FOREST r AND STREAM. 



^oadlmtd, jfiwm mat %mdtn, 



THE CHARMS OF NATURAL SCENERY. 



IN a shady glen or ravine, inviting as it does quiet contem- 

 plation, we are often enabled to discern minor objects of 

 beauty, which, under ordinary circumstances, would be pass- 

 ed by unheeded. Here a charming tuft of moss, covered with 

 hundreds of its classical urn-shaped capsules, supported on 

 shining foot stalks ; there a tiny bit of wall-rue, mountain 

 spleen-wort or walking fern, spring from the seams of rock, 

 or grow embedded between the lichen-covered stones, all hap- 

 py and at home. Rarely indeed has a closer inspection failed 

 to reveal something unexpected — some little treasure that 

 might be taken home as a special souvenir. The impressive 

 grandeur of the rocks— piled in Irregular jutting masses— here 

 all but overarching the narrow stream, there anon expanding 

 outward into a sort of graduated series of irregular and abrupt 

 terraces, associated and contrasted with the finely developed 

 fronds of the ferns, could not fail to enchant all lovers of 

 the romantic. Under the subdued light — moistened by the 

 trickling drops that filter through the rocky crevices, and shel- 

 tered from the drying winds— many of our most charming 

 plants find a fittiug and congenial home, in which they fre- 

 quently enjoy a magnitude of development that almost leads 

 one to question their specific identity. What lovely masses 

 of moss festoon the face of the jutting rocks!— and deep be- 

 neath, in the dark corners grow the inarchantia and other 

 lichens, stealthily but surely performing their own infinitesi- 

 mal part in the gigantic work of disintegration that is contin- 

 uously in progress. Then, again, what an additional interest 

 do the tortuous roots give rise to, as they twist and twine in 

 search of their scanty food, inserting themselves into every 

 crack and crevice, and gradually growing in thickness, till 

 they become gnarled with age, and in their growth assert 

 the vital power of organic over unorganic nature, by displac- 

 ing, at times, large fragments of rock into the stream below. 

 Seeing then that these ravines have an especial beauty and 

 constitute a marked characteristic in our natnral scenery, the 

 question suggests itself, or ought to suggest itself, to every 

 possessor of a country home, is there any wild corner that 

 could by a little skillful manipulation be metamorphosed into 

 a ravine? Any attempt to imitate nature on a large scale must 

 necessarily be attended with considerable expense in the mat- 

 ter of labor alone, independently of the cost of massive blocks 

 of rock, .old roots, etc.; but there are gardens in which nature 

 has provided the necessary elements to form the ground work, 

 and it may not be out of place here to give a few hints by 

 which the amateur may be assisted in the selection of such 

 plants as are best adapted for beautifying the ground work al- 

 ready formed to his hand. "Where such a ravine is traversed 

 by a stream and overshadowed by trees, few plants are more 

 at home than the great majority of our hardy ferns. Chief 

 among them the various flowering varieties, Osmunda, cinna- 

 momea, spectabilis and interrupts, with the ostrich plumed 

 Struthropteris, Pennsylvanica and Germanica claim the prom- 

 inent places, closely followed by broad and massive groups of 

 Onoclea sensibilis. The various Phegopteris with their delicate 

 fronds should have a shady nook ; PolypocUum vulgare may 

 cover a partially shaded rock; the curious and interesting walk- 

 ing fern (Carnptosoiits) will be at home in a damp and mossy 

 1 jcation; the Climbing fern (Lygodium) will grow and flourish 

 in a moist, grassy, shady spot; while the various Asplen'uuus, 

 .Aspidiums, Woodsias, the exceedingly graceful and sweet- 

 is «nted Dicksonia, and even the Lycopodiurns (Club-mosses) 

 a id SeJagmellaa will peep from many a nook, and give added 

 i iterest to every step. But in addition to these fairy bowers 

 o" ferns, there are many of our native flowering plants as 

 ■well as of the cultivated herbaceous varieties that will 

 add greatly to the beauty of such an arrangement. For 

 creeping plants to cover damp soil and form natural 

 draperies none are better suited than the common Moneywort 

 ( Lydmachia jiummularia), and its golden-leaved variety, the 

 ti bthorpia Europea, and the golden Chrysosplenium also 

 d ;arly love a damp locality. The twin-flowered Linnea Bo- 

 XJsilis, the early Hepaticas, Thalictrum, Deceutras, Wood 

 Anemones and violets; the rosy Oxalis, all the Trilliums and 

 Bpimediums, Dodecatheon, Trientalis, Hypoxis or Stargrass, 

 Aldenlandia (Bluets), Aquilegias, not neglecting the new 

 golden A. Chrysantha, and hundreds of others, will naturally 

 find a proper situation, while over them will wave the lovely 

 Solomon's Seal (Polygonatmn), the Baneberry (Actea spicata), 

 with its cherry red or white berries, the Bug-bane (Cliuici- 

 juga), the feathery plumes of the Srnilacina racemosa, the va- 

 rious Lilies, Cypripedium, Habeuarias, Uvularias, Irises, and 

 many taller growing plants, which, if given plenty of rich 

 soil, will grow and flower with a vigor almost surprising. 

 High among the rocks, and in the more exposed situations, 

 can be planted the graceful Adlumia cirrhosa, with its clusters 

 of fringe-like flowers, the lovely Clematis Virginica, or its 

 sweet-scented congener, C. Flarnmula, the violet-scented 

 Apios tnberosa, the golden-leaved Honeysuckle, for the con- 

 trast of its foliage, or the golden-berried Celastrus, or Bitter 

 Sweet, so ornamental in the fall; even the American Ivy 

 (Ampeloptis) and kindred vines in graceful festoons can all be 

 brought, with the wild elegance of their growth, to lend an 

 additional charm to the scene. 



ROUGH NOTES FROM THE NORTH 

 EAST. 



The New York Horticultural Society. — We have much 

 pleasure in mentioning that we have received the corrected 

 schedule of premiums offered by this enterprising society for 

 their fall exhibition, to be held at Gilmore's Garden Sept. 20 

 to Sept. 28 inclusive. In this, probably the finest hall in the 

 country for such an exhibition, and as the premiums offered 

 are very liberal, we feel assured that the exhibition will sur- 

 pass even that of last season, and would advise all interested 

 in horticultural pursuits to be sure to attend it. Any one 

 wishing a copy of this schedule, or of the constitution and by- 

 laws of the society can have it by return mail by addressing 

 t^s recording secretary, W. J, Davidson, 258 Fulton street, 

 B i ooklyn. 



Halifax, N. S., July 22, 1ST". 

 Kditor Forest and Stream : 



Cool and bracing, even in summer, is the breeze that blows fresh 

 from the broad Atlantic upon the bold Acadian shore. That Arctic 

 current which pours down Us icy waters through Davis' Straits upon 

 the northern coast of Newfoundland, bearing upon Us bosom the 

 dreaded bergs which float ouward to the western confine of the noted 

 Gulf Stream, sends one of its errant outlets southward to wash our 

 granitic shore; and it is to this cool current that we owe our charming 

 Bummers, the like of which no other land can boast of the wide world 

 o'er. "When you, Mr. Editor, and other worthy cltizeas of the western 

 world's metropolis are sweltering under the influence of a temperature 

 which overheats the system and exhausts the frame for weeks— may 

 we not say months 1— the inhabitants of this favored land can enjoy 

 the luxury of a daily walk through an atmosphere reduced to withiu 

 a few degrees of temperate by the vast refrigerator we have ulluded 

 to. 'Tls true, we cannot boast much of our spring; the months of 

 April and May are generally " broken," as it Is termed— one day may 

 be calm, clear and warm, while the next may be boisterous, gloomy 

 and cold. At that season, also, we are liable to dense fogs— at least 

 that portion of our province which lies along the Atlantic shore— and 

 these fogs are the result of the contact of the cold northern current 

 with that of the Gulf Stream. Our summer, therefore, cannot be said 

 to commence before the middle of June, although some charming 

 weather does occur even in May, ou the last day of which month, some 

 sis years ago, I well recollect the extremely high temperature of 91« 

 in the shade being recorded. 



The city of Haiifax.with which locality and its fauna I am more ac- 

 quainted than with other parts of the province, is situated upon a 

 peninsula running nearly north and south, bounded ou its eastern side 

 by the waters of perhaps the finest harbor North America can boast of, 

 while on the west it is laved by those of tue-plaeld lake-like inlet 

 known as "The Northwest Arm." The highest portion of the penin- 

 sula i3 Citadel Hill, on which Port George is built, and from which a 

 splendid view of the entrance to the harbor and surrounding country 

 may be obtained. It may posBibly reach the height of 200 feet above 

 the sea level, but I should think hardly more. In every part of the 

 peninsula the Boll is much the same— poor and shallow In its natural 

 state, and resting on a sub-soil of hard-pan clay, mingled with the 

 rounded masses, large and small, of granite and slate stone, so charac- 

 teristic of the well-known "boulder drift." As may be expected, the 

 land on the peninsula, poor and hungry as it is, is found to he profita- 

 ble under cultivation so near to a large town, and therefore but a 

 small portion remains in its original wild state. At its southern ex- 

 tremity lies a tract of this wild land, about 300 or 400 acres In extent, 

 known as Point Pleasant, a charming district, now laid out with walks 

 and drives for the citizens to take their pleasure in. The spot is truly 

 wild in every respect ; a mass of rock, more or less chaotic, everywhere 

 clothed with a dense growth of dwarf spruce {Abies nigra, Poir.) in its 

 three varieties of black, red and white, interspersed with degenerate, 

 though picturesque, examples of the white or Weymouth pine (Pinus 

 strobus, L.). Diving into the reoesses of this wilderness, the botanist 

 will light upon many a shrub and plant wherewith to adorn his herba- 

 rium. Beneath the sombre shade of those gnarled and knotted pines, 

 in spring time blooms the May-flower (Epigcea repens, L.), and In early 

 summer in profusion grows the little twin flower (Linma bvreaUs, 

 Gron.), whose lovely, pensile blossoms never fail to attract the atten- 

 tion of the most incurious eye, while numberless shrnbs, including the 

 crimson lambk'le (Kalmia angustifolia, L.), the purple rhodara (R. cana- 

 densis, L.) and Labrador tea (UeJum lati/ulium, Ait), help to fill up 

 every vacant space, save where an open grassy sput occurs like an oasis 

 in this desert of conifers, niarged around by the dwarf , yet dense foliage 

 of the humble bluebeny ( Vaeei.nium peivniylearricum. Lam.). 



It is not only in summer that this locality is pleasing to the lover of 

 nature, for even in the depths of our long and severe winters when the 

 snow storm is raging in all its fury and the trees are bending to the 

 passing gale, it is pleasant to roam through these solitudes and listen to 

 the faint note of the black-capped titmouse and Hudsonian ohicadee, 

 which appear to heed not the piercing northern blast, but pass onward 

 from tree to tree, busily searching each moss-grown branch for the in- 

 sect food which hibernates within. 



Such briefly is Halifax and Its immediate surroundings ; other spots 

 there are, 'tis true, well worth describing, but as the readers of Poiikst 

 and Stream may weary of my account, I shall refrain for the present, 

 at least, and pass on to cull a few items from my note-book. 



Portuguese Man-of-War (Physalia).— Among the Southern forms 

 brought to our coast by the Gulf Stream is the Portuguese man of war, 

 and its occurrence generally takes place during the month of August or 

 beginning of September; sometimes a little earlier, as in July, i860, 

 when *a specimen was taken in our harbor on the sandy shores of Sable 

 Island, which lies some eighty miles off shore and much nearer the 

 Western edge of the C?ulf Stream; it is not uncommon at that season of 

 the year. 



Earthworm (Lumbricus).— I observe sometimes when walking along 

 our streets during the early summer months after a heavy rainfall an 

 unusual number of earthworms lying dead above ground. What can 

 have been the cause of so much wholesale destrnction ? 



[The earthworms come up from the dry ground beneath to 

 get the moisture, aud obtaining too much water, are drowned. 

 An earthworm will drown in a bucket of water in half an 

 hour or less.— Ed.] 



Wild SttaWberry (Eragaria mrginiana, Ehr.)— In ordinary Beasons 

 this plant, which is very abundant in most parts of the country, ex- 

 pands its leaves about the last week of April, and I have observed it in 

 bloom as early as May 12. The fruit ripens about the middle of June, 

 although some may be picked a few days earlier. Prom the end of June 

 to the middle of July the market Is plentifully supplied. The usual 

 mode of exhibiting the fruit for sale is in little trays made of the bark 

 of the paper bn^oh (Betula I'apyracea, Ait.), holding usually about a pint 

 of berries, and these "barks," as they are called, sell when the fruit is 

 abundaut at about seven or eight cents each. Heavy rains have a bad 

 effect upon our wild strawberry supply, as it is a fruit which soon do- 

 cays under moisture when fully ripe. 



Whileweed (Leucanthemum vulgare, Lam.).— One of the most common 

 weeds to be seen In our cultivated fields, especially meadows, is the 

 white weed, or ox-eyed daisy. The hay crop in some places anon i Hal- 

 ifax is more than half composed of this plant, yet farmers declare they 

 have no objections to it, as the cows are very fond of it, and being bit- 

 ter in taste it probably acts as a tonic. Mto Mac. 



W1LDWOOD POISONS. 



—Sir Richard Wallace, an English country gentleman, ha s 

 planted so many rhododendrons on his estate in Suffolk this 

 season that they may almost be reckoned by the mile. They 

 are expected to afford a beautiful sight next spring. 



Port Doncan, Texas, July 23, 18TT. 

 Editor Forest ano Stkb 



A communication, signed " Jacobstaff," in your issue of July 12, and 

 your editorial remarks thereon, have excited my interest and attention. 

 Having been many times the victim of wildwood poisonous vines and 

 Shrnbs, aud having learned from Indians and Mexicans certain reme- 

 dies used by them fur the poison of the ivy and poison oak, SO common 

 throughout our entire Western domain, I venture to offer a suggestion 

 or two as to remedies, and hope your correspondent, as well as some 

 of Ids readers, will try one of them for the poison of the black alder 

 as well as of the ivy. 



The two remedies I shall mention are not of those before stated, as 

 to use by Indians aud Mexicans, but are the result of a study by sev- 

 eral army surgeons of the effect of these Indian and Mexieanreinc- 

 dies, and substituting therefor certain chemicals of similar character. 



The first is a strong solution of nitrate of potash applied frequently 

 to the parts' affected. The best way to apply is to keep bandages of 

 linen saturated with the solution, on the parts. When this cannot be 

 Had, use gunpowder made into a thin paste with milk or water. 



The other is a solution composed of zinc oxide, two drs.; ackl 

 tannic, thirty grains: eosnioline, plain, two drachms. Apply same 

 as other solution. Loth are certainly excellent antidotes for the 

 poison of ivy and the poison oak, and may be equally so for the black 

 &ltjflfr. Western Sportsman. 



Woodland Poisons. — Another correspondent sends an ad- 

 ditional remedy, as follows : 



As there has been a great deal said lately in Forest and 

 Stream and Bod and Gun about poison ivy, or, as we call 

 it, poison oak, I send you a sure remedy for it : The 

 yolk of one egg boiled hard, made into a paste- or ointmeut, 

 with a tablespoonful of good fresh butter (mil salted) ; apply 

 to the parts affected. -The above, is not impaired by age, Or 

 becoming rancid, but is rather improved. 1 can testily To the 

 good results from use of the above remedy, for I have never 

 known it to fail. 



_ — The dried plants received last week were all correctly 



named, with the exception of the Matricaria, which we think 

 is Maruta cotula. The unnamed species is undoubtedly 

 Troxlmon cuspidatuna, Pursh.,a native of our Western prai- 

 ries. Would our correspondent be kind enough to give loca- 

 tion and date of collecting in future if practicable?— Ed. 

 #• 



—The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 

 offers a p-ize of £500, to be awarded Aug. 1, 18*6, to the 

 person or persons who shall have done the most to leasen the 

 sufferings of animals in transportation by rail during the 

 year which will end July 1, 1878. 

 — - ,©. _ 



Soot as a Fertilizer,— To strong growing greenhouse 

 plants, such as pelargoniums, fuchsias, roses, carnations, 

 chrysanthemums, azaleas, solanums, and many others, soot is 

 a valuable and. eaaUy obtained stimulant. A handful of it 

 tied in a bag and stirred in a three-gallon can of water, has 

 a marvelous effect on all the plants jusl named, aud on many 

 others besides. It induces vigorous growth, and adds fresh- 

 ness and substance to both leaf and flower. It is better to 

 use it in small quantities and often, rather than charge the 

 compost with more carbon than the plants can readily assim- 

 ilate. For the more robust growers, especially if grown in 

 small pols, mixture With fresh manure from the cow shed is 

 desirable, but this mixture should be allowed to settle before 

 using, otherwise the grassy panicles will remain on the sur- 

 face of the pots, and while giving them an unsightly appear- 

 ance, exclude thai, free aeration which all healthy rools re- 

 quire. 



Dehtbovino Plant Insects. — At this season of the year 

 aphis and thrips are apt to be very troublesome, and, from the 

 fact' that many green houses attached to villa residences 

 badly constructed, an effectual fumigation by means of to- 

 bacco smoke in the ordinary way becomes somewhat diiiuaili. 

 My own house is a case in point. The Pool is so loosely con-* 

 structcd that the. smoke passes away through the openings 

 before the insect pests are destroyed. I am therefore led to 

 adopt a plan of my own. Once a Week! put Kome soft soap 

 and flowers of sulphur into four gallons, of soap-suds, mixing 

 all well together. The next process is to turn the plants heels 

 upward and immerse their heads in the soapy solution; but 

 before doing this, I prepare a circular piece of slilf card with 

 a hole half an inch in diameter, and a slit reaching from the 

 central opening to the Circumference of the card. This is 

 then stretched so as to allow the stem of the plant to he sur- 

 rounded, and by pressing the ringers of the left band firmly 

 against it and to the rim of the pot when the plant is turned 

 upside down, no soil can fall into the mixture. T,v gently 

 moving the head of the plant backward and forwafd Tn the 

 solution, the leaves become cleansed of insects, and as a kind 

 of soapy gloss clings to the leaves after they are dry, insects 

 do not quickly infest them again. — The Garden, 



—The roof of the Palmer House, Chicago, has been con- 

 verted into a magnificent conservatory. 



Aquarium Cement. — Mix together litharge and glycerine 

 to the consistency of thick cream or fresh putty. This ci 

 is useful for mending stone jars or any coarse earthenware, 

 stopping leaks in seams of tin pans or wash-boilers, craekfl 

 and holes in iron kettles, etc. I have filled holes an inch in 

 diameter in kettles, and useil the same for years for healing 

 water aud feed. It may also be used to fasten on lamp-tops, 

 to tighten loose nuts, to secure loose bolts whose nuts are lost, 

 to tighten loose joints of wood or b?on, loose boxes in wagon 

 hubs, and in a groat many other ways. In all cases the arti- 

 cle mended should not be used until the cement has hardened, 

 which will require from one day to a week, according to the 

 quantity used. This cement will resist the action of hot or 

 cold water, acids and heats.— A 7 . Y. Tribune. 



Eose Slips.— Never 'cut a lateral shoot from a rose bush, 

 if you wish to propagate it, hut break it off quickly with a 

 downward motion. It will then retain a minute portion of 

 the older branch; the fracture will lie rough and send out 



rootlets more readily. Make your soil very wet, like, thick 

 mud, and keep it so. Your rose slips planted in this way 

 should root iu three weeks. — Bund Hew Yorker, 



