754 



BUDS, BLOSSOMS, FRUITS. 



looxioo feet, and 70 feet high. The idea here is to 

 construct a miniature mountain, clothed with plants in 

 large variety. A mountain stream, descending by a cir- 

 cuitous course between and over rocks from top to 

 bottom, will be one of the features. Underneath the 

 mountain will be a cave, in which experiments on the 

 effect of electric light on plants will be in progress 

 during the fair. Mr. Thorpe shows good judgment in 

 undertaking also to make roof gardening a feature of 

 the fair, thereby to demonstrate to town residents the 

 opportunity within their reach for attractive garden- 

 ing above terra firma. His field for display in this line 

 will be the roof space around the dome of the horticul" 

 tural building. 



The Interest in Botany. — A recent report, issued 

 by Barnard College, of New York (the woman's depart' 

 ment of Columbia College), conveys a gratifying testi- 

 monial to the increasing interest in botany at the pres- 

 ent day. This is to the effect that more students are 

 interested in the botanical classes than in any other, in 

 the proportion of nineteen in botany to seven in chem- 

 istry. The botanical department is under the direction 

 of Dr. Emily L. Gregory, who is a graduate of Cornell 

 University. In alluding in the report to the value to 

 young women of a thorough education in botany, the 

 doctor says ; "Aside from its value in a purely intel- 

 lectual way, it has a practical value in furnishing occu- 

 pation, with remunerative salaries, to an increasing 

 number of persons. One of these fields is that of 

 pharmacy. Adulterations are constantly made in the 

 use of drugs, and we are just learning the importance of 

 a methodical study of the inner structure of plants. 

 This also applies to the students of medicine, but more 

 particularly to the pharmacist. A much wider field for 

 trained botanists is found in our agricultural stations. 

 In the agricultural department in Washington one of 

 my former students is now doing work in mycology, and 

 her position commands a good salary. The call for this 

 work is the increasing devastation made by parasitical 

 plants on our grains and food-plants Before anything 

 can be done to prevent failures in crops from rust, smut, 

 blight and mildews, the nature and habits of the para- 

 site plant must be known. Such investigations are 

 made, and the results published in journals, and the 

 scientific advancement of the country may be marked 

 by the number and worth of such publications. In 

 every state these experimental stations have been 

 started. The work of the botanist is such that a woman 

 is specially fitted for it " 



Conifers from Japan. — At the recent conifer confer- 

 ence in London, H. Veitch read an interesting paper on 

 this always absorbing subject. He noted that it is prac- 

 tically within the last thirty or forty years that the coni- 

 fer has become known in its great diversity of character 

 to horticulturists. As regards the many attractive Jap- 

 anese kinds, although Kasmpfer in the last century takes 

 notice of them, it was not until 1842 that Siebold pub- 

 lished his flora; but the real awakening came in 1859, 

 the time of the opening up of the land of flowers to English 



enterprise. John Gould Veitch proceeded there at that 

 period, and the intrepid collector Maries introduced 

 many valuable kinds. It is interesting to know that 

 Japan includes more conifers among its flora than any 

 other country in the world, and comparisons were made 

 between England and Japan as regards climatic condi- 

 tions, the average yearly temperature being similar ; but 

 there the resemblances stop. There was in Japan a 

 wealth of gigantic trees ; and the various types are 

 chiefly confined to Nipon, between the 35th and 40th 

 parallels, but as this portion is the most thickly popu- 

 lated, very little is left of the original vegetation. Several 

 species were touched upon, a great point being their 

 hardiness, which adapted them for English plantations 

 and gardens. Mr. Veitch made reference to the true 

 pines, of which there were about five, all valuable. 

 When mentioning the umbrella pine of Japan, Sciado- 

 pitys verticillaia, he said there were complaints that it 

 would not grow; but as it wants constant moisture at the 

 roots, in moist Nipon and Cornwall it makes luxuriant 

 growth, enjoying the abundant rains. Cryptomeria 

 Japonica, the retinosporas, thujas and other genera 

 were described. 



Are White Grubs, the larvae of the May beetle, soon 

 to be a thing of the past ? According to a recent account 

 in the Revue Horticole, of Paris, a Frenchman by the 

 name of Lemould has experimented in destroying this 

 pest with a cryptogamic-plant parasite working on the 

 grub. So efifective were the experiments, according to 

 report, that in a meadow in which the grubs were so 

 numerous that sods could here and there be lifted by 

 hand, three-fourths of the grubs were estimated to have 

 been killed within two months of the time the disease 

 was introduced. Similar experiments with the same 

 parasite were made by other scientists, with the results of 

 reducing the grubs with enormous rapidity. It is stated 

 that certain French chemists are already placing the 

 remedy in market, put up in tubes as vaccine is prepared. 

 This miserable pest is a serious source of trouble to the 

 cultivators of all lands, we believe, and a remedy that 

 would practically annihilate it would be an inestimable 

 boon. 



Seckel Seedlings. — A box of pears closely resem- 

 bling the Seckel was received on October 21 from E. H. 

 Cushman, Ohio. They ripened a few days later. Mr. 

 Cushman writes that the tree is about 35 years old, has 

 never blighted, bears annually, and has yielded over 

 three bushels in one season, the fruit selling at $4.50 per 

 bushel. It took first premium at the Ohio State Fair the 

 last two years, as ' ' the best unnamed seedling. " 



Gifts that do Good. — At eight o'clock Monday, Oc- 

 tober 5, the annual free distribution of plants by the 

 city authorities of Boston began at the city greenhouses 

 in East Chester Park. The Boston Transcript says that 

 long before the appointed hour an expectant crowd 

 began to gather about the closed gates at the nurseries. 

 All ages and colors, and nearly every nationality, were 

 represented. Little toddlers just able to walk, octoge- 

 narians barely able to crawl, colored people and white, 



