JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
October  30,  1902. 
Helianthus  vigidus. 
Taking  everything  into  consideration,  I  am  inclined  to  call 
it  the  best  of  the  Sunflowers.  Here  in  the  garden  it  has  been 
in  bloom  for  two  months  at  least.  I  do  not  think  it  is  as  gene¬ 
rally  known  as  it  deserves,  for  we  have  sent  out  a  great  many 
plants  of  it  in  the  last  six  years  to  people  who  saw  it  here  for 
the  first  time. — B. 
Pinus  Ponderosa 
This,  the  Bull  Pine,  Rock  Pine,  or  Black  Hills  Pine,  as  it  is 
popularly  known,  is  the  best  native  Pine  in  X.  America,  and 
does  well  in  Great  Britain.  It  is  common  throughout  the 
Rocky  Mountain  region  and  Nebraska.  A  form  of  it  is  also 
found  in  the  Eastern  States,  and  is  now  called  Pinus  ponderosa 
rar.  scopulorum.  The  type  is  a  beautiful  stately  tree  attaining 
a  maximum  height  of  about  300ft,  and  a  trunk  diameter  of 
loft.  With  its  beautiful  long  deep  green  needles  and  straight 
body,  it  makes  one  of  the  finest  evergreens  for  planting  on  dry 
hillsides  or  uplands,  and  it  does  not  seem  to  attract  the  insect 
now  so  destructive  to  the  White  Pine,  Pinus  strobus.  If  the 
tree  is  nursery  grown  and  has  been  subjected  to  judicious  root 
pruning,  it  is  not  hard  to  transplant  and  should  be  used  a  great 
deal  more  than  it  is. 
Suspension  of  Life  at  Low  Temperatures. 
In  a  paper  by  Professor  Allan  Macfadyen  and  Mr.  Sydney 
Rowland,  read  at  the  recent  conference  of  the  British  Associa¬ 
tion,  the  suspension  of  life  at  low  temperatures,  was  discussed. 
Experiments  were  made  with  organisms  possessing  varying 
degrees  of  resistance,  ten  organisms  altogether  being  used  and 
cooled  down  to  — -  190deg  C.,  in  the  first  instance  for  twenty 
hours,  and  eventually  for  seven  days.  These  exposures  did  not 
produce  any  appreciable  impairment  in  the  vitality  of  the 
organisms,  either  as  regards  their  growth  or  their  characteristic 
physiological  properties,  such  as  pigment  and  gas  production, 
pathogenicity,  Ac.  Amongst  the  organisms  tested  were  photo¬ 
genic  bacteria,  and  these  likewise  preserved  their  normal 
luminous  properties.  The  authors  were  able,  through  the  kind¬ 
ness  of  Professor  Dewar,  to  apply  a  still  severer  test,  namely, 
an  exposure  to  the  temperature  of  liquid  hydrogen  (about 
—  252deg  C.),  a  temperature  which  was  far  removed  from  that 
of  liquid  air  as  was  that  of  liquid  air  from  the  average  summer 
temperature.  Ten  hours’  exposure  to  this  temperature  had  no 
appreciable  effect  on  the  vitality  of  the  micro-organisms  tested. 
At  such  temperatures  it  must  be  assumed  that  the  chemical 
metabolism  of  the  cell  ceased,  in  the  absence  of  heat  and  moisture. 
At  the  same  time,  it  appeared  advisable  to  test  the  influence  cf  a 
prolonged  exposure  to  low  temperatures  on  the  vitality  of  cells. 
The  experiments  were  conducted  with  the  aid  of  the  liquid  air 
plant  at  the  Jenner  Institute  of  Preventive  Medicine.  The 
bacteria  were  suspended  in  small  loops  of  platinum  wire  or  on 
cotton-wool  swabs,  and  directly  immersed  in  the  liquid  air.  The 
yeast,  washed  and  pressed,  was  wrapped  in  rice-paper,  and  like¬ 
wise  directly  immersed  in  the  liquid  air.  Samples  were  taken  and 
tested  at  intervals  for  a  total  period  of  six  months.  In  no 
instance  could  any'  impairment  of  the  vitality  of  the  organisms 
be  detected.  Judging  by  the  results,  the  experiments  might  have 
been  prolonged  for  a  much  longer  period  than  six  months  without 
appreciable  influence  on  the  vitality  of  the  organisms  in  ques¬ 
tion.  The  ordinary  manifestations  of  life  ceased  at  zero,  but  at 
—  lOOdeg  C.  they  had  every  reason  to  suppose  that  intracellular 
metabolism  must  also  cease,  as  a  result  of  the  withdrawal  of  two 
of  its  cardinal  physical  conditions,  heat  and  moisture.  It  was 
difficult  to  form  a  conception  of  living  matter  under  this  new 
condition,  which  was  neither  life  nor  death,  or  to  select  a  term 
which  would  accurately  describe  it.  It  was  a  new  and  hitherto 
unobtained  state  of  living  matter — a  veritable  condition  of 
suspended  animation. 
Sophora  japonica. 
This  lovely  tree  does  not  flower  freely  in  this  country.  The 
flowers  are  borne  in  great  bunches,  are  cream  white  in  colour, 
and  in  seasons  like  last  summer,  when  the  bunches  of  bloom  are 
abundant,  it  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  of  midsummer  flower¬ 
ing  trees.  It  is  a  native  of  Japan,  and  belongs  to  the 
leguminous  order  of  trees.  It  is  slow  growing  at  first,  and  one 
has  to  wait  some  years  for  a  specimen  to  flower,  but  when  old 
enough  and  it  commences  to  bloom,  it  continues  to  do  so  every 
season.  In  favourable  seasons  the  seeds  ripen,  but  at  all  times 
they  are  easily  had  from  dealers  in  Japanese  seeds,  and  they 
germinate  readily  when  fresh. 
Viburnum  Opulus  nana. 
Some  years  ago  a  pigmy  Viburnum  was  introduced,  a 
miniature  form  of  the  common  Viburnum  Opulus,  and,  though 
now  fairly  distributed,  it  has  never  been  reported  as  having  been 
observed  in  flower.  But  it  has  good  qualities  enough  without 
this ;  and  anyone  looking  for  a  dwarf,  bushy  shrub,  of  but  a  foot 
or  so  in  height,  would  find  just  what  they  require  in  this  plant. 
When  raised  from  cuttings — and  it  roots  easily — it  takes  as  many 
as  a  half-dozen  years  before  it  is  a  foot  high,  but  all  the  time, 
from  the  start  to  the  end,  it  is  as  bushy  as  a  plant  can  be.  It  is 
all  the  time  as  broad  as  it  is  high,  and  as  thick  as  it  can  be,  the 
branches  are  so  numerous.  For  a  dwarf  boundary  hedge  it  is  one 
of  the  best  plants  going ;  and  it  is  among  the  hardiest  of  plants. 
Kerria  japonica. 
That  the  public  does  not  tire  of  good  things  is  evidenced  in 
the  case  of  the  old  Kerria  or  Corchorus  japonica  (writes  Mr. 
Meehan  in  an  American  journal).  In  this  vicinity  it  is  one  of  the 
oldest  of  garden  shrubs,  and  it  is  just  as  much  in  demand  to-day 
as  any  of  the  newer  shrubs.  It  deserves  to  be ;  for  besides  its 
wealth  of  yellow  flowers  in  early  spring,  there  is  hardly  a  day 
throughout  the  season  when  a  flower  could  not  be  had  from  it. 
The  kind  always  looked  for  when  a  Kerria  is  asked  for,  is  the 
double-flowered  one,  as  it  has  so  long  been  familiar  in  gardens: 
but  there  has  appeared  of  late  years  the  single-flowered  sort  and 
a  variegated  leaved  one  of  the  single,  both  free  flowering  and  in 
many  ways  desirable.  Those  having  plants,  and  wishing  to 
increase  them,  could  put  in  green  wood  cuttings  at  this  season, 
and  in  winter  make  cuttings  of  the  hard  wood,  planting  or  setting 
them  outdoors  when  spring  came. 
Bougainvillea  Sanderiana. 
After  potting  Bougainvillea  Sanderiana,  plants  that  have 
been  lifted  from  the  open  ground,  where  they  have  been  in  sub¬ 
tropical  bedding,  should  be  placed  in  a  greenhouse  lightly  shaded, 
at  a  moderate  growing  temperature  for  about  ten  days  or  so, 
spraying  them  over  the  top  daily,  until  .they  have  recovered 
from  the  effects  of  the  lifting.  After  this  has  been  accom¬ 
plished  reduce  the  temperature  to  a  sufficient  degree  to  pre¬ 
vent  the  plants  from  making  new  growth.  Clean  off  all  shading, 
expose  the  plants  to  the  full  light,  and  always  keep  them  on  the 
dry  order  throughout  the  winter,  when  the  plants  will  have 
well  ripened  and  fully  budded  up.  About  six  or  seven  weeks 
before  Easter  move  the  plants  from  their  dormant  position  into 
the  forcing  house,  give  them  plenty  of  water,  and  expose  them 
to  the  full  light.  If  these  directions  are  carefully  followed, 
there  should  be  no  trouble  whatever  in  blooming  these  plants 
in  profusion. 
Planting  Deciduous  Trees. 
Now  that  November  is  almost  here,  it  is  much  better  to 
proceed  at  once  with  the  planting  of  deciduous  trees  than  to 
wait  longer.  The  leaves  are  still  on  the  trees,  and  these  have 
to  be  handstripped  before  the  trees  are  shipped  or  planted;  and 
quite  some  time  is' occupied  in  stripping  even  one  large  tree. 
But  even  if  the  customer  should  have  to  strip  the  leaves  him¬ 
self,  he  had  better  set  out  the  trees.  Many  years’  experience, 
writes  Mr.  J.  Meehan,  lias  shown  that  early  planted  trees  do  far 
better  than  those  set  late.  There  is  root  action  at  once  if  set 
while  the  ground  is  still  warm.  Should  thel  soil  be  dry,  so  much 
the  better  for  planting,  as  it  can  be  worked  in  around  every  root 
closely.  But  when  the  hole'  is  half  filled  up,  drench  it  with 
water,  filling  up  the  hole  later  when  the  water  has  thoroughly 
soaked  away.  It  is  much  the  better  way  to  set  out  trees  early 
in  the  autumn  than  in  the  spring.  The  trees  do  better,  and 
there  is  less  need  of  hurry. 
