420 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 347. 



Notes. 



There is a lumber-mill in Christiana, Norway, which has a 

 capacity of a million feet daily. 



The Gardeners' Chronicle notes a robust variety of our 

 native Helianthus rigidus, which has been named Miss Mei- 

 lish. This plant grows twice as high as the typical form, 

 bears larger and often semi-double flower-heads of a rich clear 

 yellow, which appear three or four weeks after those of the 

 ordinary kind. 



The foliage of the Forsythia in autumn is remarkably dis- 

 tinct, turning to a very dark plum color, or sometimes a dark 

 maroon or reddish brown. This year the moist autumn has 

 opened many of the flower-buds that had ripened early during 

 the drought, and the deep yellow flowers, appearing together 

 with the singularly dark leaves, make a combination as striking 

 as it is rare. 



A recent visitor to the Botanical Gardens at Buitenzorg, 

 Java, in speaking of the astonishing growth of plants in 

 that climate, gives as an example that some Palms of the 

 genus Oreodoxa, which were planted when quite young to 

 make a border to one of the walks, grew in five years to a 

 height of thirty-two feet, while some species of Albizzia in the 

 same time attained a height of more than sixty feet. 



By an annoying oversight last week the removal of a deci- 

 mal point multiplied the weight of a block of mahogany im- 

 ported by Nesmith Brothers, of Greenpoint, New York, by 

 one hundred, making it 2,166 tons, instead of 21.66. A recent 

 number of the Scientific American contains an illustration of 

 half of this magnificent piece of wood after it was sawed in 

 two, and a good idea of its proportions can be had from the 

 men who stand by it. Out of this half of the original stick, if 

 sawed into two-inch plank, twenty-eight tables, each twenty- 

 two and a half feet long and five feet wide, could have been 

 made. 



We have received a neat little dictionary of eighty-three 

 pages in paper covers, consisting of botanical and horticultural 

 terms, arranged in five columns on a page, the first column 

 being the Latin or Greek words most generally used in horticul- 

 ture and botany, arranged alphabetically. Opposite these, and 

 in four other columns, are placed the equivalents of each 

 word in French, English, German and Dutch. Something like 

 twenty-five hundred words are thus arranged, with their 

 synonyms, in five languages, and the book will, no doubt, 

 prove a convenience to amateurs who wish to consult foreign 

 catalogues, and many others. It has been prepared by A. 

 M. C. Jonkindt Coninck, of Bussum, near Amsterdam. 



Portraits of two new Plums originated by Luther Burbank 

 are given in the last number of the Pacific Rural Press. One 

 of these is named the Wickson, and is from seed of Kelsey, 

 fertilized with pollen from Satsuma. As it ripens, the fruit 

 turns from a deep cherry-red to a rich uniform claret color. 

 The translucent amber-colored flesh is said to be juicy, with a 

 striking and agreeable flavor. It has notably good qualities 

 both for keeping and shipping. The other one is named 

 Giant, and is from seed of Petite Prune d'Agen, pollinated with 

 the Hungarian Prune. The plums average from one and a 

 half to two ounces in weight, and it is larger, sweeter and 

 finer in texture than the Hungarian. The color is dark crim- 

 son on a yellow ground, and the flesh is yellow. When it is 

 dried it makes a handsome prune, averaging about thirty-five 

 to the pound. These two Plums are to be distributed this 

 year in the form of cions for grafting. 



Mr. R. D. Blackmore, who is a horticulturist of note, as well 

 as a famous novelist, writes to the London Times in a very 

 discouraging way as to the prospects of fruit-growing in Eng- 

 land. His statement is that when the apple crop of England 

 is good the price is contemptible. One season he sold six 

 hundred bushels at one shilling a bushel and lost his baskets. 

 In forty years' experience as a fruit-grower he has only made 

 both ends meet twice, and at the time when the letter was 

 written he had hundreds of bushels of large pears lying on the 

 ground because they would not pay for packing and trans- 

 portation. It is fair to add that the great fruit show just held 

 at the Crystal Palace was a most creditable exhibition, while 

 the Conference Hall was crowded for three days. The temper 

 of the discussions was by no means a gloomy one, and the 

 prevailing opinion seemed to be that there was still a margin 

 of profit for the fruit-grower in Great Britain. 



Last year Mr. Watson, in one of his letters (see vol. v., page 

 486), spoke of Richardia Rehmanni, which was offered for sale 



by some Dutch nurserymen as a rosy-flowered Calla, and 

 stated that probably the same plant had already bloomed in 

 England and showed a very slight tint of pink. The spathe 

 was rather smaller than that of the well-known Richardia ^Ethi- 

 opica, but the leaves were lanceolate instead of sagittate, and 

 about a foot long. A correspondent of the Gardeners' Ckrojti- 

 f/<? now states that the plant has flowered in Kewand shows only 

 a flush of rose inside of the upper portion of the spathe. Very 

 plainly, the flower does not color as deeply in England as it 

 does in Natal, but it is a distinct and pretty plant, although, un- 

 less it would color better under our bright sunlight, Americans 

 need not expect that the plant will justify its name as a pink- 

 flowered Calla. If any of our readers have flowered this plant 

 we should be glad to have an account of their experience. 



The Jerusalem Artichoke, which is the tuberous root of one 

 of our native perennial Sunflowers, Helianthus tuberosus, is 

 becoming more highly appreciated than it once was as a food 

 for animals, because a crop can be produced in such ex- 

 tremely dry weather as has prevailed for the past two years, 

 when other crops fail. A correspondent of the Country Gen- 

 tleman, writing from Indiana, states that the yield of artichokes 

 in good soil ranges from eight hundred to one thousand 

 bushels an acre, which seems a large estimate. His method 

 of feeding is to turn hogs into the field after the frost has 

 killed the stalks and allow them to root the tubers from the 

 ground. Part of the crop is fenced off until spring when 

 pigs are turned in to be fattened for the early market, while 

 quantities, which are pitted in the fall, make good food for 

 cows, calves and colts. The variety known as White Jeru- 

 salem is the one used, and is said to resemble in color and 

 taste the heart of cabbage. After the first planting there are 

 always enough tubers left in the ground to produce a crop the 

 following year. 



The season for Japanese persimmons is about over, although 

 a few small ones can still be seen occasionally on fruit- 

 stands of the best class. During the month of September, 

 when this fruit ought to have been most abundant, it has been 

 impossible to find any in New York. One of the largest ship- 

 pers from Volusia County, Florida, Mr. J. B. Odum, writes in 

 reply to some inquiries that the crop in his section was a par- 

 tial failure, and, although the fruit could have been shipped 

 in considerable quantities, the prices received last year offered 

 no encouragement to send them so far north. It is a difficult 

 matter to get this fruit to New York in sound condition, but 

 this trouble could be overcome if there was a sufficient 

 demand to warrant the extra expense. Last year it looked as 

 if the good qualities of these persimmons would soon make 

 them common in our markets, but people are slow to try new 

 fruits, and this really excellent one has certainly not yet secured 

 a standing here. Mr. Odum writes that the late severe storms 

 in Florida have badly injured the remnant of the crop which 

 remained ungathered. 



While the prices of American apples in England are about 

 fifty cents lower per barrel than they were a few weeks ago, a 

 brisk demand continues, notwithstanding the large quantities 

 now going forward. Whereas prices in New York last week 

 ranged from $1.50 to $3.00 a barrel, the same varieties and 

 grades brought $2.64 to $5.28 in the foreign markets. In the 

 corresponding week last year red apples brought from $3.88 

 to $6.50 abroad. New York alone shipped 20,574 barrels of 

 apples last week against only 178 barrels a year ago, and while 

 but 1,119 barrels had left the United States and Canada by the 

 middle of last October, nearly 250,000 barrels have this season 

 already left these countries for foreign sales. It is said that 

 many growers forward their apples to Europe in preference to 

 selling in the home markets because of the prompt settlement 

 of accounts, payment being received by the farmer within fif- 

 teen days after the fruit leaves New York. A few Newtown 

 Pippins from Long Island are already shown in W. & C. 

 Smith's fruit-store on Liberty Street, and in about a fortnight 

 these apples will be forwarded to our markets from the cele- 

 brated orchards of Virginia. In striking contrast with these 

 small dull green apples, are the large King apples, with 

 their stripes and .splashes of crimson, and the more showy 

 Jonathans, of roundish ovate form and deep wine color. 

 A few Bilyeu peaches from Cornwall-on-the-Hudson sell for 

 $1.50 to $2.50 for a six-quart basket. Immense Salway peaches 

 and very large Bartlett pears from California bring seventy- 

 five cents to $1.00 a dozen. Seckel pears are still plentiful, but 

 are small and attract little attention. A large supply of new 

 crop Smyrna figs is making low prices for this fruit. Since the 

 importing season began, about two weeks ago, 2,000,000 

 pounds have been received here. A few barrels of Almeria 

 grapes have already arrived. 



