378 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 343 



flavor is unique and spicy, and is pronounced by all who have 

 eaten it to be next in quality to currant jelly. 



In New England, where the Barberry grows very freely 

 along the roadsides, its berries are used largely for preserves 

 and jellies ; but in other parts of the country their value is lit- 

 tle known. It is said that dyspeptics can eat this preserve with 

 impunity. The common Old World species, Berberis vul- 

 garis, is now growing wild in the middle and New England 

 states, and is preferable for beauty and use. 



The healthfulness of the cranberry seems to be generally 

 known, and its enormous consumption as a food shows how 

 generally it is relished, but it is rarely used for a jelly so far as 

 I have known, and yet it ranks very high for this purpose. 



Quince jelly our mothers knew to be a luxury only to be 

 brought out for the clergyman and select visitors, but very 

 few persons in the United States know the excellent quality of 

 jelly made of the Japan Quince, Cydonia Japonica. Many of 

 the scarlet-flowering sorts bear no fruit, or very little, but there 

 are varieties with white or flesh-colored flowers that bear 

 abundantly. Some individual plants are very prolific. The 

 jelly is very rich and nutritious. The fruit has an oily flavor, 

 which goes over to the preserve. _ _ • 



ClintonfN. Y. E. P. Powell. 



Bush Lima Beans. — I agree with your correspondent in what 

 was said of Henderson's Bush Lima, on page 347. It is dis- 

 tinctly earlier, and that is a great point in its favor, both for 

 commercial and private gardens. This year, too, it has proved 

 that it can endure drought better than any of its rivals, while 

 its productiveness and persistence in bearing are both re- 

 markable. When, however, your correspondent states that 

 it is somewhat inferior in flavor to other Limas, he makes an 

 admission which will condemn its exclusive cultivation in the 

 home garden. In vegetables for the home table the best is 

 never too good, and if there is a bean which is richer in 

 quality no family in the country should be satisfied without a 

 supply of the superior one. I believe that Henderson's 

 Bush Lima is not a true Lima, but a Sieva Bean, and while 

 these are excellent in flavor, they lack the very highest quality 

 which is furnished by Burpee's Bush Lima. These large, fat 

 beans, when served, are much more attractive in appearance 

 than the Sievas, and beauty has its use on the table as well as 

 elsewhere. In the final test of quality, their flavor and buttery 

 consistence are unrivaled. I shall plant Henderson's Bush 

 Lima because it gives me an excellent bean early in the season, 

 but I cannot dispense widi Burpee's Lima for late table use. 



Flatbush, L. I. Quis. 



Muskmelon Emerald Gem.— This seems to be the best melon 

 for home use in every particular, except size. It is thin- 

 skinned, with deep salmon-colored flesh and a small seed 

 cavity. Its outer skin is green, beautifully netted, and it is 

 slightly ribbed. Its flavor is delicious, its flesh-texture of the 

 very finest, and it has that melting quality which is only found 

 in melons of the very highest quality. 



Hackensack, N. J. K. A. 



Lilium sulphureum. — This handsome Lily, first distributed as 

 L. Wallachianum superbum, has as yet not been very plenti- 

 ful, but it is so rapidly increased that it should soon be more 

 common. It bears bulblets freely in the axils of its leaves, and 

 if these bulblets are at this time set in moist earth they quickly 

 put forth roots and grow away rapidly. It appears that if they 

 are dried off and not planted till later they either germinate 

 slowly or not at all. 



Newark, N. J 



G. 



Old Varieties of Apples. — Few of the newer sorts of winter 

 apples surpass in quality and other favorable points the 

 old Roxbury Russet. Those who are planting large orchards 

 would do well to consider it. The tree is a rapid grower 

 and of a spreading habit. I have specimens, however, grafted 

 high that reach a height of thirty-five feet. The limbs are 

 strong but somewhat brittle, and care must be used not to 

 have the trees injured with ladders. The crops are annual 

 and abundant, and, what we must consider of great impor- 

 tance, the fruit keeps all winter and keeps well. As for quality, 

 we have nothing to surpass it for baking, and few to surpass it 

 for cooking. These russets should be picked rather late and 

 stored at once in a cool, moist cellar, unless shipped. With 

 me the two best-keeping apples are the Kirkland and the Rox- 

 bury Russet. I have been pleased and surprised to find the 

 demand increasing for the old Black Bellefleur. This, when 

 grown in very open orchards, is not the dry and mealy object 

 that it is supposed by many to be, but is yellow-fleshed and 

 juicy. The market demand is not strong enough to place it 



on a par with Northern Spy and Baldwin, but the increased 

 demand for it warrants the planter in including the Bellefleur 

 among profitable sorts. A third of the old apples that deserve 

 renewed attention is the Westfield Seek-no-further. The 

 quality of the apple is very good for the table, and it ranks 

 with the preceding among those who like fruit with mild and 

 not too acid flavor. The tree is a moderate grower and 

 shapely, while the fruit is almost always peculiarly fair. When 

 apples in general fail we count on having Seek-no-furthers in 

 good form. 



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



Correspondence. 

 United States Nurseries, Short Hills, New Jersey. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — >A casual visitor to this large establishment always finds 

 much to excite his interest, not only in the abundance of 

 plants, but in their admirable arrangement, healthy appear- 

 ance, and the. general cleanness and order of the place. I did 

 not expect to find early in September many flowering plants 

 under glass, and it will be nearly two months before the 

 Chrysanthemums, for which this house is famous, will be at 

 their best. Plants trained to single stems and specimens in 

 pots were, however, in excellent condition for coming exhi- 

 bitions. The great block of houses devoted to Palms, Ferns 

 and other foliage-plants were filled to repletion, the more 

 common Palms, like Phoenix, Latania, Areca, Kentia and Cocos, 

 being grown by the thousand. Among the less common spe- 

 cies I observed a fine lot of Acanthaphcenix crinita, a highly 

 decorative species with the lower sides of the fronds of a sil- 

 very glaucous color and the plant generally furnished with 

 many black spines. Pritchardia Thurstonii and Pinanga Kuhlii 

 are likely to become favorites wlien they are generally known. 

 Cocos gracilis, while scarcely as light and airy in habit as C. 

 Weddelliana, makes a valuable plant on account of the tougher 

 texture of its fronds. 



In the large collection of Araucarias, besides the thousands 

 of A. excelsa, were many striking varieties — among them, A. 

 Baumanni and A. Cookii, with short branches, and A. excelsa 

 glauca, with handsome silvery leaves. Among the Ferns 

 healthy plants of Adiantum Farleyense fill two large houses 

 and part of a third. The variety plumosa of Nephrolepis 

 exaltata appears to be one of the most beautiful Ferns in cul- 

 tivation. The variety Smithiana of Pteris tremula and Smith- 

 iana densa are beautiful and promising novelties. 



Passing by the magnificent specimens of arborescent and 

 other stately Ferns like the Alsophilas, Cibotiums, Dicksonias 

 and Cyatheas, I noted among miscellaneous foliage-plants 

 the following desirable novelties : Hoffmannia variegata, Mar- 

 gravia paradoxica, the very distinct Peperomia metallica, the 

 variety striata of Heliconia aurea and two Tradescantias, T. 

 regina and T. elongata, both of which are improvements on 

 existing varieties. Strobilanthus Dyeriana, sent out last spring 

 from England, filled two or three sashes in one of the frames 

 exposed to the full sun and without any glass to protect them. 

 Under these conditions the growth was beautifully colored, 

 and the plants seemed destined to wide use for bedding pur- 

 poses. Phrynium variegatum was also flourishing in the open 

 and was finely variegated, while coddled plants in a heavy 

 shaded stove show little color. I have observed this plant 

 used with good effect in window-boxes this year, and it ought 

 to prove useful in subtropical bedding. A variegated form of 

 Oleander splendens is a plant which will prove very effective 

 in a large pot or tub. Souvenir de Bon is a decided acquisi- 

 tion among Abutilons. Its leaves have a white variegation 

 encircling the green. Cyperus laxus is another variegated 

 plant which will make a good companion to C. alternifolius. 

 Among many Rex Begonias lately introduced, but not in com- 

 merce, I noticed as particularly interesting Bertha McGregor, 

 Kaiser Wilhelm, Elsie Coles, Dr. James and Walter Laing. 

 Among Dracaenas, D. Annerleyensis and D. Norwoodiensis 

 were two of the best. D. Neo-Caledonica is a useful species 

 on account of its leaves and hardy qualities. Its color is a 

 dark green-purple at the base and at the extreme margin, and 

 pink on the young foliage. 



Orchids, which are known as one of the commanding fea- 

 tures here, are seen in almost numberless variety, and the 

 visitor will find hardly a sickly plant in the entire lot. Thou- 

 sands of plants of Odontoglossum crispum were in most 

 vigorous health, with Cattleyas, Ceelogynes, Laslias, Dendro- 

 biums and the other large genera all represented by immense 

 numbers of sturdy specimens. The collection of Cypripe- 

 diums, which is well known as unexcelled in number and 



