December 23, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



603 



Hospital, a large, admirably situated building, from which the 

 patients must enjoy a noble sight, for here the eye wanders 

 over a vast extent of level country, relieved by hills and dis- 

 tant homes, through which meanders the River Fore. In the 

 far middle distance uprise the mountainous hills of Oxford 

 County, blue and impressive, while in the remotest back- 

 ground, half-hidden by shifting clouds, loom up the peaks of 

 the White Mountains of New Hampshire, Mount Washington 

 clearly relieved with its unmistakable purple profile against a 

 pale gray sky, and now and then veiling its head completely 

 in drifting clouds. From November until May these peaks of 

 a clear evening can be seen in white silhouette against the 

 golden sky as the traveler leaves Portland by train or boat. 



Such a champaign, diversified with near glimpses of the 

 bay and the winding river which empties into it, with that 

 vast hundred-mile stretch terminating in mountain-peaks, is 

 a wonderful thing to look out upon from a busy and populous 

 city. But there is a drawback to this fine boulevard which 

 should not be permitted to exist. 



Unfortunately, the steeply descending hill-side, clothed with 

 scattered Pines, that intervenes between the Western Prome- 

 nade and its great outlook, has not yet been acquired by the 

 city, though the opportunity has been afforded by the heirs 

 of the J. B. Brown estate to exchange this land for other lots 

 lying in a different part of the town. 



When I recognize how much public spirit is shown by rich 

 men in Massachusetts towns ; when I see the great gifts of land 

 for parks made in Springfield, in Lynn, in Worcester, and even 

 in little Plymouth, I cannot help hoping that a similar gener- 

 osity may be found in Portland, and that like munificent gifts 

 may be made to it by some of the inhabitants. But, failing 

 this, it seems a lack of foresight in any town to relinquish 

 such an opportunity as this for securing to its dwellers for all 

 time so magnificent an outlook as that from the Western 

 Promenade. Such a mistake would be forever regretted, until 

 some day, at enormous expense, the city would see fit to re- 

 pair its error by resuming control of the property and destroy- 

 ing the intervening buildings. The town has, I understand, 

 but a limited time in which to come to a decision ; but a city 

 which has been, heretofore, willing to pay between six and 

 seven thousand dollars a year for the construction and main- 

 tenance of its park system, cannot afford to draw the purse- 

 strings between it and one of the finest views in the whole 

 beautiful state of Maine. 



So far Portland has been wise and generous in her outlay, 

 and, with all the wealth of that thriving town to call on, it is 

 not to be believed that she will be wanting to so great an 

 occasion. 



Hingham, Mass. M. C. RobbltlS. 



Notes of a Summer Journey in Europe. — II. 



NO doubt, Geneva is indebted for much of her wealth of 

 American and other foreign trees and shrubs to the in- 

 fluence and work of her illustrious botanists, the De Can- 

 dolles, who have always made the city their chief home. The 

 Botanic Garden here was planned and arranged early in the 

 century, by the first illustrious botanical member of the De 

 Candolle family, according to what is known as the De Can- 

 dollean system of classification, and although the garden is not 

 large it is quite worth a visit from any botanist or horticul- 

 turist. It occupies a sheltered situation almost in the heart of 

 the city, and is divided into a number of sections, each en- 

 closed by low fences and intersected by numerous paths. On 

 account of its limited area, there is not a great deal in it of 

 much interest to an arboriculturist or dendrologist ; in fact, 

 the most interesting trees, about thirty-five in number, com- 

 prising twenty-five species, are crowded into six rows, cover- 

 ing a piece of ground less than two hundred feet long and sixty 

 feet wide. This group is not within the systematically arranged 

 enclosures, and it is said to have been planted in the second 

 decade of the present century. Here, among others, are two 

 large Gingko-trees, labeled as staminate and pistillate ; a Cedar 

 of Lebanon, with a trunk about twenty-eight inches in diam- 

 eter at three or four feet from the ground, and a specimen of 

 Zelkoiva crenata, with a smooth trunk two feet in diameter. 

 While this tree has very much the habit of some Elms, to 

 which family it belongs, the bark looks something like that of 

 the Plane-tree (Platanus), or it may be said to be even smoother, 

 the old bark scaling off in comparatively thin plates. In a 

 corner of the garden is a Paulownia, with the largest trunk of 

 any tree in it, while a specimen of our Cucumber-tree {Mag- 

 nolia acuminata) is the best and almost only representative of 

 its genus. 

 The herbaceous collection is a fair representative one, in 



good condition and apparently well labeled. The labels mostly 

 in use here are made of thick, heavy zinc, and are either tied 

 to the plants or fastened to stout iron rods. The names are 

 cut into the metal by an acid which is applied after the zinc 

 has been covered with engravers' wax and the desired name 

 written through it. The name thus eaten out by the action of 

 the acid is afterward filled in with black paint, making a fairly 

 indelible record, and one that is easily legible at close quar- 

 ters. It is, however, rather a laborious and slow method of 

 getting an ordinary written label. As in most Swiss and Ger- 

 man collections, one of the chief prides of the garden consists 

 in the rockeries, or collections of alpine plants, as they are 

 called, although they are by no means limited to plants of the 

 mountains. The rockeries here are arranged in a rather for- 

 mal and inartistic way, comprising several symmetrical piles 

 of stones and soil. The plants, however, were in a flourishing 

 condition and showed good care. At the time of my visit 

 (July 20th) most of the alpine plants had long since passed 

 their flowering stage, but a few were still conspicuous, chief 

 among them being Campanulas, Poppies, Rock-roses, Gen- 

 tians, Sedums, various species of Dianthus, Statice, etc. High 

 up in the cooler, moister atmosphere of the mountain-slopes 

 many species were still blooming freely, while in the garden 

 they had passed on to the fruiting stage. 



Quite as interesting, in a way, as the Botanic Garden, and a 

 place well deserving of a visit by any enthusiast in the study of 

 alpine floras, and particularly the flora of the Swiss Alps, is the 

 Jardin Alpin d'Acclimatation. This establishment was started 

 in 1884, under the patronage of the Swiss "Association pour la 

 Protection des Plantes," an organization started a few years pre- 

 viously. 



The object of the association itself is to save from destruc- 

 tion the beautiful and rare native plants of Switzerland, many of 

 which were so fast becoming exterminated by botanists, tour- 

 ists, foreign plant-collectors, and, worst of all, by the native 

 population, who had found a remunerative pursuit, first in the 

 sale of the flowers, and then in the collection and sale of the 

 plants, which were dug or torn up by hundreds and thousands. 

 Among the methods of accomplishing the desired end, as 

 stated in the articles of organization, are the following : By the 

 example of its members ; by issuing popular publications for 

 the purpose of educating the public in the manner of raising 

 and cultivating these alpine plants ; by appeal to the civil au- 

 thorities, and by encouraging the culture of the plants by regu- 

 lar horticulturists and others, so that they may become 

 common. 



The headquarters of the association is at Geneva, and 

 branch societies are established wherever a sufficient number 

 of persons can be found interested in the subject. An an- 

 nual fee of about forty cents (two francs) is charged, and citi- 

 zens of any country are eligible as members. The association 

 publishes periodical bulletins and also issues catalogues of 

 seeds and plants. The establishment of the garden is intended 

 to assist amateurs and others in obtaining at a very small cost 

 the seeds of alpine plants or plants raised from seed. As 

 plants thus raised can be depended on to thrive if given proper 

 conditions, it is the hope of the society that the incentive to 

 tear the wild plants from their native soil may be greatly less- 

 ened ; because, besides leaving the valleys, mountain-slopes 

 and rocks denuded of their beautiful flowers, it is well known 

 that only a very small percentage of these ruthlessly torn up 

 plants ever live to bloom or get adapted to their new homes. 

 An instance of extermination may be mentioned in the case of 

 Potentilla frtiticosa, which, though found all around the north- 

 ern hemisphere, and once common in Switzerland, is not now 

 found within the limits of the country, the last of it having dis- 

 appeared within a few years. 



The plan of the association seems a good one, and much 

 good can be accomplished through its garden if it is efficiently 

 conducted and its existence and aim become well known. At 

 present the garden is small, and so are the means at command 

 for conducting it, and no doubt much of the interest mani- 

 fested and the success of the undertakings thus far is due to 

 the enthusiasm of M. H. Correvon, the president of the asso- 

 ciation and the director of the garden. From the garden the 

 true plant-lover or the mere souvenir-hunter may obtain good 

 healthy pot-grown plants of the much sought tor Edelweiss, 

 with directions as to its culture, and also of the Alpine Rose 

 or Rhododendron, of the Anemones, Cyclamens and innu- 

 merable other plants which contribute to make Switzerland so 

 attractive to the traveler. The catalogue, however, will be 

 found to contain the names of many plants not natives of 

 Switzerland, as well as some which are not strictly alpine. 



Among other objects of the association is the establishment 

 of gardens or reservations in various parts of the high Alps, 



