October 3, 1894.] 



Garden and Forest. 



39 T 



GARDEN AND FOREST, 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



THE GARDEN AND FOREST PUBLISHING CO. 



Office: Tribune Building, New York. 



Conducted by Professor C. S. Sargent. 



ENTERED AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER AT THE POST-OFFICE AT NEW YORK, N. V. 



NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1894. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 



Editor-al Articles: — How to Save the Palisades 391 



Forest Fires 392 



Native Trees and Shrubs about Montreal, Canada.— II J. G. Jack. 392 



Foreign Correspondence : — London Letter IV. Watson. 393 



New or Litti.e-known Plants : — Todea barbara. (With figure.) 



D. P. Penhalltno. 394 



Plant Notes 394 



Cultural Department :— Michaelmas Daisies J.N. Gerard. 396 



Work for the Season IV. H. Ta/lin. 396 



Begonias as Bedding Plants IV. N. Craig. 397 



Pansy Seedlings G. 397 



Grapes Prematurely Falling G. Harold Powell. 397 



Correspondence : -Vases for Cut Flowers Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer. 397 



Magnolia glauca Thomas C. Porter. 398 



Recent Publications: — The Forests of Siberia 399 



Notes 4°° 



Illustration : — A specimen plant of Todea barbara. Fig. 63 395 



How to Save the Palisades. 



NOT long ago Mr. Olmsted gave public expression 

 to his regret that some irreverent quarrymen were 

 blasting down the Palisades for paving-stones. This re- 

 markable trap ridge, which rises like a perpendicular wall 

 along the Hudson, helps to form a dignified entrance to 

 the miles of noble scenery beyond it, through which the 

 strong and silent river flows to the sea. Ever since the 

 days of Hendrick Hudson it has been the wonder and 

 admiration of all beholders, and it has seemed to be a part 

 of the natural inheritance, not of this city only, but of the 

 country and of the world. It is this frowning cliff, stained 

 with rich color by the storms and sunshine of centuries, 

 from which masses of a thousand tons are daily torn away 

 by dynamite; and the raw surfaces which remain certainly 

 make a painful impression on every one with any eye for 

 beauty or sentiment of veneration. Vandalism is the word 

 which occurs to every one when attempting to describe an 

 act of such destruction, and yet the men who own the 

 rock have bought and paid for it, and they undoubtedly 

 have a right to blast it down and sell it. It may be that 

 they have no feeling for the beauty they are destroying, 

 but, whether they have or not, it is certainly unjust to con- 

 sider them as willful public enemies. At all events, they 

 are not unique sinners in this direction. Enterprises of 

 the same kind are devastating beautiful scenes and places 

 which are made sacred by historic memories in many other 

 parts of this country. This lack of affection or reverence 

 for spots which have a value for their natural beauty or 

 human association is not confined to America. We read 

 that the waterfall Lodore is for sale, and that Snowdon is 

 in market. The paint-pot of the advertiser is defacing the 

 landscape of Europe, and societies are formed to protect the 

 rare and beautiful plants, which make the Alps interesting, 

 from extermination by tourists. This destruction and deface- 

 ment have been going on all the world over since civiliza- 

 tion began, and if the people at large think that any of their 

 rights are thus infringed upon, they must organize to 

 assert them. 



No doubt, it is difficult to draw the line between what 

 belongs to the public and what belongs to the individual. 

 The river is free, but the shores are private property, and 

 every man within certain limits has a right to do with his 

 own what he will, so long as he commits no nuisance. It 

 has been urged, that if the owner of a factory is indictable 

 when its stenches offend -his neighbor's nostrils, that 

 the quarryman ought to be dealt with by the same rule 

 when he offends the eye and wounds the sentiment of the 

 whole community. We remember a bank of Hemlocks 

 which had been the pride of a town ever since the country 

 was settled, and which had delighted every one who passed 

 by it for two hundred years, and it was cut away simply 

 because a new owner wanted to "clear things up," and 

 the logs were left to rot where they fell. In cases like 

 this the people can only suffer in silence. Of course, no 

 law can be framed to suit every case, and the compromise 

 which it seems necessary for the general public to make 

 with the individual is to acquire in fee simple such places 

 as are most desirable and then to hold them perpetually 

 for public use and enjoyment. This is often done by a 

 special enactment, as the National ( Government has set apart 

 the Yosemite Valley and Yellowstone Park as public pos- 

 sessions forever, while the state of New York has dedicated 

 Niagara to the same purpose. Under another act a group of 

 private persons have rescued Chittenango Falls, in this state, 

 from destruction and vulgarization. Pennsylvania has taken 

 Valley Forge ; New Jersey has secured the fine old colo- 

 nial house and grounds in Morristown once occupied by 

 Washington as headquarters, and Mount Vernon belongs 

 to the women of the United States. 



Up to this time, however, the most hopeful effort in this 

 direction has been organized by Massachusetts, where a 

 body has been legally incorporated " for the purpose of 

 acquiring and opening to the public, under suitable regu- 

 lations, beautiful and historical places on tracts of land 

 within the commonwealth." We have more than once 

 commended this act and the spirit in which the trustees of 

 the people seem to be carrying it out. The corporation 

 can acquire lands of this sort by gift, devise or purchase, 

 and hold them free of taxes so long as the reservation is 

 open to the public. Local historical and scientific socie- 

 ties, village improvement societies and park boards are 

 co-operating in the movement. In most of the states the 

 owner of some remarkable piece of scenery, like the 

 Natural Bridge, could not even give it to the public, 

 much less sell it, for there would be no one entitled 

 to hold it legally. These trustees exist as a continuous 

 body to receive land for public reservation as gifts, 

 and to receive also donations of money to aid them in 

 making the purchase of such places. If a body like this 

 were created in New Jersey it might own and hold forever 

 the Palisades or the battle-field of Monmouth or any other 

 .spot which is hallowed by tradition or inspiring by its 

 beauty. 



There can be no two opinions as to whether the Pali- 

 sades are worth preserving. No citizen of New York can 

 contemplate their destruction without sorrow. They are 

 practically a part of one of the noblest harbors in the world. 

 They have been a delight to the eyes of dwellers on Man- 

 hattan Island ever since it was New Amsterdam. They 

 are in sight of the city. Parts of them are nearer its 

 centre of population than some of the newly acquired park- 

 land. They add a distinct element to the charm of the 

 great river which flows into New York harbor, and which 

 is the pride of New York state. They are within the boun- 

 daries of another commonwealth, but they face New York, 

 and New York has even a greater interest in preserving 

 them than New Jersey. If Now Jersey will pass an act 

 which will permit New York to help acquire them, there 

 can be no doubt that money, either by state or city 

 grant or by private subscription, would come from this 

 side of the river to do its full share toward the rescue of 

 the Palisades and the dedication of them forever to the use 

 and enjoyment of the people. 



