496 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 355. 



The tree in the illustration is thirty-three inches in diam- 

 eter and about seventy feet tall, a medium-sized individual. 



Pacific Universily, Oregon. F> (T1C1S Ernesl LloyiL 



Quercus iMBRicARiA. — The Shingle Oak, like most other 

 Oaks, is rarely seen in cultivation, although it is perfectly 

 hardy in this latitude. To the ordinary observer its oblong 

 lanceolate leaves give little suggestion that it is an Oak, 

 and, in fact, they bear a strong resemblance to those of the 

 Laurel-leaved Willow. It likes strong soil, and in rich 

 woodlands it not uncommonly approaches one hundred 

 feet in height. When growing in the open ground, how- 

 ever, the branches of young trees have a droop somewhat 

 like those of Pin Oak, and this gives it a graceful expres- 

 sion which is not found in most other species of the 

 genus, which are rather dignified and strong, than graceful. 

 Mr. Joseph Meehan writes that the plants in Germantovvn 

 from seed gathered near St. Louis are making a fine growth, 

 and they excite much attention for their elegance of form 

 and the shining beauty of their leaves. Like many other 

 Oaks, this tree should be pruned back hard when it is 

 transplanted, and the removal of trees ten or twelve feet 

 high would be much more certain to be successful if the 

 roots were pruned a year or two in advance by digging a 

 trench in a circle about the tree and filling it in with good 

 soil, to be occupied by new roots in place of the large ones 

 which had been cut off. This Oak is often called the 

 Laurel Oak, a name which properly belongs to Quercus 

 laurifolia, a beautiful southern species. 



Hypericum Moserianum. — Although this beautiful hybrid 

 Hypericum has not proved perfectly hardy here in exposed 

 places, it will be found to winter well in sheltered positions 

 when protected with a light covering of dry litter. During 

 severe winters it may be cut down to the ground, but it will 

 begin to grow again in early spring with the greatest free- 

 dom. It gives a profusion of bloom during the summer 

 and autumn months, and is undoubtedly one of the best of 

 all Hypericums. It is shrubby and grows about two feet 

 high ; the flowers are three inches in diameter and are of 

 a beautiful clear yellow color. It is easily propagated by 

 cuttings made during early autumn and placed in a shady 

 frame. It thrives best in a rather moist soil. This valuable 

 plant was raised several years ago by Monsieur Moses, of 

 Versailles, by crossing H. calycinum with the Japanese H. 

 patulum. 



Begonia corralina — Under this name the largest of 

 the shrubby Begonias, probably a variety of B. macu- 

 lata, has long been known in English nurseries. In this 

 country it has been oftener called B. rubra. Its prin- 

 cipal variation from the type is seen in the leaves, 

 which, in old plants, show none of the characteristic 

 white spots, although these spots sometimes appear 

 in the seedlings, neither has it the crimson-purple color- 

 ing on the under side of the foliage ; the wings of the 

 capsule are also nearly equal. It is a plant of luxuriant 

 growth, with fine, bold foliage, and produces bright cherry- 

 red flowers in the greatest profusion the year round. It 

 grows well in large pots, but the best position is a border 

 in the warm greenhouse, where it may be used to cover a 

 wall or gable. The strong growths shoot up from the base 

 of the plant like a Bamboo, and their height is only limited 

 by the head-room. They branch naturally after attaining 

 a certain size, but can be pinched in at any time. After 

 the plant has become well established some of the older 

 stems should be removed in spring, to make room for fresh 

 growths. A rich mixture of rotted sod, leaf-mold and well- 

 decayed manure, with a dash of sharp sand, is the most 

 satisfactory soil for the plant. Its propagation is by seeds 

 or cuttings of the stem, the latter method being preferable 

 where a good variety is obtained. 



Iris Vartani. — This plant flowers naturally at this time. 

 While it is hardy here and will sometimes flower in the open 

 under mild conditions, these are exceptional in December, 

 and it is more successfully grown under protection. It 

 is a bulbous Iris with netted white coats, from the vicinity 



of Nazareth. It has also the four-sided leaves, with horny 

 points like those of Iris reticulata, but is distinct from this 

 in the form of the flower. The flower appears when the 

 leaves are three or four inches high and it is some three or 

 four inches in diameter or spread, with a long tube. The 

 falls have wide oval blades and narrow claws. Professor 

 Forster dismisses this Iris very curtly in his Bulbous Irises 

 as having a color of no great merit. This seems a hasty 

 conclusion, as it is actually a flower of much beauty. Its 

 general effect is light lavender-blue, produced by fine con- 

 fluent lines of this color on a creamy white ground. An 

 interesting feature of the coloring is the creamy buff ground 

 of the under or outer sides of the blades. Professor Forster 

 has also observed that this flower has no odor. Specimens 

 sent to this office by Mr. Gerard are pleasingly fragrant, 

 but this is not a material point, for flowers appearing in 

 cold weather in the open border might be apparently scent- 

 less, as is the case with those of I. reticulata and others under 

 these circumstances. Altogether this is a good plant for 

 all who fancy out-of-the-way flowers and are willing to take 

 the care required to properly ripen up the bulbs during the 

 dark season. After flowering they should be kept growing 

 in full light as long as possible After the foliage dies 

 down the bulbs may be taken up, kept in a dry place and 

 replanted in early autumn. 



Cultural Department. 



The Early Bearing of Orchard-trees. 



IN the eleventh annual report of the New York Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station it is stated : " With trees planted in 

 the Station orchards when two or three years old, the first 

 specimens of fruit have seldom been produced in less than 

 eight years." The trial has covered a very large number of 

 varieties of Apples, mostly of standard varieties, but including 

 some "ironclads" of native origin, and a few of Russian 

 origin. I think it would be interesting to contrast this experi- 

 ence with my own in an orchard of six hundred trees, about 

 half of which were planted in the spring of 1889, and the re- 

 mainder in the fall of 1890. Those first planted were a mixed 

 lot of nursery-trees (all Russian sorts), three years old from 

 the root graft ; and the second lot, nearly all of the Wealthy 

 Apple. It will lie observed that practically these plantings 

 were two years apart — the second lot being set out in the fall 

 of the second year, four years ago. 



Now for their bearing. In 1893 the Duchess of Oldenburgh 

 trees, Yellow Transparents and Longfields matured from one 

 or two up to twenty or more of perfectly well-grown fruits. 

 There was also, here and there, a fruit or two on Tetofsky and 

 Wealthy trees, although the latter were only planted out the 

 previous fall. All of the land was plowed, but no manure was 

 applied at the time of setting. The two previous years it had 

 carried crops of Corn and Potatoes. The soil is gravelly loam, 

 underlaid with hard brick-clay at a depth of about two feet, 

 the property being an old dairy-farm, two miles east of Lake 

 Memphremagog, and at least five hundred feet above its level. 

 Between the rows, for the past two years, good crops of Pota- 

 toes and Beans have been grown, with clean culture. The 

 trees set latest have fully doubled their diameter, and those 

 set first have grown much more. Very few of those first set 

 are less than eight feet high, while even the smallest trees 

 among the Wealthys measure nearly seven feet. The latter 

 set quite full of fruit last spring, and an attempt was made to 

 shake it all off, but over a barrel was gathered in the fall. 



Of the older setting in this orchard the Oldenburghs were 

 heavily thinned, yet they matured about two dozen apples to a 

 tree. The Yellow Transparentsgave an average of half a bushel 

 to the tree, after heavy thinning ; while the Russian " Long- 

 fields " (twenty-four trees) ripened between six and seven bar- 

 rels, although subjected to several severe thinnings. Nor was 

 any of this at the expense of proper wood-growth. On the 

 contrary, the trees have apparently doubled in size the past 

 season. Aside from the purposely stripped Wealthys, every 

 tree produced heavily. Some forty Russian Plum and Cherry 

 trees, from Professor Budd, of Iowa, three and four years 

 planted in this orchard, produced more fruit than a family of 

 seven could use, and a little of it was sold. 



I send these notes mainly to show the combination of vigor 

 and precocity of these Russian tree-fruits as compared with 

 standard Apples in the orchards at Geneva. I have no Apples 



