November 24, 1897.] 



Garden and Forest. 



465 



establishing a correct nomenclature. The fact that seedlings 

 of Japanese plums are apt to resemble the parent fruit very 

 closely has made it all the more difficult to detect synonyms, 

 and it is impossible always to identify a variety with certainty 

 from illustrated descriptions. 



In the interest of a uniform nomenclature it is desirable to 

 call attention to the very interesting report of Mr. Orpet on 

 Japanese plums in the current volume of Garden and Forest 

 (page 347), and point out some of the instances in which the 

 varieties as grown by him are evidently not true to name. 



First, it may be said that the Japanese Plums are classed as 

 Prunus tritiora, not P. Simonii. Mr. Orpet voices the general 

 opinion when he calls the Burbank the best of the Japanese 

 plums, but its fruit is not "as large as a moderate-sized 

 peach." Wickson is the only hardy Japanese plum yet intro- 

 duced which answers that description. Kelsey is so tender 

 that Professor Bailey, in his bulletin 131, says of it : " We still 

 hear of Kelsey being fruited in New York, but in every case 

 which we have investigated some other Japanese variety has 

 been misnamed the Kelsey. The farthest north which I have 

 known the true Kelsey to fruit is southern Delaware." 



Mr. Orpet describes the Kelsey as greenish yellow and 

 smaller in fruit than Burbank, but the true Burbank varies 

 from an inch and a quarter to an inch and five-eighths in 

 diameter, while the true Kelsey varies from two to three inches 

 in diameter, and in color is of a bright red purple over yellow 

 background. He speaks of Satsuma and Wickson as having a 

 spreading habit of growth. Satsuma is somewhat open in its 

 habit, but Wickson is decidedly upright, resembling Prunus 

 Simonii in this respect, as also in its rather narrow condupli- 

 cate leaves. Possibly Mr. Orpet has the names Wickson and 

 Burbank interchanged, for Wickson bears very large, attrac- 

 tive fruit of good quality, while Burbank has smaller fruit and 

 is decidedly spreading in its habit. 



Abundance is not quite equal to Burbank in quality, neither 

 is it more attractive in appearance or more productive, but 

 because it is a little earliersome have found it more profitable, 

 especially during the past season, when by the time Burbank 

 was ripe the markets were so loaded with other plums that 

 prices ruled lower than they did when Abundance was ripen- 



ing. 



Agrl. Ex. Station, Geneva, N. Y. 



6". A. Beach. 



Recent Importations among Chrysanthemums. 



FORTY-SEVEN varieties are but a small proportion of the 

 whole number of new kinds of Chrysanthemums annually 

 imported into this country, but among this number grown at 

 the Cornell Experiment Station this year and last, are many 

 that will be welcomed in America as distinct advances. The 

 twelve Californian varieties (which are here included as foreign 

 sorts), the four Australian and thirty-one European varieties 

 (mostly English, from H. Cannell & Sons, Swanley, Kent) were 

 tried in the same bed with eighty-eight American novelties of 

 1896 and 1897, and thirty-one seedlings sent to the station in 

 advance of their introduction to the trade. These, with some 

 thirty-four old and successful types, made a total of two hun- 

 dred varieties with which the foreign sorts were obliged to 

 compete on equal terms. The most remarkable feature of the 

 collection was the scarcity of white varieties and their general 

 failure. White is the most important single •' color" in the 

 trade, and there are said to be more new white sorts intro- 

 duced every year than any other color. 



Of one hundred and sixty-six novelties here reviewed nearly 

 thirty per cent were pure white. Mrs. F. Hepper was distinctly 

 inferior to our American favorite. Mrs. Henry Robinson, Alps 

 to Mrs. J. Peabody, Taiwan to Mrs. R. Craig, White Swan to 

 L'Enfant des deux Mondes, and Pride of Swanley, though not 

 fully mature yet, can surely not rival Yanoma. Lady Esther 

 Smith, which was recorded in Cornell Experiment Station Bul- 

 letin 136 as a new type of the greatest promise, has been a 

 total failure this year in spite of the unprecedented success of 

 the trial as a whole. Among the yellow varieties a welcome 

 addition is a large, rather flatfish, flower, named W. S. Devis, 

 with rays an inch or more wide, as in Lady Esther Smith. It 

 has only seven or eight series of rays, and a large disc, which, 

 however, would not be objectionable even if it were not well 

 hidden. It is as bold a yellow as Constance Terrell. Gov- 

 ernor Budd is a yellow Chrysanthemum of the size and form 

 of Philadelphia, and fades as badly, but begins with an orange 

 of the shade of Pitcher & Manda. Triumph de St. Laurent is 

 almost, if not quite, equal to H. L. Sunderbruch, one of the 

 standard, midseason, commercial sorts. A. H. Wood is a 

 quilled sort with a prominent disc, useless for the trade, but 

 by reason of its marked individuality a worthy subject for 



skilled amateurs, and one of the finer creations which 

 private gardeners are on the lookout for. It will not stand 

 shipment. Duchess of York is one of the best additions of 

 recent years to the amateur list. We have not learned its 

 special requirements yet. This variety and Defender were 

 the only two sorts which suffered a loss of foliage at the base. 

 The foreign bronze and buff varieties were numerous, but 

 contained only three notable kinds. Mongolian Prince is the 

 perfection of the Chinese type, and its roundness should make 

 it excellent for shipping. It is a dull but rather rich color and 

 too formal and regular to be a great favorite in America. 

 Helen Owen is a fine whorled sort, but not suitable for the cut- 

 flower trade. Buff Globe is a sport from the well-known pink 

 Good Gracious, but is fuller and has a stronger neck. Khama 

 is a good Japanese red, with characteristic and beautiful foli- 

 age. The color fades no more than any other red of the shade 

 of Pluto or Loantika. 



The Amaranth varieties, apparently, are more esteemed 

 abroad than with us. Among the large reflexed sorts, Wood's 

 Pet is by far the best of this color that we have seen in four 

 years' testing of novelties. The form is precisely that of 

 Viviand-Morel. Of the Japanese Incurved type it would be 

 hard to choose between Australie, General Roberts and Pride 

 of Madford. In all three the silvery reverse is the chief fea- 

 ture, the amaranth interior being suggested rather than dis- 

 closed. The first hides its disc, and the last two show it at an 

 early stage, giving a striking effect upon which opinions are 

 sharply divided. (There are two varieties circulating in Eng- 

 land under the name of Pride of Madford, one of which is 

 worthless.) 



Among the pink varieties I see no advances. Most of the 

 hairy sorts are of the familiar Japanese Incurved type, of which 

 Mrs. Alpheus Hardy and Louis Boehmer are familiar exam- 

 ples. A new departure among the hairy sorts is the pink 

 variety, Mrs. P. Rothenbush, which is reflexed, and soon shows 

 its yellow disc. It can hardly be recommended. I see no 

 improvement in the dark colors. For the exhibitor and pri- 

 vate grower of skill Oriental Glory and Bellem are two sorts 

 worthy of trial. The flowers are very large, last a long time 

 on the plant and have marked individuality of form and color. 

 Bellem has never been pink with us, as in England. It is the 

 best primrose-yellow we know despite the great height of the 

 plant and the awkwardly curled foliage. 



The curiosity list has received two interesting additions in 

 Mrs. J. Carter, a ball of shredded, tangled white, and Mrs. 

 Filkins, which is smaller than Mrs. W. H. Rand, but just as 

 much cut up and equally charming. Centaurea and Souvenir 

 de Madame G. Eynard are two others which Cannell has in- 

 troduced as " boutonniere, aesthetic and spidery " Chrysanthe- 

 mums. The two last-named are not equal to our variety Shavings 

 for attractiveness. The best of this list is Alice Carter, which, 

 though curious, is agreed by all to be beautiful, and seems to 

 be entirely new in form and color. The foliage is proportion- 

 ately small and delicately cut. These novelties, while obvi- 

 ously different from other Chrysanthemums, should, according 

 to the practice of the National Chrysanthemum Society of 

 England, be classified as Japanese. This word, which was 

 once used to designate geographical origin, has now come to 

 be synonymous with miscellaneous or unclassified. 

 Ithaca, N. y. Wilhelm Miller. 



Correspondence. 



Uncultivated Crops in the Ozark Mountains. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Among the most interesting wild crops produced in 

 the stony Ozark country, owing to its economic value, is Japan 

 Clover, Lespedeza striata. The time and manner of the intro- 

 duction of this pretty annual trifoliate into the United States do 

 not seem to be definitely known. The Department of Agri- 

 culture mentions it as having been first noticed near Charles- 

 ton, South Carolina, about 1849, ar "i sa y s mat me s< ' 

 probably came from Japan in boxes of tea; also that it was 

 found a little later some forty miles from Charleston, and soon 

 after at Macon, Georgia, and that it has now become natural- 

 ized as far west as Texas and north to the Ohio River. It has 

 taken possession of the rocky O/.ark hills, and furnishes an 

 ample supply of nutritious forage in a region that was, pre- 

 vious to its arrival, devoid of green food for stock. It is 

 eagerly eaten by the cattle and hogs that range through the 

 woods, and they are not only kept in good condition by it dur- 

 ing summer, but with the addition of the mast that is abundant, 

 they come off the range in the fall fat enough for market. 

 Milch cows also live on it. 



