444 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 186. 



an oblong thick fleshy root-stock, or a fascicle of fleshy tubers, 

 which sends out several strong light-colored rootlets in a hori- 

 zontal direction. The interior of the root is nearly white, and 

 contains one or more cavities formed by the absorption of the 

 tissue, and these cavities, which form one of the special and 

 most important characteristics of the Cicuta root, may be 

 easily seen when it is cut longitudinally through the centre. 

 The root, when cut in this way, exudes drops of a yellow 

 resinous juice which possesses a strongly aromatic odor 

 closely resembling that of the Parsnip. The taste is at first 

 sweetish, but afterward sharp and acrid. Cuts of the two 

 roots are reproduced from Dr. Power's paper, in which their 

 individual characters are very plainly seen. 



Notes. 



The first elementary work on botany published in this coun- 

 try bore date 1803, and was written by Professor D. S. Barton. 

 The systematic teaching of botany in American schools seems 

 not to have begun until some twenty years later. 



Professor Goodale has commenced the publication in the 

 American J our nal of Science of a series of short sketches of the 

 botanic gardens in the equatorial belt and in the south seas, 

 which he has visited in his recent journey around the world. 



At its recent meeting in Washington the Association of 

 Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations passed a reso- 

 lution urging the Secretary of Agriculture to do what he could 

 to secure the passage of a law or laws for the preservation of 

 the public forests. 



Several of the large Palms in Horticultural Hall, Fairmount 

 Park, have been fruiting freely this season. Among them are 

 three or four specimens of Seaforthia elegans, and the long 

 drooping branchlets of the flower-clusters are studded with 

 fruits of various colors, from olive-green to dull red, accord- 

 ing to their degree of ripeness. Thrinax elegans has also pro- 

 duced an abundant crop of seeds in the same establishment. 



Flower-beds arranged geometrically are not always to be 

 commended-, but a circular bed filled with succulents seems 

 to attract more attention than any among the large number of 

 beds in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, this season. The bed 

 is between twenty-five and thirty feet in diameter, and special 

 care has been taken in arranging the thousands of plants it 

 contains with due regard to their individual forms and colors. 



Mr. C. L. Allen says, in the American Agriculturist, that in 

 cultivating the Amaryllis the most common mistakes are (1) 

 the use of too large pots, (2) the too deep planting of the bulbs, 

 and (3) too frequent shifting. As a rule, the bulbs should not 

 be more than half-covered with soil, and they should not be 

 shifted until the pots are filled with roots, and then they should 

 be placed, while resting, in pots only one size larger than those 

 they were occupying. 



It is observed by many persons in the east that the California 

 pears, which are so- plentiful this year, are better-flavored 

 than in former years, although they are somewhat smaller. 

 This change is attributed to the fact that the California fruit- 

 growers no longer keep their orchards irrigated up to the time 

 when the fruit ripens, but shut off the water when the pears 

 are well grown, so that they are permitted to ripen in the 

 California sun and wind without the aid of artificial moisture^ 



The value of our native Viburnum cassinoides has often 

 been insisted on in these columns. At this season of the year 

 no hardy shrub, whether in flower or in fruit, equals it in 

 beauty. The fruit is now bright pink, although in many of the 

 clusters some of the berries are flesh-colored, and others have 

 already assumed the dark blue of their maturity. The contrast 

 of the colors of the different berries among themselves and 

 with the large and lustrous leaves is beautiful. This inhabit- 

 ant of our northern swamps takes kindly to cultivation, and is 

 worthy of a place in any garden. 



The common Stramonium, or Thorn-apple (Datura Stra- 

 monium), is, in some parts of New England, generally called 

 "Jamestown-weed," or, by elision, " Jimson-weed." This 

 name, says a recent writer in the Atlantic Monthly, sprang 

 from the fact that the plant, which was medicinally esteemed, 

 had been brought over by the Jamestown colonists and 

 "spread miraculously" from the place of its first establish- 

 ment. At an early date it had become so troublesome in the 

 New Haven colony that a law was passed to enforce its de- 

 struction as "a great, stinking, poisonous weed." 



Every year there is a more general appreciation of the truth 

 that public pleasure-grounds are indispensable to every urban 



community where the health and happiness of its citizens are 

 considered worthy of attention. The last legislature of Penn- 

 sylvania recognized the tendency of public sentiment in this 

 matter by passing a law to enable the various cities of that 

 commonwealth to acquire lands for park purposes. It author- 

 izes all cities in Pennsylvania to purchase and hold ground for 

 such purpose, and empowers the councils of such cities to 

 enact ordinances for the purchase, improvement, management 

 and control of such ground ; to enforce said ordinances by 

 proper penalties ; and to make appropriations for the payment 

 of property acquired under authority of this act. 



The botanists who attended the meetings of the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science at Washington 

 last month were each presented with a neat little hand-book, 

 entitled "The Trees of Washington," which had been pre- 

 pared by Geo. B. Sudworth, Botanist, and B. E. Fernow, Chief 

 of the Forestry Division. It contains a list of all the trees in 

 the grounds of the city, with numbers to indicate the park in 

 which specimens are to be found. The grounds containing 

 the greatest variety are represented by plans, with a list of 

 the species of trees there found and the location of the indi- 

 vidual trees indicated. The different parks and grounds of 

 the capital contain many interesting trees which are over- 

 looked for lack of such a guide, and this list, with the accom- 

 panying plans, will prove acceptable to many other visitors, 

 as they did, no doubt, to the Botanical Club for whom it was 

 prepared as a souvenir. 



A letter from the Acting Chief of the Department of Horti- 

 culture of the World's Columbian Exposition informs us that 

 the building for the horticultural department, which is to be 

 located immediately south of the entrance to Jackson Park, in 

 the main portion of the World's Fair Grounds, will be 1,000 

 feet long, with an extreme width of 286 feet. The plan em- 

 braces a central pavilion, with two end pavilions, each con- 

 nected with the centre by front and rear curtains, which form 

 two interior courts, each 270 x 88 feet. These courts are to be 

 decorated in color and to be planted with ornamental shrubs 

 and flowers. The central pavilion is to be covered by a dome 

 187 feet in diameter and 113 feet from the ground, under which 

 it is proposed to exhibit tall Palms, Bamboos and Tree Ferns. 

 The contracts for the building have been let, the estimated 

 cost being $400,000. We are told that the horticultural exhi- 

 bition is to excel anything heretofore attempted. 



Mr. J. J. Willis, who superintends the experiments of Sir 

 John BennetLawes, says that it is now admitted at Rothamsted 

 that free nitrogen from the air is fixed in the growth of some 

 leguminous crops under the influence of suitable microbe in- 

 fection and the development of nodules on the roots of the 

 plants. How this fixation is brought about is yet unknown. 

 Dr. Gilbert does not believe that the plant accomplishes this 

 through its leaves, nor that the microbes do the work in the 

 soil so that the roots can take up the nitrogen compounds, but 

 that the nitrogen, by the aid of the organisms, is fixed in the 

 root-nodules, and from thence absorbed and utilized by the 

 last. Among many interesting queries suggested by this now 

 recognized fact, is one as to the cause of "Clover sickness." 

 Experience has shown that clover, in many cases, cannot be 

 grown by ordinary methods on lands where it once flourished. 

 Is this because of the absence of the microbes which help to 

 form the nodules and fix the nitrogen ? 



In a recent quarterly number of the Journal of American 

 Folk-lore reference is made to a paper called " Popular Names 

 of American Plants," which was read at a meeting of the Boston 

 Association of the American Folk-lore Society last spring by 

 Mrs. F. D. Bergen. This lady is desirous of completing a 

 collection of such names, and, says the Journal, "as the in- 

 terest and value of a good collection of popular plant-names 

 is obvious, it is very desirable that persons who may be able 

 and willing to contribute should send their material to Mrs. 

 Bergen, Cambridge, Massachusetts," or else to the editor of 

 the Journal itself. In connection with this notice is printed a 

 letter from a resident of Massachusetts, in which are cited 

 scores of popular plant-names current in various parts of New 

 England at the time when the writer was a child, and which 

 includes many that seem unfamiliar to-day. One of the most 

 curious is Election Pink, applied to Rhododendron nudiflorum, 

 ' ' because in bloom at the old-time ' election ' when the governor 

 took his seat " ; and another is Heart's-ease, since it was ap- 

 plied, not to the Pansy, but to Polygonum Persicaria, more 

 commonly called Lady's-thumb. A pretty term was Baby- 

 feet for Polygala paucifolia, and another for Arisama tri- 

 phyllum, which New England children now call Jack-in-the- 

 pulpit, was Lady-in-a-chaise. 



