86 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 157. 



The inhabitants of cold climates have little idea of the 

 fierceness of the conflict which has been carried on from time 

 immemorial between man and the ant tribe, and can hardly 

 appreciate the extraordinary capacity shown by these tire- 

 less insects in their depredations upon the human race. 

 In the tropics no satisfactory remedy has yet been devised 

 by which the balance of advantage, always largely in 

 favor of the ant as against man, can be overcome, and the 

 insignificant-looking insect, by force of numbers, industry 

 and perseverance, is master of the situation. Even in more 

 temperate regions like some parts of our southern states ants 

 are troublesome enemies, and the suggestion made in the 

 November issue of the Tropical Agriculturist, published at 

 Colombo, in Ceylon, may be worth trying in some parts of 

 this country. The suggestion is, that ants may be frozen 

 out of existence by means of a cask of the freezing mix- 

 ture used by engineers in excavating in quicksands fixed 

 over the entrance of the nest, the other entrances being 

 closed with clay, with a tube placed in the hole also well 

 packed with clay. The pressure from the head of liquid 

 would, it is claimed, be sufficient to drive the freezing mix- 

 ture down into the furthest recesses of the ants' galleries, 

 which would almost instantly become lined with solid ice, 

 or, at all events, would be made so cold that no ant, how- 

 ever tenacious of life it might be, could long survive the 

 exposure. These freezing mixtures are not very expensive, 

 and, as our contemporary suggests, it is possible that the 

 progress of science has here achieved a victory in the 

 interest of man for which so many generations have con- 

 tended in vain. 



Plants which Grow about Lynn, North Carolina. • 



LYNN is the name of a popular southern resort in Polk 

 County, near the mountains^of western North Carolina. It 

 is situated in or near what is called the " Thermal Belt," at the 

 foot of the Tryon and Warrior range, a mile and a half from 

 Tryon Station on the Ashville and Spartenburg Railroad. 

 The very mild climate, milder than that of many places far- 

 ther south, and its fine scenery, its variety of fruits, and its rich 

 native flora, etc., are to me its chief attractions.- To come 

 from New England, when it was covered with snow two feet 

 deep, into a climate where the thermometer rises to ninety-five 

 degrees in the sun at noon, and is not rarely fifty-five and sixty 

 degrees at eight o'clock in the morning, is a change that can- 

 not fail to gratify those who like mild weather. It is, however, 

 something of an aggravation to a botanist to visit this country 

 in winter, because he sees so many strange plants which he 

 would like to know' and cannot then determine. 



Three species of evergreen Rhododendrons, R. maximum 

 (the Great Laurel), R. Catawbiense and R. punctatum, are 

 common to this region, but the last-named, I believe, is found 

 only on the mountains. The Great Laurel (R. maximum) here 

 attains its largest size, and it is not rare to find it over twenty 

 feet high by five or six inches in diameter. With it and R. 

 Catawbiense, but much more abundant than either, is found 

 the Laurel (Kalmia latifolia), growing even taller and larger 

 than the Great Laurel. Another handsome shrub often with 

 these last mentioned, but more common along the banks of 

 streams, is Leucothae Catesbcei, a shrub one to three or four 

 feet high, with evergreen, lanceolate-oblong, acuminate 

 leaves, often six or eight inches long by a little more than an 

 inch wide, shiny above, and dark or purplish green in color. 

 At this season it has the handsomest foliage of any shrub I 

 have seen here. It is quite hardy in southern New England, 

 and ought to become a popular plant for certain places. Its 

 flowers are small and not very showy, but its foliage is always 

 handsome. Two or three Azaleas (now classed with Rhodo- 

 dendrons) also grow here. The most common is the Pinxter 

 Flower, Rhododendron nudiflorum, which is almost everywhere, 

 on the mountain-tops as well as the lower foot-hills. Another, 

 the Flame-colored Azalea, R. caleiidulaceum, though not so 

 generally distributed, is abundant in certain localities. It is a 

 taller shrub than the Pinxter Flower, bearing its orange or 

 fiame-co.lored flowers in great profusion. It is a more south- 

 ern plant than the former, yet quite hardy in southern Massa- 

 chusetts. 



Quite common on shaded banks and slopes of the lower 

 foot-hills, its handsome evergreen foliage more conspicuous 

 than at any other season, may be found Galax aphylla. Its 



round, heart-shaped, crenate-toothed leaves are more exposed 

 to the sun in winter, when the deciduous trees have shed their 

 leaves, and they have a darker and richer color in spring than 

 in autumn. It is, I think, destined to become a popular plant 

 when it is more generally known. It spreads from under- 

 ground stems, and, though not so rapidly as to become a pest, 

 it soon establishes itself in thick patches. 



Another interesting shrub, everywhere common in the 

 woods, is Hydrangea radiata. Its foliage is its chief at- 

 traction. The large ovate, heart-shaped leaves, white and 

 downy underneath, light green above, are very handsome. It 

 is not quite hardy in New England, and is killed down to the 

 ground by severe weather ; but it grows rapidly, and the new 

 stems give an abundance of firm foliage each year, so that 

 one gets about all the beauty of it even as far north as Spring- 

 field, Massachusetts. 



Tecoma radicans (the Trumpet Creeper) is a great pest 

 here. Everywhere — in the alluvial river-bottoms, in pastures, 

 by the road-side, in Corn-fields or along the river-banks — it is 

 abundant. Its roots penetrate deeply, and below the reach 

 of cultivation. It is cut off each year by the plow, but it 

 springs up again, so that at the next season it is about as large 

 as it was the year before. These small plants in such fields 

 never get large enough to bear seed, but are constantly replen- 

 ished from the few large plants which are left along the fences 

 and water-courses and which bear fruit. The seed is carried 

 long distances by the wind, and most of the best farming 

 land is constantly seeded from the large plants along the 

 streams. 



Tipularia discolor, the little Orchid which in some ways re- 

 sembles our more northern Puttyroot {Aplectrum hyemale), 

 and ^which is mentioned as " very scarce " in Gray's Manual, 

 is scattered through the woods on the lower foot-hills and is 

 much more common here than I ever saw Aplectrum at 

 home. Its single green leaf is now quite conspicuous, and it 

 is not rare to find ten or twenty-five plants within a radius of 

 two feet. 



There is not as large a number of Ferns in this section as I 

 expected to see. Aspidium acrosticoides is the most common, 

 and Asplenium ebenium next. Aspidium marginale is occa- 

 sionally seen ; also the Maiden Hair (Adiantum pedatu/n). 

 On and under rocky cliffs and terraces in the mountains 

 Cheilanthcs vestila is very abundant, forming large patches 

 which, even at this season, look beautifully fresh. This plant 

 is one of the best Ferns for in-door cultivation in winter. It 

 requires perfect drainage, however. Near it, in more shel- 

 tered nooks, but quite abundant where the right situations 

 occur, grows what I take to be Asplenium Trichomanes, var. 

 incisum, a more slender and shorter plant than its type is with 

 us. On mossy rocks and the trunks of trees Polypodium inca- 

 num is found, sometimes quite abundant. It is the richest- 

 looking Fern here at this season. Cheilanthcs tomentosa grows 

 with C. vestita, but I have never seen it so abundant. Woodsia 

 obtusa and Cystopteris fragiles are also here. Asplenium par- 

 vulum is abundant in places, but not so common as the A. 

 Trichomanes, var. incisum. 



Southwick, Mass. F. H. Horsford. 



The Perfume Industry in the United States. 



TOURING the recent development of horticulture in Florida 

 ■*— ' and California many experiments have been made in the 

 production of perfumes from flowers, and many of these have 

 resulted successfully. There is little wonder, therefore, that in- 

 quiries are often made as to the possibility of growing flowers 

 at a profit for manufacturing purposes in the genial climate of 

 these and other states. Many of these inquiries are evidently 

 from persons who have not even a vague idea of the result to 

 be arrived at, not to speak of the details to be pursued, so that 

 perhaps a few hints from one familiar with the products may 

 be useful. Despite* all the triumphs of modern chemical 

 science which has produced synthetically many odors which 

 are more or less useful, it still remains the fact that all high- 

 class floral extracts, by whatever name known, are composed, 

 to a greater or less extent, of one or more of the following 

 odors: Violet, Rose, Jasmine, Acacia, Orange, Tuberose and 

 Jonquil. With one or more of these in combination with 

 some resins, oils and animal secretions, the skillful perfumer 

 is able to imitate the odor of any other flower and produce 

 pleasing bouquets. These odors are bought by the perfumer 

 in the form of pomades, experience having taught that this is 

 the only feasible means of securing them properly. Prac- 

 tically, then, our citizens have this problem before them very 

 clearly, namely, to produce a highly charged pomade at a 

 price which will enable them to compete with the flower-farm- 



