338 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 496. 



eyes to the fact that such tendency is encouraged by the 

 recent increase of active field study, the lack of which in 

 the past has undoubtedly left regrettable marks on our 

 botanical literature. Though the general outlines of the 

 flora of a new country must necessarily be drawn from 

 closet study, the details cannot safely be left to that alone, 

 and the success achieved by some of the newer hands in 

 the elaboration of our eastern flora, largely due to careful 

 field investigation, should be gratefully acknowledged. 

 Some of the best results of such study find place here for 

 the first time in a general work. 



We again express our pleasure at seeing our plants 

 arranged in a sequence so much preferable to the accus- 

 tomed one, and their descriptions accompanied throughout 

 by figures. Some of the latter leave much to be desired, 

 but most of them are fairly excellent and must be of great 

 service to those for whom they are intended — that is, the 

 unprofessional students who need confirmation of their 

 determinations made from descriptions. It is not fair to 

 expect elaborate illustrations under the limitations enforced 

 by the plan of this work or that the specialist should always 

 find them adequate. 



Notes. 



We recently received some specimens of the new black 

 cherry, the Dikeman, from Mr. S. D. Willard, of Geneva, New 

 York. The fruit was picked on August 16th and was in excel- 

 lent condition when it reached us, nearly a week later. It is 

 of good size, remarkably firm and very sweet ; indeed, it would 

 be better with a little touch of acid. It is certainly the finest 

 cherry we know which ripens so late. 



The Black Locust is a common tree in West Virginia, where 

 it is found in groves of considerable extent and is of great com- 

 mercial value on land that has been allowed to revert to forest 

 after having been used for agricultural purposes. In the late 

 annual report of the West Virginia Experiment Station, Pro- 

 fessor Corbett says that it is considered of greater value than 

 any native wood for use as driving blocks in sinking points for 

 driven wells. The timber closely approaches in value that of 

 Red Cedar for posts, and this, together with its rapid repro- 

 duction, constitutes its greatest value, although it is much 

 sought for by the manufacturers of hubs for carriage wheels 

 and for other uses where great resistance to pressure is 

 required. The largest Black Locust in West Virginia stands 

 near the entrance of an abandoned coal mine, not far from 

 Morgantown. It is a remarkable tree, being fully four feet in 

 trunk diameter and at least one hundred feet tall. 



The section of Florida adapted to the open-air cultivation of 

 the Pineapple on the east coast and in the middle of the penin- 

 sula is mostly on ground that northern farmers would consider 

 barren sand dunes. Nevertheless, there is much good plant- 

 food in the soil, and good Pineapple land near West Palm 

 Beach, for example, costs from $150 to $250 an acre. Plants 

 of the red Spanish variety cost something like $4.00 a thou- 

 sand, and from eight thousand to ten thousand can be grown 

 on an acre. It is found advisable to set them close together 

 so as to suppress weeds and prop up each other's fruits, for if 

 set wider apart the fruits are inclined to grow large, topple 

 over and become sunburned on one side. A correspondent 

 of The Country Gentleman states that good suckers will fruit in 

 twelve msmths after setting. Plants set in August or Septem- 

 ber will give a good half crop the following May and June. 

 The open-air pineries of the Indian River do not, as a rule, 

 produce more than a hundred standard eighty-pound crates 

 to the acre, but they will keep this up from three to six years 

 without renewing. If the grower nets from $1.50 to $1.75 a 

 crate he is doing well. Of course, this is no price for fancy 

 pineapples under glass. 



Within the past fortnight 207 carloads of California pears, 

 peaches and plums, with a few grapes and nectarines, have 

 been sold in this city. And, of course, this large quantity 

 is only supplementary to supplies of the same kinds of fruits 

 from eastern, southern and middle western states. On Monday 

 of last week, for example, thirty-three carloads of California 

 fruit were sold, the largest amount ever disposed of here in 

 one day. During the same week peaches from eleven other 

 states formed part of our supply, so that it is not surprising 

 that very low prices were the rule for the showy but less 

 luscious California peaches. The best freestones from the 

 Pacific coast have been selling here for seventy cents a box, 



while many have brought but forty-five cents, and, contrary to 

 general experience, clingstone peaches, because of their large 

 size and showy color, commanded higher prices. Seckel 

 pears were a small part of these shipments, along with the 

 handsomest Bartletts ever offered in our markets, and as much 

 might be said for the plums now in season. 



According to a correspondent of the Evening Post the army 

 of pickers that descends upon the Cranberry bogs of Wiscon- 

 sin eveiy autumn is composed chiefly of Poles, Indians and 

 half-breeds, the Indians being considered the best pickers 

 because they never strike and always accept the prices offered 

 by the overseers. As a rule they earn a dollar a day and their 

 board. They bring their lodges and tepees with them and 

 camp on the field. The Indians will not begin to work until 

 half-past nine in the forenoon and they promptly knock off at 

 four in the afternoon, in spite of persuasions or threats. This 

 peculiarity sometimes proves costly to the growers, for if a 

 killing frost is threatened in the night the owners are com- 

 pelled to hurry about and hire more white pickers, since it is 

 a waste of time to try to get an extra hour's work out of an 

 Indian. He would see the whole field frozen stiff first. At 

 such times the Poles realize the advantage of the situation and 

 demand extra wages for overwork. The Indians are good 

 weather prophets and serve a useful purpose in foretelling 

 when to prepare for frost, and when the word issues from the 

 lodge of a chief that frost is approaching the bogs are imme- 

 diately flooded and extra help is employed. If the water 

 covers all the berries in time no damage happens, but those 

 that are left exposed will be ruined. 



Some investigations by Mr. A. F. Woods, of the Division of 

 Vegetable Pathology in the Department of Agriculture, seem 

 to indicate that the so-called " bacteriosis " of Carnations, first 

 described by Dr. Arthur in 1889, is not due to bacteria, but is a 

 direct result of injuries to the plant by thrips or aphides. In a 

 paper read at the recent meeting of the American Association 

 tor the Advancement of Science, Mr. Woods brought out the 

 fact that neither fungi nor bacteria are present in the earlier 

 stages of the disease, and that their presence is not constant 

 as the disease advances. A disease witli all the characteristics 

 of this bacteriosis, excepting the presence of bacteria, can be 

 produced by aphides, and since the injuries in their earlier 

 stages are not accompanied by bacteria, the aphides cannot be 

 charged with carrying any infectious germ. The Carnation is 

 readily influenced by extraneous conditions, and the reaction 

 to the injuries of aphides and thrips vary largely, and plants 

 carelessly grown suffer more seriously from punctures by the 

 aphis than vigorous plants do. The sum of the matter is that 

 the greatest care should be used in selecting and propagating 

 stock, in furnishing conditions for vigorous growth and in 

 keeping down aphides and thrips. It is these insects, and not 

 bacteria, with which the practical grower must contend. Of 

 course, good stock and good conditions of growth can never 

 be neglected, and Mr. Woods' investigations give emphasis to 

 what growers already know — that the disease is often the 

 result of neglect, and that the way to have healthy plants is to 

 give the closest attention to every detail of culture. 



Many Orchids which grow and flower luxuriantly for some 

 time after their importation gradually fall away and ultimately 

 die. Various theories for this degeneration have been put 

 forward, but the puzzle remained unsolved until now, when 

 some experiments in France, reported in a recent number of 

 The Orchid Review, seem to give a satisfactory explanation. 

 Flowering is an exhaustive process, and investigations were 

 made with Cattleya labiata, which produces many flowers and 

 is grown in a mixture of Fern fibre and sphagnum, which 

 contain little nutriment. The Cattleya was analyzed chemically 

 in 1891 when it was imported, and a similar analysis was made 

 of plants in 1897 after six years of cultivation. The results 

 given in comparative tables show that the latter plants con- 

 tained less dry material, less organic matter, potash, lime, 

 magnesia, phosphoric acid and nitrogen, while water, sulphu- 

 ric acid and two or three other substances, which were only 

 present as traces in the imported plants, have increased. This 

 analysis seems to show that the degeneration is attributable to 

 exhaustion caused by the production of flowers without any 

 means taken to compensate the plants for loss. The conclu- 

 sion arrived at is that in order to counteract this exhaustion, 

 Cattleyas, at least, should receive a mixture of suitable fertil- 

 izers containing nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash, lime and 

 magnesia. All this means that Orchids are subject to the 

 same laws as other plants ; that we cannot go on cropping 

 without supplying food. But just here the question to the 

 practical Orchid-grower comes, How shall these elements be 

 most successfully applied ? 



