23*4 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
(June, 
(or eruption) upon the lawn, it is not on account of 
the exposure, hut as in bad taste ; the rock-work 
need not be in the shade ; it may be placed there, 
but then the plants selected for it must be of 
shade-loving kinds. The true alpines have the 
most complete exposure, at least all parts but the 
root, and that has the most complete protection. 
In artificial rock-work success largely depends up¬ 
on imitating these conditions for the roots, hence 
in constructing the rock-work, closed pockets 
should not be made, but crevices of various sizes, 
and the earth in these should connect with the soil 
below, so that at a distance below the drying sun 
and air the mulching influence of the rock will be 
aided by capillary attraction in keeping the soil of 
the crevices genially cool and moist. One may de¬ 
vote a rock-work to special classes of plants, or to 
a variety ; ferns, many of which are well suited to 
rock-culture, make a pleasing collection ; the suc¬ 
culents, including the Stone-crops and House- 
leeks, the hardy Cacti, and others form an interest¬ 
ing collection of curious forms, but most persons 
will prefer a variety, and their tastes may be grati¬ 
fied by collecting suitable and inexpensive—but 
not less beautiful wild-flowers, or by the purchase 
of exotics suited to the purpose. Among our na¬ 
tives the Early Saxifrage, the charming Bluets 
(Houslonia), Trailing Arbutus, Wind-flower, Rue 
Anemone, Columbine, Harebell, Moss Pink may 
be mentioned ; these show what beauty and variety 
may be found among our native flowers without 
naming a host of others equally pleasing. So 
popular have such plants become in England that 
Mr. Robinson’s book on “Alpine Flowers for 
English Gardens,” as stated some time ago, has 
passed to a second edition, and one who would 
know about the numerous list of these plants 
should consult that work. Most of our florists 
offer more or less of the exotic alpines, and they 
are made a specialty by a few ; whenever there is a 
demand for such plants it will be met by our enter¬ 
prising dealers. In looking over a collection of 
such plants at the establishment of Messrs. Wool- 
son & Co., we selected two of the newer kinds— 
new to this country — as showiug a habit of 
growth very effective upon a properly constructed 
rock-work where there are miniature steeps or 
rocky shelves, over which some plants can trail 
their stems or hang down in diminutive garlands. 
The Rock Lychnis, Lychnis Lagascce, is from the 
Western Pyrenees ; it is a free-grower, quickly form¬ 
ing a mat of stems and foliage, and producing in 
early summer a great profusion of rosy-pink flow¬ 
ers like those shown in the engraving. It is es¬ 
pecially valuable in not requiring much moisture, 
but will flourish in the driest parts of the rock- 
work. The Balearic Sand-wort, Arenaria Baleariea, 
from Corsica, is remarkable for its foliage, which 
is of the most diminutive kind; its leaves seem 
more like those of a Selaginella than of a flowering 
plant, and in the mass make dense mossy cushions 
or a tiny carpet of the most pleasing verdure. Un¬ 
like the other this prefers a fairly moist situation, 
where it will cling to the rocks and throw out roots 
against their bare face. The tiny flowers, each up¬ 
on a slender stalk an inch or so high, appear against 
the dark green like little pure white stars. The 
engravings show both plants of the natural size, 
and they both may be cultivated in the garden 
border, or even in pots if it is desired to do so. 
A short-handled hoe is the implement generally 
used for scraping the trunks of neglected and 
moss-grown trees. Mr. W. E. Bower, Clark Co., 
Ind., sends a drawing of a Scraper which he prefers 
to any other. A piece of inch-board 8 inches long 
and 31 inches wide has a curve cut upon one side 
an inch deep in the center. A piece of strap-iron 
is inch wide is nailed to both the curved and the 
straight edges of the board, which are bevelled to 
meet .them. A handle. 20 inches long is fitted to a 
hole in the center of the board. Mr. B. uses the 
curved edge first, with an up and down movement, 
which removes all the loose scales of bark ; if any 
fragments escape, an application of the straight 
edge will displace them. 
The Elderberry Fungus. 
Anything that is out of the ordinary run of things 
—is, in other words, a little strange—will in most 
cases find its way to our office with that question 
of all questions, “ What is this?” This year we 
will anticipate a call for information by presenting 
a drawing, with a brief description, of the fungus 
which attacks the leaves and young branches of the 
common Elderberry ( Sambucus Canadensis). This 
parasitic fungus belongs to the same group as the 
well known wheat rust ; and as found on the 
Elderberry it is of the “cluster cup” form. It is 
THE ELDERBERRY FUNGUS. 
to be remembered in the treatment which the 
Wheat Rust received in August last, that it was 
shown that there were certain distinct states through 
which the rust plant passed, one of which was 
upon the Barberry, namely, the “ cluster cup ” 
form. The form upon the Elderberry is this 
“ cluster-cup ” one. Where the other states of the 
Elderberry fungus grows is not known. 
So far as the Elderberry shrub is concerned, this 
parasite is not specially injurious to farmers, be¬ 
cause the Sambucus does not take any high rank 
as a fruit-producing plant. As the matter now 
stands, the fungus in question is more curious than 
injurious. The way the fungus attacks the young 
branches and leaves is often very striking. We 
have found them, and had them brought to us, 
where the stem for a foot or so was swollen to 
several times its natural size, and twisted into all 
sorts of shapes ; the surface for the whole length 
being covered with minute pits or cups, each filled 
with a vast multitude of orange-colored spores. 
The specimen from which the illustration is made 
is scarcely up to the average, but shows how thor¬ 
oughly deformed the top of the branch has become; 
in fact, the growth of it has been entirely arrested 
by the fungus. One of the leaflets is seen to be 
rolled up, and its base greatly swollen, the surface 
of which is covered with the pits above mentioned; 
a few of them are shown in magnified view below 
and to the right. Small knots or enlargements are 
seen on some of the other leaflets, and one of some 
size at the union of the whole leaf with its stem. 
The remedy, if it is desired to apply one, is the 
knife, removing all affected parts in early spring, 
which then should go at once into the fire. 
Horticulture at the Railroad Stations.— 
A trip over the railroad between New York and 
Philadelphia, by the way of Bound Brook, the first 
since Centennial days, we were glad to notice the im¬ 
provements at the stations. The grounds around the 
stations, some of half an acre or more, and others 
not larger than a city lot, had been put in beautiful 
order. Grass, evergreens, flowering shrubs, and in 
some cases flower-beds, made these usually desolate 
places charming spots for the eye to rest upon. 
They had an air of care and neatness that mu6t ex¬ 
ercise an influence throughout the neighborhood. 
But this road is not alone in well doing; happening 
to meet Mr. Hayes, a well-known horticulturist of 
Philadelphia, he informed us that he had the con¬ 
tract for laying out and planting the stations on the 
line between Philadelphia and Baltimore, some of 
which are of considerable extent, and occupy both 
sides of the road. The examples of these roads 
will soon find followers, for the improvement is so 
great as to commend itself to the most indifferent. 
Gardening in Public Institutions. 
BY PETER HENDERSON. 
A number of the Public Charitable Institutions 
in all parts of the country have farms, gardens, and 
even greenhouses are attached, the work required 
by these being mainly done by the inmates. In 
some these grounds are exceedingly well managed, 
and are a source of no little revenue, while others 
are actually worked at a loss, either from unconge¬ 
nial soil, or from inefficiency in the management. 
One of the best managed gardens of this kind that 
has come under our notice, is that of the State Hos¬ 
pital for the Insane, Mendota, Wisconsin, at present 
under the superintendence of Dr. D. F. Broughton. 
Having heard reports of its satisfactory garden 
management, I recently wrote to Peter P. Schotzka, 
the intelligent gardener in charge, and obtained the 
facts here given : The present area under cultiva¬ 
tion is about 22 acres, about one-half of which (10 
acres) is planted with potatoes, the remainder is de¬ 
voted to vegetables of almost every kind found in 
the markets, together with grapes, strawberries, 
raspberries, melons, etc., all of which are consumed 
in the Asylum. This Institution numbers nearly 
700 persons—about 100 of whom are employees. 
To supply this large family 8 bushels of strawber¬ 
ries are used at a meal, 250 lbs. of grapes, 150 wat¬ 
er-melons, or 300 musk-melons. The market value 
of the whole garden products in 1879—which was a 
year far below the average—was $3,572. The ex¬ 
penses were : labor, $1,400; manure, $250; imple¬ 
ments, $75 ; seeds, $75—making $1,800 in all, leav¬ 
ing a net profit of $1,772, or in other words, this 
sum was saved to the Institution by its growing, in¬ 
stead of buying its vegetables and fruits. But this 
was not the only advantage, the fruits and veget¬ 
ables were fresh from the grounds, making them 
vastly more valuable than if packed and shipped 
from a distance. But the most important feature 
of the garden operations at this Asylum is the em¬ 
ployment of the patients as workmen ; an average 
of 15 are employed in the summer months, during 
the growing season, who work on an average six 
hours each day, and Mr. Schotzka, who is evident¬ 
ly a careful and intelligent observer, assures me 
that the effect on the health of the patients is most 
marked. They mainly volunteer, or are kindly 
coaxed to the work, and this labor in the open air, 
while it gives them occupation, directs their atten¬ 
tion from themselves ; the result is, that a greater 
number of the garden hands have been discharged 
as cured, in proportion to numbers, than of others. 
No greenhouse is yet attached to the Asylum, but 
Mr. Schotzka manages, by the aid of hot-beds, to 
fill numerous beds that are laid out in the lawn in 
front of the hospital, with flowering plants. These 
he quaintly terms an “eye pasture” for the 
patients. These beds give flowers enough to form 
bouquets for the sick wards during the summer 
months, and thus are a source of great pleasure to 
scores of the unfortunates within. Believing in the 
soothing effects of flowers on some species of in¬ 
sanity, a gentleman recently left a fund of $10,000 
to be used in building a Winter Garden or Conser¬ 
vatory, to be used as a promenade ground for use 
of the patients at an Insane Asylum in Ohio. 
The successful example of the Mendota Asylum 
is one well worthy of imitation, and such a garden 
might be attached with profit to various other kinds 
