August 12, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



381 



inches in diameter, pure white, blotched at the base, and quite 

 fugacious. The female flowers are borne on the lower 

 part of the scape and are larger than the male ones, which oc- 

 cupy the upper portion. S. Montevidensis was the first of the 

 family to flower, possibly, however, because, being a tender 

 species, it had been kept in warmth and had some start of the 

 other varieties, whose tubers, though probably hardy, were 

 wintered in a cool cellar. Plants of this variety are readily 

 grown from seed, and they will flower the first season if sown 

 early. It is necessary for their germination that the seed-pans 

 be kept in strong heat, and soil slightly covered with water. 

 Arrowheads usually make numerous tubers and increase 

 rapidly. 



Myriophyllum heterophyllum (Water Milfoil) is a plant 

 usually grown in aquariums, but it proves very satisfactory and 

 free-growing in the water garden. The leaves are very small, 

 finely cut, and arranged in whorls on long creeping stalks. A 

 mass of this plant is very attractive and distinct. It proves 

 hardy in this locality. 



Aponogeton distachyon. — The fragrant peculiar bracts of 

 this plant have a certain attraction, and the plant is a good grower, 

 but the brown tips of the anthers are unpleasantly suggestive 

 of aphides, and aphides are one of the minor afflictions of 

 water plants. Amateurs are not inclined to dwell much on 

 the subject of drawbacks to the culture of favorite plants, but 

 a full discussion of all such points is sometimes of more im- 

 portance to a beginner than glowing accounts of perfect cul- 

 ture with drawbacks unnoticed. The aphides which affect 

 aquatic plants are as black as the flies so well known to the 

 Chrysanthemum grower. During the present abnormally dry 

 season they have been unusually abundant. Fortunately, if 

 looked to in time, they do very little injury. Various concoc- 

 tions are recommended for their suppression, but the most 

 simple and usually effective plan to get rid of them is to 

 wash them into the water by spray from a hose or syringe, 

 when the fish and frogs soon dispose of them. Fish and 

 frogs are, of course, a necessity to the garden. Gold-fish 

 may be classed among " reliably hardy " subjects ; 'my stock 

 was frozen solidly in the ice last winter and thawed out 

 as lively as ever. Even in my small tank these fish multiply, 

 and the small fry just now are very numerous. 

 Elizabeth, n.j. J.N.Gerard. 



Orchid Notes. 



Anguloa Ruckeri. — This South American species was 

 introduced about 1845, ana " it is one of the best in the genus. 

 The smooth, dark green pseudo-bulbs are oblong-ovate, from 

 four to six inches high, bearing at the apex three or four 

 plaited, pale green leaves of light texture, eighteen to twenty- 

 four inches long by five or six inches broad at their widest 

 part. The stout scapes, more than half the length of the 

 leaves, proceed from the base of the previous year's pseudo- 

 bulbs, and are well furnished with conspicuous green sheaths. 

 Each scape carries a single flower, which bears some resem- 

 blance to a slightly compressed tulip, the longest diameter 

 measuring two inches, the shortest half an inch less. The 

 parts are all of thick, fleshy substance ; sepals and petals oval, 

 dull orange-yellow, with a profusion of crimson spots on the 

 inner surface ; lip trilobed, deep-crimson ; column white, 

 with occasional streaks of yellow and numerous rose-colored 

 spots. The plant has a bold, striking aspect, and blooms regu- 

 larly and freely in June and July, the flowers lasting several 

 weeks. It thrives best at the cool end of an intermediate house, 

 in a well-drained pot containing coarse peat-fibre which is cov- 

 ered with sphagnum. Repot early in spring, keeping the 

 pseudo-bulbs an inch or two above the rim of the pot. This 

 plant should never be allowed to become quite dry at the 

 roots, and it requires a free supply of water during the season 

 of growth. 



Brassia verrucosa. — It has been said that the Brassias are 

 not worth growing. This may be true of some of the species, 

 but it is certainly too sweeping with B. verrucosa and its fine 

 variety, B. verrucosa grandifiora, in view. The species is an 

 elegant plant, introduced from Mexico in 1838. The com- 

 pressed, ovate, channeled pseudo-bulbs are from two to three 

 inches high, bearing two dark green, strap-shaped leaves, 

 from nine to eighteen inches long, at the top, and two shorter 

 ones at the base. The raceme, springing from the base, at- 

 tains a length of two feet, and bears ten to twenty flowers, 

 distichously arranged on the upper two-thirds of its length. 

 Sepals about three inches long, tapering to a point, greenish 

 white, with purplish spots ; petals half the length of sepals, 

 and of similar form and color; lip shorter than petals, spread- 

 ing into a cordate tip, white, with numerous warty excres- 



cences of greenish color. The plant is of free growth, flowering 

 profusely in June and July. It should be grown in pots or 

 pans in an intermediate temperature, using ample drainage 

 with fibrous peat and sphagnum. It should be potted imme- 

 diately after the flowering season, and watered copiously 

 during growth, with a slightly restricted supply afterward. 

 The variety resembles the species, but, as its name implies, 

 has larger flowers, and is of a more vigorous character gen- 

 erally. Both plants will be found useful where it is difficult to 

 command a high range of temperature, and, for Orchids, they 

 require but a small amount of attention when once established. 

 Saccolabium curvifolium.— This is a charming little East 

 Indian species, seldom exceeding nine inches in height. The 

 pale green, two-ranked, linear leaves are about six inches long 

 and beautifully arched. The flowers are borne in neatly 

 arranged erect racemes, which equal the leaves in length ; 

 they are of a showy reddish color, with reddish purple column 

 and short yellow spur. It usually blooms early in June, and 

 the flowers are freely produced and retain their vivid hue for 

 quite a long time. Altogether it is a fascinating little plant, 

 and one which well deserves a place in every garden. It re- 

 quires a high stove temperature and abundant moisture when 

 in active growth, but a lower degree of heat and less water 

 when at rest. A well-drained basket and a little peat, the 

 whole covered with clean sphagnum, are the best materials 

 for the roots. There is a variety of this plant, .S. curvifolium 

 luteum, which occasionally finds its way to those gardens in 

 which Orchids are the most conspicuous feature. It is rarely 

 offered for sale, however, and differs from the species in the 

 attractive yellow color of the flowers. 



Botanical Gardens, Cambridge, Mass. Af. Barker. 



Lindera sericea. — Many plants of the Laurel family are known 

 for the strong odors which are intensified in their essential 

 oils, and Lindera sericea, which is a member of this family, 

 has this characteristic. The plant has long been known to the 

 Japanese for its aromatic properties.' The wood has been 

 largely used for tooth-picks, which are known to preserve 

 their odor for a long time. The plant is a deciduous shrub, 

 chiefly found among the mountains south-east of Tokio, in 

 the provinces of Idzu and Sagami. The bark, which is 

 brownish black when old, is the most odorous part of the 

 wood. _ The cheerful tender green of its leaves makes it worthy 

 of cultivation in any garden, although the panicle of flowers, 

 which is produced in early summer, is quite insignificant'. 

 When the plant is pruned the fragrance emitted can be ob- 

 served at a considerable distance. Three kinds of essence 

 have been prepared from this plant by a friend of mine, Mr. 

 Takatori ; they range in color from light orange to pale green, 

 a diversity due to the varying purity of the oil. It has a spicy 

 and burning taste, and an aromatic odor which, to me, re- 

 sembles the oil of turpentine and cinnamon. No doubt, this 

 oil would have a high commercial value for use in perfumery 

 and in soap. It is already so used to some extent in Japan. 



College of Agriculture, Komaba, H. YosJlidct. 



Tokio, Japan. 



[The letter from Professor Yoshida contained some 

 leaves of the Lindera and a small fragment of Japanese 

 paper which had been moistened with the oil. Notwith- 

 standing its long journey, the odor from the paper was 

 still pungent, and suggested the peculiar fragrance of our 

 native Spice-bush, Lindera Benzoin. — Ed.] 



The Forest. . 



Some Points in Practical Forestry. 



IN an interesting review, by Dr. Brandis, of Dr. Schlich's 

 "Manual of Forestry," published in a recent number 

 of Nature, attention is called to the fact that this book was 

 prepared by the author primarily for the use of the students 

 at the Cooper's Hill Forest School in England. That school 

 was established seven years ago, in connection with the 

 Royal Indian Engineering College, in order to give the 

 needed professional training to young Englishmen who 

 desired to enter the Indian Forest Department. When the 

 first volume of this handbook appeared some persons, who 

 took a deep interest in the progress of forestry in the British 

 Indian Empire, were surprised that it did not deal with 

 Indian trees, but that its teachings were illustrated by the 

 Oak, the Beech, the Scotch Pine and other trees of Europe, 



