May 27, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



249 



leaves of which are oblong in shape, and dark green in color, 

 irregularly blotched with bronzy red and purple. The stem 

 of M. zebrina is slender, and the plant seldom exceeds ten feet 

 in height. Its peculiar coloring makes it an admirable con- 

 trast when grown in company with M. Sapientum vittata. 



There are some eighteen species in all, but those specially re- 

 ferred to are the most useful for decorative purposes, and are 

 all worthv of more extended cultivation. 



Holmesburg, Pa. W. H. Taplin. 



Gypsophila paniculata is one of the indispensable hardy plants, 

 and seeds of it may now be sown. It should be grown in 

 clumps, and, being furnished with long tap-roots, which make 

 transplanting difficult, it is well to sow seed where the plants 

 are to remain. The seed germinates readily, and plants 

 sometimes show bloom the first season, or, in any case, make 

 strong growth before winter. They are usually reliably hardy, 

 and come into bloom in May and June in many-branched 

 racemes of very small, fine, white flowers. Plants in flower 

 are very pleasing, being covered with a mist of bloom. But 

 it is for bouquets that they are of the greatest value, in their 

 ability to blend and harmonize almost any gathering of season- 

 able flowers. While a cluster of one variety of flowers with 

 their own foliage, properly arranged, is often the most satis- 

 factory floral effect for vases, there is no reason why a varied 

 collection should not be equally effective. Often, however, 

 one finds, after gathering flowers with good long stems, that 

 they do not seem, for some reason, to " compose " well. In 

 such cases it will be often found that a cluster or two of light, 

 small flowers will give the finishing touch to the arrangement, 

 amalgamating the differing forms into a consistent and grace- 

 ful group. Gypsophila paniculata will give a supply of early 

 flowers, while later the Statices may be grown for the same 

 service. 5. latifolia is probably the best of the hardy ones, the 

 flowers being very lasting. The little dwarf-growing Baby's 

 Breath {Gypsophila muralis) is a dainty little hardy annual, 

 which may be used for the same purpose, and is a beautiful 

 front-border plant, where it will perpetuate itself if the border 

 is undisturbed. The florist in early winter grows Stevia to 

 lighten his bouquets. 



Iris pumila alba is a light-colored form of the old purple Iris 

 pumila, so common in gardens. Like the type, this plant is 

 very hardy and very dwarf. The color is a faded, uncertain 

 yellow rather than white, resembling in effect somewhat, 

 though lighter in color than Iris chamceiris, the latter being 

 very slightly taller. 



Elizabeth, N. J. J- N. G. 



Salsify should not be sown too early. It is a plant of very 

 hardy character and germinates quickly. The result is, 

 when sown so early, growth is checked by the hot weather 

 of midsummer, the lower leaves die and many of the plants 

 run to seed. The roots do not attain their best size and become 

 tough and stringy before they mature. The sowing should be 

 deferred until June, in ground that has been well manured for 

 early radishes, beets, or spring spinach. Here and south- 

 ward Salsify, sown in August, will make a better crop than if 

 sown in the spring, as it will continue to grow until Christmas. 

 Last summer one of my neighbors was obliged to change his 

 residence about the middle of August. He sowed a plot of 

 Sandwich Island Salsify in his new garden, and the result was 

 the finest Salsify that I saw last year. People here are slowly 

 finding out the value of their long temperate autumns, and I 

 think the time is not far distant when, by later sowing and 

 transplanting after the hot weather is gone, we can grow good 

 fall Cabbage. Early sowing, starving through the long sum- 

 mer heat and drought, has brought about the tall-stemmed 

 Collard, and from this Collard, with proper treatment, we will 

 yet get the Southern Cabbage. 



Tuberous Begonias are of special value here, for we find that 

 the tubers are hardy and increase in size and vigor with slight 

 protection. It has long been known that the old Begonia 

 Evansiana is hardy almost anywhere with slight protection, 

 but it is gratifying to find that this is also true of the showy 

 and constant blooming sorts of recent introduction. 



Amaryllis. — A bed filled with various Amaryllis is a very in- 

 teresting object. The early blooming Atamasco, which has 

 been making acres of woodland here gay for weeks past, is 

 the earliest one to appear. This variety forms the outer edge, 

 while the centre is filled with exotic species and an imposing 

 clump of Johnsonii. This bed is on a sheltered lawn with no 

 special winter cover, and the perfection of the great masses "of 

 Amaryllis gives one a new idea as to the hardiness of these 

 bulbs. 



Raleigh, N. c. W. F. Massey. 



The Forest. 



Redwood Timber. — II. 



A NY estimates of the value of bodies of Redwood over three 

 ■£*- hundred acres in extent, which place the amount which 

 can be taken off at over 100,000 feet per acre, are misleading, 

 as even that amount is exceptional, and not to be had except 

 by following water, instead of Government section, lines. 



By far the larger part of the Redwood lands have passed 

 from Government to private ownership. In Sonora, Mendo- 

 cino and Humboldt Counties scarcely any good claims are not 

 titled. By the Timber-land Act citizens could buy 160 acres at 

 $2.50 per acre. A few years ago there was a perfect craze for 

 this class of property, and immense quantities were purchased 

 from the Government. Every one who could get the money 

 took a timber-claim. Men who made a business of it located 

 claims for hundreds. In the course of time the original pur- 

 chasers have usually sold to mill companies or speculators, 

 who are buying to hold as a long-term investment. Still a 

 very large quantity in the aggregate is owned in tracts of 160 

 acres by persons who live on their land, selling pickets, trees, 

 tan-bark, etc., and having a small area available for pasture, 

 agriculture and fruit-raising. The Redwood soil produces the 

 best of fruit, especially apples, and many comfortable homes 

 are to be found in the forest. 



. The holdings of the mill companies range from a thousand 

 acres upward, and are of extra fine selections, which have 

 been bought from time to time. The men who are buying for 

 investment also select the best, carefully inspecting all pur- 

 chases, and some large buyers have all the forest scaled. 

 Among the largest investment buyers are the " Scotch Syndi- 

 cate," who have secured a very large area at Humboldt Bay, 

 and several Michigan and Wisconsin companies. 



A few figures as to the largest ownerships in Mendocino 

 County may be interesting. The Fort Bragg Company own 

 70,000 acres ; The Navarro Company, 35,000 ; Big River Com- 

 pany, 32,000 ; Gualala Company, 18,000. In Humboldt County 

 the Scotch Syndicate is credited with 80,000 acres. 



Redwood lands are held at from $5 an acre upward. Out- 

 side of exceptional locations, valuable from proximity to a 

 railroad or tide-water, or of extra heavy timber, $5 an acre is a 

 fair price, while claims are held as high as $40 an acre. Of the 

 vast quantity that has changed hands in recent years far the 

 greater portion has brought from $4 to $6 per acre, and any 

 quantity of Redwood lands which will cut from 30,000 to 

 40,000 feet an acre, and which are within twenty miles of tide- 

 water, can now be purchased at $6 per acre. Indeed, they are 

 cheaper than they were a few years ago, because so much is 

 owned by parties who cannot afford a long-term investment, 

 and who are anxious to realize. If the quantity of land available 

 for the use of the mills were limited, the land would be worth 

 from $70 up, on the basis of usual stumpage, but the vast pos- 

 sessions of the mill companies make them independent, and 

 timber-land on those streams can only be regarded as a long- 

 term investment. The exhaustion of the forests east of the 

 Rockies, in the future, with the great growth in population in 

 California, will doubtless considerably accelerate the rate of 

 cutting. At the present rate of cutting, the forest, if protected 

 from fire, would almost reproduce itself before this growth is 

 cut. The vitality of the Redwood is wonderful. From every 

 stump hundreds of sprouts grow, and with great rapidity. In 

 old clearings quite large trees are to be seen of the new growth. 

 The forest-fires do little or 110 injury to any but very small 

 trees, but the seedlings coming up through the leaves, and the 

 sprouts from the stumps, suffer, and although they reappear 

 with great vigor, repeated burning finally destroys the life of 

 the stump, and the Redwood charring grows up a tangle of 

 Ceanothus, known as the " Blue Blossom " (Ceanothus thyrsi- 

 florus), and only the blackened stumps testify to the once 

 great forest. If forest-fires were prevented, no forest would 

 be more easily perpetuated. Although the Redwood seeds 

 freely, the number of seedlings to be found in the forest is 

 very small. The Redwood in log is practically indestructible. 

 Fallen trees will lie generations without decaying, and such 

 trees are always cut up and sent to the mill. I have seen logs 

 on which mold had gathered and good-sized trees grown, 

 which were perfectly sound and good for lumber. To fire, as 

 well as decay, these logs are invulnerable if sound. It is only 

 when a tree is shattered in falling, or when a rotten heart 

 gives the fire an entrance, that it can make any serious impres- 

 sion. When logging is done by water, the butt-cuts, which 

 are too heavy to float, are left on the ground for several years 

 to dry out, and, although the ground is burned over several 

 times, are uninjured. 



