142 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 320. 



outside masses of Narcissus like those shown in the picture, 

 or the same plants growing elsewhere in the grass, are 

 wearisome by their sameness. Certainly the naturalization 

 of these Narcissi and other hardy bulbous plants in meadow 

 grass is one form of spring gardening which should not be 

 neglected by any one who wishes to obtain all the pleasure 

 possible from early flowers. Of course, to have them at 

 their best, the soil must be deep and rich and the grass 

 must not be cut until the leaves of the plants show, by be- 

 ginning to turn brown, that they have finished their work 

 and that their bulbs have stored up material to produce 

 flowers the following spring. 



March in the Pines. 



A FEW of the more tender plants made a rapid growth 

 in the Pines during the warm days of early March. 

 Helonias bullata sent up its flower-scape with apparent 

 haste wherever the warm sun could reach it, but amid the 

 dense Cedars it has made but little progress, and therefore 

 the severe frost which suddenly followed three weeks of 

 constant April or May weather did it no harm. The Golden- 

 club, Orontium aquaticum, also made a start, but it was cut 

 down wherever it appeared above the water. Pyxidan- 

 thera and the trailing Arbutus are both sturdy enough to 

 defy freezing weather, and the flowers of Andromeda caly- 

 culata look as fresh and bright as if the thermometer had 

 not dropped below the frost-mark. 



The staminate flowers of the Alder and Filbert had done 

 their work in the warm days and had generally fallen, and 

 the fruit was forming when the cold came. The fruit of 

 the Maple, too, had formed on many of the trees. The 

 Elms also were shedding their blossoms, and the long 

 staminate flowers of the Poplars were strewn thickly over 

 the ground. Some of the Tupelos were showing their 

 blossoms, and so was the Sweet Gum, or Liquidamber. The 

 twigs of the red-bud Cercis Canadensis were studded with 

 bright blossoms which stood the frost bravely. 



All through March some of the low Sedges were full of 

 bloom, and its wealth of bright yellow pollen made a feast 

 for swarms of small bees. These bees, together with our 

 hive bees, also collected pollen from the blossoms of the 

 Willows during the warm weather and gathered honey 

 from many of the garden-flowers. 



The hardy Winter Cress, Barbarea, blossomed throughout 

 the month, showing a profusion of yellow flowers on 

 stems from two to three feet in height. It is only a few 

 years since I first noticed the advent of this hardy cosmo- 

 politan in our neighborhood, and now it is quite common 

 in many places. It is interesting to keep in view the 

 various foreign plants that are constantly invading our 

 grounds, and to note the disappearance of so many of our 

 native ones. It is only a little more than thirty years 

 since the first clearing was made here in the virgin Pines, 

 where now the large Vineland tract extends over many 

 miles of cultivated ground. 



In spite of former experience, one cannot help a feeling 

 of surprise at the intensity, of the cold which the hardy 

 spring flowers of the garden will endure. Three mornings 

 in succession Hyacinths were frozen solid, and their great 

 bunches of flowers lay prone on the ground, but before 

 night they had so far recovered as to carry themselves 

 erect and defiant. Several forms of the yellow Narcissus 

 also recovered without permanent injury, as well as many 

 of the smaller plants, like Grape Hyacinths, Chionodoxas, 

 Periwinkle, both white and blue, and purple Violets. 



The tender-looking stem of the Crown Imperial stood 

 about eighteen inches in height, with its whorls of buds 

 just ready to expand. The leaves and buds were limp 

 each frosty morning, but to-day it stands erect and fresh, 

 and will soon be in bloom. 



Some of the Plum-trees were in full bloom, and the blos- 

 soms of Abundance and Botan were hopelessly ruined for 

 this year in my garden. But some of the other Japan 

 Plums, Ogon, Kelsey and Satsuma, were not yet in flower. 



Some of the Peach-trees were also in bloom, as well as 

 Apricot and Almond trees. 



The beautiful Japanese climber, Akebia quinata, was 

 badly injured. The flowers were nearly ready to open, and 

 they now hang limp and black all over the vine. The ten- 

 der leaves, too, are blackened. „, _, 

 Vineland, N.J. Marylreat. 



The Linnrea: An International Botanic Garden in 

 the Alps of Switzerland. 



IN the spring of 18S9, the Committee of the Society for 

 the Protection of Wild Plants in Europe purchased 

 some land in the high Alps of the Canton Valais, Switzer- 

 land, with the view of making it, so far as possible, a 

 botanic garden which should represent alpine species from 

 all parts of the world. This land is close to the village of 

 Bourg-St. Pierre, and near to the Hospice du Grand St. Ber- 

 nard, in the heart of the Pennine Alps, at an elevation of 

 1,690 metres. It is easily accessible by a five hours' car- 

 riage drive from the station of Martigny, and two hours 

 from the Hospice du Grand St. Bernard. A good hotel is 

 to be found at Bourg-St. Pierre. 



The land comprising the garden consists of a mountain- 

 ous cone, one hectare in extent and about seventy metres 

 higher than the adjacent country. This cone forms a nat- 

 ural and picturesque "Alpe," surrounded on three sides by 

 the roads leading to the Hospice, and on the fourth by a 

 dark precipice of more than one hundred metres depth, 

 through which rushes the picturesque and impetuous tor- 

 rent of Valsoray, with a beautiful cascade sending its mist 

 to the summit of the cone. The garden is very uneven, 

 strewn with rocks, dotted here and therewith Larches, and 

 contains in one portion a grove of these trees. It is com- 

 posed of a dozen upland plateaus forming natural terraces. 

 At the top of the " Linnsea " stood, in feudal times, a for- 

 tress belonging to an old Italian family. No trace of this 

 castle remains at present. 



The society which owns this beautiful natural garden 

 embraces among its members some well-known scientists 

 and literary men of Europe, among them Sir John Lub- 

 bock, Professor Romanes, of Oxford, and Monsieur H. de 

 Vilmorin. The name "Linnaea" was given in honor, not 

 only of Linne, but also of the Linnoean Society of London, 

 and the pretty little Linna?a borealis which grows wild near 

 by. The mountain cone is well exposed to the sun upon 

 all sides, thus favoring a great variety of alpine plants, 

 some of which find a natural home in the shaded and moist 

 nooks in which the garden abounds. 



Each of the natural uplands is devoted to a particular 

 flora, of which those of the Pyrenees and the Caucasus are 

 of especial interest. A complete set of Pyrenees alpine 

 plants is represented. Among these the Androsaceae and 

 the Saxifrages are the most beautiful. From the Caucasus 

 was received three years ago quite a collection of seeds, 

 brought by Messieurs Levier and Sommier, of Florence. 

 Some of these were obtained from plants which were not 

 in flower, whose identity, therefore, could not be ascer- 

 tained at the time. Two of them, Androsace Caucasica, 

 L. & S. , and Scabiosa Correvoniana, L. & S., proved to 

 be new. 



One plateau is devoted to Siberian plants, another to 

 Himalayan, one to Rocky Mountain species, another to 

 Andean, while one is for New Zealand plants, and so on. 

 A short time ago the director started a plot of alpine spe- 

 cies with albino flowers, which are now doing well. 



Those having the garden in charge hope to found there 

 an "Ecole de Botanique" on a large upland, on which will 

 be planted and scientifically arranged all the mountainous 

 plants of the world, as far as possible ! It is proposed to 

 make a careful study and comparison of the origin and 

 growth of alpine species and the relations which exist be- 

 tween them, the behavior of insects toward them, the varia- 

 tion and acclimatization of species, together with other 

 important problems. As every one knows, it is a difficult 

 matter to study these questions at high altitudes and in the 



