420 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 184. 



Notes. 



At this season, when comparatively few good shrubs or trees 

 are in bloom, the large white flowers of Gordonia Altamaha 

 make a striking display. They bear some resemblance to 

 those of the smaller Magnolias, while the plant thrives in Phila- 

 delphia and southward under the conditions favorable for 

 Rhododendrons. 



The Florida Fibre Company have secured a tract of more 

 than 1,300 acres of land fifty miles south of Jupiter Inlet, in the 

 latitude of the northern Bahamas, and they are setting out 200,000 

 plants of Sisal Hemp. The company have erected houses, pro- 

 vided boats and implements, and will be prepared to begin to 

 manufacture whenever the growth of the plant warrants it. 



Warm weather and frequent rains have encouraged a most 

 vigorous growth in the large Croton-beds in Fairmount Park, 

 Philadelphia, and they are now exceptionally brilliant. There 

 are four circular beds that are each more than twenty feet in . 

 diameter, and also one rectangular bed about thirty-five feet 

 in length, all of which are filled with various-colored Crotons, 

 and edged with a line of golden Coleus. 



Many of the famous trees of Laurel Hill Cemetery have been 

 lost because the owners of lots have the privilege of cutting as 

 they will on their own ground. Mr. Joseph Meehan, however, 

 writes that there is still standing there a Cedar of Lebanon 

 which is probably the best specimen in the vicinity of Phila- 

 delphia. It is some seven feet in circumference, and from 

 sixty to seventy feet high. A large number of cones which 

 hang from its branches make it an exceptionally interesting 

 and uncommon object. 



In a paper on Blackberries, recently read before the Wiscon- 

 sin Horticultural Society, Professor E. S. Goff said that in our 

 so-called improvement of fruits we have generally failed to 

 improve the quality. Our most productive blackberries are 

 large and beautiful, but they are inferior in flavor when 

 compared with the wild ones found along the fence-rows of 

 back pasture lots. Imagination and association have some 

 influence on our sensations, but, after due allowance is made, 

 the perfume and flavor of a wild meadow strawberry will put 

 to shame our Jessies and Warfields. Perhaps the richest field 

 before experimental horticulturists in America is in the direc- 

 tion of improving our native fruits, and of these fruits the 

 blackberry is one of the most promising. The Dewberry has 

 low habit and delicious, juicy fruit, characters that may be 

 profitably combined with those of our Blackberries. Professor 

 Goff esteems the old Dorchester, now almost entirely neglected, 

 as the variety most closely approaching the wild blackberry in 

 flavor. This should be revived, and crosses should be made 

 with it upon our more hardy and productive varieties. 



In Scribners Magazine for September there is a picture of 

 the sacred Bo-tree of Ceylon, from a photograph by Mr. James 

 Ricalton, who states that it has stood for 2,130 years, according 

 to authentic records', and is probably the oldest historical tree in 

 the world. The Bo-tree (Ficus religiosa), in all countries where 

 Buddhism prevails, has become a consecrated object, and may 

 be seen on the road-side, about houses and temples and in 

 towns, protected by masonry, over which shrines are placed 

 for homage-offerings. This particular tree in Anuradhapura 

 crowns the uppermost of three successive terraces ; it has a 

 multiple trunk, and its several divisions are feeble and gnarled, 

 while its leaves lack verdancy and vigor and show the pallor 

 of decrepitude. The soil about its roots is almost saturated 

 with the oil of its anointment, and yet it spreads its protecting 

 arms over its devotees while they deposit their offerings about 

 it. All of them are eager for a single leaf, but no one would 

 dare pluck it from the tree, for it must fall in full maturity to 

 yield its highest merit. When one of these withered leaves 

 loosens from its branch and comes sailing down there is a 

 pious scramble among the multitude, a collision of zealous 

 heads and hands, and then the solitary leaf is borne away in 

 the happy bosom of the successful competitor. 



We learn from foreign journals that the plants cultivated in 

 Italy and the south of France for the yield of essential oils 

 have suffered so from the severity of the last winter as to con- 

 siderably impair the market supplies. Oil of Bergamot is ex- 

 ceedingly scarce in Italy and brings higher prices after every 

 transaction. The principal plants cultivated in France for 

 essential oils, which have been most damaged by last winter's 

 frosts, are Thyme, Rosemary, Lavender and Pennyroyal, and the 

 output of Geranium oil in Spain will this year be very small. 

 The Peppermint crop in England has been winter-damaged, 

 especially on the heavy damp soils and on the more exposed 

 positions, so that some of the plants were taken up. Laven- 



der, also, has suffered severely, especially the old plants, of 

 which the frosts have apparently made short work, nearly all 

 being killed. During the closing week of April the price of 

 the oil advanced from about thirty-five shillings to forty 

 shillings per pound. The Camomile plants have also suffered. 

 It is worth noting that the first consignment of Cassia pomade 

 shipped from British India was recently received in London. 

 It was only a sample shipment, but, if successful, it may be the 

 precursor of huge quantities, as the flowers {Acacia Farnesi- 

 ana) are found growing wild in abundance. It is c'aimed for 

 the Indian pomade that it is very considerably stronger than 

 the strongest French. 



Mr. Edward Whittal writes to The Mayflower from Smyrna 

 very pleasantly of his excursions to the mountains, where he 

 has been collecting Chionodoxas. Besides the original C. Lu- 

 cilia, discovered by Mr. Maw, he found the first variety of 

 this plant on the Mahmout Dagh, and named it Sardensis, 

 from the beautiful plains of Sardis, which lay before him. 

 This plant is of a darker tint than C. Lucilice, and the intense- 

 ness of its color where many plants were grouped together, 

 with a background of rocks, made a picture not to be forgot- 

 ten. This variety of the Chionodoxa has white and pink sports, 

 and it is an acquisition for the rockery or wild garden. Mr. 

 Whittal found the third Chionodoxa on the Tmolus range of 

 mountains. It is a smaller, but brighter-colored, plant than 

 C. Lxicilice, and he named it C. Tmolus i. It has been consid- 

 ered by some botanists as identical to the- one discovered by 

 Mr. Maw, but in its wild state the difference between the flow- 

 ers is very marked. No white or pink sports of this plant 

 have been found. It was near this third Chionodoxa that Mr. 

 Whittal found the variety which he named Gigantea, from its 

 more massive flowers. The coloring of this plant is not so 

 brilliant as in the type, but this deficiency is made up by its 

 size and by the erectness of its flower-scape. It varies in color 

 more than the other Glories of the Snow, and when well estab- 

 lished it will be sure to attract attention. 



A recent bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Sciences is de- 

 voted to the flora of Cook County, Illinois, and a part of Lake 

 County, Indiana. It has been prepared by W. K. Higley and 

 Charles S. Rudden, and includes 1,336 species and varieties, 

 of which 177 species and five varieties have been intro- 

 duced. From a brief chapter treating of plants which merit 

 special attention by reason of some peculiarities in form or 

 habit, we quote the following: "Situated along the shore of 

 Lake Michigan is a class of alien plants whose natural habitat 

 is in the vicinity of salt-water. Of these saline forms the Beach 

 Plum, among the trees, is most interesting. All along the 

 shores of the lake the bright flowers of the Beach Pea {Lathyrus 

 maritimus) can be seen during the summer months lifting 

 their heads above the sand, while among them at Evanston, 

 and also at Wolf Lake and Clarke, Indiana, the Saltwort [Sal- 

 sola Kali) is sparingly found. Leaving the lake-shore for the 

 more marshy districts inland, several parasitic forms are* 

 found. Under foot the Corpse-plant and Cancer-root rear 

 their pale forms above decaying vegetable matter on the roots 

 of other plants, while three species of the Dodder twine their 

 waxy stems around the stalks of the Helianthus and other 

 species of Composite. Occasionally exceptional forms, such 

 flowers differing in color from the characteristic hue and double 

 forms, are recorded. A number of albino forms are included, 

 among which may be mentioned the Cranesbill, Red Clover, 

 Columbine, Blazing Star, etc. Many double forms among the 

 species of Helianthus, Coreopsis, etc., have also been found 

 in all stages of development." 



Catalogues Received. 



Wm. C. Breck, Allegheny, Pa. ; Autumn Bulbs. — William Bull, 

 536 King's Road, Chelsea, London, S. W., England ; Tuberous- 

 rooted Plants and Bulbs. — Haage & Schmidt, Erfurt, Germany ; 

 Autumn Flower Bulbs and Roots. — William Baylor IIartland, 24 

 Patrick Street, Cork, Ireland ; Key to Hartland's Floral Album of 

 Daffodils and General Bulb List for 1891-92. — Hitchings & Co., 233 

 Mercer Street, New York, N. Y. ; Water Heaters for Baths and Laun- 

 dries ; also Hot-water Heating Apparatus for greenhouses, graperies 

 and all glass structures, and dwellings. — E. H. Krelage & Son, 

 Haarlem, Holland; Dutch Flower Bulbs. — E. W. Reid, Bridgeport, 

 Ohio ; Pot-grown Strawberries, Small Fruits, Ornamental Shrubs, 

 Roses, Grape-vines, etc. — Lewis Roescii, Fredonia, N. Y. ; Fall Trade 

 Price List of Grape-vines, Small-fruit Plants, etc. — Vilmorin-An- 

 drieux et Cie., 4 Quai de la Megisserie, Paris, France ; Flowering 

 Bulbs and Flower Seeds for Autumn Planting. — Thomas W. Weath- 

 ered's Sons, 244 Canal Street, New York, N. Y. ; Hot-water Heaters 

 for Dwellings, Conservatories, Greenhouses, Graperies, Poultry 

 Houses, etc. 



