6 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 306. 



is rounded or often emarginate and tipped at the apex 

 with the remnants of the style, and marked on both sides 

 by a broad conspicuous mid-nerve. 



Fraxinus Bungeana was discovered by the German bota- 

 nist whose name it bears, in 1831, during his overland 

 journey from St. Petersburg to Peking, on the mountains 

 near the Chinese capital. It is said to be common on the 

 hills of northern China and in Mongolia, where it was found 

 by the Abbe David. In the Arnold Arboretum it was raised 

 from seed sent by Dr. Bretschneider from Peking in 18S1. 

 This pretty little Ash, which is perfectly hardy, deserves a 

 place in our shrubberies as a representative of a group of 

 interesting plants which generally do not succeed in this 

 climate, and for the abundant clusters of white flowers with 

 which it covers itself every year. C. S. S. 



Cultural Department. 



Field Mice and Bark Destruction. 



THE depredations of mice in the young orchard or planta- 

 tion of young trees are too often 'not realized until the 

 damage is done, and repair, if possible^ must be resorted to, 

 instead of the simpler matter of prevention. It is rarely that 

 mice injuriously affect trees in any other way than by girdling 

 the stems by gnawing the bark, either partially or all around. 

 If the removal of the bark is complete for the whole circum- 

 ference of the trunk, the tree may put forth leaves and flowers 

 again, possibly for more than one season, but it will eventually 

 languish and perish when it should be in the prime of its 

 growth. It is at this season, and during the winter and in early 

 spring, that damage is to be apprehended, and the greatest 

 danger lies in localities where the snows lie deepest. Where 

 the ground is bare and open, kept free of grass and weeds and 

 where snows do not long remain, there is much less liability 

 to injury to the trees by small rodents. 



Where snows cover the ground for a large part of the win- 

 ter, and often for a considerable depth, mice are well protected 

 from observation by their natural enemies and aie enabled to 

 carry on their work of injury without molestation and without 

 exciting suspicion. As they burrow their way from one place 

 to another, or from one tree to another, either along the sur- 

 face of the ground between the soil and snow, or through the 

 snow itself, it is an efficient and inexpensive preventive of in- 

 jury to trample the snow until it is quite firm and compact 

 about the plants. This is very quickly done and leaves the 

 snow in a condition which mice find it impossible or inconve- 

 nient to work through. The greatest danger is to be feared in 

 the vicinity of fences or hedges where snows drift and lie 

 deepest. In such places the destruction of the bark some- 

 times extends from the ground to the lower branches of young 

 Apple and other trees, especially as mice are liable to be most 

 abundant about the boundaries of an orchard, as such bounda- 

 ries are usually in such a condition as to be really a refuge for 

 vermin. Where snows are not deep or permanent in winter, 

 it is often necessary to furnish the trunks of small trees with 

 some kind of protection. They are particularly liable to injury 

 if growing in the vicinity of grass or herbage. 



For such protection any material may be used which is un- 

 palatable or impregnable to mice, and is not too expensive. 

 Laths and pieces of boards and staves are effective if loosely 

 bound around the trunks by string or wire, the lower ends 

 resting upon or slightly inserted in the ground. These are 

 sometimes left on all the year, but in other cases are removed 

 in spring and replaced in autumn. Tarred paper is also used, 

 but, unless very thick, it is liable to become broken down and 

 inefficient. What is known as asbestos-paper has been found 

 useful. This or the heavy tarred paper should be cut into 

 strips which will reach a foot or more up the trunk of the tree, 

 and wide enough so as to go around the stem and overlap at 

 least an inch, and also leave half an inch of loose space 

 between the bark and paper, which should not be bound 

 tightly around the stems. The lower ends of the paper may 

 rest on the ground, and the sheath can be held in place by a 

 couple of strings. If there is plenty of room for growth al- 

 lowed, the paper need not be removed, and it will last for sev- 

 eral years. Painting the trunks with tar has been advised, but 

 it is very doubtful whether this would not injure young trees, 

 and, although painting with other substances may answer the 

 purpose, they are not so reliable as is an actual barrier. 



There seems to be no very efficient and economical method 

 of trapping these field mice. The placing of poisoned grain 



and other food in the localities they are known to infest has 

 been recommended. Among their natural enemies are the 

 hawks, owls and weasels, and where these are plentiful the 

 mice are kept within moderate numbers. Foxes, 'too, al- 

 though mischievous in many respects, render aid to the 

 farmer and fruit-grower by destroying vast numbers of field 

 mice, and he who takes long and frequent walks over snow- 

 covered fields and orchards in the country must have often 

 noticed Reynard's tracks and, here and there, the holes in the 

 snow where his sharp ears had located a mouse, which had 

 been speedily dug up and carried off. 



Arnold Arboretum. J< G. jCiCk. 



Seasonable Notes. 



REGULARITY in heating is essential at this season in the 

 cultivation of many plants. But it should also be re- 

 membered that the temperature should not be kept too high, 

 a mistake which forces into growth some species that 

 should be resting now, while it helps to increase the numbers 

 of obnoxious insects like the red spider, thrips and the various 

 scale insects. 



It is an excellent plan when building even a small conserv- 

 atory to divide it into two apartments by a partition across 

 the centre, and to have the heating apparatus under control 

 by means of valves, so that different temperatures may be 

 maintained in the two sections. A greater variety of plants 

 can thus be cultivated, and flowering plants can be held back 

 for future supply. Forced bulbs may also be hardened off 

 as their flowers open, before they are ready for room decora- 

 tion. In the cool section a few such gems as Daphne Indica, 

 Eriostemon buxifolius and Erica hyemalis can be success- 

 fully grown. The limited space of many conservatories 

 makes it impossible to adopt the same methods used in large 

 commercial establishments, and it is necessary to grow some 

 plants in pots that would otherwise be planted out in beds. 

 Among these are Carnations and Bouvardias, both indispen- 

 sable for a supply of winter flowers. After the first crop of 

 bloom has been cut these plants will probably need some 

 stimulant to induce a strong new growth, this treatment 

 being especially necessary for Bouvardias, as they root 

 freely and are gross feeders. If the space is needed for other 

 purposes, the Bouvardia-plants may be discarded after the 

 first flowering and the stock perpetuated by a panful of root- 

 cuttings. It is better, however, to store away a few of these 

 old plants under the benches, in readiness for outdoor plant- 

 ing next May, as an abundance of summer flowers can thus 

 be obtained. 



In the warm section of the conservatory, if it is specially 

 devoted to foliage plants, the question of moisture will require 

 attention now, as, with the strong fire-heat necessary during 

 our northern winters, the atmosphere of a greenhouse loses 

 its moisture very rapidly. Syringing is necessary on bright 

 days, and this should be done during the warmth of the fore- 

 noon, and during dull weather will frequently have to be 

 omitted altogether, but the necessary moisture can then be 

 supplied by sprinkling the walks and under the benches 

 morning and evening. 



It is at this season that the red spider plays such havoc with 

 foliage plants if once allowed to become established, and, con- 

 sequently, the leaves of Dracaenas, Dieffenbachias, Alocasias 

 and others of like character should be examined frequently 

 and washed with a soft sponge and a weak solution of whale- 

 oil soap, for a little prevention pays better than a great deal of 

 cure after the evil has become deep-seated. It will also be 

 found that the plants noted above donotgrowrapidlyjust now, 

 and it is safer not to pot them for a couple of months. Less 

 water at the root will, therefore, be required than during active 

 growth. Although being mostly evergreen, these plants need 

 more or less water through the whole year. Some of the 

 Alocasias, notably A. Jenningsii and A. Marshallii, die down to 

 the root, after the manner of Caladiums, and, consequently, 

 cannot be considered among decorative plants for winter, but 

 others of the same genus, like A. Sedenii, A. Veitchii and A. 

 Sanderiana, retain most of their foliage until new growth be- 

 gins in the spring. 



Anthuriums are useful both for flowers and foliage, and 

 though not essentially a winter-flowering species, yet their 

 strange-looking spathes have such a lasting quality that the 

 flowering season of A. Scherzerianum, A. Andreanum and 

 their numerous offspring frequently extends through a con- 

 siderable portion of the winter. 



Perhaps the most useful of Orchids, Cypripedium insigne, 

 will now be in flower, and the beauty of the blossoms will be 

 continued much longer in a cool house if no water is allowed 

 to lodge on the flowers. Shortly after the flowering season is 



