8G 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
The 
Climbing Fumitory or Alleghany 
Vine. —{Adlumia cirrhosa.) 
In most sections of the country, but especially 
at tlie AVest, there is found growing in shady 
.places a vine w'hich, by its delicacy and grace, 
’attracts the attention of the lovers of wild 
flowers. Its merits have long since given it a 
place in our gardens, and we illustrate it here 
to bring it to the notice of cultivators, as well 
as to answer several who have enclosed us spe¬ 
cimens, asking its name. The plant is biennial, 
and, like others of its class, is neglected by those 
who are impatient to have flowers the first year. 
It is a very slender vine, climbing by means of 
its tendril-like leaves. What appear in the 
drawing like several small leaves, are really 
parts of one much divided leaf. The flowers, 
of the size and shape shown in the engraving, 
are white, more or less tinged w’ith rose-color, 
and are produced in great profusion. The 
tender green, thin texture, and fine division of 
the leaves, together with the pendent clusters 
of delicate flowers, give the plant an airiness 
and delicacy possessed by few climbers. It be¬ 
longs to the Fumitory family, and the resem¬ 
blance its flowers bear, in shape, to those of the 
showy Diccntra, will at onee indicate the two 
to be near relatives. The name Adlumia was 
given in honor of Major Adlum, a botanist of a 
past generation. In addition to the common 
names given at the head of the article, the plant 
is sometimes called Mountain Fringe. On ac¬ 
count of the delicacy of its foliage, the vine does 
best in a somewhat shaded place. It climbs to 
the hight of 10 to 15 feet, and should be pro¬ 
vided with a trellis, or support of some kind. 
The seed is sown in the spring, where the 
plants are to stand ; the roots need no protec¬ 
tion through the following winter. Sometimes 
the r'iants bloom the first year. In looking over 
the catalogues for the price of seeds, we find 
that B. K. Bliss, of Springfield, Mass., is the 
only one who announces it, at 10 cts. per paper. 
ElINGS ought to be Kings in all things. 
Trees upon Prairies* 
A correspondent in Il¬ 
linois writes: “You 
can not do your west¬ 
ern prairie readers so 
great a kindness as to 
induce them this coming 
spring to take hold of 
tree-planting in earnest^ 
with w’hatever of seeds, 
cuttings or trees most 
convenient.” This sug¬ 
gestion is a timely one, 
and although the matter 
has been advocated by 
us in former years, the 
subject is one that can 
not be too frequently nor 
too strongly presented. 
Those who live in the 
tree-less parts of the 
country need not be 
told how neeessary are 
trees for shelter, timber 
and fuel. Even those 
who dwell in regions 
formerly well wooded, 
find that the forests are 
so rapidly disappearing 
that it is time some steps 
were taken to replace 
them. AVith those who wish to plant trees, the 
questions of first importance are: what kinds 
shall I plant, and how shall I get them ? 
Leaving the AVhite AVillow, which is discussed 
in another column, out of the question, the two 
trees which seem best adapted by the rapidity of 
their growth and value of their timber, are the 
Black AValnut {Juglans nigra), and Silver Maple 
{Acer dasycarpum). The seeds of the former are to 
be planted where they are to remain, but the Ma¬ 
ple may be raised in nursery rows and trans¬ 
planted. The Peach, is highly recommended 
to grow for fuel even where it will not produee 
fruit, and would doubtless be found valuable; 
it has the advantage of rapid grow'th and 
the seeds are easily obtainable. Black Cherry, 
Birches, and Larches are all hardy and desira¬ 
ble. The Cucumber-tree {Magnolia acuminata), 
AVhite-wood, Osage Orange, Honey Locust, 
Chestnut and deciduous Cypress, are all suited 
to mild climates. All the above may be raised 
from seed. The AVhite and other AVillows grow 
readily from cuttings, as do the Cottonwood 
and other Poplars. The Evergreens are of 
rather slow growth, but they should not be neg¬ 
lected on that aecount. The Norway Spruee 
is among the most rapid growers and valuable 
for its hardiness. The Red Cedar, Arbor Vitm, 
and AVhite Pine are all desirable evergreens. 
AVhile our AVestern friends advocate the Cot¬ 
tonwood, which is as nearly worthless as a tree 
can be, they quite ignore the Ailanthus, which 
has merits enough to outweigh its faults. It 
will grow readily from seeds, and live where 
another tree would starve. Give the seed only 
a little dust to cover it, and it will grow. It is 
especially adapted to poor soils, and wull grow 
with great vigor in rich ones. So abundantly 
does it spring up between the bricks and pave¬ 
ments in New-York City, whenever anything 
shelters it from injury, that it is estimated that, 
should the city become suddenly depopulated 
by a pestilence, its site would, in a few years, 
become an impenetrable thicket of Ailanthus 
trees. The wood makes fair fuel, when well 
seasoned, and its timber would doubtless be 
servicable in many ways, tliough statistics are 
wanting concerning its dui'ability. The cliief 
objections to it are the unpleasant odor giv¬ 
en off in flowering time, its tendency to suck¬ 
er, its lateness in pushing its leaves, and its 
naked look in winter. Although all these, esi)e- 
cially the first, have weight when the tree is 
used merely for ornament, they, amount to but 
little "where utility is the main consideration. 
Many others might be added to the list, but 
those already named inelude the more available 
ones, and the question now is: how to begin 
The easiest way will be to procure a stock ol 
young trees from the nursery, and perhaps thi,« 
is generally the safest "way with evergreens, Vut 
most persons will find it inconvenient and ex¬ 
pensive to buy their stock and must raisv it. 
Mr. F. K. Phoenix, a well knowm Illinois nu”se- 
ryman, takes so much interest in tree plantiug, 
that he devotes the cover of his Catalogue to an 
essay on the subject. Although in the trade, he 
says: “You need not call upon the nurserj"- 
men—send to some reliable friend in a timbered 
region to get you out such seeds, cuttings or 
forest seedlings as you may require.” 
AVe repeat, get trees or seeds somehow; if 
seeds cannot be had this spring, make it a point 
to find out where fruiting trees are, so that they 
can be collected as they ripen. Upon consult¬ 
ing the catalogues of seedsmen, we find they 
have the seeds of Ailanth is, several species of 
Ash, Honey-Locust, Cucumber Magnolia, sever¬ 
al Pines and Peach Pits. Besides these the 
seeds of many of the slower-growing and more 
ornamental trees may be had at once. AVe hope 
to recur to this subject at the proper season. 
The Chinese Magnolias. 
The city gardens of New-York—there are 
gardens here—are very gay in spring, and they 
owe much of their beauty to two plants from the 
Celestial Empire. The AVistaria is the most 
conspicuous of climbers,—noticed in another 
article—and the Chinese Magnolias are among 
the most showy of shrubs or small trees. The 
Magnolia conspicua, called the Chinese AVhite 
Magnolia, or Yulan, grows in its native country 
to the hight of forty or fifty feet, and forms a 
fine pyramidal tree. As it flowers freely, "udien 
quite small, it is more generally seen as a shrub 
with us, but there is, a specimen upon the 
grounds of Charles Downing, Esq., at New¬ 
burgh, which is some thirty feet in bight. The 
flowers appear in April, before the leaves unfold, 
and, from their great size and pure whiteness, 
give the plant such a showy appearance that it 
w’ell merits the specific name— conspicua. Each 
