March 28, 1894.] 



Garden and Forest. 



121 



GARDEN AND FOREST. 



PU1SI.ISIIED WEEKLY liY 



THE GARDEN AND FOREST PUBLISHING CG\ 



Office : Tribune Building. New York. 



Conducted by Professor C. S. Sargent. 



ENTERED AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER AT THE POST OFFICE AT NEW YORK, N. Y. 



NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 1894. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Editorial Articles : — Easter Flowers 121 



Forest-legislation in New Jersey 121 



A Garden of Irises. {With figure.) 122 



How our Conifers have Wintered Mrs. J. H. Rabbins. 122 



Foreign Correspondence : — London Letter W. Watson. 123 



Cultural Department: — Seasonable Vegetable Notes IV. N. Craig- 124 



Work in Glass Houses W. H. Taplin. 125 



The Earliest Irises J.N. Ge?-ard. 125 



The Hardy-plant Garden T. D. Hatfield. 126 



A Few Neglected Apples E. P. Powell. 126 



The Daphnes H. Correvon. 127 



Hardy Ferns, Pillar Roses J. Median.. 127 



Correspondence :— The Care of our Public Parks //. 5. II. 127 



The Flavor of Maple-sugar T. H. Hoskins, 31. D.. Jos'ph L. Hills. 128 



Notes from West Virginia Danshe Dandridge. 1 28 



The Weeping Willow 4. II T. 128 



Recent Publications 129 



Notes J 3° 



Illustration : — An Iris Garden in Japan, Fig. 24 125 



Easter Flowers. 



IF there is one festival at which the use of flowers would 

 generally be considered more appropriate than at any 

 other, that one is, undoubtedly, Easter ; and of all the 

 flowers used the white Lily, as it is the chosen emblem of 

 purity, would justly be the favorite. Indeed, 'all through 

 the art and poetry of the Middle Ages and of more modern 

 times the Ascension Lily, Lilium candidum, has been 

 adopted as the symbol of innocence. Although the Rose 

 and other flowers have been dedicated to the Blessed Vir- 

 gin, the earliest pictures show her with a vase of Lilies by 

 her side, and the Angel of the Annunciation is almost 

 always pictured with a Lily-wand in his hand. No Lily 

 is more beautiful than this oldest and best-known of all 

 those which have been cultivated ; but Easter is, of course, 

 too early for it out-of-doors in this climate, and it loses its 

 distinctive beauty when forced, so that the Japanese Lilium 

 longiflorum and the Bermuda or Harris Lily, generally 

 considered a variety of the same species, have largely 

 supplanted it. The Calla, too, which, although it be- 

 longs to an entirely different family of plants, has 

 often been called upon to do duty as an Easter Lily, 

 has been largely thrust aside. What has long been known 

 as the Lent Lily in England, is the garden Daffodil, 

 and, undoubtedly, it has received this name, as did the Pasque 

 flower, Anemone Pulsatilla, on account of its period of 

 bloom ; but neither of these has gained any special prom- 

 inence as an Easter flower in this country. Bermuda Lilies 

 outnumbered all other plants that were blooming in this city 

 at Eastertide this year. In some other cities, where taste 

 is more critical, the true Longiflorums are in greater de- 

 mand than the Flarris Lilies, and they really are more hand- 

 some and desirable. A large importation of cut Lilies came 

 to this city from Bermuda on the week before Easter, and 

 thousands of them were sold by several firms of dry goods 

 merchants ; but, although they were shipped with the great- 

 est care, their yellow foliage and drooping flowers marked 

 them as quite inferior to the home-grown plants. 



Of course, there are fashions in Easter flowers as in 

 everything else, but the changes are comparatively slow. 

 A dozen or more years ago, in the adornment of churches, 



so-called set pieces were largely used, and much art was 

 expended upon the illumination of texts of Scripture in 

 floral letters. Nothing of this kind is seen now. Indeed, 

 in a large proportion of churches even the arrangement is 

 not entrusted to professional decorators, but the plants in 

 bloom and cut flowers are purchased or hired, and the 

 arrangement is made by some members of the congrega- 

 tion who have special talent in this direction. Twenty 

 years ago individual churches spent more money, perhaps, 

 than they do now, but the custom has spread so that 

 whereas few churches, except those of Catholics and Epis- 

 copalians, were formerly decorated, now almost every 

 house of worship in the city makes some effort in this 

 direction. In these arrangements flowers always predomi- 

 nate, Palms and so-called foliage-plants being only used 

 as a background to add to the floral effect. 



The churches, however, take but a small portion of the 

 immense quantities of flowers which are produced for this 

 season. A walk through any of the streets will show shop- 

 windows brightened by some pots of Lilies or a plant of 

 Azalea in full bloom. The custom of Easter greeting, too, 

 has become a general one, and, instead of a card or some 

 other favor, a box of flowers or a plant in bloom has be- 

 come the common gift. Of course, all the ordinary 

 cut flowers of the season are abundant in the market, 

 but it is the season above all others when plants in flower 

 abound. Hydrangeas seem rather less numerous than usual 

 this year, but never before were as many Cytisus seen, 

 while their quality was unusually good. Besides the 

 well-known Cytisus Canadensis, with its arching branches, 

 and C. racemosus, with its more upright habit, we saw oc- 

 casional plants of the comparatively new variety, Andreanus, 

 of C. scoparius, and its yellow and chocolate flowers were 

 most effective. A few growers have been bringing on 

 some Camellias, with a conviction that it is time for these 

 plants once more to become popular. The so-called Bot- 

 tle-brush-plant, with its clusters of scarlet stamens, is 

 growing more common, and the large colored flowers of 

 the Tree Paeony are occasionally seen among the white 

 spikes of Deutzias and Lilac. In one window we observed 

 some Poinsettias whose scarlet bracts, though admirably 

 grown, looked singularly out of season. Anthuriums and 

 Amaryllis are more largely used than they have been 

 where their bright colors are needed. 



Of course, great skill is required to bring such a variety 

 of flowers into season on a given day, but every year our 

 growers add to their experience, and mistakes are more 

 rare. The element of chance no longer enters into the 

 business as an excuse for loss or the cause of a lucky hit, 

 for every grower knows just when to start each plant, and 

 how to hurry it on and hold it back, in order to have it in 

 most perfect bloom on Easter morning ; and the same skill 

 in growing flowers for cutting, and in keeping them after they 

 are cut, ensures a supply for the unusual demand. In spite 

 of the hard times, prices this year have not ruled low, and, 

 as a rule, growers have received a fair reward for their 

 patience and skill. ' 



Last week the Lower House of the New Jersey Legisla- 

 ture passed an act instructing the State Geologist, with such 

 expert assistants as may be needed, to make an investiga- 

 tion as to the extent, character and location of the lands in 

 that state which are suited for permanent forests rather 

 than for agriculture. The act provides also that the report 

 of this investigation shall include a statement of the ad- 

 vantages in relation to its timber-supply, water-supply, 

 climate and scenery which would accrue to the state from 

 the establishment of a forest-reserve, and that the lands 

 which seem suitable for such a reserve shall be indicated. 

 The survey is also to determine the extent of the forests of 

 the state which now product- timber of commercial value, 

 and it is to include a study of those areas which are spe- 

 cially adapted to the growth of valuable timber of specified 

 kinds. An examination of the slopes of the watersheds of 

 the state is also contemplated, and the report is to discuss 



