2 3 8 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 329. 



soon begin to throw up fronds, and when they have grown 

 sufficiently the new plants should be placed in small pots in 

 a mixture of two parts loam, two of leaf-mold, one of well- 

 broken peat and one of coarse sand. As they require shifting 

 on, less leaf-mold should be given and a little bone-meal 

 added, but the bone-meal must be used carefully. When 

 fully grown, A. Farleyense is the most elegant of all the 

 Adiantums, the fronds often measuring eighteen inches to 

 two feet in length and ten inches in width. The divisions of 

 the fronds are deeply fringed and crisped, and the young 

 fronds beautifully tinged with pink. It requires a stove tem- 

 perature continually and is very susceptible to overwatering, 

 but should never be allowed to become dry. 

 New Dorp, N. Y. William Scott. 



Correspondence. 

 The Flowering of Blood-root. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir, — I have been much interested this spring in the devel- 

 opment of some plants of the common Blood-root (Sangui- 

 naria Canadensis) which have become established in my 

 yard. Early spring was unusually capricious, so that these 

 plants by turns developed rapidly and shivered in the wind, 

 or were buried in full bloom under the snow. 



The single, broad and deeply lobed Blood-root leaf, up to 

 the time of flowering, is folded tightly around the flower- 

 stalk and refuses to release it when the solitary white flower 

 is ready to open, so that the prisoner has to force itself out. 

 As the petals expand and their summit rises above the leaf- 

 fold they are obliged to beat the leaf down to make room for 

 themselves, which they do in the course of an hour or so. It 

 is soon found that an elongation of the flower-stem is also 

 taking place, and the flower is soon carried entirely above 

 the leaf, the stem making a growth of nearly two inches 

 in the two hours that attend the opening of the flower. On 

 the second day the leaf relaxes and expands, soon to be fol- 

 lowed by other leaves from the root. If there is lacking any 

 evidence of design in plant-growth the mode of flowering of 

 the Blood-root ought to furnish it. 



There is another Blood-root from North Carolina, in occa- 

 sional cultivation here, which differs considerably from our 

 own, though scarcely distinguished from it by botanists. It 

 has a leaf of similar shape, but of a steel-gray color when 

 young; it flowers later and has a shorter flower-stem, which 

 does not appear to possess this power of elongation on the 

 day of flowering. Blood-root with pink flowers is occasion- 

 ally found in this vicinity. 



Buffalo, N. Y. 'John Chamberlm. 



Orchids at Short Hills, New Jersey. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir, — A visit to the Orchid-houses of the United States Nur- 

 series, at Short Hills, New Jersey, is interesting at this time, 

 when there are several thousand flowers expanded. Odon- 

 toglossum crispum is now at its best, and, considering how 

 recently the plants were imported, the flowers are exception- 

 ally good in size, form and color. It has often been argued 

 that O. crispum cannot be grown as successfully here as in 

 Europe, on account of the hot summers and dry atmosphere, 

 but, in houses of good size and proper exposure, flowers equally 

 good may be produced here. In the same house the brilliant 

 colors of a fine batch of Masdevallias, including M. Harryana, 

 M. Veitchii andM. ignea, make a pleasing contrast with the flow- 

 ers of Odontoglossum crispum. Adjoining these a collection of 

 choice Miltonia vexillaria is in flower, the exquisite colors of the 

 flowers being suffused with a delicate silvery frost. Oncidium 

 cucullatum is also well represented, and is remarkable for its 

 many varieties, with scarcely two flowers alike. 



In a house set apart for flowering Orchids hundreds of the 

 showy and beautiful Cattleya Mosske and C. Mossia? Hardyana 

 make a wonderful display in many bright shades and colors. 

 Scattered among the plants of C. Mossire are fine specimens 

 of Lselia purpurata atrorubens, L. purpurata Russelliana and 

 other varieties of L. purpurata ranging in color from white to 

 violet-rose, rich purple and yellow. There are also specimens 

 of Cattleya Mendelii with numerous flower-spikes and well- 

 defined flowers, and the beautiful C. Schrcederae, the quaint 

 C. Schilleriana and the golden-yellow C. citrina. Other Orchids 

 in flower now are the rare Zygopetalum gramineum, Lycaste 

 tetragona, Aerides odoratum, Oncidium Marshallianum, Den- 

 drobium Dalhousianum, Epidendrum rhizophorum and Chysis 

 bractescens. 



Of Cypripediums there are a large number and variety in 



flower, among others C. Lawrencianum and its albino form, 

 the beautiful C. Greyanum, C. Leucorrhodum and C. Brownii, 

 some fine plants of C. caudatum and the curious Uropedium 

 Lindeni ; also interesting forms of C. Almum and C. Lathami- 

 anum, besides many plants of C. superciliare, C. concolor, C. 

 bellatulum.C. niveum and the beautiful C. tonso-villosum and 

 other varieties of this class. 



New York. J . E. L. 



The Forest. 



Mixed Oak and Beech Forests of the Spessart.- III. 



former treatment of the forests. 



SMALLER areas of similar character are numerous, but the 

 largest proportion of old Oak-trees are found scattered 

 among the Beech-forest at the rate of less than, say, two 

 trees per acre, and in these woods, as a rule, the Beech is 

 younger than the Oak. This- remarkable fact, that old Oak- 

 trees are generally associated with Beech of younger age, is 

 mainly due to the circumstance that the Oak has a longer 

 life than the Beech. Besides this, however, it must be 

 remembered that formerly more Beech was cut in certain 

 portions of this forest than Oak. In those days, before the 

 time of railways, when mineral coal had not yet been 

 brought to every town and village, wood was the only 

 fuel used, and on account of its great heating power the 

 Beech was preferred to all other kinds. In those days 

 roads did not exist in the Spessart, and heavy Oak-timber 

 could only be brought away from the outskirts of the for- 

 est. In the higher and inner portions the old Oak-trees 

 remained untouched, and their chief value was to shelter 

 the summer grazing-grounds and to yield Oak-mast for 

 the numerous herds of swine that were driven into them 

 from the rich valleys around. In those days the Spessart 

 was important, not merely on account of the Oak it con- 

 tained, but to a much greater extent supplying fuel in the 

 shape of Beech-wood. The treatment of these woods was 

 by selection fellings, single trees being cut out here and 

 there, as happened to be most convenient, without inter- 

 rupting the canopy. Under such a system the Beech will 

 reproduce itself readily, for Beech seedlings do not demand 

 much light while young, but rather require shelter against 

 sun and night frost. The Oak, on the other hand, demands 

 much light while young ; the necessary result, therefore, 

 has been extensive thickets of Beech, without any young 

 Oak in them. The relation between Oak and Beech is not 

 anywhere the same. In other parts of Germany, where 

 soil and climate are particularly favorable for the growth 

 of the Oak, this tree holds its own in an even-aged mixture 

 with the Beech. In the Spessart, on the other hand, the 

 Oak is overtopped and finally killed by the Beech, wher- 

 ever they grow together in thickets and have the same age. 

 At a later period glass factories were established in 

 many places in the Spessart, which consumed fuel on a 

 very large scale. Their demands could not be satisfied 

 under the old system of selection-fellings ; clear-cuttings, 

 therefore, became the rule. From the old records it ap- 

 pears that in 1729 orders were issued to the effect that on 

 all clearances a certain proportion of shelter-trees should 

 be left to shed seed and to insure the regeneration of the 

 fruit by self-sown seed. This was the first step toward a 

 regular system of natural regeneration under shelter- 

 woods, a method which, at a later period, has given 

 excellent results. In these early days, however, it is proba- 

 ble that the seed-trees left standing were mostly old spread- 

 ing trees, under whose shade the Beech came up well, 

 while the Oak had no chance. As a matter of fact, there 

 are hardly any Oak-woods in the Spessart dating from the 

 eighteenth century. There is almost a complete break 

 between the woods on the north-west face of the Geiers- 

 burg with Oaks dating from the middle of the seventeenth 

 century, and a considerable area of Oak-woods in different 

 portions of the range, now 90 to 100 years old, which date 

 from the end of last and the commencement of the present 

 century. Only very small plots are found here and there 

 with Oak-trees from 100 to 150 years old. Single Oak- 



