460 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 188. 



At the edge of the pool a mass of sedges has been left un- 

 mown, and here are clumps of the creamy blossoms of the 

 wild Foxglove, mixed with all sorts of Golden-rod and some 

 budding Asters, while the flowers of the Grasses are them- 

 selves beautiful and various in their own quiet way, some 

 with plumes and some with spears, as if ready to oppose the 

 Arrowheads. 



The wild Carraway and the Yarrow show white among the 

 grass, and there is a wonderful rosy hue in the tall spikes of 

 Dock that are blooming near by. The Forget-me-nots are 

 still full of blue blossoms, and spread out into the water far 

 and wide, the earliest to come and the last to go of all the sim- 

 ple ornaments of the water garden. 



But the glory of the pool is the Cardinal Flower, of rich dark 

 red, which lifts its bracted racemes proudly and with the dig- 

 nity of a true hierarch. This shows to advantage for the first 

 time this year, having before fallen a victim to the careless 

 scythe, so that its blossoms, which it persisted in putting forth 

 in spite of discouragements, were only a few inches high. But 

 this summer no mower was allowed to come within' six feet 

 of the spot, and we are well rewarded by the glow and stateli- 

 ness of this superb flower, which would be an ornament to the 

 proudest parterre. The Water-lily bulbs that we got from a 

 nursery in the spring have proved a failure, whether because 

 they were planted too deep in the mud or because the bulbs 

 were defective, it is impossible to say. It may be that the 

 spring is too cold for them, and that they require the warmer 

 water of a pond ; but they should not be difficult to raise, for 

 I saw a pink Water-lily blossoming this summer in a rocky pool, 

 with nothing to grow in but the ball of rich mud in which it 

 had been tightly packed before beinggently laid in its stony bed. 



A picturesque spot it was, with a stream trickling down the 

 face of a high granite rock, that formed the background to a 

 tiny terrace-garden, in proportion to which the miniature 

 brook was a river, along the grassy shores of which minute 

 water plants were growing. A. flight of stone steps led down 

 into this terrace, which was banked around with flowers, leav- 

 ing in the centre a turfed semicircle large enough for an after- 

 noon tea-table and a few seats. Tall Pines waved overhead, 

 and the tops of Oaks and Hornbeams intervened between the 

 garden and the sea, which gleamed whitely between their 

 rustling leaves. On the stone curb of the spring stood a quaint 

 blue water-jug, and a drinking-cup made of a shell and a bit of 

 bamboo. In a corner more rough stone steps led to a lower 

 terrace, also girt about with flowers, from which a rocky wind- 

 ing path led down through the forest to the beach. Ivy clam- 

 bered over the rocks, and wild flowers and grasses, intermixed 

 with Ferns, hung from the crevices. It was a bit of artistic 

 naturalness that would have enchanted a Japanese, and was 

 the result of a fair woman's skillful planning and fine sense of 

 the picturesque. 



But, returning to our own water garden, we find higher up 

 the bank the Hawkweed showing its yellow stars waving on 

 slender stems, and the Prunella displaying its stiff blue clusters, 

 while more Asters blossom, and tufts of Golden-rod cling to 

 the hill-side, and entice us to a climb among the Pines. 



Here we find that the dry summer has made havoc. Of the 

 thirty-five planted in April we shall barely save a dozen. This 

 is discouraging, but we have gone bravely to work to set some 

 more, and try whether August skies will be more propitious in 

 the way of rain. We have also put in a few Savins, though we 

 hear they take unkindly to transplantation. 



The little Oaks and Maples have thriven, and are showing 

 green against the already withering grass. The soil is yearly 

 improving by letting it lie fallow, and the foot sinks into the 

 soft cushion the uncut hay is making as a covering for 

 the sand and gravel. If it were not for endangering the seed- 

 lings, quite a crop could be harvested. It is not soil the hill 

 lacks so much as rain ; but the long drought parches and dis- 

 tresses the plantation, and will do so till the trees can shade the 

 ground and preserve its moisture. 



The small Chestnut group of which I boasted in the spring 

 has made very little progress, and hardly looks larger than it 

 did last summer. Insects injured the early growth, and there 

 was no later growth for lack of rain. But the trees are alive 

 and healthy, so that we have something to be thankful for. 

 Our one Mulberry-tree bore fruit plentifully, but failed to make 

 much leaf-way. None of these trees were either top-dressed 

 or watered, or they would have done better. It is impossible 

 for us to keep everything in high condition, so that we must 

 content ourselves with the slow progress that nature affords 

 when unassisted. It really seems as if sunshine and water are 

 the prime essentials, and that feeding is not half so important 

 as drinking. With this view, it is hard to understand why it 

 would have upset the economy of nature to have a shower 



every night in summer, to refresh the fields and gardens of 

 the world. Possibly in time, when the new system of produc- 

 ing rain has been brought down to a fine point, there will be 

 twice a week in villages a pyrotechnic display, accompanied 

 with explosions, that will transform the year into a perpetual 

 Fourth of July. 



Seriously speaking, should this new enterprise prove suc- 

 cessful, what a revolution man is to produce in nature ! To 

 trust such powers to his pigmy hand is dangerous, for the 

 consequences of his personal gratification may be fatal to 

 millions. Fertilize the Desert of Sahara, and you cool off the 

 south of Europe. Alter the temperature of Spain and Italy 

 and southern France, and what is to become of the British 

 Isles ? It may be tftat thus the future of the Dark Continent is 

 to be fulfilled. Migrations southward may begin. Norway 

 and Sweden, like Greenland, may be left principally to the in- 

 ferior races, while new colonies spring up in lands now ten- 

 anted but by the wandering Bedouin or the swarthy Soudanese. 



Given new conditions, results are incalculable, and if the 

 rain, as well as the lightning, is to be harnessed to the Chariot 

 of Man, who can tell what disaster shall await the Phaeton who 

 dares to drive such mighty and resistless steeds ? Shall he too 

 be hurled to ruin as a punishment for his over-topping ambi- 

 tion ; or will he prove master and lord even of the elemental 

 forces from whence he came ? What is most sure is, that 

 before they yield themselves wholly to his bidding he must 

 suffer the consequences of his rashness, and win his way to 

 control only by ghastly sacrifice of human life. 



Hingham, Mass. M. C. Bobbins. 



Forest-vegetation of the Upper Mississippi. — I. 



THE Mississippi River and its tributaries, from Trempea- 

 -*■ lean, Wisconsin, to Dubuque, Iowa, are enclosed by bluffs 

 varying from 200 feet to 600 feet high. At Dubuque they are 

 much lower than at La Crosse ; in the latter place they are some- 

 thing more than 500 feet above the level of Lake Michigan ; 

 sometimes they present steep, sandy rocks ; in other places they 

 are covered with a dense growth of trees. The region is well 

 watered by numerous small streams emptying into the Mis- 

 sissippi, while it contains a number of streams of good size, 

 as the Wisconsin, Black, La Crosse, Root and Turkey rivers. 

 The smaller as well as the larger streams are well timbered 

 with Oaks, Poplars, Birches, "Maples, Hickories, Butternut, 

 Walnut, Plums, Cherries, a few conifers, and, southward, the 

 Coffee-tree and Honey Locust. 



Much has been written concerning soils and the character 

 of the vegetation. It is, indeed, a puzzling question, and I 

 doubt whether it can truly be said that certain species strictly 

 confine themselves to certain definite soils, yet certain trees, 

 as well as herbaceous plants, may preponderate in certain 

 soils. Perhaps this may be due to the physical condition of 

 the soil rather than its chemical constitution. The Soft Maple 

 {Acer saccharinum) and Black Birch (Betulo lento) are the pre- 

 dominating trees in the Mississippi, Wisconsin and Black 

 River bottoms. They also follow up the smaller streams 

 which flow into these rivers, but as soon as these streams are 

 left these trees become rare. The Soft Maple and Black Birch 

 occur most numerously where the lands are subject to over- 

 flows every year. Most of the Oaks never occur in such situ- 

 ations, yet the Swamp White Oak {Quercus bicolor) is an ex- 

 ception. The only place where this species occurs is in the 

 low sandy and black bottom-lands of the Mississippi and 

 Black rivers. The White Pine only occurs on the sandy rocks 

 or sandy loam soil of the region, always near streams, but in 

 the northern part of La Crosse County it is encroaching on the 

 loamy soil. The Tamarack (Larix larcinse) only occurs in 

 cold wet swamps. 



The soils of the region may be classed under sandy, loamy, 

 calcareous, alluvial and peaty. The greatest area's of sandy soil 

 occur near the mouths of the rivers. (This is not true for the 

 interior of the state.) These sand prairies are not, however, 

 numerous on the west side of the river. As an illustration, 

 at La Crosse, Wisconsin, there is a sand prairie some eight 

 miles long, and from one-half to three miles wide. The only 

 arboreal vegetation growing on these soils are two species of 

 Oak, Burr Oak (Qiiercus macrocarpa), Black Oak (Q. tlnctoria), 

 and occasionally the Green Ash (Fraxinus viridis) and Black 

 Birch (Betula lento). These trees, however, only occur in close 

 proximity to the Mississippi bottoms. Other sand prairies, 

 similar to this one, occur at Trempealeau and Prairie du 

 Chien, Wisconsin. As regards the herbaceous vegetation on 

 these prairies, it might be said that it is a typical prairie flora. 

 Liatris cylindrica, Verbena stricta, Baptisia leucantha, Fetalos- 

 temon violacens, CEnothera rhombiftctala, Botilelona hirsuta, 



