June 24, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



291 



thicker at lower depths. The water is quite clear when not 

 disturbed- by winds, but there is a constant bubbling in warm 

 "weather from the escaping gases of the mud. 



Water-lilies flourish here in the little bays, where severe 

 winds do not disturb them ; and around the margin, where the 

 bog often projects out over the water, may be seen fine large 

 clumps of the Swamp Loosetrife (Nescea verticillata), its grace- 

 fully drooping branches resting and rooting on the surface of 

 the water. Not only are the rose-purple flowers of this plant 

 attractive, but its leafy recurving stems are pretty the whole 

 season, and, for artificial bogs or the margins of ponds and 

 streams, planted in a peaty soil, it has no substitute. Here 

 also may be seen, flowering in its season, the Swamp or Water 

 Rose {Rosa Carolina), which grows in such localities, with 

 various other water-loving shrubs. For quite a distance back 

 from the margin of the pond is an open bog upon which few 

 or no trees grow, but there are low shrubs on a part of it, 

 while other portions have only Rushes, Sedges, Pitcher-plants, 

 and Cotton Grass. Of the latter there are three or four species. 

 The Twig Rush {Cladium mariscoides) is everywhere on this 

 open bog, and one or two species of the Beak Rush (Rhyn- 

 chospora). Dulichium spathaceum, another queer and striking 

 bog Sedge, also abounds, as well as other small plants that 

 would interest the botanist. Not far back from the margin of 

 the pond are clumps of Arrow Arum {Peltandra Virginica), 

 and, scattered all over this open space, as well as back among 

 the timbered portions of the bog, grows very abundantly the 

 Side-saddle Flower, or Pitcher-plant (Sarracenia purpurea), of 

 which the specimens here, in the full sunlight, have beauti- 

 fully variegated and colored leaves, and much darker purple 

 flowers than those in the shade. Acres of this plant in full bloom 

 make an attractive scene. Going back from the margin of 

 the pond upon the open bog we find, on slightly elevated por- 

 tions, now and then clumps of trees — low Tamarack, Spruce 

 and Arbor-vitas ; and clustered about them, as if planted 

 there for a purpose, are such shrubs as the Chokeberry 

 (Pyrus nigra), Swamp Fly Honeysuckle (Lonicera oblongi- 

 folia), Mountain Holly (Alemopanthes Canadensis), the Myrtle 

 and Hoary Willows \Salix myrtiloides and S. Candida), 

 Sweet Gale (Myrica Gale) and many more. Sphagnum Moss, 

 which is not found on the wetter portions of the bog, usually 

 grows about these trees and shrubs, and in it are such 

 low shrubby plants as the Leather Leaf {Cassandra calyculata), 

 Andromeda polifolia and the Pale Laurel {Kalmia glauca). 

 The small Moss Cranberry ( Vaccinium Oxycoccus) often forms, 

 with the Sphagnum, a pretty carpet, and when covered with 

 its abundant small white or pale pink flowers in early summer, 

 or in autumn with its speckled fruit, is very attractive. The 

 Large or American Cranberry (V. macrocarpon), though it 

 grows here also, is nowhere so abundant. The Creeping 

 Snowberry (Chiogenes hispidula), where it can find a little 

 shade, is also abundant, and forms thick mats of its creeping 

 stems and small dark evergreen leaves. Large overgrown 

 clumps of the Stemless Lady's-sWpper (Cypripediton acaule) are 

 sometimes found here growing in the Sphagnum. 



As we go farther back into the timbered portion we come 

 among more Tamarack, Arbor-vitae and Spruce, so that, 

 though they do not completely cover the bog, they have hidden 

 the pond from our view. Here in the half-open spaces, where 

 the ground is higher, and is completely covered with moss, 

 may be found in their seasons a wealth of flowers. Arefhusa 

 bulbosa is so abundant in certain localities that one might sit 

 in the soft moss and gather a score of plants without moving. 

 It varies in height from the little dwarf which rises an inch or 

 two above the moss to the strong plants fifteen or twenty 

 inches high. The Bog Shinleaf (Pyrola rotundifolia, var. 

 uliginosa), which grows and blooms with the Arethusa, is a 

 charming companion to it, has roundish shiny leaves and 

 handsome purple or flesh-colored flowers. The Sarracenia 

 and Stemless Lady's-slipper are also here, and one of the white- 

 flowered Rein Orchis (Habeuaria dilatata), with handsome 

 spikes of fragrant pearly white flowers. Calopogon pulchellus 

 is scattered about everywhere, as is also, though not quite so 

 abundant, Pogonia ophioglossoides. Other less showy Orchids 

 are growing in scattered groups not far away, such as Habe- 

 naria hyperborea, H. tridenta, Listera cordata and Microsfylis 

 ophioglossoides. The Bog Bean (Meiiyanthes trifoliata) is quite 

 common in places, and the handsome racemes of its dainty 

 white flowers are among the earliest of the bog. Smilacina 

 stellata and S. trifolia are both common here, and add much 

 to the floral display. The ■ little Ram's-head Lady's-slipper 

 {Cypripedium arietinum) also grows a little farther back in 

 more favored situations ; and in other places the small yellow 

 Lady's-slipper ( Cypripedium parviflorum) is quite abundant, and 

 not rarely in clumps of a dozen stalks. At each step we sink 



ankle-deep in the cool soft Sphagnum, and as we turn back 

 and see our footprints they reproach us as if we had ven- 

 tured on sacred ground. 



Walking at random, and with no definite course, through 

 this botanical paradise, new attractions greet us at every turn. 

 Farther back out of the locality of Sphagnum we find large 

 patches of the Twin-flower (Linnaa borealis), which is one of 

 our most attractive little vines when in flower. The Water 

 Arum, or Wild Calla (Calla palustris), is also found here, and, 

 though not abundant, the showy Laiy's-slipper {Cypripedium 

 spectabile) is frequently seen. Under some of the large thick 

 clumps of Arbor-vitse, where only a thin sifting of sunlight 

 ever reaches it, is one of our most delicate and charming little 

 Orchids, Orchis rotundifolia, with pale rose-purple flowers. 

 Even the Calypso borealis is not a stranger to this bog, for it 

 has been found here in the drier portions under the largest 

 specimens of Arbor-vitae. Around some portions of the bog's 

 margin the Black Ash extends into the bog or peaty ground 

 for some distance. Other portions are thickly covered with 

 low trees or tall shrubs. Still others have such a dense growth 

 of Arb'or-vitas that nothing can live under them. But in some 

 places, where the evergreens are scattered with wide spaces of 

 Sphagnum Moss between, may be found some sylvan scenes 

 as rich as any our forests afford. 



Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Mo. F. H. HorSJOrd. 



How We Renewed an Old Place. 



X.— A STRUGGLE WITH THE WEB-WORM. .. 



A MONG the difficulties of reclaiming a place, one cannot 

 -**- ignore the necessary hand-to-hand conflict with the various 

 animal and vegetable enemies which lie in wait to destroy 

 plants and trees. Eternal vigilance is the price of vegetation 

 as well as of liberty, and the cultivator who dreams that he can 

 for a moment take his ease in his inn, reckons without his 

 guests of the insect-world, who take short naps, and require as 

 much nourishment as Falstaff. I shall have more to say 

 upon this subject at a later date, but I am now fresh 

 from a conflict with the Web-worm, and find a treatise 

 upon his manners and customs apropos. As an example of 

 pertinacity, Bruce's spider beside him pales her ineffectual 

 fires ; as an evidence of the apathetic stupidity of man he is 

 unrivaled, and as a menace of future untold horrors he may 

 well be used to point a moral of grewsome interest. 



Some philosopher has said that " the real end of the world 

 will come when man ceases to be able to cope with the in- 

 sects." When his time comes the worm is the master of us 

 all, but there is no reason while we are yet stirring about this 

 earthly ball that we need submit to be devoured by him before 

 our day. And yet, when you come to think of it, that is what 

 the brute is after. Too cowardly to attack man openly, he be- 

 gins by eating up his provender. Man, being on the whole an 

 easy-going animal, at first pays not much attention ; but he 

 only multiplies moderately, and the insect enormously. Where 

 a man will leave a half-dozen descendants in a life- time a worm 

 will leave one hundred and twenty-five thousand in a season ; 

 judge then if this can be allowed to go on indefinitely and man 

 survive ! 



Where the inane apathy of the human being comes in is in 

 not crushing his enemy while yet insignificant ; forever penny 

 wise and pound foolish, man tolerates a moderate evil until 

 it becomes inordinate, and then wastes a fortune which might 

 well have been saved, in doing ineffectual battle with his foe. 

 It is the fable of Epimetheus forever renewed, and the appeal 

 I would now make is to have this Pandora's box closed before 

 the rest of the Web-worms escape to plague the world, and help 

 make an end of the race. 



It is idle to scoff at this idea as that of an alarmist. A few 

 years ago the spring Web-worm was an unimportant factor in 

 our orchards. The fall worm gave some trouble, but he was 

 not impossible to cope with. Now, not only do we have to 

 fight for every apple we possess in the autumn, but all through 

 the months of April and May, when work presses, when every 

 moment is precious, it takes not only all the hands on a farm 

 to fight caterpillars, but also all the eyes of the family to detect 

 their lurking-places ; and this not as one job, but as a perpetu- 

 ally recurring duty for weeks at a time, and all on account of 

 the crying neglect by land-owners of their premises, and by 

 town authorities of the webs on their own highways, which 

 have been allowed to accumulate, until the country roads have 

 lost their beauty, lined as they are with trees shrouded from 

 root to summit in ghostly webs, under which myriads of 

 loathsome black worms writhe and crawl, and eat their fill, to 

 the shuddering disgust of the wayfarer. 



