338 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
You send your soldiers to the Philippines and they are under 
orders as to what they shall eat and what they shall drink. 
They are in an artificial environment. So is a cultivated 
tree. Drags that kill and cure arc no more necessary than 
with the transplanted soldier. The same law holds good 
with every living thing, whether it be the king on his throne 
or the beggar in his hovel, the wild animals of the forest or 
the insects that feed upon your trees, the humble weed by the 
roadside or the stately tree in your parks. 
I cast reflections upon no one in all these remarks. I 
do not expect anyone to agree with all that I have said, and 
I look for but a few who will not differ in most of these ideas, 
at present. I only ask that they be not condemned without 
thought. 
I believe all are working in what they now think are the 
best interests of horticulture in California, but I hope that 
some may be encouraged to act as a result of an ever broaden¬ 
ing grasp of the true idea of the harmony in which all exist. 
BOOKS ON WILD FLOWERS 
Field Book of Americ.\n Wild Flowers, F. Schuyler Mathews. 
Published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons. 1912. Illustrated. 587 pages. 
7x4 inches. Price, $2.00. 
In this volume of the pocket manual type, we have compressed into 
convenient form descriptions and full page illustrations of a large 
number of the more striking wild flowers of the Northeast. The 
lithographs are exceedingly well done, while the wood cuts arc suf¬ 
ficiently clear to be of direct assistance in distinguishing the plants 
described. The book includes not only perennials of the herbaceous 
type, but also ligneous plants of the character of roses, and climbing 
plants such as bittersweet and the like. There is certainly no excuse 
at the present time for anyone to be without a non-technical, handy 
manual to assist in the identification of flowers which he may meet 
along the wayside or in more extended tramps in the woods or on the 
prairie. 
Wild Flowers of the North-Eastern States, by Ellen Miller and 
Margaret Christine Whiting. Published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons. 
Illustrated. 620 pages. x io>^ inches. Price, $3.00. 
This volume contains a selection of 308 plant individuals common 
to the north-eastern United States. A full page of the 8 x 10 sheet is 
devoted to a line drawing, while the opposite page carries the descriptive 
matter. While the drawiiigs are cleverly executed there is not always 
sufficient detail to make identfication more than approximately 
certain. The descriptive matter does not give the geographical distri¬ 
bution of the plant, which seems to us rather an important omission. 
It is true that most of the plants described are found quite generally 
distributed throughout the whole of the northeastern states. One of 
the more valuable features of the letter press is the general summing 
up which the authors give of the character, appearance, and some¬ 
times values of the plant; in other words, the general impression 
which a visitor to a plant community of this or that type might receive. 
For instance, the pokeberry is said to be “a plant of homely gesture 
and rather strong odor, redeemed by its luxuriant growth and the fine 
quality of its foliage.” Then some of the qualities of the plants are 
mentioned, which are often overlooked in more technical descriptions, 
as, for instance, in the case of the pokeberry, “the berries are favorites 
with children, who squeeze them to use their deep magenta-crimson 
juice for writing and painting and dyeing purposes.’’ This volume 
belongs rather to the library of the well-to-do amateur than to the book 
collection of the botanist or plantsman. 
SEVERE HAILSTORM AT OUDENBOSCH, HOLLAND 
It is reported the nurseries at Oudenbosch suffered Ireavily through 
a severe hailstorm, which lasted about a quarter of an hour. Maples 
and other nursery stock were much damaged. Greenhouses also 
suffered heavily one firm having 20,000 panes of glass broken. 
Note and Comment 
A writer in a recent issue of the Rural New Yorker < 
describing methods of propagating fruit trees in that region, 
makes the rather unique statement that “most of our natural 
fruit seedlings with the exception of the api)lc are imported 
from France.’’ As a matter of fact, nearly all the apple 
seedlings which are imported do come from France, and 
these represent a very considerable share of the apple 
seedlings used by American nurserymen. It is true that 
large numbers of apple seedlings arc grown in the Middle 
West, but it is quite certain that an equal if not a greater 
number come to us from the nursery regions of France each 
year. The statement also* implies that peach trees are im¬ 
ported, which of course is another bad mistake of the 
paragrapher. He says in this connection that “a trans¬ 
planted peach seedling would grow too big to be budded to 
the best advantage, so the peach pits or meats are handled 
in such a manner that they may be budded the same season 
that they are sown.’’ Here again our friend shows lack of 
familiarity with nursery methods. While it is quite true 
that probably nine-tenths of all the peaches grown are 
budded the same season, yet it is also true that some nursery¬ 
men practice the plan of transplanting their peach seedlings 
at a very early stage in the growth of the seedling, so that 
their trees may be placed at regular intervals in the nursery 
row. This is after the plan practiced by the French grower 
of apple, pear, and plum stocks. 
FORESTS AND STREAM FLOW 
It has long been a moot question as to whether forests 
really affected the rainfall. No data has been available to 
say it is absolutely true that forests regulate the flow of 
waters by holding back spring freshets. Studies made by 
the United States Geological Survey in this connection are 
interesting, as reported in a late issue of Science. The 
results found in the case of two similar drainage basins in 
the White Mountains, each containing about five square 
miles, are as follows: “Measurements of precipitation over 
the areas and of the run-off of the respective streams show 
that not only was the snow held better in the forested area, 
but that during a period of 17 days in April, including three 
extended stonns, the run-off of the stream in the deforested 
area was a comparative flood—practically double that of 
the stream flowing through the forested area.” 
WANTS THE EARTH 
One of the most unusual claims ever filed with a city department i s 
that of Squire Herrick, at one time a well known nurseryman, recently 
filed with the Cincinnati Park Commission. Herrick had leased his 
nursery on Price Hill to the commission which raised seedling trees and 
shrubs there. These were later transplanted in various city parks. 
Herrick now says that when the trees and shrubs were dug up some 
of his earth clung to the roots. He wants to be paid for the earth which 
was thus removed from his property. He says that during the last 
four years there must have been fifty-five cartloads of it, and asks $2 
a load.— N. Y. Tribune. 
