September 30, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



465 



weigh from 400 to 500 pounds. This enormous plant had no 

 less than fifty flowers open in one night, and for several nights 

 there were from twenty to thirty flowers open. Unfortunately 

 for visitors the flowers of this and several other of the largest 

 and handsomest Cacti do not open before dusk, and they close 

 again soon after sunrise the next morning. 



The flowers, when fully unfolded, measured thirteen inches 

 across the sepals and six inches across the cup formed by the 

 white petals. Lining the inside of the flower are numerous 

 long hair-like stamens, which are bright yellow in color. The 

 fleshy cylindrical style reaches just over the top of the cup 

 formed by the petals, and is divided at its apex into a number 

 of spreading filaments about an inch long. It is impossible to 

 give a description of these flowers that would convey anything 

 like a full idea of their beauty. 



The cultivation of the large night-blooming Cacti is not diffi- 

 cult, and I would recommend them for covering bare rafters 

 and walls in large conservatories. In addition to C. triangu- 

 laris there are C. Macdonaldice, one of the best of the night- 

 blooming species; C. grandiflorus, C. Lemaire, C. nycticaulis 

 and C. Napoleonis. All these grow freely, and produce large 

 and handsome flowers which open at night. 



Botanic Garden, Cambridge, Mass. R- Lavieroil. 



Symplocos crataegoides. — This Japanese shrub, which has 

 found a place in a few American gardens in late years, under 

 the name of Symplocos fianiculata, is surprisingly beautiful 

 just now. Its branches are loaded with fruit of a bright ultra- 

 marine blue, quite different in color from the fruit of any other 

 hardy tree or shrub. The merits of this plant have already 

 been set forth more than once in these columns, but it is un- 

 usual to find a hardy shrub, perfectly easy to cultivate, of good 

 habit and productive of handsome flowers and beautiful fruit, 

 and it is always a pleasure to recommend it. Those who have 

 gardens cannot go amiss in adding this to their collections, 

 however choice they may be, or however small the space 

 they can devote to the cultivation of hardy shrubs. Mr. 

 Thomas Hogg has placed us, in America, under deep 

 obligation for several useful and beautiful plants which he 

 was able to send home from Japan. at a time when Japanese 

 plants, with a few exceptions, were almost unknown in America 

 and Europe. Among them none has greater value, or pos- 

 sesses more conspicuous and individual beauty than the sub- 

 ject of this note. 



Boston, Mass. 



s. 



Correspondence. 



The Beaver and the Flow of Streams. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The most practical methods of retarding the flow of 

 water in the smaller streams, to prevent destructive floods and 

 maintain constant water-supply, is now a pressing question, 

 and a question well worthy of study. Dams on rivers and on 

 their .larger tributaries — except at the outlet of lakes — are not 

 to be thought of seriously, for the elements of expense and 

 danger are too great for any extended practical use. The 

 work that has been done in Europe, such as the building of 

 retaining walls, to prevent erosion on the convex side of 

 bends, and the construction of dams, forming basins to hold 

 back the water and catch boulders, gravel and sand, may 

 prove the best devices in a steep, hilly country, with valuable 

 property immediately threatened below ; but no two cases 

 will be found precisely alike, and the individual judgment in 

 dealing with such questions will always have ample oppor- 

 tunity for the exercise of practical invention. 



Any attempt to give details that will apply to each case will 

 be idle, for such work should always be in charge of men 

 who can invent new plans for the needs of each case. A few 

 suggestions may, however, be in order as indicating the im- 

 portance of turning to use the forces of nature, when, as so 

 often is the case, these forces, wisely guided, may be utilized 

 to do the work. 



A beautiful illustration of such management is found in the 

 fascine dams for retarding water and debris in the rivulets at 

 the remoter sources of streams in Europe. These dams are 

 made by digging a shallow trench across the water-course and 

 bedding in this trench immense bundles of live willow-rods. 

 These bundles are then banked on the upper side, and at 

 once the Willows begin to grow, and a living dam is formed 

 of material that is both effective and self-perpetuating. 



To one who has traveled in the primitive woods of North 

 America, these fascine dams at once suggest the work 

 of the beaver, whose dams of willow-fagots and mud, up to 

 four and even five feet high, and sometimes over half a mile 



long, have formed or increased lakelets, from which the water 

 has filtered in a manner best adapted to the preservation of 

 constant water-flow. 



These dams, abandoned by the destruction of the beaver, 

 are now nearly all cut through, and to a great degree ren- 

 dered of no value in retarding water, yet they remain as his- 

 torical indices of the past condition of our primitive forests, 

 and no small factor to be considered in accounting for the in- 

 creased inconstancy of streams which follows settlement in a 

 wooded country. The restoration of this valuable fur-bear- 

 ing model of industry to its former domain is suggested as a 

 project deserving serious consideration. Such a restoration 

 might be quite effective in retarding water-How, preventing 

 erosion and soil moisture, and maintaining water-ways, city 

 and mill-supply, at a minimum expense ; and this expense 

 the production of valuable furs would aid materially in de- 

 fraying. 



Washington, D. C. H. B. A. 



Pomology. 

 Meeting of the American Pomological Society. — I. 



THE American Pomological Society held its twenty- 

 third biennial session at Washington on the invitation 

 of the Secretary of Agriculture. As a rule, the society ac- 

 cepts the hospitality of some local organization, but in this 

 instance the gathering was welcomed by the Honorable 

 Edwin Willets, the Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, in the 

 Lecture Hall of the National Museum. During the sessions 

 papers were read by several of the experts connected with 

 the department, and all the material of the department in 

 the way of fruit models, etc., were placed at the service of 

 the society. 



The fruit exhibit, which the older members say has not 

 been so good of recent years as it was twenty-five years 

 ago, was very creditable in every way. The state of Vir- 

 ginia, through her Commissioner of Agriculture, showed one 

 hundred and sixty-three varieties of Apples, which repre- 

 sented all the fruit regions of the state, from tide-water to 

 the mountains, and many of them, notably the Albemarle 

 Pippins, were exceptionally good. From Mississippi, Ten- 

 nessee, New Jersey and many other states there were 

 promising seedlings, and Messrs. Ellwanger and Barry had 

 a very large display of Pears. Of the minor exhibits there 

 was a striking collection of Citrus fruits from Florida shown 

 by the Rev. Lyman Phelps, with some admirable Pines 

 from the same state by Mr. H. S. Williams. President 

 Berckmans exhibited an interesting collection of Japanese 

 Persimmons of all sizes, shapes and colors, and Mr. H. M. 

 Engle, of Pennsylvania, some of the remarkable Chestnuts 

 which he is growing. 



A good deal of time was spent on the revision of the cata- 

 logue, which is really one of the most important functions 

 of the society, but very plainly it is a difficult matter for 

 a few members in the hurry of such an occasion to pass 

 any such deliberate judgment as they deserve on the merits 

 of fruits and their adaptation to different regions. Mr. 

 Berckmans' suggestion in his address, that this work should 

 be practically done by local societies, under the supervi- 

 sion of the national one, commended itself to all of the 

 members. We give below a few of the more important 

 paragraphs from this address, which was a general survey 

 of the field and a careful record of pomological progress 

 since the meeting of the society in Florida two years ago. 

 The officers chosen for the next two years are Prosper J. 

 Berckmans, of Augusta, Georgia, President ; C. L. Watrous, 

 of Des Moines, Iowa, First Vice-President ; G. B. Brackett, 

 Denmark, Iowa, Secretary ; Benjamin G. Smith, Cambridge, 

 Massachusetts, Treasurer. 



THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



In speaking of the work of auxiliary societies, Mr. Berck- 

 mans said : 



These local organizations could hold meetings every month, 

 or even oftener if need be, especially during the fruit season, 

 and at these meetings the merits and demerits of fruits could 

 be ascertained, annual reports made, to the state society, to 

 which these local societies should be auxiliaries. In this way the 



