7 o 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 155. 



One branch, larger than the rest, was apparently selected to 

 make the attempt to bridge the distance, and, to aid it, other 

 branches on that side entwined around it, making a kind of 

 rope. The leading branch continued to extend, reaching out 

 its tendrils until it touched the corner of the house, when it 

 fastened its sucker-like disks to the board. Then its support- 

 ers, one after the other, applied their tendrils to the house, 

 and all together climbed in various directions until they 

 reached the roof. Meanwhile the branches on the other side 

 of the plant discontinued their growth and remained drooping. 

 Who that has watched the flower-stalk of the Cyclamen bend 

 over until it buries its seed in the ground, has not been aston- 

 ished at this intelligent effort? Many instances could be 

 enumerated which are equally surprising, and in view of such 

 cases it seems pertinent to ask why we credit animals with 

 intelligence and do not credit plants with similar faculties ? 

 Chicago. E. M. Hale. 



The Name of Rhode Island. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir. — Permit me to suggest as a more probable derivation 

 of the name Rhode Island than the one given in your issue of 

 December 24th, 1890, that Rhode in the old German idioms 

 signifies to throw down, exterminate, clear up a forest, and 

 corresponds to the English words " root out." Is it not possible 

 then that Rhode Island signifies an island which has been 

 cleared of wood ? Geographical names with this meaning are 

 common in Germany, Switzerland, England and other countries 

 once covered with forests. . 



Bale, Switzerland. H. Christ. 



Any argument that the name of the island of Rhode 

 Island, afterwards transferred to the State, was derived from 

 its being bare of wood seems to rest on mere assumption. 

 According to local tradition, the island was well wooded 

 till stripped of its trees for fuel by the British during their 

 long occupation in the Revolutionary War. The records 

 of the colony there in 1642 also indicate the existence of 

 no small amount of woods, as wolves and deer were then 

 so abundant that Roger Williams was specially appointed 

 to agree with Mi-an-tun-no-my, Chief Sachem of the Narra- 

 gansetts, as to the killing off of these animals by the 

 Indians.* 



The name of the island was not changed by the colonists 

 from Ac-quid-neck to " Rhode Island " till 1644.! 



It is also of record that in May, 1650, the General Court 

 at Newport ordered, " That Pes-si-cus (successor of Mi-an- 

 tun-no-my) shall have libertie to gett so many chestnut 

 ryens [rinds or bark] upon the common of the island as 

 may cover him a.wigwam — provided he take John Greene 

 with him, that no wrong may bee done to any particular 

 person upon the island. "% 



This suggests that not only Chestnut-trees of considerable 

 size were then on the commons of the island, but that 

 there were many others on the portions of the lands already 

 allotted to individual proprietors. It must be borne in 

 mind, too, that the lodge, or wigwam, of the Chief Sachem 

 of the powerful Narragansetts was doubtless the council- 

 house of the nation and no small affair. 



The existence of wood on the island at its earliest settle- 

 ment is further established by the fact that, "At a publiche 

 meetinge held at Portsmouth (1640) there is libertie for 

 men to get a shipp load of ... . and pipe-staves and 

 clap-board, under directions of the toune of Portsmouth. . 

 ..." "They .... to see to gett plankes and . . ." § 



Further, in relating the settlement of this island, Arnold 

 says : "The earliest export trade of Rhode Island was in 

 lumber. The home prices were regulated by law. In the 

 earliest enactment (January, 1639) these are fixed at eight 

 shillings the hundred for sawed boards, seven shillings for 

 half-inch boards delivered at the mill, and one shilling a 

 foot for clapboards and fencing, to be sound, merchantable 

 stuff." Timber was not to be cut "or exported without a 

 license. "II 



This was at Newport, the south end of the island, while 

 the ship-load of lumber, " pipe-staves and clapboards," re- 

 ferred to above, was taken from Portsmouth, at the north 

 end, about the same time. 



It was also ordered at Newport in 1641, "That no tiers 

 shall be kindled by any whatsoever, tu runn at randome, 

 eyther in Medows or Woods."* 



Arnold says : " The derivation of the name has given 

 rise to much discussion, and that it is difficult to imagine 

 by what strange fancy it was ever supposed to resemble 

 the Island of Rhodes on the coast of Asia Minor, and that- 

 it is equally strange such a tradition should be believed, exn 

 cept that it is easier to adopt a geographical absurdity tha 

 investigate an historical fact." 



Verrazano, in the service of Francis I., explored the 

 coast and spent more than two weeks, in the spring of 1624, 

 in the spacious harbor of Newport. His narrative of an 

 island resembling the island of Rhodes refers distinctly to 

 Block Island, which may be thought to resemble the 

 Mediterranean island. But to this island Adrian Block, 

 the Dutch navigator, gave his own name. Afterwards, 

 like his Italian predecessor, he sailed into Narragansett 

 Bay, and commemorated the ruddy aspect of the place, 

 caused by the red clay in some portions of its shores, by 

 giving it the name of ' Roodt Eylandf (Red Island) and 

 by easy transition Rhode Island. "f 

 Providence, r. i. William D. Ely. 



*"Bart. Col. Rec. R. I., 



t " Idem," p. 127. 



X "R. I. Col. Rec," I., p. 225. 



§ " Bart. Col. Rec. R. I.," p. 74. 



|| Arnold's " Hist. R. I.," I., 142 



-'4 ■ 



Meetings of Societies. 



The Western New York Horticultural Society. — II. 



IN addition to our report of last week we give abstracts 

 of a few more of the addresses delivered. No prizes were 

 offered for fruit, but there was a remarkable display of 

 apples, pears and grapes, notwithstanding the unfavorable- 

 ness of the season. The advantages which fine exhibitions 

 of fruit bring to fruit-growers, and the educating influence 

 of such exhibitions upon the public, were discussed, and 

 a committee was appointed to confer with the State Agri- 

 cultural Society in order to secure the offer of such pre- 

 miums for excellence in various fruits as would ensure a 

 creditable display at the state fairs. 



FRUIT-GROWING IN CANADA. 



Professor William Saunders, director of the Experiment 

 Stations in the Dominion of Canada, made an informal address 

 on Fruit-Growing in Canada, from which we quote the follow- 

 ing paragraphs : 



"A few years ago it was decided to establish five experiment 

 farms in various parts of the Dominion. These included a cen- 

 tral farm at Ottawa and four others, making altogether 2,200 

 acres, under a common management. On Prince Edward 

 Island are some of the best farms of Canada, and the system 

 of rotation of crops — a seven-year system — is superior to any 

 other system in America. The climate is very favorable to 

 the production of apples. Nova Scotia likewise has a large 

 area which is one of the best Apple-growing districts in east- 

 ern America. There is an unlimited demand for the fruit 

 grown here, and the orchards are very profitable. The climate 

 is very favorable for the production of cherries. During the 

 late war some emigrants from western New York took cherries 

 with them, and a great variety of promising seedlings has 

 resulted from this introduction. The Bear River district has 

 become noted for its cherries, producing them in great abun- 

 dance. Peaches, also, contrary to what would naturally be 

 expected, ripen nine out of ten years. The fruit interests are 

 capable of being developed a hundred-fold without overdoing 

 the business. One of the government experiment farms is 

 located near the centre of Nova Scotia, which has a climate 

 much milder than that of Ontario. Our Nova Scotia farm-ex- 

 periments are devoted largely to apples and small fruits. A 

 thousand miles west of this farm is the central farm at Ottawa. 

 In addition to the usual experimentation in dairying and stock- 

 raising at this farm, the entire work of a botanical, chemical 

 and entomological nature is done for all the other farms, all 

 questions of this character being referred by them to the 



*"R. I. Col. Rec," I., p. 114. 



t Arnold's " Hist. R. I." i., p. 70 ; Note. 



