July 25, 1894.] 



Garden and Forest. 



297 



among them are some pretty things, especially those with 

 white flowers. I wintered out a dozen European and Asiatic 

 species last season without protection, which flowered in May, 

 and are now at rest. The selection of varieties was not very 

 fortunate, as they were mostly twin brothers to G. Segetum, 

 whose reddish purple color is never pleasing. G. communis 

 alba was about the only one of the lot of good color and worth 

 noting. While these bulbs seem perfectly hardy, it would 

 probably be well to lift them, or, at least, keep them dry 

 during the summer. One often finds Gladiolus-bulbs, espe- ' 

 cially of the purpureo-auratus section, which have lived out all 

 winter, but I have never seen them grow strongly in such 

 cases, and they usually disappear. «,»,>. 



Elizabeth, n. j. J . N. Gerard. 



Vellozia elegans. 



THE Vellozias number about fifty species, natives of trop- 

 ical and southern Africa, Madagascar and Brazil. The 

 species belonging to the eastern hemisphere are in some ways 

 different from the Brazilian ones, and are ranked as the sub- 

 species Xerophyta. The subject of this note was introduced 

 in 1866, having been raised from seeds received from Mada- 

 gascar or from South Africa. Its native country is not known, 

 therefore, with certainty, as it has never, I think, been col- 

 lected since its discovery. The plant having been sent to Kew, 

 was named Xerophyta elegans, as it seemed to belong to 

 Commerson's genus of that name, which is now reduced to 

 Vellozia. As V. elegans the present species is figured, and 

 well figured, in the Botanical Magazine, t. 5803. 



This is not one of the showiest species, but is a very pretty 

 and distinct plant, whose chief fault, horticulturally speaking, 

 is the persistency of its flowers, which turn green and remain 

 a very long time after their beauty has gone. At their first 

 appearance they are very pure white stars, an inch or more 

 across, borne singly on long slender stalks produced from the 

 axils of the leaves. The foliage is abundant, consisting of long 

 Sedge-like leaves closely set along the bristly stalks. No plant 

 that I know, outside of the succulent kinds, can suffer so se- 

 vere a drying as this and recover. One of my two plants was 

 overlooked for several days, and when I next saw it was a 

 most miserable-looking object, but I gave it a good watering 

 and set it where it would be sure to be seen by the waterer, 

 and to-day it is as fresh and bright as the other which has 

 never been neglected. Pleasing as it is, I cannot help long- 

 ing for the introduction of some of the Brazilian species, 

 among which there are plants with flowers of purple, violet 

 and yellow, some of them four inches in diameter. 



Canton, Mass. W- E. Endicott. 



Notes from Cornell University. 



The Dwarf June-berry. — The two hundred plants of the 

 Dwarf June-berry, called Success, which were set in 188S, were 

 loaded with fruit this year, and for the first time since they 

 came into bearing the robins allowed us to make one picking 

 before they took the crop. The berries were placed on sale 

 in the city in two places and labeled, and although a novelty 

 on the market they readily brought twelve cents a quart. This 

 June-berry, under cultivation, proves a most prolific bearer, 

 and from the results obtained this year seems worthy of a 

 more extensive trial. 



The Apple-scab (Fusicladium dendriticum). — The Apple- 

 orchards in western New York are seriously attacked by the 

 Apple-scab this summer, and it seems more abundant than in 

 the eastern part of the state. At the Horticultural Experiment 

 Station about fifty varieties were recently examined to deter- 

 mine which were most seriously affected. The trees were set 

 in 1889 and carried but little fruit, so the observations were 

 mainly confined to the foliage. Some varieties were so badly 

 affected that the leaves were blistered, curled up and smoky 

 in appearance. Among those most seriously attacked are 

 Fameuse, Fall Pippin, Mcintosh Red, Gravenstein, Seek-no- 

 Further, Rhode Island Greening, Northern Spy, Canada Bald- 

 win, Dickerson, Baldwin, Tallman Sweet, Fall Orange and 

 Sweet Bough. Among those least affected are Hyslop Crab, 

 Tetofsky, Wealthy, Golden Russet, Primate, Esopus Spitzen- 

 burg, Roxbury Russet, Yellow Transparent, Ewalt, Longfield 

 and Alexander. 



Russian Cherries Grafted on Prunus Pennsylvania. — 

 The Wild Red, Pin or Bird Cherry (Prunus Pennsylvania) is 

 recommended as a stock for grafts of sweet and sour Cherries. 

 Such grafts are found to unite readily and bear early. One of 

 the greatest objections to this stock is that it sprouts badly. In 

 order to test the Wild Red Cherry as a stock for Russian vari- 

 eties of Cherries, the following kinds were set in the spring : 



Spate Amarelle, Minnesota Ostheim, Amarelle Hatine, Orel, 

 Lithauer Weishel, Shatten Amarelle, Fouchis Morello, Riga 

 and Bessarabian. Most of the cions were in good condition 

 when set, and some grafts of all the varieties except Bessara- 

 bian took and are vigorous. IF the growth of the graft will 

 counteract the tendency in the stock to sprout, this common 

 Wild Red Cherry may prove of great use to horticulturists. 



Cornell University. G. Harold Powell. 



Correspondence. 



The Injury to the Grape Crop. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir, — The wide-spread failure of the grape crop should call 

 attention to the possible loss of fruit from lack of polleniza- 

 tion. The vines came through the winter in good form. The 

 canes were clean and healthy. New growth began all right, 

 and buds were formed abundantly. Frost touched a few 

 bunches, but so far all went on promisingly. Then began a 

 continuous rain just as the blossoms were unfolding, a gen- 

 eral rain, with floods over New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio 

 and further west. This protracted down-pour continued nearly 

 every day in May. The result was that the pollen of the open- 

 ing flowers was unable to do its work ; neither could insects 

 assist as usual. I find Moore's Early, which is very early to 

 blossom, bears a few bunches; and some vines protected on 

 my house, of Goethe, Delaware and Gaertner, are not quite 

 fruitless, but for the most part the grape crop is obliterated. 

 This is a general fact over many grape-growing sections. In 

 other sections frost did destructive work. The question follows, 

 if it is possible for us in any way to anticipatea loss of this sort. 

 I have not a bushel where I should have a ton. Can we devise 

 any protection during the flowering season ? Keeping bees in 

 our vineyards I know to be of great value, but can it save our 

 crop in spite of continuous storms ? I do not feel satisfied that 

 we cannot devise simple screens, or a protective lattice. To 

 many persons the grape has become an essential article of 

 food, and in the judgment of many competent authorities 

 there is no more wholesome fruit in cultivation. 



Clinton, N. Y. E. P. Powell. 



[Colonel A. W. Pearson writes from Vineland, New Jer- 

 sey, that thousands of vines which blossomed as freely as 

 usual there will not bear a single grape this year. There 

 will hardly be one-tenth of a crop in southern New Jersey, 

 and he ascribes the loss to heavy rains when the vines were in 

 blossom. Showers fell every day for nearly a fortnight, and 

 during four days, while the blossoms were opening, twelve 

 and a half inches of rain fell. No other cause for the failure 

 to set fruit has been suggested. — Ed.] 



" Keep off the Grass." 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Whenever I visit public parks and find myself con- 

 fronted at every turn by the command to "keep off the grass," 

 I have a feeling akin to indignation. City parks are made for 

 the especial comfort of city people, and as city people are 

 compelled to walk forever on pavements of stone the oppor- 

 tunity to set foot on soft smooth turf is to them particularly 

 delightful. I have no respect for the landscape-designer who 

 tantalizes visitors with such a pleasant footing and then for- 

 bids them to step on it. If there is any area of grass too pre- 

 cious to be walked on, why not put it away somewhere and 

 fence it off so that it will not be a constant temptation ? For 

 my own part I cannot help a feeling that I am not wanted in a 

 park which I cannot use. 



The proposition that parks which cannot be used are useless 

 seems to need no proof. These pleasure-grounds, to be worth 

 anything like their full value, ought to be thrown open to pop- 

 ular enjoyment. I never knew a pleasure-ground which was 

 more useful than Lincoln Park, in Chicago, and any one who 

 visits it on Sunday afternoon can see thousands of people sit- 

 ting and lying and playing on the grass, and in this way getting 

 the interest on the money which they had been taxed' to raise 

 for purchasing and maintaining the place. I never saw but 

 one sign-board there which warned people off the grass, and 

 an adventurous citizen was sitting on that. This seemed to 

 me the only good use that such a sign was ever put to. It is 

 true that when ground has just been seeded down it is well to 

 refrain from trampling on if for a time, and in such cases I 

 would put up the warning and state the reason why people 



