26 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



[February^ 



HOW ROOT-CROPS SERVED US IN THE TROPICS, 



One cold November day when the cold nor- 

 therly wind told us of approaching winter, for 

 the last Chrysanthemums had faded and only a 

 few dried leaves on the trees reminded us of 

 the summer that had been, we bade, adieu to 

 so-called temperate climate, and sailed away 

 for a winter in the tropics. A few weeks 

 brought us to a new land, strange in people, in 

 language, in manners, and, above all, in floral 

 and vegetable life. 



Every day brought us a new and more enjoya- 

 ble experience ; each walk in the woods or sail 

 upon the river was a revelation, and though in 

 time we became accustomed to what at first 

 was novelty, yet the charm of the glories of 

 floral life was in no whit abaled. 



One of our dreams had been that a residence 

 in the tropics meant fresh vegetables everyday 

 in the year, and as soon as we were established 

 in our little house we laid our plans to realize 

 our dream. We had all our seeds with us, Corn, 

 Beans, Peas, Radishes, Melons, Squashes, Car- 

 rots, Beets, Turnips. Salsify, Parsnips, and 

 many others, a goodly assortment. 



Soon our garden was prepared, and as we 

 were in that favored region where the dry sea- 

 son, so called, is not wholly'dry, rain falling 

 often in plentiful showers, planting can be 

 done at any season with a hope of fair results. 

 So at once we planted our seeds. 



The ground was warm and moist, and all 

 day we worked well under a tropical sun, 

 which, however, is not nearly as hot as the 

 summer sun on "hot days" in the United 

 States. The next morning, looking at our 

 work, we saw some long lines of green, and lo, 

 our Radishes and Turnips were "up," 



The next day the Cabba 

 pearance, followed soon by 

 Parsnips, Corn and Salsify bringing up the 

 rear. 



Our hopes were excited, and when for a 

 Christmas dinner we had. from an Indian's 

 garden, Green Corn, Water and Musk Melons, 

 we already regarded our garden as a success. 



In about two weeks we had Radishes for 

 breakfast, but they were small, and when an- 

 other week went by and they grew no larger, 

 we began to blame the soil — most unjustly, for 

 it could not have been better. A few days 

 passed and our line of Radishes was in full 

 bloom. Soon Beets, Carrots, Lettuce and all 

 the root-crops, although they showed but few 

 leaves, began to spindle and to show flower — 

 greatly to our disgust, for we had not intended 

 to plant a flower garden of vegetables. Cab- 

 bages made no heads. Some Endives followed 

 the example of the Lettuce and bloomed at 

 once and our garden was almost a failure. 



Why was it? Simply because the plants 

 were wiser than we were. 



Our root-crops are mostly biennial plants. 

 In most climates the season is too short for 

 them to grow and perfect seed in a single year. 

 So the first year they store up nutriment in 

 the root which the second summer is supplied 

 to tin' [lower and seed. 



Our seeds, although of northern growth, 

 knew no autumn frost would come to nip the 

 flowers or blast the seed before maturity, and 

 without delay followed the law of nature and 

 reproduced the species. 



How did they know it? Who can tell? But 



we shrewdly suspect there is an intelligence 

 among plants, and that as soon as our young 

 strangers formed acquaintances with the na- 

 tives around them that they were enlightened 

 as to the manners and customs of the country. 



This view is strengthened by the fact that 

 we did get some Radishes. They came up at 

 once and immediately went to work to make 

 roots as all their respectable ancestors had 

 done, and before they became acquainted with 

 the natives they had accomplished something. 



We give this only as a hint, and commend 

 the subject to wiser heads. But our garden 

 was not wholly a failure. Such Squashes as 

 we had; such Lima Beans; Melons in perfec- 

 tion, and, by several plantings, Corn almost 

 everyday! E. S. Rand, Jr. 



pin in an ap- 



the others, the 



THE GIANT BAMBOO IN CETLON, 



There is no group of plants, not even that 

 of the Palms, which is more striking to the 

 botanist "who first sees tropical vegetation than 

 the Bamboos: the singularity of their habit, 

 the remarkable rapidity of their growth, the 

 persistence of many species for long periods of 

 time without flowering, and the extreme beauty 

 of form presented by the larger kinds, all con- 

 tribute to interest the mind and strike the im- 

 agination. The effect' is enhanced by the 

 knowledge that these towering and umbrageous 

 masses of foliage, rivaling or overtopping the 

 slow-growing and solid trees of the forest 

 around, are in all respects as truly grasses as 

 the humble Poas and Fescues of our downs. 



Perhaps the largest known Bamboo is that- 

 growing in the Botanic Gardens of Ceylon. 

 The species is Dendrocalamus giganteus which, 

 although not a native here, but of Malacca 

 and the adjacent islands, thrives with great 

 vigor in Ceylon. It seems to have been intro- 

 duced into the Calcutta Botanical Gardens in 

 1831, where the original plant still stands. 



It was soon largely propagated from, and 

 the one mentioned above was one of the ear- 

 liest propagated. We have here essentially 

 a perennial tufted grass on a large scale ; the 

 hard, solid subterranean rhizome is excessively 

 branched, and each branch terminates in an 

 aerial stem or culm. In this species these are 

 crowded together, and are added to every year, 

 the oldest ones being principally in the center, 

 but the rhizome branches are so interlaced 

 that there is little regularity in this matter. 



The clump described must contain several 

 hundred culms of various ages, and the mass 

 measures 98 feet in circumference about a yard 

 from the ground. Each culm is cylindrical, 

 and grows as vertically straight upwards as its 

 older companions will allow ; the squeezing and 

 jostling which occurs is wonderful, and the 

 enormous compressing will in cases force a 

 culm out of shape slightly. As with other 

 Bamboos they take their full diameter almost 

 immediately, and while yet soft, the silicic hard- 

 ening not being completed till they have 

 reached nearly the full height. The outer ones 

 toward the top get somewhat pushed over by 

 the immense weight of foliage of those within, 

 and are sometimes broken off in consequence. 

 The usual dimensions of the culms are from 

 26 to 29 inches in circumference, the largest I 

 have measured attaining 33 inches, or nearly a 

 foot in diameter. They are not thickened at 

 the joints, perfectly smooth, of a pale, dull green 



color as a basis, but this is overlaid with a sort 

 of "bloom," of whitish blue, and the effect of 

 this is to give a pale greyish tint to the stem. 

 Their actual length is over 100 feet ; each joint 

 is 15 to 18 inches in length, and the thickness 

 of the wall about one inch ; the lowest ones are 

 shorter, with a thicker wall. When young 

 each node gives off a large, thick, leathery, 

 yellow sheath, topped with a rudimentary leaf- 

 blade, but they are quickly detached, and fall off 

 or often slide down the stem, slipping over one 

 another, so as to form quite a mass at the base 

 of the culm. These sheaths ai - e beautifully 

 polished, but are set outside with minute 

 brown hairs, separable by the slightest touch 

 and somewhat irritating to the skin. A dense 

 narrow collar of short, stiff, crowded, very 

 hard, blunt rootlets comes off just above each 

 partition in the lower part of the culm ; these 

 increase as we pass down in length and num- 

 ber till at the very base they pass into the in- 

 numerable rootlets originating from the rhi- 

 zomes themselves, which in incredible numbers 

 permeate the soil in every direction, and effect- 

 ually prevent the growth of any other large 

 plants in the immediate neighborhood. 



This, and the litter caused by the quantity 

 of fallen leaves, arc the principal objections to 

 these magnificent objects in a botanical gar- 

 den, and by choosing suitable sites for planting 

 them these are rendered of no consequence. 

 During the very high winds that are experi- 

 enced in Ceylon at the changes of the mon- 

 soons and at other times, a few stems are occa- 

 sionally bi-oken off, and the grinding, creaking 

 and clattering noises which go on overhead 

 among the straining stems in windy weather 

 are apt to alarm any one standing underneath. 

 — H. Trimex in the Gardeners' Chronicle. 



PALESTINE OP TO-DAY. 



Nothing can well exceed the desolateness of 

 much of the country. Treeless it is for twenty 

 or thirty miles together. Forests which did 

 exist thirty years ago — for instance, on Mount 

 Carmel and Mount Tabor — fast disappearing ; 

 rich plains of the finest garden soil asking to be 

 cultivated, at best but scratched up a few inches 

 deep in patches, with no hedges or boundaries : 

 mountain terraces, naturally or artificially 

 formed, ready to be planted with vines as the 

 German colony is doing at the foot of Mount 

 Carmel ; the villages nothing but mud huts, 

 dust, dirt and squalor ; the inhabitants with 

 scarce clothes enough for decency, their houses 

 ovens : large tracts without a horse or cow, 

 sheep or dog ; no pretence at roads, except 

 from Jaffa to Jerusalem, and this like a cart 

 road over a plowed field. 



Everything is taxed ; every fruit tree, so 

 none now are planted ; every cow or horse, 

 etc. ; every vegetable sold out of a private 

 garden. Every eighth egg is not taxed but 

 taken by the government. In some places the 

 taxes of the district are sold to the highest bid- 

 der. Nothing like a small farm-house is to be 

 found far or near. If there were, the owner 

 is liable to have soldiers or revenue officers 

 quartered upon him, to be boarded and lodged 

 at his expense. The towns are filthy in the ex- 

 treme, none more so than Jerusalem itself. 



This is a picture, I believe, in no way over- 

 drawn of that land which was once "flowing 

 with milk and honey." What might it not 

 become again with fair usage and good govern- 

 ment ? But there is no hope for Palestine 

 while it remains in the hands of its present 

 rulers. — Cor. London Times. 



