December 5. 1894.] 



Garden and Forest. 



483 



it is not so disastrous to the tree as are the larvse of some 

 larger beetles which work in the bark of the trunk, and still 

 others in the hard wood often tunneling their way to the 

 centre of the tree. I have noticed this in logs which were 

 split for fire-wood. The broad-necked Prionus laticollis is 

 the parent of the largest of these larvae, which, when full- 

 grown, is about three inches in length and as thick as a 

 man's thumb. A few years ago these beetles were very 

 numerous in the Pines, and even the streets of our town 

 were thronged with them, but something has greatly de- 

 creased their numbers of late years, while the larva of a 

 large goat moth, probably Cossus centerensis, is on the 

 increase. Many empty shells of the chrysalids may be 

 seen sticking half-way out of holes made by the larvae, both 

 in the White and Black Oaks. 



The Swamp Maple holds its deep crimson leaves very 

 late jn the season, more especially the younger trees, and 

 their reddish twigs are always attractive. The Magnolia 

 is nearly an evergreen here ; young trees wholly so. The 

 Persimmon, too, holds its foliage and fruit until very late, 

 making an interesting feature among the Pines. The 

 Cedars, in fruit, are highly ornamental when mingled with 

 the Holly, with its scarlet berries, each enhancing the 

 other's beauty, and many shrubs are at their best now 

 with scarlet and crimson, and black and gray fruits. Even 

 the poison Sumach looks tempting, with its drooping slen- 

 der panicles of dun-colored fruit, which remains all winter. 

 A well-grown shrub of Baccharis, with its abundant long, 

 white, silky pappus, makes a pleasing feature of the Pines 

 at this season, wherever it occurs. 



The continued drought of summer had its effect on some 

 of the plants and has caused them to flower a second time. 

 When the autumn rains came, I noticed several shrubs of 

 Andromeda Mariana blooming as profusely as in spring. 

 Kalmia angustifolia bloomed also, and the Wild Rose took 

 a fresh start, showing many flowers among its scarlet hips. 



The Swamp Loosestrife, Nesaea verticillata, is still 

 blooming in sheltered places, and we find here and there 

 Asters and Solidagos as bright as in early autumn. The 

 Bur Marigold is also blooming, and the Cone-flower and 

 our Pine Sunflower — Helianthus angustifolius — have not 

 wholly ceased flowering. The Golden Aster, Chrysopsis 

 Mariana, is quite full of bloom. 



Rhexia Virginica shows here and there a flower among 

 its pretty urn-shaped pods, and white and blue Violets 

 greet us in moist places. 



Many other plants, not in flower,' are specially handsome 

 now. Helonias, with its tuft of thick shining evergreen 

 leaves, is much more beautiful here amid the Pines than it 

 is in cultivation, and the great clump of grass-like curved 

 leaves of Xerophyllum remind us of the old Roman defini- 

 tion of beauty, "multitude in unity." The Pitcher-plant 

 has put on brilliant colors, showing charming tracings and 

 veinings in the curious leaves. The Club Moss, Lycopo- 

 dium dendroideum, like a tree in miniature, is abundant in 

 damp places. The Prickly Pear, Opuntia vulgaris, is full of 

 fruit, which is edible, but not-tempting enough to induce 

 one to risk the barbed bristles with which it is surrounded. 



vineiand, n.j. Mary Treat. 



The Wild Cherry in the West. 



Wild Black Cherry. — This species has not been planted 

 to anything like the extent it would have been if its merits 

 were appreciated. Aside from the fine quality of its timber, 

 it succeeds under such widely varying conditions of locality 

 that it should form a part of every prairie grove. At Far- 

 lington, Kansas, about six acres of the Kansas City, Fort 

 Scott and Memphis Railroad Company's plantation were 

 planted to a mixture of Wild Cherry, Black Walnut and 

 Chestnut in 187S. Not only have the Cherry-trees grown 

 well, but they equal in size the Catalpas planted at 

 the same time, and are much better shade-making trees 

 than the Catalpas, and therefore valuable nurse trees for 

 the light-foliaged Black Walnuts. One of the tallest Wild 



Cherry-trees measured thirty-nine feet eight inches high, 



and was six and a half inches in diameter three feet from 



the ground. The Wild Black Cherry was found in good 



condition at Ogallah, in north-western Kansas, on high dry 



land, and trees at Brookings, South Dakota, are among the 



very best in the experiment forest-plats of the Agricultural 



College. At this place there are a number of half-acre 



plats in different mixture. The one composed of Wild 



Cherry, White Elm, Green Ash and White Birch, planted 



by single trees in the order named, four feet apart, and now 



seven years old, is the best plat in the plantation. The Ash 



and Elm are growing tall and straight, being forced up by 



their denser-foliaged neighbors. The Cherry-trees are only 



beginning to show strong leaders, having thus far been 



round-headed and full of branches ; but, as seen in the Far- 



lington plantation, as the trees grow older the laterals die 



off, one branch takes the -lead, and the bole lengthens into 



a good straight shaft. An advantage of this free branching 



during youth is the ability to shade the ground, and thus 



prevent weed-growth. 



The Wild Cherry is also one of the best growing trees 



in an irrigated nursery at Denver, Colorado, so that it proves 



itself useful over a wide area, and should be generally 



planted. -,, , , „ _ 



' Washington. Charles A. AeJ/er. 



Foreign Correspondence. 

 London Letter. 



The Chrysanthemum Breeder. — A lecture on the crossing 

 and raising of Chrysanthemums from seed was given this 

 week at the meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society by 

 Mr. Charles E. Shea, of Foots Cray, Kent, a well-known 

 amateur breeder and grower of Chrysanthemums. Con- 

 trary to the general belief, Mr. Shea says the crossing of 

 these plants and the ripening of their seeds are easy of 

 accomplishment in England. We receive the bulk of our 

 new seedlings from France, Italy, China, Japan and the 

 United States. Mr. Shea stated that probably one hundred 

 thousand new seedlings are raised and tried in America 

 every year, and that some noted growers in England test 

 ten thousand new seedlings annually. At this rate we are 

 certain to metamorphose the garden Chrysanthemum before 

 very long. 



Mr. Shea showed that while it is generally believed that 

 the Chrysanthemum will not ripen seeds in this country 

 because of the unfavorable character of our winter weather, 

 with a little contriving they can, as a matter of fact, be 

 made to seed quite freely. He obtained a quarter of a pint 

 of good seeds this year as the result of his operations, all 

 conducted in a small greenhouse thirty feet by twelve feet. 

 He recommends that the floor of the greenhouse should be 

 of cement, backed in the middle, with a drain at each side, 

 so that the water that runs from the soil in watering may 

 get away easily. A dry atmosphere is of first importance. 

 Air is admitted to the house at all times beneath the hot- 

 water pipes, fresh air also being essential. All the sunlight 

 possible is, of course, beneficial to the plants. 



In choosing plants to operate upon, Mr. Shea prefers 

 those which have been under ordinary treatment, as gen- 

 erous culture, such as is given when large flowers are 

 aimed at, has the effect of weakening, and even destroying, 

 the organs of fertilization. Medium-sized blooms, with 

 what growers call an open eye — that is, a number of disk- 

 florets exposed — are best, and' such flowers are produced 

 by even the sorts that are most double toward the end of 

 the flowering period. The smaller the eye the better the 

 flower is for breeding purposes. When the pollen appears 

 on the disk the flower should be watched until all the 

 anthers have burst. Chrysanthemums are, according to 

 Mr. Shea, decidedly proterandrous — that is, the pollen is 

 ready some time before the stigmas -so that it is scarcely 

 likely that any flower (head) would be self-fertilized, 

 although, of course, pollen might reach it from another 

 flower on the same plant. The stigma is in a receptive 



