September 23, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



455 



themselves "satisfied that the management of our woodlands 

 might be materially improved . . . and that some considera- 

 ble proportion of the timber now imported to the (annual) 

 value of £ 16,000,000 might, under more skillful management, 

 be raised at home." They pointed out that, " whereas nearly 

 every other civilized state possesses one or more forest- 

 schools, there exists in this country (although it boasts a De- 

 partment of Woods and Forests) no organized system of 

 forestry-instruction except in connection with the Indian ser- 

 vice." They unanimously agreed " in recommending the 

 establishment of a Forest Board, of which the main functions 

 should be the establishment of forest-schools, or, at least, of 

 a course of instruction and examination in forestry." From 

 the conclusions of these gentlemen Mr. Maxwell dissents. 

 Although he says they deserve gratitude for having proved 

 "beyond the possibility of doubt that British forestry is at a 

 lamentably low level, and that hardly any effort is being made 

 to redeem what might be a source of public and private 

 wealth from the state to which it has been .reduced by igno- 

 rance, indolence and indifference," he protests that "it is not 

 possible to endorse their proposal to create a new department 

 of the government to revivify it." He believes that reform 

 should be brought about by concerted action on the part of 

 large land-owners, and that "the first step in the right direc- 

 tion will be taken . . . by summoning a meeting in London of 

 land-owners and others interested in the matter to discuss the 

 position and to take counsel with the managers of the English 

 and Scottish arboricultural societies with the view of securing 

 their co-operation in undertaking the work which the select 

 committee has rightly described as necessary, the neglect of 

 which is discreditable." 



Mr. Maxwell's article is suggestive reading for all who are 

 interested in the subject of forests and forestry, but it supplies, 

 of course, little help to those who are anxious to see our own 

 forest-problems satisfactorily disposed of. The condition of 

 our forests is so unlike that of English woodlands, their own- 

 ership is so differently distributed, the extent of our country is 

 so much greater than that of Great Britain, that American and 

 English needs cannot be discussed from the same point of 

 view. 



Mr. Maxwell's article contains, however, many items that 

 should interest any reader. We read a family likeness to our- 

 selves in his account of the way in which, in most parts of 

 England, the minor products of the forest are systematically 

 wasted. In Surrey, he says, convenient little fagots " made 

 of small brush- wood bound together with a green withe" 

 are used, in continental fashion, for the lighting of fires ; but 

 they are unknown in the northern counties and even in Lon- 

 don, "whose countless fires are kindled by the much less 

 effective fagots of split-wood." Brush-wood fagots, he ex- 

 plains, " have this advantage over fagots of split-wood, that 

 they kindle much more readily, bursting into a blaze at once, 

 whereas a fire laid with the larger sticks often requires re- 

 kindling." 



As an example of the lack of knowledge possessed by Eng- 

 lish owners and land-agents, with regard to even the common- 

 est native trees, the author cites the case of a gentleman in 

 the south of Scotland who, desiring to make a plantation of 

 Oaks, procured with great pains fine acorns from the south 

 of England. Here the indigenous Oak is Quercus robur fte- 

 dunculata, while in the north of England and in Scotland it is 

 Q. robur sessiliflora, the so-called " Durmast Oak." The latter 

 flourishes if planted in the south, but the former does not find 

 proper conditions of growth in the north, and, consequently, 

 though " thirty, forty and fifty years have gone by since these 

 woods were planted, the present owner of them has to deplore 

 that the energy and good intentions of his predecessor were 

 not better directed." 



Under the rule of the Romans, which lasted some four cen- 

 turies, says Mr. Maxwell, the vast forests that had covered 

 England were largely swept away, especially in the north, 

 where strategic considerations long remained paramount. But 

 as early as the twelfth century strict laws were formulated in 

 Scotland for the preservation of what remained, and in 1513 

 the Scottish Parliament insistently commanded the plantation 

 of woods and hedges in denuded districts, and ordered land- 

 owners to compel their tenants to plant on their holdings one 

 tree yearly for every " mark" of land. " Many traces of this 

 legislation may be recognized to-day in the scenery of Scot- 

 land. In every district round old houses or house-sites stand 

 aged Ash-trees, the planting of which was specially encour- 

 aged for the manufacture of pike-staves, the pike being the 

 national weapon of Scotsmen as the yew-bow was of English- 

 men " ; and, we may add, ash-wood having been the favorite 

 material for spears ever since the days of the mighty Achilles. 



But denudation went on in Scotland, unchecked by further 

 legislation, until, in the last century, her people had leisure 

 to appreciate their necessities and to attempt to meet them. 

 Then many new plantations of great extent were made, and 

 "a pathetic monument of the good intentions of one great 

 Highland chief in this respect still remains. Just before the 

 rising in 1745 Cameron of Lochiel received a quantity of young 

 trees for planting round Achnacarry, his principal scat ; when 

 the summons came for the clan to join the standard of Charles 

 Edward, the plants were hurriedly healed-in, in long lines, to 

 await the return of more peaceful times. But the men who 

 were to have set them out * came back to Lochaber no more ' ; 

 the saplings struggled into growth in the trenches as best they 

 could, and there they stand to this day, a double row of 

 Beeches, their silvery stems so closely crowded that a man 

 may hardly force his body between some of them, and under 

 this dark canopy of foliage^ the outer boughs of which trail in 

 the swift-running Arkaig, there broods a green twilight the 

 lonir summer through." 



Exhibitions. 

 The Elizabeth Horticultural Society. 



THE flower-show of the Horticultural Society of Elizabeth, 

 *- Newjersey, held on September 17th and 18th, was of more 

 than local interest. In the early spring, the society, at the 

 suggestion of one of the officers, Mr. T. K. Pembrook, con- 

 cluded to offer a packet of Aster-seeds to any child who would 

 agree to plant them and bring the result to an exhibition to be 

 held in September, and some five hundred packets were ap- 

 plied for in response to an advertisement in the local journals. 

 This was, so far, encouraging, showing rather more wide- 

 spread interest than the society had expected, but there was 

 some doubt as to the result, the successful growing of plants 

 from seed sometimes puzzling older persons. The plants 

 were brought in in great numbers, something over five 

 hundred plants in all, and, on the whole, in creditable condi- 

 tion, scarcely up to the florists' standard but vastly more in-" 

 teresting. Taking them as a lot, they indicated probably too 

 much attention, care having degenerated to coddling. There 

 were pathetic exhibits of poor little single weaklings, starved 

 and colorless, on which evidently great care had been ex- 

 pended. The most interesting plants were in two little win- 

 dow-boxes, from two little girls who had no garden, but had 

 managed to grow the greatest variety from their packets of 

 seed, and secured the prizes in the class. Such a curious lot 

 of dwarf, starved plants perhaps never grew in the same space, 

 but it was a pleasure to see the winning cards on them, as they 

 spoke of so much simple, loving, patient care. 



The wild flowers collected by the children were not a very 

 satisfactory exhibit, owing to a failure to provide that they 

 should be named and arranged for effect. The true province 

 of a horticultural society would seem to be not the specula- 

 tion in exhibitions, but the endeavor to induce the cultivation 

 of plants and flowers by the masses, and such experiments as 

 that of the Elizabeth society, if repeated, are sure to result in 

 much good. The large hall was closely filled with collections 

 of flowers and plants from amateurs and florists. The ama- 

 teur exhibit was led by a grand mass of tropical plants from 

 H. W. and R. Pierce, which occupied a space some forty by 

 fifteen feet, in the centre of the hall. Among these were fine 

 Cycads, Musas, Palms, Marantas, Ferns, etc. Other amateur 

 exhibits were Palms, Dracaenas, Tuberous Begonias, etc., by 

 H. A. Haines ; garden-flowers, by T. K. Pembrook, T. C. 

 English, and F. K. Day; Eucalyptus, Grevillea robusta, Cofiee- 

 plants, etc., by E. C. Woodward ; specimens of Papyrus, and 

 Aquatics, Bamboos, interesting Begonias, etc., by J. N. 

 Gerard. 



The local florists exhibited some fine decorative plants, the 

 first prize for which was awarded to John White. For the best 

 display of cut flowers the first prize was given to J. W. Blakeley. 

 Other prizes went to Miss Hutchinson, J. M. Horsburgh and 

 J. W. Bonnell for floral designs. 



The Elizabeth Nursery Company exhibited rare Retinsoporas 

 and shrubs. 



One of the exhibits which attracted most attention was a com- 

 plete collection of rare Nymphasas, Nelumbiums and various 

 Aquatics from Wm. Tricker, Dongan Hills, New York. From 

 the roseries of -S. C. Nash, Clifton, New Jersey, came a mass 

 of the fragrant and popular American Beauty Roses. 



The interest in this exhibition was so great that the society 

 is considering a Chrysanthemum show during the approaching 

 season. 



