BUDS, BLOSSOMS, FRUITS. 



68i 



to the eye ; but I should be glad to learn what trees, in 

 addition to other good qualities, have, like the oak of the 

 fable, the merit of bending to the wind instead of break- 

 ing. We require trees of reasonably quick growth, for 

 shade as well as protection from hot summer winds. 

 Our street is exposed to the full force of the southwest 

 winds, and after seeing the growth of several years de- 

 stroyed by successive storms, I am desirous of planting 

 something that may eventually serve this purpose. Our 

 beautiful American linden, with its dense burden of fo- 

 ilage, was robbed of all its branches one at a time, until 

 only the trunk remains. The same fate overtook Catalpa 

 speciosa, except that only the root remains, and sends up 

 several shoots making an ornamental shrub. The soft 

 maples were neatly decapitated, and a young elm was 

 bent to the ground. The only thing that grows and grows, 

 and bids defiance to the winds, is a cottonwood which 

 planted itself in front of the house, and being allowed to 

 stand while slower-growing trees were coming on, now 

 overtops the house, and I cannot see why it should not 

 be thought worthy of a place it so well fills. The proper 

 pruning of shade-trees baffles me. If they are trimmed 

 to a head too early, they become top-heavy ; if untrimmed, 

 much growth is lost when the lower branches are finally 

 removed. If the branches are too long, the wind tears 

 them ; if cut back, they become too dense for the stems. 

 — MiRA HiRSHEY, Toiva. 



Gardening for Fun. — In these days, when so grent 

 effort is being expended to 

 to do away with worms and 

 their kind, it seems strange 

 that anyone should grow 

 plants for the sole reason 

 that their pods resemble 

 worms and snails ; yet such 

 plants are grown, and the 

 resemblance is great, as the 

 accompanying engraving 

 will testify. This is not an 

 attractive dish, I fancy, to 

 most of us, but I grew its 

 contents, in imitation o 

 French gardeners. These 

 plants are grown for no 

 other reason than that they 

 are curious, and for the in- 

 imitable pleasure of drop- 

 ping them into your wife's 



soup, or laying them beside her plate at dinner time ! At 

 least, these are the only uses yet recorded for them. But 

 they are interesting plants, nevertheless. They set 

 a-going a whole series of speculations as to how and why 

 these pods ever came to imitate crawling things so closely. 

 It would be interestmg to know if birds mistake them for 

 worms, and thereby scatter the seeds, or if the quirls and 

 wrinkles are only so many means of catching hold of 

 passing animals. These plants are of several kinds, all 

 belonging to the pea family. Three kinds are shown in 

 the accompanying cupful. The round, snail-like speci- 



mens are Medicaffo scutellata , and they are technically 

 known as Snails. The larger and fatter worms are 

 Scorpiurtts vermicidatus, and the small, slender ones, 

 which have crawled to the top of the cup, are Scorpinrus 

 stibTil/osits : these two are appropriately called Cater- 

 pillars or Worms. — L. H. B. 



Smyrna Figs. — The opinion is widely prevalent that 

 the true "Smyrna fig" cannot be produced, except by 

 the aid of the blastophaga insect. We have tried for 

 years to get the true Smyrna fig, and have almost come 

 to the conclusion that there is no such fig, and that the 

 name is simply a collection one, applied to all figs shipped 

 from Smyrna. To test the matter, I am growing a large 

 number of figs from seed of the imported Smyrna figs, 

 and though some years will probably elapse before fruit 

 can be expected upon them, I hope to have an oppor- 

 tunity to ascertain whether its production is absolutely 

 dependent upon " caprification, " as it is called. If the 

 Smyrna fig is a distinct species, it is rather strange that 

 all efforts to get it have failed. I have had fig-cuttings 

 marked "Smyrna" sent to me from the Agricultural De- 

 partment, but they are all white figs of Italian varieties. 

 Has any one in the United States a Smyrna fig that is 

 evidently distinct ? If so, I would like to get it. — W. F 

 Massey, A''. C. 



The Fig in the Northern States. — Henry Poffard, 

 who lives on the Canadian side of Niagara river, near 

 where it empties its waters into Ontario lake, grows figs 



A Dish of "Worms." 



in the open air. One of the bushes which we saw in his 

 garden had a diameter of about 12 feet, and about the 

 same height. Of course he lays the trees down upon the 

 ground every fall, and keeps them covered with soil or 

 litter until spring. Old wood that has grown too large 

 to bend easily, is annually cut out, and only the younger 

 canes retained for another season's fruiting. For most 

 northern locations, however, we would prefer to grow the 

 bushes in tubs. A writer in Table Talk expresses won- 

 der why the fig is not more cultivated in this way in the 

 northern states, as it requires only about the same treat- 



