726 
THE GARDENERS- MAGAZINE. 
.'^ei’Tember 27,1913. 
I A DAY IN THE FRASER VALLEY, I 
t BRITISH COLUMBIA. % 
❖ <• 
I have been asked to give a description 
of a day’s sight-seeing in the Fraser Valley, 
and I hope it may interest some of yonr 
botanical readers, as the flora of that dis¬ 
trict is very rich. 
The Fraser Valley is situated along the 
wonderful river of that name, from Van¬ 
couver to Chilliwack, which is the terminus 
of the British Columbia Electric Railway, 
a distance of about 65 miles. Having in¬ 
spected New Westmnster. whei'e we had 
to change cars, we crossed the river on a 
well-constructed bridge, the river there 
being very broad and with a strong current. 
All along the I'ailway clearing, which has 
been cut through the bush, the vegetation 
is luxuriant and fresh, with no dust, the 
soil chiefly a peaty bog. There are quan¬ 
tities of ferns—^bracken, the lady fern, and 
a polystichum—ail several feet in heigiit; 
skunk cabbages, a plant with plain, very 
broad leaves, and large, bright yellow, 
arum-lily flowers, with a horrible odour, 
hence the name; Mitchellia repens, the 
Squaw Berry, and some pretty rhododen- 
dron-like shrubs which I did not know. 
Spirseas of thre<? kinds were iicen flower¬ 
ing luxuriantly against great bushes of 
scarlet-berried elder, and there were acres 
of foxgloves, purple and white. Masses 
of the Salmon berry, with its delicious rasp¬ 
berry-like fruit, the cut-leaved bramble, 
and the blue berry, were all growing in the 
wildest profusion. 
Great clearings had been effected by fire, 
and there the w illow herb was growing and 
flowering as in a great garden, making the 
w aste places a thing of beauty; they call 
it here the “Fire Flow'er,” as it always 
appears after a fire. Clumps of a small 
orange lily looked beautiful, and made me 
remember that it was the 12th of July. 
On the stumps of trees, amongst decayed 
hark and dry banks, the Gaultheria, with 
its pretty rosy lily of the valley-like flow ers 
and glossy green leaves, grew in such 
masses that I at first faileel to recognise 
an old favourite in so congenial a home. 
Great tufts of the Crowm Imperial seemed 
to have flowered w^ell; I w as told they w ere 
quite common here. The young shoots 
from the cut-down maples w^ere very beau¬ 
tiful in their colouring against the dog¬ 
wood bushes and other shrubs which grow 
in profusion there. 
For miles and miles w’O saw nothing hut 
wood or bu.sh; the trees grow^ so closely 
together and are very tall, with scarcely 
a branch till near the top, and wdth little 
difference of girth; the undergrowth is so 
thick and dense that you cannot see day¬ 
light overhead, and one can wdl imagine 
the havoc of a forest fire. We. saw thou¬ 
sands of blackened, distorted trees, thou¬ 
sands of stumps, and still thousands of 
tall, straight, and grey trees, writh only 
the branches gone, looking like sorrowful 
monuments; and here and there enormous 
giants of the forest several yards in cir¬ 
cumference. The trees are principally the 
red, white, and yellow^ cedars the hemlock 
spruce, the scrub pine, birch, maple, and 
white poplar. 
The stations are primitive in the ex¬ 
treme, while such names as Abbotsford, 
Huntingdon, and Brentwood suggest a re¬ 
membrance of the old country ; while Jack- 
man, Jardine, Gifford, Dension, and Sul¬ 
livan may have been the pioneers of the 
valley. There are several lumber camps 
and saw mills, many farms and poultry 
runs, and horse-breeding establishments, 
but the most fertile spots for farming and 
market gardening are Sumas and Chilli- 
w^ack. Here, in a dip of the valley, the 
soil is good and rich, with very few trees, 
and, sheltered by the surrounding moun¬ 
tains, there is an even temperature, and 
everything grows in j^rofusion. 
We had a pleasant motor drive round 
Chilliwack,' and were shown the hop-fields 
growui by a Kentish man, and with such 
success that the futui'e of hop-growing may 
be assured ; there w^as also a market gar¬ 
den of about three acres for salads, toma¬ 
toes, cucumbers, and such wonderful roses 
and sw'eet peas, all of which find a ready 
market. 
Every bungalow has its flow'ers, and each 
person has his ow n ideas of building and de¬ 
corating, and as the homes are all of wood, 
some are very picturesque. A pretty sight 
w’as a long row of blue delphiniums against 
a white verandah. Along the banks of a 
river and the fringe of the woods the mock 
orange (Philadelphus) and the Deutzia, 
both indigenous to Sumas, scent the air 
for a long way, wdiile the maidenhair fern, 
from 1 to 2ft. high, grow’s like a weed. 
Here W'e saw^ several meadow larks, birds 
about the size of a thrush, and wdth a 
peculiar note. Good shooting is to be had 
in the valley, permission^ of course, being 
asked of the landowneis. You can shoot 
anything in season, deer, pheasant, part¬ 
ridge, rabbits, and grouse. A gun licence 
costs 2i dollars. Very goo<l fishing is also 
had in the river, but the best and prin¬ 
cipal fishing station is at the mouth of the 
Fraser River, the home of the Sockeye Sal¬ 
mon, the most delicious of the food fishes 
of the world. 
This is the quadrennial big year, and this 
is the first month of the three, for the 
salmon fishing, and hundreds of boats are 
employed, chiefly motor boats, and many 
engaged by Japanese. Steveston is the 
towui of the canneries, located at the mouth 
of the river, and here is a great industry 
for a few m.onths, the price realised from 
the salmon fishing on the Fraser alone 
being placed at a million and a half dollars. 
There are many kinds of salmon, viz., sock- 
eye, red springs, white springs, chums, 
pinks, and cohoes. 
On returning in the evening we had the 
unpleasant experience of running through 
a dense cloud of mosquitoes. The conduc¬ 
tor opened all the windows and front door 
of the car, and calling out, “Mind your 
hats,” thus rushe<l a strong current of air 
through to get rid of them,l)ut many pas¬ 
sengers w'ere severely stung. 
The sunset on the valley was grand; the 
mountains all along capped w ith snow, the 
river like a great sea, wdth the melting of 
the snows flooding the adjoining lands to 
within a few^ feet of the railway track. On 
the car rushed, past great trees like tall 
sentinels, and a glorious sunset flooded the 
valley. It was a day’s excursion not to be 
forgotten. M. Webster. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS.—For full insinic^ions on 
th.e Culture of Chrysanthemums in beds or 
borders for srarden or grreenhouse decoration, read 
the Second Edition of Chrysanthemums for Garden 
AND Greenhouse, by D. B. Crane, price 2s. Gd. net; 
or by post 26. ICd.. from W. H. and L. Collingridg-e, 
148 and 149, .Mdersgate Street, London. 
BULBS FOR naturalising. 
The merits of early-flowering hiilU for 
naturalising in ma.-ses in the l)lea^urr 
grounds and w ild gardens are ^o generiiit 
recognised as to render this method o( 
planting increasingly popular. There ire 
tew gardens of any repute where thi> form 
of planting is not largely repivseiiud, 
in a great many iirstames the effec t creapd 
is quite equal to that olitained at any other 
season of the year, while not infroquentiT 
the display of bulbs makes the springtime 
the most attractive of the four .seu.sons. 
It is hardly necessary to ein|)hasi.H‘ the 
importance of planting l)old masses of ate 
variety in eacii group, for the efft*ct oh. 
tained under such conditions is lertaiily 
the most telling and inqrosing. Let th» 
groups be of irregular outline in tlie wiM 
garden, as though the flowers had sprung 
iq) naturally, and plant rather thickly. 
Where the soil is light in texture pint, 
ing can very well l>e perfomed with am 
of the patent bulb planters made for tW 
23urpose, or holes can he made with an ina 
bar in which to insert the bull>s; but ii 
heavy, retentive soils this praefiot' is noti 
good one, as the holes are lialile to bold 
water during the winter, which may cauj# 
the bulbs to decay; moi-eover, the .mkI 
around the holes is usually exm^lingly firm, 
which prevents the ))ull)s from rootiig 
freely. After making holes with a har. i 
little prepared soil should be placed in tW 
bottom, ami the bulbs plantcxl about four 
inches det'p. 
When tlie soil is heavy and retentive, rt 
is preferable to break it up with a spa<k, 
and then replace the turf after plantinj- 
In our heavy soil I find this plan answ<t» 
very well, and the little extra time talw» 
to do the work is fully repaid hv 
results. It is preferable to plant hull* » 
early as possible, so as to allow thci^ 
commence growth at an early date, 
such conditions the results the hist sevm 
are much improved. , j 
For naturalising in 
grass or beside woodland walks, no 
equal’the narcissi, provid^l the 
rolls kinds are chosen. Emperor is ^ 
the grandest varieties 
it giws wdth vigour, and a lar^, 
makes a striking feature. inutf 
good, and may he planted ^ p 
to the above. Sir M atkin is r ^ 
being invaluable for iiia.^sing and Hon- 
fieldi and Princeps are 
The old double daffcxlil 
nils), with its rich double bloom ^ 
a particularly-striking vari#<J‘ 
tance. golden Spur is an attr. t 
and blooms in advance f 
Maximus. Henry Irving, AutocN _^^_ ^ 
Plemp, Grandis, Barn 
poeticiis ornatus can all be 
for planting in the grass. whn 
might be cho.sen to crea ^ on 
spa^oe and for 
gVonml AVaterwitr'h and )«* 
especially desirable. Thw hreadtl*^ 
drops, aconites, ‘ masses. 
very Want i fill keen in 
ciaily in the woodland , <;aff^l^®^ 
the colchiciims or c. 
not be overlooked 
C. autumnale, and C. tar 
^’^m^cinthnscandieans bdnimy^ 
Fritillaria impenahs, ana 
all suitable for naturalising 
den, and bold groups are ^ 
when in bloom. 
Batsford Park Gardens. 
M 
