be seen from 

 Professor Dewey's description quoted from the circular 

 referred to : 



Hare's-ear Mustard is a rather slender branching annual, 

 smooth and grayish throughout. The comparatively large, 

 oval, succulent leaves suggest the popular name. The leaves 

 at the base are broadly spatulate ; those of the stem elliptical 

 or oval, clasping at the base, and two to five inches long. The 

 flowers are of a creamy white, about three-eighths of an inch 

 in diameter, and produced in clusters at the extremities of the 

 branches as in the common Mustards. Flowers are produced 

 continuously throughout the season, and are followed by 

 racemes of seed-pods on rather stout, spreading pedicels about 

 half an inch long, which become separated at intervals of half 

 an inch to one inch as the branches elongate. The seed-pods 

 are nearly straight, about four inches long, diamond-shaped, 

 or nearly square in transverse section, and about one-eighth 

 of an inch in diameter. The average number of seeds borne 

 by each pod is about fifty, and an average plant bears from 

 forty to one hundred pods, maturing from the first of July 



until the plant is killed by frost. The seeds are reddish brown, 

 oblong, nearly Hat on one side and rounded on the other, 

 about a tenth of an inch long by one-sixteenth of an inch wide. 

 They are large and heavy enough to pass with the grains of 

 wheat and oats through the thrashing-machine, and, in fact, 

 they can be completely separated from these grains only by 

 careful manipulation with the best fanning mills or modern 

 cleaning machines. It is practically impossible to separate 

 them completely from flax-seed. 



The peculiar foliage of the plant and its clusters of creamy 

 white Mowers entitle it to a place in the flower garden, while 

 the crisp, tender leaves with a mild mustard flavor make very 

 good salad. But if planted for these purposes in the garden 

 none of its seed should be allowed to fall. 



The pretty little Snapdragon, Antirrhinum orontium, I 

 noticed for the first time this summer. It came from 

 Europe many years ago and settled in Virginia around 

 old fields and gardens, from whence it has slowly traveled 

 until it has reached most of the Atlantic states. It is quite 

 a handsome little plant with a pink-purple corolla which 

 looks like the face of some animal. 



A smallish composite plant, Galinsoga parviflora, is 

 another weed observed for the first time this season. The 

 small heads are about thirty-flowered, and under the 

 microscope the achenes show rough-looking points. It 

 commences to flower when not more than two or three 

 inches high, and continues its growth and flowering until 

 it is a foot or more in height and breadth. It comes from 

 South America, and from reports of the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment it is rapidly spreading through the eastern states. 



The Bracted Plantain is another and more dreaded weed 

 that has made its appearance here this summer. The 

 Lance-leaved Plantain, or Ribgrass, is the worst enemy we 

 have had to contend against on our lawns, and now if this 

 new relative — the Bracted Plantain — is to be added to our 

 noxious weeds, we shall have to maintain a perpetual war- 

 fare. Farmers' Bulletin, No. 28, issued by the Department 

 of Agriculture, says that this weed has appeared in abun- 

 dance in meadows, pastures and lawns in many localities 

 from Maryland to Illinois during the past season. Although 

 generally reported as new, it has doubtless existed before 

 in small quantity and with less robust habit in many of 

 these places. In some instances, however, it is known to 

 have been introduced during the past season in lawn grass 

 seed. An average plant is said to produce about fifteen 

 flower-spikes, and an average spike bears about a hundred 

 flowers or two hundred seeds, making a total of about 

 3,000 seeds to the plant. 



Among the longest-established and best-known weeds 

 here is the Wild Carrot. There is a law against harboring 

 it, but, like many similar laws, it is never enforced, and so 

 in many places it runs riot. I must confess, however, to 

 a liking for this renegade. Its handsome white flat cymes 

 of lace-like flowers look cool and inviting, and its foliage is 

 handsome, too. But this cannot be said of the Wild Garlic, 

 which is a troublesome weed in our grass lands and on 

 our roadsides. Milk is sometimes so badly tainted with it 

 that it is unfit for use. Like most of our noxious weeds, 

 this, too, is a foreigner and hails from Europe. In Circular 

 No. 9 of the United States Department of Agriculture are 

 figures and descriptions of this vile pest, and the best 

 methods of eradicating it, which everybody should heed. 

 The circular states that it is the most injurious weed at the 

 present time in the middle Atlantic states. 



Among our most attractive weeds is Galium Mollugo, 

 which was first observed about New York somewhere in 

 the sixties, and is now a roadside weed, and is also found 

 in fields and pastures. It has a deep, strong root which 

 sends out numerous branches ending in long panicles of 

 white fragrant flowers. The root increases in size from 

 year to year, until one plant will cover quite a space. If 

 it is mowed frequently it will adapt itself in a way to keep 

 clear of the machine by sending out long flowering 

 branches which lie flat on the -round. It is a pity that 

 this handsome plant cannot be kept from becoming a way- 

 faring nuisance. Our native Galiums. of which we have a 



