492 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 5,18K9. 
evergreens ; they retain their colour, grow hard and firm, and, if kept 
from insects, will keep for a long time. 
One of our smallest shrubs is the pretty little Ceanothus, or Jersey 
Tea ; it is found almost everywhere in New England, and in the West. 
In June every little branch is terminated with a dense panicle of minute 
white flowers, the branches growing from the axils of the leaves, which 
are soft and downy on the under side, and are said to have been used 
for tea during the Revolution ; its large, red root is used for colouring. 
The far-famed English Ivy is not hardy in New England, except, 
perhaps, in sheltered situations near the coast, but wherever it can gain 
a foothold it grows rapidly. The American Ivy, or Virginia Creeper, 
Ampelopsis quinquefolia, flaunts its rank growth from cathedral walls 
and stately churches, making them veritable poems in stone, clings 
lovingly to the dear old homesteads, fringes the 3mall windows of the 
cottage in the outskirts, drapes the mossy rails of the old farm fences, 
catches the sunshine through the golden days of summer to throw it 
forth from its leaves in autumn in great splashes of colour, rivalling the 
most brilliant sunset. The dusky, purple berries hang in clusters to 
tempt the birds who pick them, one by one, till only the rosy pink 
pedicels are left to drop off after the leaves.— Florence I. W. Burnham 
(in Vick's Magazine .) 
(To he con'.inued.) 
QUEEN WASPS. 
Although I have not secured queen wasps in the manner referred 
to by Mr. W. Strugnell (page 463), I have secured some thousands from 
having an opportunity of building next spring by taking every nest 
known of in the neighbourhood up to the time of the breaking up and 
distribution of the colonies in the autumn. I have one nest of Vespa 
germanica I dug out very carefully, which is quite complete, and I con¬ 
sider th. re would have been at least 250 queens to look out for snug 
winter quarters. The bulk of these appear to be alive, and quietly 
taking their six-months nap under my control instead of starting new 
colonies.—J. Hiah. 
At page 463 of this Journal Mr. Strugnell states some experience in 
securing queen wasps between the wall and window frame of a fruit 
room, and asks if any others have secured them in a similar manner. 
I have frequently found queen wasps concealed between the walls and 
frames of windows, but by far the greater number will be found 
between the layers of timber when in stacks, or the bark of trees, 
nested in one another, but with space between sufficient for wasps to cree p 
into for the purpose of hybernating. “The low buzzing sound” heard 
by Mr. Strugnell has interested me. I was not aware that wasps, or any 
other hybernating creature, emitted sounds when inastate of hybernation. 
If this is so, then it strengthens “ A Hallamshire Bee-keeper’s ” opinion 
on that question, and bees may after all be hybernating, although we 
hear them buzzing aloud during the cold of winter. 1 should be glad 
if a few more facts about this were forthcoming, so that I might be 
induced to turn my attention to the subject.—W. T., Blantyre. 
Orchid Naming. 
It is generally understood that the Royal Horticultural Society 
is formulating a system of Orchid naming that is intended to 
remove some of the inconsistencies at present existing. That 
being so, why is it not made known to all the Fellows of the 
Society interested in the matter ? as a subject of such importance 
cannot be too widely discussed. Any decisions arrived at from a 
partial consideration of the matter, or without consulting the large 
body of Orchid growers, will be certain to give great dissatisfaction 
and prove extremely discreditable to the R.H.S. I would suggest 
that forms be sent out to the Fellows in the same way as for the 
recent Chrysanthemum Centenary, or as is being dono now to 
procure information respecting the effects of fogs. From returns 
thus obtained a good idea of the general feeling would be secured. 
The project is a good one, but will be spoiled by hasty or too 
restricted attempts at settlement.— Amateur F.R.H.S. 
The Hall and Fraser Fund. 
Mr. Fred. Horsman of Colchester sends the following addi¬ 
tional list of subscriptions received or promised for the above fund. 
Messrs. Sander & Co , £5 ; Mr. John Seden, 10s. Gd. ; Mr. John 
Cowan, £1 Is.; Mr. Howell, 10s. Gd.; Mr. E. Jenkins, 5s.; Mr. W. 
White (Dorking), 5s. ; Chas, Toope, Esq., £1. Collected by Mr. 
H. B. Smyth’s stand at the National Chrysanthemum Show :— 
Mr. W. Holmes, 5s.; Mr. W. Howe, 2s. Gd. ; Mr. Crute, 2s. Gd. ; 
Mr. F. Wilson, 2s. Gd. ; G. Mayor, Esq., £2 2s. ; Mr. J. Roberts, 
2s. Gd. ; J. H. W., Is.; Mr. R. Davis, 5s. ; Mr. Don, 2s.; Mr. 
Ballantine, 2s. Gd. ; Mr. S. Deards, 2s. Gd. ; Mr. Brangwin, 2s. ; 
Mr. W. May, 2s.; Mr. J. Reynolds, 2s. : A. B., 2s. ; J. M. 2s. ; 
Mr. Jos. Arnold, 2s. Gd.—£4 2s. Gd. 
A meeting of the Committee having in hand the organisation 
of this fund was held at Messrs. Protheroe & Morris’s Rooms 
on the 29th ult., Mr. Harry J. Veitch presiding. The Hon. 
Secretary, Mr. Fred Horsman, stated that the total amount received 
and promised up to that date was about £410, and it was* 
unanimously resolved that the list should be closed on December 
12th, by which time it is desirable that all promised subscriptions 
should be sent in. The Committee will meet again on the 13th 
to determine the disposal of the fund. 
Dendrobium aureum. 
A fine specimen of the above Dendrobium may now be seen 
flowering in the Victoria House collection. The plant is growing 
in a 10-inch basket, and is bearing 179 flowers, some of the pseudo¬ 
bulbs having twenty blooms. The sepals and petals are cream 
coloured or yellow ; the lip has a velvety disc, golden yellow 
streaked and veined with crimson lines, recurved at the tip. It is 
not one of the most showy Dendrobiums, but should be grown on 
account of its sweet scented flowers, the perfume resembling that 
of Violets combined with Primroses. The same plant carried 
eighty-six flowers last year.—H. Cooper. 
THE SHELL-BARK HICKORY. 
The Hickory is purely an American tree. The eight species which 
are known all belong to the southern half of the North American con¬ 
tinent, with the headquarters of the genus, as represented by the 
greatest number of species in any one locality, in the valley of the Red* 
River in Arkansas, with one species pushing far south along the Mexican 
Sierra Madre. No other country or region of the earth can boast of an> 
indigenous Hickory tree, although it is quite within the bounds off 
possibility that one, and perhaps several species may still be found in* 
the unexplored mountain districts of central China, so similar are the 
floras of our eastern States and of eastern Asia in actual composition* 
and so closely related in their descent from remote common ancestors. 
The Hickories, at least some of the species, are among the most valuable- 
trees in the world. There has never been a boy or girl brought up in 
any part of the country east of the Missouri River who has not early 
learned the value of the Pecan, or the Hickory Nut, or the Mocker 
Nut; and the wood which some of these trees yield has no equal, and' 
certainly no superior, for certain purposes. There is no wood at once- 
so tough and strong and true. It is the Hickory wood in its handle 
which has carried the American axe round the world, driving, wherever- 
it is known, all other axes out of the market ; and it has made possible-, 
those light carriages, which, in turn have made possible the American) 
trotting horse, one of the marvels of these modern times, and probably 
the best example of what can be accomplished, by careful breeding anc3 
persistent selection, in the development of domestic animals for a special 
purpose. No other tree is known whose wood is tough enough and strong- 
enough to stand the strain imposed upon the American trotting-sulky,. 
and without the modern sulky and its heavier forerunner, neither breed¬ 
ing nor training could have produced that race of horses which every 
American looks upon in his heart of hearts with joy and admiration.. 
As a nation we owe much to the Hickory tree, and we have good and 
just reason for being proud of it. It is a tree known to many people;: 
next to the Oak and the Pine, more Americans know the Hickory 
tree when they see it than any other of our trees. That is, they know 
generally the Hickory without distinguishing the different species, which) 
is hardly surprising, since botanists themselves are often perplexed over- 
questions concerning the proper limitations of these species. Nor are 
these questions ever likely to be settled quite satisfactorily, for it ie- 
probable that several of the species are inclined to hybridise one with 
another, and so produce those individuals of doubtful characters which- 
are the despair of people who expect to be able to fit exactly every 
plant they encounter with the printed description of it in some book. 
The Shell-bark Hickory is considered genera ly the most valuable 
of the genus. The nuts, of course, are not esteemed as highly as- 
Pecans, and they are, perhaps, rather inferior to and considerably 
smaller than those of a western representative of the genus (Hickorius- 
sulcatus), the wood of which is equal to that of the Shell-bark. Still,, 
the Shell-bark, perhaps, is the tree which people have in mind gene¬ 
rally when they think or speak of a Hickory tree ; and the peculiarity 
of the bark which separates into great, thick, loose scales, gives to this 
tree a distinctive appearance, which makes it easily known and recog¬ 
nised. 
The Shell-bark, as it is now seen in the eastern States, is generally 
an obconical, square-topped tree, with rather small branches, produced* 
low down on the trunk. Such trees have grown generally since the 
land w r as first cleared for settlement and agriculture, and there are.- 
not now many people living here at the east who, unless they know the 
forests of the Mississippi Valley, and more especially those found ons 
the higher Alleghany Mountains, have an idea of what a large Hickory 
tree is, growing as it grew naturally before the white man disturbed 
and changed the natural condition of this country. The Shell-barks in- 
