170 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 322. 



of a La France Rose, giving it a particular glow in the sunlight. 

 The petals are so broad that they overlap and give the 

 flower a full, round appearance which I have not seen jn any 

 other Canna. It is of medium size and grows strongly, and 

 is a distinct improvement on Paul Marquant, which it 

 somewhat resembles in color. Golden Heart has an intense 

 scarlet flower with a decided yellow marking in the centre. 

 The scarlet is so bright thai the contrast is rather pleasing. 

 The head is large and the individual petals are reflexed, so that 

 the flower is not flat. Another seedling so distinct as to stand 

 for a separate type, is a decided break in habit. It is so tall as 

 to be useless as a pot-plant, but its immense head is two or three 

 times as large as that of any other Canna, and it lasts so long 

 that the plant seems to have much promise as a bedder. The 

 flowers may be called a pinkish scarlet, and though they are of 

 great size they are not perfect in shape. Oriole is somewhat 

 similar to Konigen Charlotte, although it is rather taller and a 

 freer bloomer. The scarlet and yellow, however, are not 

 separated by any sharp distinction, but rather blend together. 

 The seed parent of this plant was Montefiore, but the flowers 

 do not fade and hold on to the stem, as they do in that variety. 

 Another variety resembles the standard J. D. Cabos in flower, 

 but it has green leaves. 



Altogether, these seedlings show that we may expect in years 

 to come a continued advance in this class of plants. The time 

 seems to be at hand when we may expect types as distinct 

 from and superior to those which we now possess as 

 Madame Crozy was from the Cannas which we had before 

 the advent of that epoch-making variety. 



New York. "■ 



Notes. . 



Professor Trelease issues, in advance sheets from the Fifth 

 Annual Report of the Missouri Botanical Garden, a revision of 

 the North American Species of Gayophytum and Boisduvalia, 

 with ten illustrative plates. 



A summary of receipts of southern vegetables in this mar- 

 ket during last week, by rail and steamer, shows above 59,000 

 crates and barrels. Cabbage is the heaviest vegetable crop 

 shipped from Florida, and tomatoes are coming by the solid 

 car-load. Some 20,000 crates of onions are received from 

 Bermuda each week. 



The Massachusetts Horticultural Society at its last meeting 

 gave a first-class certificate of merit to a variety of Cornus sto- 

 lonifera, the Red-osier Dogwood, with bright yellow bark. It 

 was found in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, by Mr. Warren H. 

 Manning, and seems to be sufficiently distinct in color to be 

 worth using for winter effect in the shrubbery. 



Last week Mr. Gerard spoke of the remarkably pure dark 

 blue of the typical form of the Chilian Crocus, Tecophilaea 

 cyanocrocus. Since then he has sent to this office some other 

 varieties which are quite as beautiful. Some of the flowers 

 have petals of clear light blue, with pure white bases. Others, 

 again, are nearly white, the blue coloring appearing only as an 

 edging. In fact, all the forms are most attractive, and they are 

 very valuable for early garden-flowers in a warm front border. 

 They have survived two winters in a sunny and sheltered situ- 

 ation on the grounds of Mr. John McElvery, near Prospect 

 Park, Brooklyn. How hardy they would be in more exposed 

 situations remains to be proved. 



The announced circular from the Department of Agricul- 

 ture on the appearance of the San Jose scale in the east is 

 published. From it we glean that, perhaps, this insect is 

 already established in New York, Michigan and other states 

 where fruit-orchards abound. The specific name of this scale, 

 Aspidiotus perniciosus, is significant, as it is really one of 

 the most dangerous of pests, and it is recommended that quar- 

 antine regulations be at once established to restrict its spread. 

 In the mean time no orchardist should admit a young fruit-tree 

 or a single cutting from a distance without satisfying himself 

 absolutely that it does not carry a single specimen of the scale. 

 Fruit-growers should have impressed upon them that just as 

 soon as this insect is found the most strenuous measures must 

 be taken to stamp it out. Trees badly infested should be in- 

 stantly burned, and fruit-growers should see to it that com- 

 bined and organized effort be made at once. 



Just now some of the most beautiful of the early wild flowers 

 hereabout are at their best. The white flowers of Spring 

 Beauty, with their deep rose-colored veins, are abundant on 

 the lawns of Central Park. Of course, the delicate blue He- 

 patica, the white or pinkish Rue Anemone, and the true 



Anemone are all sparkling on the margins of the woods. 

 Within less than an hour of the City Hall are beds of Dog- 

 tooth Violets half an acre in extent, while in another direction, 

 and nearer still, can be found masses of Dicentra cucullaria, 

 Dutchman's Breeches, with spikes of oddly-shaped, but beau- 

 tiful white, yellow-tipped flowers rising from the finely cut 

 foliage. These plants delight in a light open soil of leaf-mold, 

 and they are often associated with the Blood-root, which loves 

 the same soil and situation, and the snowy flowers of this 

 plant are now open, while near by, at the edges of the turf, just 

 where the rocks break through, the early Saxifrage is in full 

 bloom. 



A border of Narcissus is just now especially pleasing. The 

 Tenby Daffodils are about past, but the Campernelle Jonquils, 

 which have been blooming for a fortnight, are still in first-rate 

 condition, and although the bulbs are very cheap, there is a grace 

 of form and richness of color about these flowers which make 

 them quite as effective as many of the rare and costly kinds. 

 Many of the fine Ajax varieties, like Ard Righ, Golden Spur 

 and Emperor, and the two-colored forms with large trumpets 

 like Empress, Princeps and Horsfieldi, and the white and sul- 

 phur-colored ones like Cernuus and Pallidus precox are still 

 good, while the later varieties like Narcissus poeticus have not 

 yet begun to show a flower. Some of the rarer forms, of 

 course, are very expensive, but there is a sufficient number in 

 all the sections — that is, in the long-crowned group, the group 

 with the chalice-shaped crowns, like Sir Watkin and Leedsi, 

 and the small-crowned Daffodils, or true Narcissi — which can 

 be had at reasonable prices, to give constant variety for six 

 weeks at least. 



Mr. John W. Harshberger writes in the Botanical Gazette that 

 Ranunculus acris must be added to the list of poisonous plants, 

 or, at least, to those which irritate the skin. Specimens of this 

 species, which had been in alcohol for more than a year, were 

 distributed to a class in the University of Pennsylvania for 

 study, and a day or two afterward an intense itching sensa- 

 tion was experienced by all who handled them, while the skin 

 between the fingers became red and covered with minute pus- 

 tules like those produced from contact with Poison Ivy. The 

 acrid juice, which is universal in Ranunculaceous plants, and 

 which is usually dissipated when dried, had been evidently 

 extracted from the specimens, and when the alcohol evapo- 

 rated the irritating principle was left on the hands. Mr. Harsh- 

 berger adds that the fruits of the Poison Ivy and Poison Sumach 

 are both eaten in large quantities by the crow, and one case is 

 recorded where 153 seeds of Poison Ivy were found in one 

 crow's stomach ; while a single pound of dried excrement from 

 a roost in the National Cemetery at Arlington contained 1,041 

 seeds of Rhus Toxicodendron, 341 seeds of Rhus venenata, be- 

 sides 3,271 seeds of other Sumachs, 95 seeds of Juniperus 

 Virginiana, 10 seeds of Cornus florida and 6 seeds of Nyssa 

 sylvatica. 



A careful estimate of damage by recent frosts to strawber- 

 ries about Norfolk places the injury at seventy-five per cent., 

 and in other sections of Virginia and Maryland at fifty per cent, 

 of the crop, but with larger plantings than in previous years 

 the supply will not be proportionately shortened. North of 

 these states the Strawberry crop is not injured. The color and 

 flavor of North Carolina berries have greatly improved during 

 the past week, and some of them, as for example Hoffman's 

 Seedling, have been really excellent. The choice berries 

 bring as much as thirty-five cents a quart by the crate, 

 while the bulk of the crop of medium quality sell for twenty- 

 five cents a quart. A few car-loads of California oranges ar- 

 rived last week, the fruit coming from districts not affected by 

 the heavy January frosts. There is some place in our market 

 for this fruit now when the Florida season is waning, but prices 

 are hardly encouraging to the shippers. The best Florida 

 oranges of this season are now here, and choice fruit from 

 famous groves of late varieties bring $5.00 a box, while the 

 first arrivals of the Jaffa and Hart's Tardiff — summer varieties 

 which are found here until July — bring as much as $5.50 at 

 wholesale. Fancy grades of highly colored grape fruit cost 

 $5.50 a box, unloaded from the steamer, and there is not 

 enough of this popular fruit to meet the demand. Although 

 immense quantities of bananas are coming — one firm alone 

 selling 45,000 bunches last week — prices remain as high as 

 $1.70 a bunch for the best Aspinwall and West Indian fruit. 

 The new crop pineapples from Cuba are now here, although 

 not yet sufficiently ripe. With oranges and apples scarce and 

 high, pineapples are likely to be the popular fruit in May. 

 Baldwins, Russets and Greenings are the only apples now 

 quoted, and these cost from seven to eight dollars a barrel at 

 retail, an advance of fifty cents over the price of a week ago. 



