information concerning the name of his pear. 
It may be a rare sort or an accidental seed¬ 
ling, but whatever it may be, it is an excellent 
sort. I think if Mr. Allen would send a few 
specimens to the editor he could possibly 
throw some light on the subject. 
and to occur for longer periods; while, on the 
other hand, the high waters of floods are higher 
and the iuundations are more disastrous. 
Both conditions are attributable to the self¬ 
same causes, and are depet dent upon the 
same agency—the excessive clearing of the 
lands. With a gi ven amount of rainfall, that 
which descends upon the open fields, whether 
in cultivation or in grass, but especially if this 
has been closely pastured, or “turned out (o 
rest,' 7 after a destructive course of tillage 
with shallow plowing, will rapidly flow off 
from the bare surface of the hard, parched 
soil, washing it into frightful gullies; where¬ 
as that which falls upon a well-wooded tract 
does not so escape. A very considerable por¬ 
tion of the 8ummer shower is arrested in its 
fall and is retained by the leaves, twigs and 
bark ot the trees, the remainder, thus hin- 
■dered, falls more gently to the ground, where 
it is largely absorbed by the loose, mellow 
soil, and its rich covering ol bushes, mosses, 
and the debris of twigs aud leaves that have 
accumulated for centuries and form a rich 
carpeting of humus. 
Eveu on declivities these materials offer ob¬ 
structions to the off-flow of accumulated wa¬ 
ters, and in all the depressions fallen limbs 
and logs form little dams that still further im¬ 
pede the escape, and meanwhile the water is 
quietly percolating into the soil, feeding its 
reservoirs from which it emerges in permanent 
springs of pure, filtered liquid that continues 
to flow out during the year, ami thus aids in 
keeping up a perpetual stream to supply its 
quota to the water-system of the country. 
That which had suddenly rushed off from 
the open lands, on the contrary, was highly 
charged with mud aud sand that was carried 
into the streams and largely deposited in the 
stiller waters of ponds, tilling them up and 
interfering with their usefulness, and in many 
cases carrying coarser materials to the larger 
streams, where they may interfere with navi¬ 
gation by producing sand bars and other ob¬ 
structions. 
Mr. Northrup tells us that “ the influence of 
forests on rainfall, climate, and water-supply 
has been freely discussed in the schools of for¬ 
estry and iu scientific circles. It is not proved 
that extensive denudation will cau e a marked 
decrease in the total rainfall of any large 
country. While this.is still an unsettled ques¬ 
tion, recent observations in France, made with 
great care aud complete sets of instruments at 
different stations, seem to establish the facts, 
first, that throughout the year six per cent, 
more rain falls in the forests than iu the open 
fields: second, that of the total rainfall ten per 
cent, i; caught by the leaves and reaches the 
ground very gradually; and, third, that the 
evaporation in the open country is five times 
as great as in the forest.” 
He goes on to say: “But on the question 
of the influence of forests on the climate aud 
the permanent water-supply there is a grow¬ 
ing unanimity among the practical foresters 
aud professors iu the forest schools of Europe. 
They show that the wholesale clearing of the 
forests has an injurious effect on both, while 
the extensive planting of trees on arid re¬ 
gions has ameliorated the climate, prevented 
mountain torrents, and rendered the water- 
supply more permanent. These investigations 
show that the general destruction of forests 
has rendered the climate drier, more changea¬ 
ble and trying, aud that forests on the one 
hand tend to lower the general temperature 
ol' a country, aud promote the fall of rain at 
more regular intervals, aud on the other 
hand, they ward off sudden meteorological 
chauges which result in heavy falls of rain 
anil disastrous floods.” 
The general drainage of this country in the 
course of improvement that has been goiug 
on so universally within the last generation, 
must be apparent to all travelers on our rail¬ 
ways. The roads themselves, in traversing 
low tracts, swamps, prairies aud ponds, have 
opened ditches aud sluices for the rapid exit 
of the waters that formerly accumulated up 
on them, and besides this the ditching laws of 
several States have enabled the proprietors to 
unite iu comprehensive works for relieving 
their farms of a troublesome surplus that was 
injurious to agricultural improvement. This 
is remarkably appareut in all the broad, flat 
divides or waier-sheds that flank the western 
slopes of the Alleghanies and furnish streams 
that flow into the great valleys of the St. 
Lawrence on the one hand, and on the other 
tlmse, which empty into the tributaries of the 
Ohio and the Mississippi. On many of these 
water shetls the lands were so flat that the 
same ponds and marshes in Ohio, P mnsylva- 
nia, Western New York, Wisconsin and Indi¬ 
ana would supply drainage waters to both of 
the great valleys named, so that the Indians 
and the early French voyageurs made passage 
from one to the other in their canoes. By 
the opening of those drainage channels wide 
tracts of country have been drained by the 
free discharge of waters that formerly found 
a slower exit and kept up a more regular flow 
iu the natural streams, some of which have 
now a limited supply of water. 
All this must have its effect upon the great 
rivers, and we already bear complaints of 
their failure bo supplj’ navigation in a contin¬ 
uous, permanent flow, but they have excessive 
discharges at some seasons, with extremely low 
waters at other times, and these last are more 
protracted than formerly. 
Nor is this condition of things confined to 
this country. The matter of the failing of the 
navigable streams of Eut ope was discussed by 
the Congress of Foresters held at Vienna in 
1878 , since which time it has continued to at¬ 
tract attention and to receive careful study. 
In 1875 Herr Wex, director of the government 
works for the improvement of the Danube 
(Danctu Regulierwng) , in a paper presented to 
the Vienna Geographical Society, showed 
that in half a ceutury the decrease in the 
average level of the waters of the Elbe 
aud Oder has been seventeen inches, that 
of the Rhine twenty-four, the Vistula twen¬ 
ty-six, the Danube at Orsova, fifty five 
inches. These measurements, embracing the 
greatest floods and the lowest flow and the 
medium average flow, show that the floods are 
unquestionably higher than iu former years, 
aud the contrast between the highest and low¬ 
est flow is greater; that these higher floods are 
no compensation for the diminution of the 
medium anil low floods and that many manu¬ 
factories built during the last fifty years have 
experienced a marked diminution in the w ater 
supply of their streams, aud steam engines 
have been employed to meet the deficiency of 
water power. 
The cause lies in the extensive clearing away 
of the forests, especially in the mountains, 
where deluges of rain occur more frequently: 
iu lauds devoid of trees the rain water more 
readily reaches the brooks, streams and riv¬ 
ers, overflows these water-courses and pro¬ 
duces disastrous floods. 
[Several learned societies appointed commis¬ 
sioners to examine these statements, and their 
report confirms the views of Mr. Wex, as fol¬ 
lows: 
“ Forests exercise a beneficial influence 
which can haidly be estimated too highly in 
an increased humidity of the air, a reduction 
of the extremes of temperature, a diminished 
evaporation, and a more regular distribution 
of the rainfall, while the injurious effect of 
their destruction is seen in an alternation of 
periods of drought at one time, with wasting 
floods at another. 
“The forests serve as storehouses of mois¬ 
ture, both from their leafy canopy, which 
shuts out the sun, and the myriads of fallen 
leaves covering the soil and acting like a 
sponge, soaking up and retaining the rain aud 
regulating its distribution, while the roots act 
as vertical drains, favoring infiltration aud 
promotiug the descent of the water to nourish 
the springs.”* 
Iu a paper upon this subject, presented at 
the Cincinnati meeting of the American As¬ 
sociation for the Advancement of Science, by 
Mr. D. D. Thompson, the writer quotes from 
Counsellor Wex the following list of streams 
which within a few decades of years have 
shrunken in consequence of the greater extent 
of clearing, increased drainage of ponds and 
marshes, and of the improvement and irriga¬ 
tion of extensive tracts of land. 
Annual wean of 
gauge inches of 
Rivers. Stations. suriuicage. 
Rhine.Basle. 0.114 
•• .Bingen.1.1.24 
" .limerick.U. 4 U 
Danube.Stein...u. 4 i 
.Vienna.11.423 
“ .Oiu Orsova.0.0 
Elbe...Dresden. . 0.197 
*' ..... jUagUeourg. 0.394 
Vistula.Cracow.u.438 
'• .Kiu-zebraeb.0.53s 
Oder.Kuslriu..U.114 
Seine.i’a is.11.59 
Mississippi......... N atchez .. .1 ».t>47 
At a receut meeting of the Ohio Horticul¬ 
tural Society, the subject of irrigation being 
under consideration, while all were agreed as 
to the importance of water as a factor in 
successful gardening, it was objected by many 
from the hilly regions, that since the clearing 
away of the forests the streams were unrelia¬ 
ble fora permaueut supply; that it was almost 
impossible to erect sufficient barriers to with¬ 
stand the impetus of sudden freshets, and that 
these were rendered more dangerous and des¬ 
tructive by any obstructions put in the way of 
their free and rapid dicharge when swollen 
by floods. 
The readers of these articles may t hink we 
have now had enough of this general character, 
and il' all eady aroused to the importance of the 
subject, and perhaps induced with the coining 
season to begin operations, eveu in a small 
way, they shall, in the next papers, be fur¬ 
nished with some instructions on the import¬ 
ant and practical questions, Where to Plant, 
Preparation for Planting, and How to Plant, 
Cultivation, etc 
•Condensed from Nortlirup’s Economic Tree-Plant- 
sandy soils. I know trees now twenty feet high 
or more, which were set out as mere shrubs 
in April, 1878. I think this a remarkable 
thirteen years’grow thin soil little better than 
pure white sea sand which was never fertil¬ 
ized. The tree is admirable for a hedge, as it 
does not sucker like the Yellow Locust, and is 
equally enduring, I believe, for fence posts 
and timber for various purposes. The only 
thing I have against it is that it leafs out very 
late, showing but little foliage ordinarily be¬ 
fore the last of May in this climate, a. b. a. 
Referring to the Coliseum Ivy (mentioned 
on page l), I would say that I have found the 
variegated form to be rather delicate in 
growth, aud I do not think it would prove to 
be a very desirable plant for the window gar- 
d<. n. So far as I have seen it, the variegation 
is not very clearly defined. 
For a drooping plant for the window gar¬ 
den I know of nothing better than Othonna 
erassi folia. This is a pretty plant of creeping 
habit, bearing a striking resemblance tonome 
species of Sedums, The leaves are very fleshy 
and are of a light-green color. It also flowers 
very 1 rofusely; the flowers are of a bright 
yellow color and about a quarter of an inch 
across. It is, moreover, easily cultivated, 
thriving in ordinary potting soil. On account 
of its succulent habit it does not suffer fr>*m 
neglect in wateri og, but care should be taken 
not to allow it to become too wet. 
Queens Co., L I. Chas. E. Parnell. 
£bri cultural 
COLUMBINES. 
WILLIAM FALCONER. 
Columbines are among the choicest and pret¬ 
tiest hardy herbaceous plants, and as they are 
free-growing, neat, copious and easily raised 
from seeds, they are deserving favorites in 
our gardens. They are indigenous to the 
North Temperate Zone and are found wild 
mostly in open, rocky places, margins of 
woods and mountain slopes. The common 
Columbine of our gardens is a European, 
botanically known as Aquilegia vulgaris, and 
of which there is a great variety. Some are 
small in stature, others intermediate and 
large; some have single and others double 
flowers; some have no spui*s and appear like 
large single Anemones, and thei r blossoms are 
blue, purple, white, striped and blotched. But 
this interminable variety cannot compare in 
point of beauty with some of the untainted 
species. The Rocky Mountain blue Columbine, 
the loveliest of all, has blue and white flowers 
The Franconia Raspberry. 
I notice the discussions that are going on in 
the Rural Nkw-Yokker and other papers in 
regard to raspberries, in which the Franconia 
is spoken of, aud iu a late issue of the Rural 
it is spoken of as being unproductive. Such 
is not the fact around Boston or elsewhere in 
Massachusetts. This variety was introduced 
here more than 40 years ago by Samuel G. 
Perkins, from the old firm of Vilmorin, An- 
drieux & Co., of Paris, and has ever been one 
of our most productive and valuable varie¬ 
ties. I have an impression that many of the 
Franconias, so-called, are not the identical, 
true sort. In fact, I know this to be so even 
in our own vicinity, and «s I had fouud my 
own plantation to be mixed, I rooted them 
out, and then put out some plants re¬ 
ceived of Mr. Perkins about 80 years ago, 
which have stood in the same ground ever 
since and are yet productive and healthy, 
from the new canes which annually arise. It 
is not judicious to plaut a new variety where 
a previous bed of raspberries has stood, for 
the roots of the old kiud sometimes remain in 
the ground and come up again. 
Dorchester, Mass. Mars all P. Wilder. 
!3lrborkuliuval 
Influence of excessive clearing away of the 
forests and draining ol the swamps and 
ponds upon the permanent flow of water 
in the streams and rivers. 
DR. JOHN A. WARDER. 
It is a common observation, brought out in 
all intelligent discussion of the forestry ques¬ 
tion, that the water supply of our streams 
and rivers has sensibly diminished since the 
clearing up of the country. Every octogena¬ 
rian and many a man of middle life will cite 
you to a mi 11 stream of former years, that has 
now shrunken away to the smallest propor¬ 
tions, is scarcely able to furnish the motive 
power for a churn or a grindstone, and which 
even fails to yield a steady and healthful sup¬ 
ply of stock-water for the cattle iu the pas¬ 
tures. Even in New England, where so large 
a proportion of laud has been left iu woods, 
or has been thrown out of cultivation and has 
reverted to woodland, even there the mill-sites 
are less reliable than iu former years, and in 
numerous instances the water power has to 
be replaced or supplemented by steam. In 
other States many navigable streams, as they 
were called in the early part of the century, 
are no louger navigable, and where the deep¬ 
ly laden broad-horns or flat-boats and the 
barges of an early day conveyed the produce 
of the farms to distant markets, there is 
scarcely water enough to float a good-sized 
canoe, 
Mr. Northrup quotes Wra, Cullen Bryaut 
to the following effect: “ Our Summers are 
becoming drier and our streams smaller. 
Take the Cuyahoga hs an illustration. Fifty 
years ago large barges loaded with goods 
went up and down that river. Now, in an 
ordinary stage of the water, a canoe or skiff 
can scarely pass down the stream; and from 
the same c ,use—the destruction of our for¬ 
ests—other streams are drying uu in Summer. 
It will be remembered that the sources of the 
river named were early occupied by energetic 
settlers from New England whose enterpris¬ 
ing industry rapidly cleared away the forests, 
and drained the swampy ponds to replace them 
by the smiling farms and pastures of the 
famous dairy region known as the Western 
Reserve. 
Many of our larger streams are found to be 
less reliable for navigation thau formerly; the 
extremely low water is observed to be lower, 
THE GOLDEN COLUMBINE.—FIG. 44. 
and long spurs; there is also a pure white 
variety of it in cultivation. The Siberian 
Columbine (A. glandulosa), blue and white, 
exceedingly pretty, but hard to get in its pu¬ 
rity; the Alpine Columbine (A. Alpina), a gem 
from the Swiss Alps, also blue and white, and 
the Pyrenean Columbine (A. Pyrenaiea), tiny, 
blue, are among the best of their color. Red 
Columbines, that is, those having red and yel¬ 
low in each flower as is the case with our com¬ 
mon Canada Columbine, are not uncommon. 
Best among them are the Californian Colum¬ 
bines (A. truncata), a fine, tall-growing spe¬ 
cies, that thrives well in the open border and 
blooms somewhat later than the mass of other 
Columbines; aud the Mexican Columbine (A. 
Skinneri), not very unlike the last, but the 
yellow in the flower is greenish. But of all 
Columbines for general garden use there is 
none to supersede the golden Columbine (A. 
chrysantha), the subject of the illustration 
Fig. 44, and a native of the Rocky Mountains 
in Southern Utah and New Mexico. It is a 
strong-growing species, thrives well in the 
open border and comes into bloom as most of 
the early Columbines are going out of blossom, 
and it continues blooming, under favorable 
circumstances, all Summer long up till the 
middle or end of August. Its flowers are yel¬ 
low, large, with long spurs mid most copious¬ 
ly produced. Besides the above there are sev¬ 
eral other species, and many reputed species 
that are only synonyms or slightly different 
forms of those already mentioned. In addi¬ 
tion to tin many varieties of the common Col¬ 
umbine, varieties or hybrids of the other spe¬ 
cies are from time to time vaunted to the pub- 
The Honey Locust. 
One very advantageous thing in this tree, 
which Horticolu does not mention iu his ex¬ 
cellent article, page 21 of the Rural, is that 
it grows freely in the poorest of gravelly and 
