326 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 177. 



den, just as one in the valley of the Thames must be Eng- 

 lish, and on the southern shore of France must have the 

 mixed, semi-tropical character peculiar to the Mediter- 

 ranean coast. To secure this proper local character, local 

 plants are almost essential for the groundwork ; and then, 

 to give variety, interest and a true garden-like air and 

 charm, exotics should be mingled with them. But these 

 exotics should never be chosen for their rarity or novelty 

 alone, or even for their intrinsic beauty, and still less, as is 

 too commonly the case, for their mere conspicuous- 

 ness. First of all they should harmonize with the 

 other plants about them, and the novice may .well 

 hesitate before dipping deeply into those stores of foreign 

 plants which are now so vast and varied and accessible. 

 His choice will not be narrow, if, in addition to native 

 plants, he selects such as have come from lands with 

 climate akin to our own. In using these last he will be 

 following Nature's own example. Here in America she 

 does not confine herself to growing plants which were 

 originally American. She takes up vegetable immigrants 

 as hospitably as our civilization takes in human immi- 

 grants, and assimilates them as quickly and naturally. 

 Who would suspect the White Willow in New England, or 

 the Pawlonia in the woods of Maryland to be an exotic? 

 And who sees anything inharmonious or strange in the 

 aspect of the Ailanthus-trees which, mingling with the na- 

 tive Elms, shade the rustic streets of Nantucket? Nature 

 chooses which exotics she will grow for what we may call 

 scientific reasons, but the artistic effect of her results is in- 

 variably good. And man should learn from her how to 

 make a similar choice, taking a wider liberty, of course, 

 when he is planting a garden than when he is planting a 

 forest, but never forgetting that, in a garden such as we are 

 now describing, he should grow together only such plants 

 as will look well together. There are exotic flowers which 

 look as natural, as appropriate, in a garden as the Mar- 

 guerite of Europe looks in our meadows. But there are 

 others which seem entirely out of place as parts of an 

 American garden which has any design — any character 

 at all. 



This is not meant to disparage the cultivation of rare or 

 novel or conspicuous plants, whether native or exotic. 

 Many refined persons take the keenest delight in individual 

 flowers and collections of plants for their own sake, and 

 without any reference to their relation with the surrounding 

 scenery. But in grounds like those now under considera- 

 tion, there will be ample space to grow them in locations 

 specially set apart for them where they will not injure the 

 main picture formed by the general environment of the 

 house and the encircling landscape. As regards the grounds, 

 the " garden " in its wider sense, it will assuredly be 

 most beautiful, interesting and enjoyable when both na- 

 tive and foreign plants have been used in tasteful com- 

 bination. But if confined to one of these classes we should 

 probably lose as much by adopting Mr. Robinson's idea, 

 that the first reason for this sort of a garden is "to. grow 

 for us plants not in our woods and mostly from countries 

 other than our own," as we should if we adhered exclu- 

 sively to the plants of our own country. Using these 

 alone the planter will miss a thousand chances for se- 

 curing beauty and variety, but he will not run the risk of 

 the greater misfortune of producing a garden full of beau- 

 tiful plants, but not a beautiful garden, after all, nor an 

 appropriate environment for his house, nor a suitable 

 foreground for the landscape beyond. 



its foundation to aid in forming public taste and guiding 

 public sentiment in this direction. The plan adopted 

 seems business-like and feasible, and now that the ma- 

 chinery is in competent hands and fairly under way, it is a 

 proper time to say that the success of the enterprise in its 

 early stages is due very largely to the energy and intel- 

 ligence of Mr. Charles Eliot, the secretary, who really 

 assumed the burden of carrying the measure through. It 

 ought to be said also that the successful inauguration of 

 such a movement in a community is an indication of a 

 high order of enlightenment. The people of Massachu- 

 setts have reason to be proud of it, and they should en- 

 courage and promote it in every reasonable way. It is to 

 be hoped that public-spirited men and women in other 

 states will be prompt to organize similar corporations until 

 it becomes a settled policy throughout the country to pre- 

 serve the natural beauty which we have inherited, and to 

 protect from defacement and ruin, and for the inspiration 

 and enjoyment of our children's children, all places about 

 which patriotic and historic memories cluster. 



From a note on another page of this issue it will be seen 

 that the Trustees of Public Reservations, the body incor- 

 porated under an act of the last Legislature of Massachu- 

 setts, for preserving beautiful and historical tracts of land 

 within that commonwealth, has been organized, and is 

 ready for work. Our readers need not be told that we 

 heartily commend the objects of this association, for it has 

 been one of the steady purposes of Garden and Forest since 



Mr. John Robinson, in his interesting and valuable se- 

 ries of papers on the "Trees of Salem," now being 

 published in The Salem Gazette, suggests, in speaking of 

 our two poisonous species of Rhus, the only poisonous 

 plants of our northern flora, a few simple rules which can 

 be easily remembered, and which will aid persons in recog- 

 nizing these plants, and at the same time prevent a needless 

 fear of the many beautiful flowers and berries of the 

 woods and meadows. These are his rules : 



Never put any portion of any plant in the mouth unless it is 

 certainly known to be wholesome. 



Have no hesitation in handling any plant that has beautiful 

 or attractive flowers, berries or fruit of any kind, for the two 

 poisonous native plants have inconspicuous greenish flowers, 

 mostly under the leaves, and later small bluish white berries 

 close to the branches or hanging from them. 



Beware of gorgeous red and yellow autumnal leaves on 

 shrubs and climbing plants which are not known to be harm- 

 less. Our two poisonous native plants display the most bril- 

 liant autumnal colors of any species in our woods and by-ways. 



The poisonous Sumach resembles a group of young Ash- 

 trees. 



The poisonous Ivy resembles the harmless Woodbine. Its 

 leaves, however, have but three leaflets, while those of the 

 Woodbine have five. 



Dijon. — I. 



THE city of Dijon lies in a charming valley at the foot of 

 the hills of the Cote-d'Or in one of the most fertile and 

 beautiful regions of France. It is said to have been founded 

 in the early days of the Roman empire. Upon its history, 

 however, I have no purpose to dwell, nor yet upon its build- 

 ings, which, despite the generally modern look of the place, 

 still make it interesting to the artist and the antiquary. Its 

 parks are less famous, but well deserve the notice even of 

 those travelers who come in great numbers during the sum- 

 mer, but, intent on reaching Switzerland as quickly as possi- 

 ble, usually do no more than sleep a night in the huge hos- 

 telry, called the Cloche d'Or, which, in its unlikeness to the 

 inns of most French provincial towns, seems a prophecy of 

 the tourist-ridden land toward which they yearn. 



It is only a short walk from the hotel, and only a step from 

 the railway station, to the gardens called L' Arquebuse, which 

 formerly served the local Society of Arquebusiers as their 

 place of exercise. We are not told when they were first estab- 

 lished, but it is known that, in the year 1591, Henri IV. here 

 joined in the sports of the Dijonais musket-men. Their dis- 

 position seems to have been the result of chance rather than 

 design, and although they contain some symmetrical features, 

 they give, as a whole, a naturalistic impression and form a 

 pleasant, verdurous, shady and not unpicturesque resort. 



Close to IS Arquebuse, and separated from it only by a little 

 stream, lies the Botanical Garden, founded by Legouz de Ger- 

 land in 1772. It covers a wide area, and, in addition to the 

 regular beds where the smaller plants are grown — among 

 them being 300 varieties of the Vine — it contains a park-like 

 space through which flows the little stream, forming in one 

 spot a miniature lake, the general design suggesting the fact 



