April 29, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



203 



more than once during the season, and they return, of course, 

 to their food-supply. 



During the past few years the trees in the parks and streets 

 of Washington have suffered severely from the ravages of the 

 Fall-web worm, Tussock moth and Maple worm, and any one 

 who has observed the countless numbers of caterpillars 

 thrown down by rain-storms and winds, besides those which 

 migrate voluntarily, re-ascending the trees, will not doubt that 

 preventing this ascent would have a marked effect. Total 

 defoliation would, no doubt, be prevented in many instances, 

 and partial disfiguration at least retarded. The " lime-band " 

 furnishes a cheap, simple, effective barrier. It is in prevent- 

 ing the ascent, Mr. Jack will notice, not the descent, that the 

 "lime-band" becomes valuable, since the Fall-web worms, 

 "both old and young, drop themselves to the ground without 

 spinning when disturbed or sorely pressed for food." 



Mr. Smith says that this remedy "does not begin to com- 

 pare in effectiveness with winter collecting and destruction of 

 egg-masses." This assertion could only be made after proper 

 comparative experiment. Not only has the winter collecting 

 of the pupa — as I know from personal unpleasant recollections 

 — and the destruction of egg-masses by crushing been prac- 

 ticed against the European congener of the Tussock moth by 

 the forest-administrations of Germany, and that on a large 

 scale, but the latter method has been improved by using oils, 

 tar, and, still better, "insect lime," to cover the egg-masses, 

 which is a more radical measure, as it is not liable to miss or 

 throw to the ground as many eggs as is done in crushing. 



The only experiment with "lime-bands" against this pest, 

 which was made in a Prussian forest-district (because the 

 above methods have not yet proved satisfactory), under the 

 direction of the well-known entomologist, Dr. Altum, has re- 

 mained incomplete. It showed, however, that a considerably 

 larger number of larvae was captured by the bands than the 

 previous counting of the eggs would have led to expect, and 

 that the defoliation on the treated Beech-growth took place at 

 least five weeks later than in the neighboring unprotected 

 growth, an effect which may be considered highly satisfactory. 

 This was during a widespread attack of Orgyia pudibunda, 

 when the remedies must be applied over large areas to be 

 effective. 



My contention, however, was, in the main, for the applica- 

 tion of this remedy, in case of the Gypsy moth, in the same 

 manner in which it has been found effective in its native 

 home. 



I would also take occasion again to point out to our 

 economic entomologists, that insect fighting is done on a very 

 large scale by the' forest-administrations of Europe, and that 

 it would be worth their while to study the methods practiced 

 there more closely, and profit from experience dearly bought 

 by others. . 



Forestry Division, Department of -D. -tL. rernOW. 



Agriculture, Washington. 



The Sugar Maple in Flower. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — In speaking of the Sugar Maple in your issue of April 

 15th you say that "a tree in full flower when standing in the 

 sunshine seems to be enveloped with a luminous mist, and is 

 an object of striking beauty." This peculiar appearance of the 

 Sugar Maple does not occur in this region every year, but just 

 now this tree is unusually conspicuous. This is perhaps 

 due to the fact that the flowers pushed out very rapidly during 

 three very warm days, while the leaves are as yet hardly to be 

 seen. These flowers hang in clusters from every bud, 'some- 

 times as many as twenty in an umbel, and on slender pedicels 

 three inches long. The stems as well as the flowers are almost 

 straw-color, and owing to their great abundance the tree is 

 completely enveloped with these swaying tassels. No other 

 trees are in leaf except an occasional Willow or Aspen, so that 

 the Maples stand out from the bare forests and the fields, 

 which scarcely begin to show the grass, in very striking relief. 

 Individual trees can be distinguished at a distance of two or 

 three miles, and are certainly much more conspicuous than 

 usual. I only remember to have witnessed such a display but 

 once before in a dozen years. 



I should like to hear some satisfactory explanation of this 

 noteworthy difference in the aspect of the Sugar Maple at this 

 season in different years. Is it simply that the flowers are 

 more abundant, or do they come out more slowly some years, 

 so as to be partially hidden by the foliage, or do they open 

 much earlier in certain years and make so striking a display 

 because there are no other trees in flower or leaf to attract 

 attention ? 



Morristown, N. J. R. S. 



Periodical Literature. 



Lindenia. Iconography of Orchids, conducted by J. Linden, 

 Lucien Linden, Em. Rodigas and R. A. Rolfe. American edi- 

 tion, Brussels, 1891. 



We have received the first two numbers of the American 

 edition of this sumptuous Belgian publication which has now 

 been appearing during the last six years under the editorship 

 of Mr. Lucius Linden, the son of the well-known botanical col- 

 lector who is honored in the title. The literature of Orchids 

 is singular in the considerable number of handsomely illus- 

 trated and therefore expensive works specially devoted to 

 them, published by commercial firms engaged in the propa- 

 gation and sale of these plants. At the present time Reiche?i- 

 bachia and Williams' Orchid Album in England, and Lindenia 

 in Belgium, all with magnificently colored plates, strive to lay 

 before the Orchid lovers of Europe and of America all that is 

 new, rare and interesting in these plants. Lindenia is a worthy 

 rival of its English competitors. 



The American edition has been undertaken, the editor tells 

 us in his introduction, " at the request of numerous amateurs 

 of Orchids, who regret that they are not able to profit com- 

 pletely by a work written in the French language." The 

 American edition is to be " carried on in exactly the same way 

 as has the French edition during the last six years, in which 

 264 species or varieties have already been figured ; appearing 

 regularly every month, seeking the accomplishment of the 

 same programme, with the co-operation of the same contrib- 

 utors, and the same artists who have hitherto received the 

 favorable sympathies of the public." 



The first figure (No. 265 of the French edition) is devoted to 

 the beautiful new Cattleya Rex, a plant which is just now ex- 

 citing in the highest degree the imagination of the lovers of 

 Orchids, and as an example of the character of the informa- 

 tion Linde?iia is intended to convey, we shall quote at some 

 length what it says of this plant : 



" The Cattleya of which we give to-day the representation 

 has been known to M. J. Linden for fifty years, but it was only 

 at the end of last year that it was sent to Europe. 



" Originally discovered by M. J. Linden during his travels in 

 South America, it was met with again, thirty years later, by 

 Wallis, who proclaimed it the most beautiful of Cattleyas, but 

 he did not succeed in sending living plants to Europe. Twenty 

 years after this second discovery, one of the collectors whom 

 M. Linden had sent to search for it diligently, succeeded at 

 last in obtaining it, and sent some plants in good condition to 

 Brussels. 



" The great difficulty of this search arose especially from the 

 fact that the plant has not, as have Orchids in general, a cen- 

 tral district, a place where it may be found in quantity. Also, 

 one of the collectors of Messrs. Linden spent a whole year in 

 the same locality (which it is not yet possible for us to divulge) 

 without seeing or collecting more than thirty plants of this 

 Cattleya during this long period. 



" The country in which it grows is, moreover, one of the 

 least accessible in South America, and the journey across the 

 mountains, among rugged rocks, sometimes cut naturally in 

 nearly vertical steps, without even an indicated path, without 

 any base of operations, in the midst of difficulties without 

 number, entail the loss of considerable time, and frequently 

 the life of the plants collected with so much trouble. One 

 can form an idea of the difficulties encountered when it is 

 stated that not only the plants but also the collectors them- 

 selves have to be carried for several days on the backs of the 

 Indians. 



" These persistent efforts were amply compensated for when 

 one of the plants imported produced in December last a raceme 

 of its splendid flowers, of which we now publish a representa- 

 tion. Seldom has the appearance of a new Orchid made an 

 equally striking impression on the beholder, and yet the flow- 

 ers were produced on an unmatured growth, and had not 

 attained their natural dimensions. We may affirm that those 

 which will appear this year will be sensibly larger than those 

 represented on our plate. As to color, we do not think it pos- 

 sible to surpass them in beauty. Throughout the whole 

 Orchid family there exist but few gems comparable to the 

 labellum of this species, in which the purple combined with 

 gold is modified into a crimson of the hue of Spanish wine, 

 and the marblings and the veins are of an exquisite elegance." 

 Cultivators of Orchids will certainly have good reason to 

 complain that the information with regard to the practical 

 details of cultivation, which they have a right to expect in a 

 work of this character, is either omitted entirely or is so very 

 meagre as to be of little practical value. The plates are gen- 

 erally well drawn and very beautifully printed, but the appear- 



