246 



Garden and Forest. 



[NUMliER 330. 



notice. The invention is a greenhouse, without a floor, on 

 wheels, which run on a tramway of the same width as the 

 greenhouse, along which it can be pushed to cover any 

 area inside the tramway. Thus a bed of Roses, say, three 

 hundred feet by twenty feet, can be brought on in three 

 successive batches by a greenhouse one hundred feet by 

 twenty feet. In America there is nothing novel in travel- 

 ing houses, nor is there in England in movable plant 

 structures, and, except for its size, the traveling greenhouse 

 is only the old-fashioned portable frame with wheels to 

 facilitate its motion. It has one special value for English 

 horticulturists, as, not being a fixture, it cannot be claimed 

 by the landlord. 



Lundun. 



W. Watson. 



Cultural Department. 



Notes on Trees and Shrubs. 



WITH the exception of the so-called English Hawthorn or 

 WhiteThorn, Crataegus Oxyacantha, and its varieties, and 

 the little south European scarlet-fruited C. Pyracantha, few of 

 the Hawthorns appear to be grown in American plantations 

 for the intrinsic beauty of the flower or fruit. This fact is due 

 to lack of appreciation rather than lack of beauty or orna- 

 mental quality in the flowers, for some of our native Haw- 

 thorns produce blossoms which cannot be rivaled by other 

 species, not even by the English Hawthorn in its aboriginal 

 state, and which to many English people is known as the " May." 

 The English Hawthorn is more popular, too, because, by long- 

 cultivation and careful selection, many interesting variations 

 have been procured and perpetuated by grafting, layering or 

 other modes bf division, so that now the catalogues offer varie- 

 ties with single and double flowers, either white or of various 

 shades of red color. Varieties with modifications in the shape 

 of the leaves and size and color of the fruits are also offered. 

 But there is no reason why we may not in the course of time, 

 and with careful selection, derive equally interesting horticul- 

 tural variations from some of our native species. In their 

 wild state the different species native in north-eastern America 

 produce a sequence of blossom from the middle of May to the 

 end of June. The earliest to blossom is C. mollis (long re- 

 garded as a variety of C. coccinea), which in this latitude is 

 usually in bloom from the middle to the end of May. Its 

 flowers are as large or larger than those of any other spe- 

 cies, expanding an inch or more in diameter. The fruit which 

 follows is also of the largest, being an inch or more in diame- 

 ter, deep scarlet in color, ripening in early September, and 

 falling soon after maturity. When fully ripe, this fruit is mel- 

 low and soft, and often of a decidedly pleasant flavor. The 

 large, broad, ovate leaves are distinguished by being densely 

 soft pubescent on the under side. C. mollis will become a 

 symmetrical little tree twenty or twenty-five feet high, and is 

 thoroughly hardy, as it grows wild far north into Canada. It is 

 usually armed with long spines, which are less numerous as 

 the tree grows old. 



The Scarlet Haw, Crataegus coccinea, is extremely variable 

 from a botanical point of view, and its flowers may be one or 

 two weeks later in opening than those of C. mollis. These 

 flowers, too, are smaller, and the Thorn itself does not often 

 reach the large tree-like size attained by C. mollis. The blos- 

 soms of the Dotted Thorn, C. punctata, appear a week 

 or ten days later than those of C. mollis. They are some- 

 what smaller, but are borne in great profusion in corymbs 

 along the upper sides of wide-spreading branches. In full 

 bloom it is a very handsome object, either when seen from a 

 distance or on nearer inspection when the large rose-colored 

 anthers show distinctly against the snow-white petals. It is 

 very hardy, and near Montreal, in Canada, specimens may 

 sometimes be found with trunks a foot and a half to two feet 

 in diameter, and branches which spread on each side more 

 than twenty feet from the centre. In size it is not exceeded by 

 any other of our northern species. Its fruit, which ripens in 

 the late autumn, is large, of firm texture, pleasant to the taste, 

 and will often keep fresh under the snows until the following 

 spring. It is usually red in color, sprinkled over with numer- 

 ous whitish dots, but trees bearing bright yellow fruit are not 

 rare. 



The season of bloom for C. coccinea and C. punctata is also 

 the season for the English Hawthorn. The fruit of C. 

 mollis is well grown by the time that the flowers of the Cock- 

 spur Thorn, Crataegus Crus-galli, are open, for this Hawthorn is 

 just now, June 12th, coming into best bloom. As it grows 

 here this is, perhaps, the most readily distinguished of all our 



native Thorns, its obovate, wedge-shaped, evenly toothed, 

 leathery smooth and glossy shining leaves being unlike those 

 of any other species. It has probably been more often culti- 

 vated, both in this country and Europe, than any other Amer- 

 ican species, and altogether it is a most attractive little tree. 

 The flowers, though not very large, are produced in abun- 

 dance and are pure white in color, and they are followed by 

 medium-sized fruit, which, when ripe, is of a dull red color 

 and persists on the plants throughout the winter. This 

 species has been somewhat used for hedges in some parts of 

 the country. 



The flowering of another hardy American Hawthorn, Cra- 

 taegus tomentosa, is simultaneous with that of the Cockspur 

 Thorn. It is a sturdy, vigorous growing species, forming a 

 neat little tree. One of the latest of Hawthorns to blossom here 

 is the so-called Washington Thorn, C. cordata, which natu- 

 rally does not range so far north as the species already men- 

 tioned, but in cultivation proves quite hardy in this climate. 

 Its blossoms are at least a week later in opening than those 

 of the last two species, so that this is the Hawthorn wdiich we are 

 most likely to find in blossom toward the end of June. It is a 

 slender tree, covered with clear, shining, bright green, trian- 

 gular leaves, which are usually more or less three to five lobed 

 and irregularly toothed. These leaves persist on the trees 

 until late into the autumn and gradually change to bright 

 colors before falling, and the bright effect of the foliage is 

 increased by the small brilliantly colored fruit which may 

 remain on the plants throughout the winter. This species 

 has also been used for hedges, and either for this purpose or 

 as a single plant it is well worth the attention of cultivators. 



Arnold Arboretum. J- G. Jack. 



The Herbaceous Borders. 



THf recent cool, showery weather has been most favora- 

 ■*■ ble to herbaceous plants, and I do not remember ever to 

 have seen the borders look better than they do now, and 

 there is abundant promise of growth and beauty during the 

 next few weeks. The perennial Lupins have been, and still 

 are, very showy. The variety grown here is L. polyphyllus, in 

 various colors, from pure white through the different shades 

 of lilac to deep purple. These are all seedlings from what 

 was supposed to be seed of L. polyphyllus albus, but if the 

 ditferent colors are grown together, no one color can be 

 depended upon to come true trom seed. Lupins like rich 

 soil, and do not bear transplanting when once established, and 

 it isadvisableto sow seed overagain rather than transplant old 

 plants. It has been told me that the common L. perennis, so 

 plentiful here in a wild state, cannot be taken up and be made 

 to live in a garden ; this seems to be only half the truth, and 

 that it is much easier to raise seedlings to secure the same 

 results appears to be the other half. 



The herbaceous Paeonies are just opening their first flow- 

 ers, and, true to their past record, the rose-bugs arrived here 

 the same day. It is a regret that we cannot enjoy these sum- 

 mer flowers more, and the question suggests itself, why are 

 not the Tree or Mountain Pseonies more often seen ? These 

 have been fine for nearly three weeks, and the flowers are 

 as handsome as the later herbaceous kinds, though, perhaps, 

 of a more limited range of color, but they are much more 

 rarely seen in gardens than the universally grown herbaceous 

 kinds. There once was a suspicion that the Tree Paeonies 

 lacked hardiness, but here, in one of the coldest parts of the 

 eastern states, they thrive without any protection. It is true 

 that these plants are not easy to obtain from dealers, but 

 should the demand increase the supply will probably be equal 

 to it, as houses importing Japanese plants offer as many as 

 fifty distinct varieties, and even propose to send colored plates 

 of all these kinds for inspection and selection. Among such 

 a large number of kinds there should be a good assortment 

 of colors to relieve the monotony of the various shades of 

 pink and rose usually offered. 



Eremurus robustus, received last fall from Holland, has now 

 a fine spike of bloom on the plant, and as the flowers open in 

 succession, it will last several weeks. The pretty pale pink 

 blossoms on a cylindrical spike about five feet high are really 

 ornamental, and as the seeds are produced freely in this cli- 

 mate, there is no reason why the plants may not soon be seen 

 in many gardens. E. Himalayicus was also planted, but this 

 year it has made two crowns, and in consequence has not 

 flowered ; but another year it will be a fit companion plant to 

 E. robustus. No special care appears to be needed in their 

 cultivation. The thick fleshy roots are produced in a whorl 

 from the crown, and these need to be carefully placed in the 

 soil. No covering was given as a protection to our plants, 



