450 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 350. 



Notes. 



A Chrysanthemum exhibition, under the direction of Messrs. 

 Siebrecht & Wadley, will be held at the Eden Muse~e from the 

 8th to the 18th of this month. 



It is a striking proof of the unusual mildness of this autumn 

 that a plant as tender as the Heliotrope is seen blooming in the 

 open air on Election-week in the latitude of Boston. 



According to some analyses made by the Chemist of the 

 Pennsylvania Experiment Station, the chestnuts which an acre 

 of trees would yield in an ordinary season would have agreater 

 food value than an average yield of wheat or of corn. 



We have received the report of the New York Experiment 

 Station for 1893, and the report of the Cornell University 

 Experiment Station for the same year. Both of them contain 

 a great deal of matter of permanent value. Unfortunately, 

 the last-named report has neither an index nor a table of con- 

 tents, and its usefulness as a book of reference is greatly 

 impaired by this omission. 



Clematis paniculata attracts so much attention for the beauty 

 of its flowers that its charms in late autumn are not thoroughly 

 appreciated, but it has a habit of holding its thick leaves very 

 late, and they are just now beginning to turn to rich cop- 

 pery tints, while above them the abundant red seeds, with 

 their light feathery tufts, give the final touch which is 

 needed to make one of the most beautiful combinations which 

 the season can offer. 



In reference to the Dwarf Red-flowering Chestnut, ^Esculus 

 Pavia, to which allusion is made in the " Plant Notes" of this 

 issue, Mr. Andrew S. Fuller writes that plants of this species, 

 which he had raised from seed grown in Texas, have proved 

 hardy in his garden in New Jersey. His plants are now ten 

 years old and are about four feet high. Seedlings from JE. 

 Pavia flower when they are only two or three years old and 

 not more than twelve to eighteen inches high. 



The new Chrysanthemum Mayflower is a white variety of 

 the largest size and perfect purity of color, and massive with- 

 out being coarse. Minerva is a fine, new incurved flower of 

 a particularly brilliant lemon-yellow. The stems of both of 

 these varieties are strong enough to hold the heads, and yet 

 they are not too rank. These varieties have not yet been dis- 

 tributed, but Mr. John N. May, who has the stock of both, is 

 sending them to this city in admirable condition, and they are 

 now bringing the highest prices of any varieties in the market. 



Hot-house tomatoes are already in market, almost before 

 there has been a killing frost. They are beautiful in appear- 

 ance, and their superiority over the field fruits is shown by 

 the fact that they command from forty to sixty cents a pound. 

 Hot-house cucumbers, even in competition with the still 

 abundant outdoor crop, sell for $1.50 a dozen. House-grown 

 mushrooms sell for $1.20 a pound, while field-mushrooms bring 

 seventy-five cents. Late-crop eggplants, from Florida, bring 

 $3.00 a dozen In the general market the few Spitzenberg 

 apples of first quality which come to this city bring the highest 

 price of $475 a barrel. Late quotations of American apples 

 in England show that Newtown Pippins still retain their 

 supremacy there at $7.50 a barrel. 



This is the midseason of Chrysanthemums, and the earlier 

 market varieties are practically gone. The leading kinds now 

 offered for sale among the whites are Ivory, Niveus, Queen 

 and Minnie Wanamaker. Ivory brings about half as much as 

 the others on account of its shorter stems. It is very profit- 

 able, however, to the growers, since it yields most abundantly 

 and is easily grown. Of the pink varieties Mrs. E. G. Hill was 

 the earliest and is still in good form. Viviand Morel is the 

 most abundant and AdaPrassis the latest. Good yellow Chrys- 

 anthemums are now somewhat scarce, although this color 

 and white are the most popular. The best varieties now on 

 sale are W. H. Lincoln, Major Bonnafon and Challenger. Reds 

 of any shade are very scarce, about the only variety seen in 

 any quantity being George W. Childs. 



The last report of the Pomologist in the Department of 

 Agriculture contains a description of a new variety of Kaki, or 

 Japanese Persimmon, named Gobey. The tree is said to be a 

 rank grower of spreading habit and very prolific. The fruit is 

 described as conical, bright red, almost seedless, of excellent 

 quality and so large that many of the single specimens weigh 

 more than a pound. One would think that a fruit of this size 

 and appearance would soon make its way in popular favor, 

 but the fact remains that the older varieties do not sell any 

 better in this city than they did ten years ago. A small con- 



signment came here from Florida last week and a small lot of 

 very beautiful ones from Alabama. They hang heavily, how- 

 ever, on the hands of the dealers. 



At the Chrysanthemum exhibition to be held in Springfield, 

 Massachusetts, next week, beginning on the 13th of Novem- 

 ber, the Hampden County Horticultural Society, in addition to 

 the usual competition between individuals, offers a prize of 

 $50.00 in gold for the best vase of one hundred blooms exhib- 

 ited by any regularly constituted florists' club or horticultural 

 society. These displays are to be known as the Philadelphia 

 exhibition, the Boston exhibition or the exhibit of any other 

 city which purposes to compete. No restriction is made as to 

 the number of varieties, and the exhibitors are at liberty to 

 exercise their own judgment as to what kind or kinds will 

 make the most attractive vase of flowers. This will be known 

 as the National Prize. The plan, we believe, was originated 

 by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, and it seems to be a 

 good one for insuring an interesting display. 



In a bulletin on Sweet-potatoes lately issued by the Louisiana 

 State Experiment Station, Mr. Burnette, the horticulturist, says 

 of different varieties that the greatest acquisition so far is one 

 known as Vineless. It was found on a Mississippi plantation 

 in 1884, and has since then been gradually distributed and 

 propagated throughout the south. It is probably a sport of 

 one of the common Yams, and is also known as the Early 

 Bunch or Bunch Yam. The tops are short, never reaching 

 three feet, and often not over more than two feet in length, 

 stocky and compact, with large deeply cut and very dark 

 leaves, and smooth medium-sized roots. The plants endure 

 drought well, and on account of their short tops can be culti- 

 vated late in the season, which is often an important factor in 

 the yield of a crop. The Vineless is a prolific and early variety, 

 and the roots keep well and possess high edible quality. 



Cattleya Bowringiana, on account of its free habit of growth 

 and its abundant flowers, naturally invites experiments in 

 crossing, and it has already become the parent of handsome 

 hybrids. The latest one or which we have an account is given 

 in a late number of the Orchid Review, in which case pollen 

 from Ladia pumila was used, so that the plant belongs to the 

 rapidly increasing number of Lselio-Cattleyas, and has been 

 called Parysatis. Mr. Seden sowed the seed in 1888, and the 

 first flower was produced in five years. The plant is described 

 as about six inches high, with flowers intermediate in shape 

 between its two parents, petals two inches long by one and a 

 quarter broad, and the lip open as in the pollen parent, al- 

 though it becomes more convolute as the flower grows older. 

 The sepals and petals are of bright rose-purple ; the front half 

 of the lip is a deep magenta-purple with a pale throat, and 

 altogether it is a beautiful little plant. 



The street-trees of various towns in New Jersey have been 

 so seriously affected during the past summer by certain insects, 

 that Professor J. B. Smith, of the State Agricultural College, 

 has thought it best to answer numerous requests for relief by 

 a special bulletin. Of the insects injurious to shade-trees he 

 speaks of the Elm-leaf beetle, the imported Elm-borer, or the 

 leopard moth, and the white-marked tussock moth, as the most 

 troublesome. The last insect can be kept in check with com- 

 paratively little trouble by removing the masses of eggs in the 

 early winter, which are prominent on the bare trunks and 

 limbs. The first one can be controlled by two or three spray- 

 ings of London purple, Paris green, or, perhaps, still better, 

 with arsenate of lead. It seems to be a great task to spray a 

 large Elm or a number ot, trees in a park or town, and yet 

 Professor Smith says that the Elms on the college campus at 

 New Brunswick, which are as large as most of those in the state, 

 have been sprayed twice and well protected during the past 

 year. On very large trees it may be impossible to reach every 

 point so as to kill all the insects, and some will become full- 

 grown and make their way down the trunk to the base of the 

 tree. When this is noticed, a strong brine, whale oil, soapsuds, 

 or diluted kerosene emulsion can be poured on the ground 

 about the base of the tree for a distance of two feet and re- 

 peated at intervals of five days, as long as new additions are 

 noticed. The imported Elm-borer, Zeuzera pyrina, is a serious 

 pest, especially in Newark, where it has attacked all species of 

 Maple and Elm, as well as Sweet Gum, Tulip-tree, Linden and 

 others. This insect seems so difficult to reach that Protessor 

 Smith advises the cutting down of badly infested trees and 

 burning them. Fortunately, the electric lights in some cities 

 attract these moths, and large numbers of them perish in this 

 way. The bulletin is an admirable summary of what needs to 

 be known wherever any intelligent attack upon these three 

 insects is meditated. 



