December 2, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



575 



for the shoots, so red the day before the freeze, are black and 

 drooping now, and the numerous buds are ruined, of course. 

 Our Fig-trees dropped their remaining leaves in a hurry, but 

 no injury to the wood can be seen. A large plant of Ipomcea 

 Texana, an erect, tree-like Morning Glory, from the lower Rio 

 Grande, the hardiness of which we are testing outside for the 

 first time, was killed half-way down. It stood in a sheltered 

 place, and was about eight feet high. The lower wood is so 

 hard and ripe that we have strong hopes that the mound of 

 earth we have built around its base will save it. 



The extremely dry and sunny autumn had doubtless a great 

 deal to do with the immunity of some things from harm, and 

 the short duration of the cold also should be considered. But 

 this sudden hard frost, coming after such a warm spell, gives 

 me more confidence in the hardiness of the Japan Mandarin 

 Orange, the Oonshin or Satsuma, than any test it has hereto- 

 fore had. Whether permanently hardy here or not, it seems 

 pretty certain that this variety will move the Orange belt, at 

 least for Mandarins, a long way north of its present limits. 

 Our trees are grafted on the Citncs trifoliata stock, which will 

 dwarf them to the size of shrubs rather than trees, and at the 

 same time will make it comparatively easy to give them some 

 protection. We are studying the effects of different modes of 

 protecting half-hardy plants, but with these Orange-trees we 

 prefer to test their hardiness with full exposure. 



One Olive-tree, planted on the south-east side of a high 

 board fence, shows a suspicious brownish tinge on the leaves, 

 while the others look as fresh as ever. This is doubtless be- 

 cause the morning sun struck it when frozen. Among other 

 mulching materials, I am trying broken rocks, a little smaller 

 perhaps than good macadamizing metal. As a summer mulch 

 they are admirable ; whether they will be of service in protec- 

 tion from frost I am not yet sure about, but in the last short 

 chill the soil did not freeze under them. As a mulch to keep 

 strawberries clean they are first-rate, and I believe hasten the 

 ripening by their rapid absorption of heat by day and radiation 

 at night. Broken flint-rocks are such a plentiful material here 

 that trials are easily made. 



In one of our Fig-plantations we have set Pine-bushes all 

 along through the rows upright in the soil. These bushes are 

 a little taller than the Figs, and give the plantation the appear- 

 ance of a rather thinly set Pine-thicket. Another lot of trees 

 north of these, and on a little higher ground, will have no pro- 

 tection whatever, the object being to try the effect of a light 

 shelter with a free circulation of air. But little will be shown, 

 however, unless the winter is unusually severe, as Figs sel- 

 dom suffer here, except in hard winters. Agave Americana 

 will be tested with full exposure, and also with a shelter to 

 keep water out of the centre. 



The behavior of the Pittosporum for the past three years 

 convinces me that this handsome evergreen shrub will prove 

 hardy much farther north than it is generally planted. In the 

 Gardeners' Monthly for September, 1876, Mr. Walter Elder 

 writes : " A plant of Pittosporum Tobira, four and a half feet 

 high and three feet in diameter, was planted in the open gar- 

 den of James C. Smith, Esq., 2104 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 

 in June, 1875. It stood out all last winter without injury, and 

 now, June 5th, 1876, it is in a flourishing condition, covered 

 with sweet-scented blossoms and filling the air with fragrance 

 for a long distance." It would be interesting to know how 

 long- this plant survived. ' _ „, 



Raleigh, N c. W. *• Massey. 



teen feet. This is a four-years growth, which it would be hard 

 to find equaled among our native trees. 



During the past summer the tree formed its first crop of 

 flower-buds. These are borne in large terminal racemes, and 

 are about the size of a Morello cherry, and have the appear- 

 ance of being made of thick soft buckskin, so snugly are the 

 embryo blossoms protected from frost by the thick calyx-lobes. 



In spite of this care many of the buds were blackened to the 

 heart by a severe frost early in October, and it is very doubtful 

 whether any of them survive the winter. 



Kansas Agricultural College. 



The Paulownia in Kansas. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir,— A spreading tree by the side of the main drive- way in 

 the college grounds here has often attracted the attention of 

 passers by its very large leaves. It is usually taken for some 

 remarkable variety of Catalpa, the resemblance to those trees 

 both in foliage and habit being quite striking. The specimen 

 is a Paulownia, doubtless the most western tree of its kind to 

 be found in the Mississippi valley. It was grown from seed in 

 1884, and up to 1889 was cut back each spring to the ground, 

 and grown for the rank sprouts which bore enormous broad 

 leaves. In the summer of 1888 one sprout from this root grew 

 to be nine feet high and two and a half inches in diameter. 

 Some of the leaves were nearly two feet broad. In autumn 

 this sprout was cut back to six feet high and wrapped thickly 

 with hay. The winter following being a mild one, it came 

 through without injury, and by the next fall measured four 

 inches in diameter and had made a top growth of seven feet. 

 At present the tree measures twenty-eight inches in circum- 

 ference and is about eighteen feet high, with a spread of six- 



5". C. Mason. 



Winchell and Green Mountain. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — As my note in Garden and Forest in regard to the 

 similarity of the foliage of the Winchell and Green Mountain 

 Grapes has been extensively copied, it may be proper for me 

 to say that both Ellwanger & Barry and Stephen Hoyt's Sons 

 sent me samples of the grapes which they grew respectively 

 under the above names. If the clusters received from the 

 two firms had been placed side by side and the names re- 

 moved I should probably have been unable to distinguish them 

 from their appearance. There seemed to be a slight difference 

 in flavor, which may have been caused by different degrees of 

 ripeness or by difference in soils. The vine of Winchell which 

 I have growing did not come from Messrs. Ellwanger & Barry 

 direct, but they have now sent me vines which will be planted 

 for test. Judging from the fruit sent me, if the vines prove as 

 nearly identical as the fruit it will be unfortunate if they go 

 out under two names. We expect to fruit them (or it) next 

 summer and to settle for this section the date of ripening. 



So far, the White Diamond is the earliest white grape we 

 have tested. Its clusters are not so compact and handsome 

 as the Winchell or Green Mountain clusters sent us, but the 

 grape is better in quality, and promises to hang on the stem 

 better. A large grower of early grapes in Florida, who was 

 here a few days ago, told us that the Diamond is being largely 

 planted there for early shipment, and he was quite enthusias- 

 tic over its quality and productiveness. Grape -growers in 

 the south are rapidly finding out that the Delaware is particu- 

 larly adapted to sandy lands, and is more exempt from black 

 rot than many others. There is a growing inclination to plant 

 largely of this fine old sort. 



Agricultural College, Raleigh, N. C. W. F. Massey. 



Notes. 



The Central Park in this city contains nine miles of drives, 

 five and three-quarter miles of bridle-paths', and twenty-nine 

 and one-half miles of walks. 



The house called Claremont, at the end of the Riverside 

 Drive in this city, now used as a restaurant, was occupied long 

 ago by Viscount Courteney, and later by Joseph Bonaparte. 



The American Forestry Association will hold a meeting in 

 Washington on December the 29th and 30th. A full attend- 

 ance of the members is desired, and a strong effort will be 

 made to secure national forest-reservations. 



The yield of potatoes to the acre is larger throughout the 

 country than it has been for ten years past, "and in some states, 

 according to the Government crop reports, the average for a 

 state is rated as high as 120 to 125 bushels per acre. For the 

 whole country the yield per acre is given at nearly ninety-four 

 bushels. 



Chrysanthemum-shows have been successful beyond prece- 

 dent in England this year, and the same is true of the exhibi- 

 tions on this side of the water. Before the shows many 

 complaints were heard that the season was unfavorable, but 

 never before were fine blooms displayed in such numbers. 

 Exhibitions were held in a dozen cities, any one of which was 

 superior to the very best in the country a dozen years ago. 



In an article on the " Literature of the Garden," published in 

 a late number of the Gardeners' Magazine, Mr. F. W. Bur- 

 bidge, in speaking of John Parkinson's famous " Paradisus 

 Terrestris," says : "I know of no book on gardening and flow- 

 ers, etc., which possesses quite the delightful old English tone 

 of Parkinson, and, among other remarkable things, this work 

 is famous as containing the first systematic arrangement of 

 Daffodils, or Narcissi, no less than ninety-six species and varie- 

 ties being illustrated or described in its pages. A modern 

 garden stocked with all the plants of Parkinson's book would 

 be a very good garden, even although it lacked a great many 



