March ii, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



119 



in the more sheltered nooks among the hills ; but on the 

 morning- of the second day after leaving the town we entered 

 a small canon which opened on the Dre ch'u, and the scene 

 changed as if by magic. Cypress and Juniper, Pine and Birch 

 covered the mountain-sides, and along the brook, flowing be- 

 tween banks of velvety grass, powdered with little pink and 

 white flowers, grew Plum-trees and wild Gooseberry-bushes. 

 Honeysuckle and other shrubs, all in full bloom, filled the air 

 with the fragrance of their blossoms. From the cavities in the 

 tufa rocks hung Fern and creepers, from which the water 

 dripped in glistening drops. For miles the country remained 

 the same, becoming even grander along the Dre" ch'u. There 

 the road was high up on the steep mountain, 600 or 700 feet 

 above the broad blue river, and on each side in the back- 

 ground were dazzling peaks of snow." Before reaching Ta- 

 chieu-lu Mr. Rockhill had traveled over seven hundred miles 

 " in a country where no European had ever put his foot," and 

 where only of recent years the Chinese have been able to im- 

 plant themselves among the hostile natives. After leaving 

 this town the road ran "down a rocky gorge on each side of 

 which the mountains rise almost perpendicularly to a height of 

 over two thousand feet. Wherever possible the soil was cul- 

 tivated, Maize and Potatoes being the principal crops. Willows, 

 Poplars and wide-spreading Walnut-trees weregrowing around 

 the little villages and tea-houses with which the narrow rocky 

 path was lined." It seems strange to learn that in this remote 

 region Irish Potatoes are one of the principal articles of diet. 



Exhibitions. 



Orchids in New York. 



T^HE fifth annual Orchid show of Messrs. Siebrecht & Wad- 

 -'■ ley, which has been open for a week past in Madison 

 Square Garden, has proved interesting on account of the 

 variety of the plants exhibited, and highly suggestive as to the 

 possibilities of effective floral arrangement which are offered 

 by the immense area of the amphitheater. The ground-plan, 

 which was designed by Mr. N. F. Barrett, consisted in the main 

 of geometrical beds, which produced pleasing effects of form 

 and color to one looking down upon them from the galleries, 

 while tall, close hedges which separated the different sections 

 were set so as to open vistas through which visitors who passed 

 from one garden to another near the entrance caught glimpses 

 of masses of flowers and foliage in the distance. The view 

 through the centre was between a double row of Bay trees and 

 terminated in a so-called Italian garden constructed on an in- 

 cline, from the summit of which a sheet of water fell into a 

 basin of aquatic plants. On one side of this avenue was a 

 garden with formal, Box-bordered beds and masses of Daf- 

 fodils, Crocuses, Lilies of the Valley, Tulips, Hyacinths and 

 other spring-flowering bulbs. On the other was a garden 

 where Spiraeas, Lilacs, Andromedas, Forsythias and other 

 shrubs in bloom were shut in by masses of Long-leaf Pine, 

 Spruce and Red Cedar. 



As this was an Orchid show distinctively, the principal dis- 

 play of these plants was massed on four large stands in the 

 centre, while about them were formal beds of Paris Daisies, 

 Cinerarias and Azaleas, with an outer border of Lilies, Roses, 

 Heaths and Cytisus, which, in turn, were backed by speci- 

 men Palms and Tree Ferns. Altogether, it was a praiseworthy 

 effort at a design for general effect, and, with the material at 

 command, it was successfully carried out. Perhaps the time 

 will come when a New York Horticultural Society can com- 

 mand all the treasures of the private and commercial collec- 

 tions near the city, and with such resources to draw upon this 

 amphitheater would offer a field for infinite variety of arrange- 

 ment. Well-grown individual plants would here be most use- 

 ful. One of the chief attractions at an elaborate exhibition in 

 Philadelphia a few years ago was a Fuchsia ; but it was a 

 Fuchsia of such size and vigor and wealth of bloom as one 

 hardly sees in a lifetime. Half-a-dozen Azaleas, developed by 

 years of careful attention into first-class specimens, would 

 have fairly illuminated even so large a space as Madison 

 Square Garden, and many other equally effective flowering 

 plants could be named. At this exhibition the most attractive 

 plants were the Orchids, and Orchids are not effective for mass- 

 ing. They do not show at a distance for what they are worth, 

 and their place in the general scheme might have been 

 better filled by plants of less individual excellence. Perhaps, 

 too, they would have appeared to better advantage themselves 

 if separated and partially screened from the rest of the exhibi- 

 tion and spread out over a more extended space, so that each 

 one would have had opportunity to display its special grace 

 and beauty — an opportunity which was partially lost when they 



were crowded so closely together. The well-grown Phalae- 

 nopses shown by Messrs. Siebrecht & Wadley were certainly 

 more effective scattered along the green bank at the east end 

 of the garden than if they had been grouped together on a 

 stage in the centre of the area. 



The collection of Orchids shown by Messrs. Siebrecht & 

 Wadley excelled all others in point of numbers, although the 

 remarkable group from the garden of Mr. W. S. Kimball, of 

 Rochester, contained quite as many species and varieties. 

 Smaller than either of these collections, but of choice quality, 

 was that of Mr. Hicks Arnold, of this city, containing such 

 varieties of Cattleya Triance as Aspasia, Pandora, Splendidis- 

 sima and others, with Phajus tuberculosus, Cypripedium Lee- 

 amim, C. Schlimii and many more of the best of this genus. Mr. 

 Eyermann's collection did not reach the garden in time for the 

 early days of the exhibition, but there was a large and well- 

 selected consignment from Mr. William Matthews, of Utica, 

 New York. The Rose Hill collection was very strong in its 

 abundance of good varieties of Cattleya Triance, and there were 

 many well-grown plants of C. Per civ alliana and C. Lawrenci- 

 ana. Besides the Phalaenopses, which deserve special mention 

 on account of the vigorous growth of such choice sorts as P. 

 Stuartiana, P. Schilleriana and the like, the Cypripediums 

 were a great attraction, including specimens of C. Argus, C. 

 Spicerianum, C. insigne Chantini, C. Harrisianum and scores 

 more, of the pick of this popular genus. 



To name the noteworthy plants in Mr. Kimball's collec- 

 tion would be to make a catalogue of the entire list. There 

 were some sixty varieties of the very best Cypripediums nest- 

 ling among low Ferns, and over them arched the most deli- 

 cately beautiful of Odontoglossums and Miltonias. Among 

 his Dendrobiums were D. Cambridgeanum, D, Frcemanii, D. 

 Findleyamcm and D. Jamcsianum, and the gem of his Cat- 

 tleyas was a striking variety of C. Lindleyana. 



Besides the Orchids, the more striking features of the show 

 were the many tall Cocoanut Palms, some beautiful Pritch- 

 ardias, and numbers of specimen Ferns and Pitcher plants. 

 The exhibition was well attended throughout. 



Notes. 



Seventy-eight thousand four hundred and fifty-two potted 

 plants were used last year in decorating the parks and gardens 

 of the city of Berlin. 



The Florida Agriculturist says that many growers in Florida, 

 having become tired of the shy-bearing Navel Orange-trees, 

 have resorted to girdling them with considerable success. 



The longest avenue of trees in the United Kingdom is said 

 by the Northern Gardener to be one of Beeches, in Saver- 

 nako Forest in Wiltshire, which is five miles in length. The 

 longest avenue in the whole civilized world is said to be at 

 Mildura, in Victoria, where the Government of that State have 

 made a wide arborescent walk fifteen miles long, leading 

 almost straight to the extensive irrigation region of the colony. 



In a large Pineapple plantation on the Indian River the fer- 

 tilizer which seems to give the best success contains a large 

 amount of kainit. Captain Thomas E. Richards, the proprietor, 

 does not use much nitrogenous manure because the plants 

 thus fed shoot up breast-high, and then the apple falls over, 

 becomes burned in the sun and is coarse and spiritless. It is 

 found that the fruits do better when they grow on short, stocky 

 stems hardly more than knee-high. 



Among the novelties that are occasionally seen in the 

 florists' windows this season are forced plants of the Pale 

 Laurel, Kahnia glauca, the small terminal corymbs of lilac- 

 colored flowers being quite attractive. The plant, however, 

 has a rather bare appearance, because the foliage, which is not 

 naturally very abundant, is still more sparse in the forced 

 specimens. The Kalmiasare among our most beautiful shrubs, 

 but it is questionable whether this one at least can ever be 

 forced with advantage. 



The Japanese Akebia quinata has been planted for a great 

 many years in this country, and it has proved one of the best 

 of vines to cover screens and arbors. Professor Georgeson, 

 in the American Garden, says that it is largely used in Japan 

 for wicker-work, and that nothing can surpass for this purpose 

 the strong, slender and pliable shoots, which are of almost 

 uniform thickness throughout. As these shoots are long and 

 thin, they do not need to be split before they are used, and ar- 

 ticles made from them are stronger and more durable than 

 willow-ware. The Akebia is used in the manufacture of bas- 

 kets, trays and even of sun-hats. 



