March 2S, 1894.] 



Garden and Forest. 



127 



The Swaar is another noble apple not easy to obtain in mar- 

 ket. The tree is not a rapid and symmetrical grower, and the 

 fruit is highly appreciated by insects. But there is not an 

 apple to compete with it in March and April for beauty, size and 

 quality. It is equally good for cooking and for the table, 

 and outranked by no apple in high rich flavor. I grow the 

 Swaar securely on its own stock, but prefer it grafted higher 

 on seedlings. 



There is a remarkably fine apple grown extensively in Mich- 

 igan called the Belmont or Waxen apple. It has been a great 

 favorite therefor the last forty years. I have grown it here 

 successfully and recommend it in strong terms for a Decem- 

 ber apple. It is large, smooth, rich yellow with a blush. The 

 tree bears early and abundantly, but it is not long-lived. The 

 limbs spread and bend low. A tree in bearing is a fine sight. 

 Few of the catalogues contain the Belmont in their lists. 



I have found here another exceedingly fine apple for No- 

 vember and December that we have locally named the Hard- 

 ing. It is a seedling in the orchard planted here by Dominie 

 Kirkland, missionary to the Oneidas. The original tree planted 

 in 1792 still stands, but is nearly gone to decay. We are now 

 saving the fruit by grafting. It should be disseminated. The 

 original tree and several grafted from it stand on the farm of 

 Lyman Harding, in this town. 



There is an apple of remarkable qualities for a dessert fruit, 

 which I think has rarely gone beyond central New York. Here 

 it is known as the Rag Apple. Its history I do not know, ex- 

 cept that it originated in Otsego County. It ripens in October 

 and November, keeping through December. It is so mild in 

 flavor as to stand just on the border between sweet and sour. 

 It is sought after by some people as a sine qua non in the 

 late autumn. 



I believe there is no reason why the Spitzenberg may not be 

 once more as common as it was fifty years ago, and as good. 

 We must grow more of our own trees, and graft them to such 

 varieties as fail on nursery stock. The philosophy is easy to 

 comprehend. A nursery of seedlings growing in a cold cli- 

 mate is eliminated of the most tender sorts by cold winters be- 

 fore they are grafted. When old enough to take cions five feet 

 from the ground the trees that remain are the toughest and 

 hardiest. We, therefore, set our orchard of trees selected for 

 endurance. tod ,1 



Clinton. N. Y. £■ P. Powell. 



The Daphnes are among the best of all shrubs in the Euro- 

 pean mountains, and the alpine kinds are mostly small-grow- 

 ing species, which can be considered as rock-plants as well as 

 border-plants. We grow twelve kinds in the Jardin Alpin 

 d'Acclimatation, but the best for general trade purposes are the 

 following : D. Alpina, which grows in the mountains at 

 an altitude of 700 to 5,000 feet. It is an upright-growing, many- 

 branched shrub, with deciduous leaves, which are obovateand 

 of a light-green color. It has small yellowish-white flowers, 

 which are fragrant, disposed in small clusters to the end of the 

 branches. It flowers in May and June and is good for rock- 

 eries in sunny places. D. Blagayana is a rare shrub of the 

 Austrian Alps, growing from 2,500 to 5,000 feet altitude, dwarf 

 and spreading, with large, thick, ovate glaucous green leaves 

 and yellowish-white flowers, which are borne in large clusters, 

 and flowers here in February and March in half-sunny places 

 in the rock-garden. D.Cneorum grows on the limestone Alps of 

 the Jura and on the Carpathian Mountains. It is one of the best 

 species, forming low dense tufts of evergreen leaves on numer- 

 ous and spreading branches. The unopened buds are crim- 

 6on, but the flowers are pink, disposed in dense terminal um- 

 bels ; it is deliciously fragrant and flowers early in April, and 

 occasionally during the summer, until September. It should 

 be exposed to full sun, either in the rockery or in the border. 

 There is a variety with white flowers, and another with larger 

 flowers than those of the type. D. petraea is a rare plant of the 

 Dolomites, from 3,500 to 5,500 feet high. It is a dwarf shrub, 

 twelve to fifteen inches high, with thick, fleshy branches, car- 

 rying numerous small, thick evergreen leaves and small clus- 

 ters of rosy-white fragrant flowers. It delights in half-shady 

 places in the rockery. D. striata, of the eastern and western 

 Alps, and D. Verloti, of the Alps of Dauphiny, are nearly allied 

 to D. Cneorum and need the same exposure. D. rupestris 

 is a variety of D. petraea. These Daphnes are good little 

 shrubs, and particularly suitable for the rock-gardens. They 

 are increased either by cuttings, by grafting on D. Mezereum 

 or by seed. ,_- n 



Geneva. Switzerland. ■"• LorrevOH. 



Hardy Ferns.— Many a shady place bare of plants could be 

 made beautiful by planting some native Ferns. Four of the 

 best large-growing evergreen ones are Aspidium marginale, 



A. spinulosum, A. acrostichoides and A. cristatum. Some 

 nice smaller-growing evergreen species are Polypodium vul- 

 gare, Asplenium Trichomanes and A. ebeneum. I find the 

 Hound's-tongue Fern, Scolopendrium vulgare, hardy and 

 most attractive. Among deciduous Ferns few equal the Os- 

 mundas. The three species, O. regalis, O. cinnamomea and 

 O. Claytoniana, are of large size, and are known as flowering 

 Ferns. The Woodwardias are also of good size, and so are 

 many of the Aspleniums and Aspidiums. The Walking Fern, 

 Camptosaurus rhizophyllus, and its sister species, Asplenium 

 pinnatifidum do best on damp rocks. 



Pillar Roses. — Two good Roses for training to pillars are 

 Gloire de Dijon and the Crimson Boursault. This does not 

 seem to be generally understood, or these plants would be 

 used in this way more frequently. While both are entirely 

 hardy here, the first one, being a Tea, may not be quite hardy 

 north of this. To give it the best chance, it should be set 

 where the afternoon sun will not strike it in winter. It is a 

 constant bloomer, and its rosy flesh-colored flowers are much 

 admired. The Crimson Boursault flowers but once in June, 

 like most all Pillar Roses do. Crimson is an uncommon color 

 among climbing Roses, and this old half-double Boursault 

 (Amadis, as it is sometimes called) is a striking member of a 

 not very useful family. Like other varieties of Rosa alpina, 

 this plant is about thornless. 



Germantown, Pa. f . Median. 



Correspondence. 



The Care of our Public Parks. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — For several years past large tracts of land have been 

 gradually secured for park purposes in the vicinity of Boston, 

 until now we find our city encircled by a system of connected 

 pleasure-grounds. When, in addition to this general system, 

 we call to mind that we have in the heart of the city the Com- 

 mon and Public Garden, while, still beyond the parks, large 

 tracts of land have been recently acquired by the Metropolitan 

 Park Commission, it would seem as if no other place on earth 

 were more abundantly and wisely provided for. 



Living in a city so favored, it seems almost ungracious to 

 criticise, but while the general park system is so excellent, we 

 are now beginning to suffer from having the details of planting 

 so badly done as to greatly endanger the beauty of the entire 

 scheme. Although a large portion of the system is still un- 

 planted, many parts are almost entirely completed. Probably 

 the best-known and most generally admired portion is Frank- 

 lin Park, and it is difficult to imagine anything finer than its 

 general design. The view from the Overlook, across broad 

 meadows and rocky knolls covered with Cedars, is singularly 

 beautiful, and, except for the necessary evil of so large a num- 

 ber of paths and driveways, nothing can be said of it except in 

 praise. 



But if we leave the Overlook and wander through the 

 numerous paths, we find quite a different effect. In many 

 cases the trees and shrubs are so thickly planted that already 

 they are suffering and growing tall and thin in their attempts to 

 reach the light. In one place large masses of Rhododendrons, 

 Kalmias and Andromedas, with an unfortunate mixture of 

 deciduous shrubs, are planted on a southern slope, where, 

 from sunrise to sunset, they never obtain one instant of the 

 blessed shade they crave, and as if enough suffering had not 

 been inflicted upon them, the ground has been thickly planted 

 with vines, which have grown over the shrubs, in many cases 

 almost entirely covering them, producing, it is true, a pic- 

 turesque effect, but one which can only be short-lived. 



This abuse of vines is very noticeable in the Back Bay fens, 

 where Honeysuckles cover the stone-coping and iron-railing, 

 but, unfortunately, cover as well every shrub within reach, and 

 soon nothing will be visible but a vast network of vines and 

 dead shrubs. 



The steep banks of the fens, covered with the rich muck 

 from the stream below, were thickly planted with a vast and 

 miscellaneous collection, which, taking kindly to the soil, has 

 grown amazingly, and we have now an assortment of trees, 

 shrubs and flowers which has certainly the merit of variety, at 

 least. Spruces and Spiraeas, Oak-trees and Rose-bushes are 

 springing up side by side, pushing and crowding each other, 

 and we are still left in uncertainty as to whether an evergreen 

 forest or a flower-garden is to remain ultimately. Undoubt- 

 edly, these things were thickly planted to bind the soil of the 

 steep banks, but the time for the axe has come, and something 

 must be done at once if we are to save anything out of such a 

 chaos. 



