September 30, 1891.J 



Garden and Forest. 



459 



Of native composites, the Tarweeds are the most objec- 

 tionable ; not so much because of their persistence as weeds 

 as on account of the inconvenience caused by their viscid 

 secretion, both to the person and clothes of the farmer and to 

 certain products. Madia sativa is the most generally ob- 

 noxious, both because of its almost universal occurrence in 

 fields and roadsides, its extremely abundant secretion and its 

 disreputable aspect when covered with dust. An expensive 

 bath of alcohol alone seems capable of removing the resinous 

 slime from the injured clothes. 



Several Hemizonias are hardly behind the Madia in these 

 respects, and several add to it a strong, and sometimes dis- 

 agreeable, odor; among these the H. elegan s stands foremost, 

 but this species is not often found in cultivated fields. The 

 H. lusulcefolia, on the other hand, exhales a spicy odor of 

 myrrh, which is wafted over the harvest-fields in July and 

 August, and, in a measure, condones the disagreeable qualities 

 of the plant, which really hurts the grain but little, attaining 

 its growth after the crop is off the ground, and then seeding 

 the latter most thoroughly when plowing cannot be done on 

 account of the dryness of the soil. Several other species, 

 however {H. virgata, paniculata, Kelloggii), are not so innocu- 

 ous, as they grow up very rapidly among the grain while in 

 milk, rendering it impossible to harvest without commingling 

 it with the grain, and then often spoiling both straw and grain 

 with its resinous exsudation. They often form impassable 

 thickets along the irrigation ditches in the San Joaquin Valley. 



The Wild Sunflower (Helianthus aunuus, or lenticularis), 

 occurring naturally on rich and moderately moist soils, finds 

 greatly increased opportunities for development when the 

 land is cultivated, and sometimes covers the ground first 

 broken completely in defiance of crops sown. It is not, how- 

 ever, very persistent, and repeated mowing soon diminishes 

 it down to an easily manageable condition. But its complete 

 extirpation is quite difficult. Heliaiitlnts Calif omiais, occur- 

 ring only in low, wet lands, is not very troublesome. 



The place held in Europe and the east by the Dandelion is 

 measurably filled in California by several large-flowered 

 species of Troximon (popularly called Dandelions) and 

 'Hypochseris, whose feathered akenes fill the air in summer. . 

 They hardly invade the cultivated ground, but chiefly pastures 

 and lawns. The true Dandelion (Taraxacum) was at one time 

 introduced as a matter of sentiment by an admirer, but showed 

 such wonderful powers of development that it was with some 

 expense extirpated from the threatened lawns. 



Of other composites that invade the fields more generally 

 but without doing any material injury, the beautiful Layias 

 deserve mention. They make the ground gay beneath the 

 half-ripe grain and afterward develop more fully. The Ac/iy- 

 rachcEiia mollis, very inconspicuous while in bloom, some- 

 times forms a dense mat beneath the grain, and after harvest 

 covers the field and fills the air with its beautiful silvery 

 winged akenes. 



Matricaria occidentalis invades the grain-fields of the Bay 

 region to some extent, but is not seriously troublesome. 



The Primulacece furnish only the ubiquitous Anagallis 

 arvensis, but this attains a degree of development which, from 

 its prevalence in the moist European climates, would hardly 

 be expected. From early spring until the beginning of winter 

 the multitudinous seeds of this little plant germinate, from the 

 surface of moist soil or from the depths of that which is parched 

 and hot, and with a tenacity of life worthy of a better cause. 

 With the two Centaureas, the Stellaria and the Erodium Cicu- 

 tarium, it constiutes a group of weeds that make an exception 

 to the prevalent rule that after the cessation of rains the Cal- 

 ifornia farmer may consider the weed-fight over for the season. 

 In the northern part of the state its flowers have the usual dull 

 red tint ; in the southern, their color is frequently purple or 

 almost blue. 



Of the Apocynac'ece, Apocynum cannabinum invades pastures 

 from the woodlands in the northern part of the state, but does 

 not become troublesome south of Oregon and Washington. 



Asclepias fascicularis maintains a place in cultivated fields 

 of the black adobe character with some tenacity ; A. Fre- 

 monli and A. eriocarpa, and locally Gomphocarpus tomentosus, 

 maintain themselves in pastures to the occasional detriment 

 of sheep and cattle who are tempted to vary their dry summer 

 diet with something green, and are poisoned by eating the 

 leaves. 



Of the Gentianece, Erythrcca Muhlenbe'rgii keeps a place 

 even in cultivated fields to some extent, and very commonly 

 in pastures. 



Of the numerous Gilias only G. squarrosa rises to the dig- 

 nity of a weed, both in pastures and cultivated fields, where 

 its spinous leaves and bracts, and, above all, the intense odor 



that has given it the name of Skunk-weed, render it obnoxious. 

 Its viscous tomentum covered with dust give it a forlorn 

 aspect, and one sees with surprise the small blue, star-like 

 flowers amid this mass of dirt, spines and fetor. 



Acelia tanacetifolia is the only weed here from the large 

 family of Hydrophyllacetx ; its prickly hirsute stem and foliage 

 render it an uncomfortable invader of the fields, and there is 

 no compensation in its dull, yellowish white flower-coils. It 

 does not withstand persistent cultivation. 



Among the Borraginece, two native Amsinckias, A. inter- 

 inedia and A. lycopsoides, are truly troublesome weeds in the 

 Coast ranges, maintaining themselves on the heavier clay soils 

 which they naturally occupy, despite of cultivation and to the 

 material injury of grain crops, with which in many seasons 

 they share the ground evenly or prevalently. From the cling- 

 ing quality of their hooked, hirsute tomentum the Amsinckias 

 have received the inappropriate name of Yellow tarweed, 

 although entirely innocent of resinous qualities. The nutlets 

 accompany the bristly calyx on its migrations in the hair of 

 cattle. 

 University or California. E. W. Hilgard. 



How We Renewed an Old Place. 



XIX. — A WATER GARDEN. 



IF one is unable to secure ample assistance, and is obliged 

 to develop a place slowly, the order of planting should be 

 trees first, shrubs second, flowers last of all. 



Trees may be considered as the skeleton, the frame-work 

 upon which the whole scheme is constructed, giving it strong 

 substantial outlines and decisive meaning. Shrubbery plays the 

 part of muscles and flesh, covering the unsightly bare places, 

 rounding out the form, supplying the essential, and giving 

 grace and symmetry to the enclosure ; while flowers may be 

 regarded as the clothing with which the completed body is 

 finally adorned. Naturally, one cannot resist sticking in a few 

 flowers as he goes along, but their disposition is not final, and 

 they take up a deal of time, and are, consequently, to be rele- 

 gated to a subordinate place at first, and looked forward to as 

 the occupation reserved for those future unemployed hours 

 when the woody plants can be left to grow and fulfill their 

 mission. 



Here, where the watering during summer, and frequent 

 digging about and top-dressing, to retain moisture, are abso- 

 lutely essential to trees and shrubs, flowers that have to be 

 weeded and tended are much neglected, and only those hardy 

 perennials that will take care of themselves and defy weeds, 

 have as yet any kind of a show. But we are always dreaming 

 of a period when the ligneous plants can be let alone and we 

 can turn our attention seriously to the purely ornamental. 



In the mean time, such wild things as come up of their own 

 accord, on the hill and in the meadow, are full of interest, 

 particularly in early spring and in late August, when the stock 

 of hardy garden-flowers runs comparatively low. 



At the latter period the little spot that I call my water garden 

 is really quite a sight for such a humble affair, a mere mud- 

 hole as it were, formed by a spring at the foot of the hill, 

 which makes a tiny frog-pond, about ten feet or less in 

 diameter. The frogs themselves are quite "ornamental, wear- 

 ing, as they do, the most gorgeous yellow and green coats, 

 and being quite sociable and friendly, ready to sit on a chip 

 and croak when we pay them a visit, and making music for 

 us in the spring before the birds are fairly abroad. The old 

 bull-frog, with a hoarse cold, is not always a comfort, for he 

 has a way of coughing at night, like an asthmatic old gentle- 

 man, that is sometimes distressing, if you lie awake to listen, 

 for it makes you sure his family must be anxious about him, 

 but the piping little ones have quite a cheerful note, which 

 blends agreeably with the chirpings of the grasshoppers. 



On the marshy banks of the little pool, which cannot com- 

 fortably be reached without overshoes, some slim Willows are 

 bravely growing, which I fear will some day make it too shady 

 for the flowers, but at present they serve to give the spot a 

 cosy and protected air, and the sunlight shifts through the 

 light foliage, and falls kindly on the bright group of blossoms 

 that make it so gay at the end of summer. 



The pool is close to an old gray fence, over which the wild 

 vines clamber, and against which the Milkwort, with its stiff 

 stems and smooth leaves, stands up erect, its panicled pink 

 blossom a-top ; not a very choice plant, but a sturdy one, and 

 the vivid color "carries" well against the green, and com- 

 poses agreeably with the masses of Arrowheads that are at 

 this season full of blossoms and tall-stemmed sharp leaves, 

 like a group of Amazons with their shafts drawn to the ear. 



