4i8 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 347. 



garden for several winters. In some of our parks this should 

 make an excellent bedding plant, as the colors of its flowers 

 are so infrequently seen among this class of plants in the fall, 

 and its foliage in autumn turns to singularly rich colors. It is 

 so easily increased by division that a stock of plants can soon 

 be obtained. 



The Colchicums are useful autumn-flowering bulbous plants. 

 They are very like Crocuses, and are often called Autumn Cro- 

 cuses, but botanically they are far removed from each other ; 

 the Colchicum belongs to the Lilv family, while the Crocus 

 belongs to the Iris family. They are of easy culture, and 

 should be planted in masses in late summer or early autumn. 

 A sunny position, where they will dry up during the summer, 

 and a light sandy soil suit them well. The most common 

 species is C. autumnale, which begins to bloom about the 

 middle of September and lasts a long time in bloom. The 

 Crocus-like flowers appear before the leaves, and are of a pale 

 purple color, from four to six inches high. There are many 

 good varieties of this species, the best of them being Album, 

 with pure white flowers; Roseurn, reddish purple flowers; 

 Striatum, purple and white flowers. The showiest species is 

 C. speciosum ; it has large cup-shaped flowers of a rich red- 

 dish purple color, and grows from six to nine inches high. 



The Japanese Toad Flax, Tricyrtis hirta, is in good condition 

 this year. As we have had no frost yet the foliage is green 

 and healthy. Some seasons when we have early frost the 

 foliage has a rusty appearance, which disfigures the plants. It 

 is quite hardy here, and grows luxuriantly in a rather moist 

 shady place and flowers profusely every season. The slender 

 erect stems, which are terminated with curiously shaped 

 pinkish blossoms, spotted with purplish black, are about three 

 feet high. 



Sedum Sieboldii, an elegant Japanese Stonecrop, is quite 

 hardy here. It makes an excellent rock-garden plant when 

 planted in an elevated position, where its semi-prostrate stems 

 can hang over the stones, and in this way the rosy flowers, 

 which are borne on the end of the stems, can be best seen. 



Campanula pyramidalis is a strong, vigorous plant ; its large 

 pyramidal spikes of flowers rise to a height of five feet, and are 

 a striking object when the plants are well grown. The flowers 

 are blue or white, and as they come in succession they last for 

 a long time in bloom. This plant has proved quite hardy here. 

 It was planted in two different parts of the garden a year ago, 

 and they flowered splendidly this summer and fall. I find they 

 do best in a rather shady place, and, although they are peren- 

 nials, I find they do best when treated as biennials. 



The autumn-flowering Monkshood makes a good border- 

 plant. It has stout stems three or four feet high with dark 

 green leaves, and its bluish purple flowers are pleasing at this 

 time. 



The well-known Anemone Japonica and its varieties are 

 charming and useful, and when planted in suitable positions 

 they are among the richest ornaments a garden can possess 

 in the autumn. A large number of perennials, such as Del- 

 phiniums, Gaillardias, Iceland Poppies, Pentstemous, Violas 

 and many others, can be had in bloom in the autumn by sow- 

 ing the seeds in January and planting out the seedlings into 

 beds or borders in May. 



Botanic Garden, Harvard University. Robert Cameron. 



Forcing Vegetables. 



OF the many garden vegetables suitable for forcing, Lettuce, 

 Bush Beans, Radish and Spinach are among the easiest 

 managed. Although the last is not profitable as a market crop, 

 the private gardener who studies the tastes of the family 

 he supplies, generally finds a dish of fresh Spinach much 

 appreciated about the holiday season. All four vegetables 

 require much the same general treatment as to soil, tempera- 

 ture and moisture, and they can be grown in different parts of 

 the same house. This should be light and airy, so that the 

 crops can have all the sunlight possible. The beds, which 

 should be well up to the glass, may be about eight inches 

 deep. In preparing the soil a layer of about two inches of 

 well-rotted manure should be placed at the bottom, and the 

 remainder should be a compost of two-thirds loam and one of 

 leaf-mold. For the first crop of Lettuce the plants should be 

 grown in frames from seed sown in the open ground about 

 the middle of September, and ready for planting in the beds 

 about the middle of October. Successional sowings may be 

 made at intervals as required from that time until March, after 

 which time they will probably be easier managed in frames. 

 Plant six or seven inches apart, according to the variety 

 grown, water sparingly at first, but more plentifully as the 

 plants gain strength, applying it only to the roots, as overhead 



watering is apt to cause damping off when the water lodges 

 in the centre of the plants. Boston Market, Big Boston and 

 Black-seeded Simpson are all good for forcing. 



Sowings of Beans, Radish and Spinach may be made in the 

 beds at intervals as necessary from the beginning of October 

 until March. The Early Valentine Bean, on account of its 

 quick maturing, is, perhaps, the best all-round variety. 

 French Breakfast and most of the turnip-rooted varieties of 

 Radish are suitable, and the Round-leaved variety of Spinach 

 is generally the best. The temperature of the house need not 

 exceed fifty degrees by fire-heat at night, but it may be run up 

 twenty degrees higher by sun-heat, and every opportunity 

 should be taken for admitting fresh air without a cold draught. 

 It should always be kept in mind that careful regulation of the 

 temperature is the best precaution against mildew. 



Tarrytown, N. Y. William ScOtt. 



Quince-trees for Ornament. — None of our fruit-trees are more 

 attractive in flower than the Quince, and the soft gray-green 

 foliage gives it a distinct, individual appearance all summer; 

 in autumn its abundant golden fruit makes it a type of all that 

 is rich and productive, so that, whether standing alone on a 

 lawn or in a shrubbery, it is always beautiful and graceful. 

 The so-called Apple-quince assumes rather the most graceful 

 form as a shrub, but in a warmer climate than mine, where the 

 Pear-quince will ripen, it is less subject to rot and remains on 

 the tree until late October. Quinces need deep soil, and they 

 do better if they are kept constantly mulched. If the trees 

 are kept well pruned they wiil bear more fruit and and be kept 

 from (hat straggly form which they sometimes assume when 

 left to themselves. The fruit can be left on until November, 

 thus prolonging the season of the plant's beauty without in- 

 juring the fruit, which, indeed, is improved by remaining on 

 the tree. 



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



Correspondence. 



The Forests of Minnesota. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The state timber-lands of Minnesota have suffered 

 seriously from bad management. The policy of lumbermen 

 has been to strip the timber from lands as fast as possible and 

 cheat the state as much as they were able when paying for the 

 timber. I mean by this no reflection upon honest lumber- 

 men, which class is very numerous ; but, as a general thing, 

 the honest ones do not cut much state timber. The result is 

 that the state has not received on an average over fifty per 

 cent, of the value of the timber cut from its lands. 



The state lands are cut in advance of all other lands, the 

 small and poorer timber generally being left standing. Then, 

 as a general thing, the land is burned over the next year if dry 

 enough, and all the young timber left is killed. We have a 

 magnificent school fund, and are constantly lookingforchances 

 to invest it. If these timber-lands were carefully looked after 

 and cared for they would be an investment that, with the 

 increase in growth, would be many times better than any 

 other. Winds and fires might destroy some timber, it is true, 

 but damaging winds in the thick woods are not generally very 

 extensive, and common forest-fires do comparatively little hurt 

 to standing Pine timber. 



In considering the question of forest-fires it should be borne 

 in mind that the valuable timber is cut off in the winter, and 

 the following season, especially if a dry one, the fires start — 

 sometimes kindled by lumber pirates, as they have been 

 called; sometimes by men in clearing; many by careless 

 woodsmen, campers and tramps, and many, too, by sparks 

 from locomotives. These fires generally kill all standing tim- 

 ber that has been cut among'. In two to five years, it the land 

 is not burned over again, a young growth of Poplar and Birch 

 come up, in many cases mixed with young Pine, which makes 

 a young forest in six to ten years thick enough to check com- 

 mon fires. Very few, if any, fires are started by men who own 

 much Pine timber. We find that state lands are mostly all 

 burned over within a year or two after being cut over, and in 

 such cases we almost always find that the state has been 

 cheated bv the men who have done the cutting. 



1 can offer no sure remedy for these things, for in these un- 

 settled woods laws are a dead letter. The only thing I can 

 suggest is that a very heavy tine, half to go to the school fund, 

 the other half to the informant, might do some good. Where 

 the country is settled, roads should be four rods wide and 

 should be cleared of all dead and rotten woods and seeded to 

 grass, or cultivated. Along railroads the companies should 



