182 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Mat, 
small flowers being crowded with tiny petals, 
•which give the mass a peculiarly light and 
“flocky” appearance. This plant is valuable 
for both its foliage and its flowers. The finely 
cut leaves have a fern-like appearance, and their 
delicate outline, joined to their rich green color, 
would make it worth growing as a “foliage 
plant.” In Europe it is set out for edgings, a 
use to which its low stature, and compact, regu¬ 
lar habit well adapt it. When planted for this 
purpose, the flower-stems are pinched out as 
they appear, to secure a greater vigor of foliage 
and uniformity of outline. The pure white of 
the flowers, and their tufted manner of grow¬ 
ing, adapts them especially to bouquets and to 
florists’ work, while they add brightness and 
life to the border. Not the least of their good 
qualities is the length of time they remain, the 
individual clusters lasting well, while by the 
production of successive stems, the flowering 
is continued from early summer until frost. 
The engraving does not show the root, which 
consists of coarse fibres, which are swollen at 
intervals into small tubers; it gets its common, 
and also its specific name, from these, which 
have some resemblance to “ drops,” or beads, 
upon a thread. The plant is multiplied by di¬ 
visions of the clump, made early in autumn, 
which requires to be done with some care, in 
order to insure a bud with each portion of the 
root; the tubers themselves will very rarely 
grow if separated from the plant. 
How Flowers are Fertilized. 
BY PROF. ASA GRAY. 
ARTICLE XII.—HOW CROSS-FERTILIZATION BENEFITS. 
We remember a homely saying which declares 
that “ there is as much difference in people as there 
is in anybody.” The same is true of plants, and it 
comes out strongly in this matter of fertilization. 
Some plants show the benefit of crossing mainly in 
vigor of growth and greater hardiness, others in 
increased fertility, and some do not show it at all, 
so far as the experiments go. The Morning Glory 
—the subject of our last article—is a good case of 
the first kind; our garden Eschscholtzia is one of the 
second; and Tobacco appears to be a case of the 
third, but the experiments were not carried very far. 
Vegetable nature, like human nature, is full of 
complexities and apparent contradictions. To su¬ 
perficial observers and theory-makers, who run off 
In haste upon one line of facts, all appears to be 
simple enough; but the simplicity is generally sub¬ 
jective. Some very good observers soon get entan¬ 
gled and flounder helplessly among conflicting or 
discordant facts, and conclude that the whole thing 
is “something no fellow can find out.” But any 
one who reads this book of Mr. Darwin’s, on the 
effects of close and cross-fertilization, will see that 
he is a waiy and patient investigator, who is neither 
carried away by his own theories, nor hopelessly 
arrested by unexpected complications. Out of his 
thousand and more crosses, and equally large num¬ 
ber of close-fertilizations for comparison, certain 
results come out pretty clearly. 
First, That crosses between different flowers of 
the same plant are not sensibly beneficial. 
Second, That crosses between different individu¬ 
als of the same stock, (say from seeds of the same 
plant), are more or less beneficial; but that the 
benefit does not go on accumulating in successive 
generations, or may disappear in the course of three 
or four generations. 
Third, That crosses between plants which have 
been raised at a distance from each other, and there¬ 
fore under different circumstances, almost always 
result in a marked increase of vigor or fertility. 
Fourth, That this is also true of the crossing of 
two slightly different varieties of the same species. 
And the important conclusion is, that it is not the 
mere cross-fertilization that benefits, i. e., that the 
advantage does not follow from any mysterious 
virtue in the mere union of two distinct individuals, 
as such, but that it comes from the individuals and 
their progenitors having lived under somewhat 
different conditions and influences, so as to acquire 
certain differences in constitution. It is from the 
combination of differences that the new strength 
proceeds. This explains a curious but well known 
fact about hybrids : namely, that where two spe¬ 
cies of plants are so much alike that they hydridize 
freely, the hybrids are apt to make much stouter 
and larger plants than either parent. This is well 
seen in the two common species of Stramonium. 
So this seeming anomaly is only an extreme case of 
the advantage derivable from the union of differ¬ 
ences. I need not say that all this coincides with 
the conclusions of cattle-breeders, who find it ad¬ 
vantageous not only to cross breeds upon occasion, 
but also cross at times with individuals of the same 
breed, from widely separated flocks or herds. 
Changing the Bearing Year of Orchards. 
[To judge by the extent to which it has been 
copied, and the correspondence it has called out, 
our article in March last, with the title given above, 
was timely, and the responses indicate that people 
are beginning to give to their orchards that which 
has been their greatest lack—thought. The fol¬ 
lowing is from a most careful observer.— Ed.] 
Bearing every other year in orchards is a habit so 
well established, that many very honestly doubt if 
it can be corrected. Of course, nothing but facts 
can help us to an intelligent decision of this ques¬ 
tion. A. J. Downing wrote many years ago in his 
work on Fruit Trees: “ The bearing year of the 
apple, in common culture, only takes place every 
other year, owing to the excessive crops which it 
usually produces, by which they exhaust most of 
the organizable matter laid up by the tree, which 
then requires another year to recover, and collect a 
sufficient supply to form fruit-buds. When half 
the fruit is thinned out in a young state, leaving 
only a moderate crop, the apple, like other fruit 
trees, will bear, as it will also, if the soil is kept in 
high condition. The bearing year of an apple tree, 
or of a whole orchard, may be changed by picking 
off the fruit, when the trees first show good crops, 
allowing it to remain only in the alternate seasons, 
which we wish to make the bearing year.” 
To sustain his opinion that orchards may be 
made fruitful every year, he cites a letter from R. 
L. Pell, of Pelham Farm, on the Hudson, who 
changed the habit of his orchard of 2,000 Newtown 
Pippin trees, making it abundantly productive every 
year. This was done by pruning, manuring,and keep¬ 
ing the soil uuder cultivation. Some twenty years 
ago we visited the homestead of David Lyman, at 
Middlefield, Ct., in the odd year, and found the 
ground in his orchard well covered with apples. He 
informed us that he plowed the grouud frequently, 
manured liberally, and raised paying crops of 
apples with as much regularity, as other crops up¬ 
on the farm. Some twenty-five years ago we graft¬ 
ed the Cogswell Pearmain into an apple tree in a 
neighbor’s garden. It came into bearing in a few 
years, and has given regular crops annually, with 
hardly a break since. The ground has had high 
garden cultivation, and the tree has had all the 
food it could use. In the orchard, this apple is a 
persistent bearer in alternate years. We came into 
possession of our present premises eight years ago, 
on which were thirty pear trees, about half of them 
in bearing condition. There are a dozen or more 
varieties of pears, and all the trees of sufficient 
maturity give regular crops, with the single excep¬ 
tion of a Vicar of Winkfield, which is now well 
furnished with fruit-buds in the barren year, and 
promises to give up its bad habit. A. Young, one 
of the best fruit-growers in the Mystic Valley, start¬ 
ed his apple and pear orchard twenty-five years 
ago. Among his apples are the Cogswell Pearmain, 
Baldwin, Roxbury Russet, and other varieties, ma¬ 
turing in the summer and fall. He takes good care 
of his trees, manures and cultivates, and has crops 
every year. The only difference is that between 
good crops and extra good crops. Isaac Denison is 
another good fruit-grower in the same district. Hq 
began his planting eighteen years ago, and has a 
very thrifty and productive orchard. Both apples 
and pears bear every year with him. All the facts 
with which we are acquainted lead to the con¬ 
clusion, that high cultivation, persistently followed, 
will remedy the barrenness of fruit trees in the al¬ 
ternate years. Feed your trees regularly, and they 
will feed you. Connecticut. 
Some Valuable Native Forest Trees. 
BY PROF. C. 8. SARGENT, DIRECTOR OF THE ARNOLD AR¬ 
BORETUM, OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 
(.Concluded from, last month.') 
lied or Norway Pine, (Pinus resinosa.) 
This fine tree grows through the northern por¬ 
tions of the United States, from the Atlantic to be¬ 
yond the Great Lakes, appearing at rare intervals 
as far south as the mountains of Pennsylvania, and 
extending northward to the shores of Hudson’s Bay. 
Never forming extensive forests, and only appear¬ 
ing in isolated clumps of a few hundred trees, 
either growing singly, or mixed with the more com¬ 
mon conifers of the north, the Red Pine is but 
little known as a timber tree in our markets, and 
its valuable qualities are hardly understood. Con¬ 
siderable quantities of Red Pine lumber reaches 
Great Britain every year from Canada, and there is 
an active trade in it, in the form of “ shocks,” be¬ 
tween the sea-ports of the State of Maine and the 
West Indies; indeed for “ 6hooks,” (the technical 
name for boards shipped to the West Indies for 
making sugar boxes), it is preferred to all our 
northern woods. I have been unable to learn, how¬ 
ever, that Red Pine lumber is known among dealers 
in our large Eastern Markets, and it is doubtful if 
it now ever reaches them. Laslett, a recent Engl i6h 
writer on timber, speaking of Red Pine, as it ap¬ 
pears in the English Markets, says: “ The wood is 
white, tinged with yellow, or straw color; it is tough, 
elastic, moderately strong, and possesses a clean, 
fine grain, which works up well, bearing upon the 
surface a smooth, silky lustre. It is not apt to 
shrink, split, or warp much in seasoning, and tech¬ 
nically speaking, it stands well, which renders it 
a choice and very valuable wood for all kinds of 
construction, while in the domestic arts there need 
not be any limit to its application. The Red Pine 
is very solid about the pith, or centre of the log, 
and has but little albumen or sap wood. There is, 
therefore, only a small amount of loss in its con¬ 
version, even if reduced to planks and boards ; while 
it can further be worked with great advantage in 
ship-building, for dock purposes, for cabin, and for 
other fitments.” 
As compared with White Pine, Red Pine is heavier, 
much stronger and stiller, and from the greater 
amount of resinous matter which it contains, more 
durable, although less easily worked, and less suit¬ 
ed for interior finish, or fancy work. The great 
hardiness, and rapidity of growth of the Red Pine, 
render this tree especially suitable for forest cul¬ 
ture on poor soils, in the extreme northern portions 
of the United States, and in Northern Europe, 
where it alone of the North American pines prom¬ 
ises to be of economic value as a forest crop. 
As an ornamental tree, the Red Pine takes a high 
rank. In its young state it is the most elegant of 
the two-leaved Pines, and this elegance it owes to 
its graceful habit, and long, dark green foliage. It 
is certainly a more beautiful tree, than its nearest 
botanical allies, the Austrian and Corsican Pines, 
which it generally resembles ; nor have I noticed, 
as yet, any liability in it to the attacks of a borer 
which threatens the extermination of the Austrian 
Pine in this part of the country, at least. For wind¬ 
breaks, and shelter plantations, in the Northern 
States, the Red Pine will be as hardy and valuabl e 
as the Scotch Pine of Northern Europe ; and the 
beauty of such plantations will be considerably 
increased by mixing together these two species, 
and thus contrasting the dark green foliage of the 
American tree with the peculiar light, blue-green 
foliage of its Old World relative. 
The Yellow and the Red Pines are rarely met 
with in cultivation. A few of the largest collec¬ 
tions of conifers in the United States and Europe 
