we see in the green-houses and windows of amateurs are the result of
excessive light when first brought into warm quarters. Where it is not
possible to shade bulbs without interfering with other plants a simple
and effective plan is to make funnels of paper large enough to stand
inside each pot and six inches high. These may be left on the pots
night and day from the time the plants are brought in until the flower
spike has grown above the foliage; indeed, some of the very finest
Hyacinths cannot be had in perfection without some such treatment.
Bulbous plants should never suffer for water when growing rapidly, yet
on the other hand, they are easily ruined if allowed to become sodden.
When in flower a rather dry and cool temperature will preserve them
the longest.
Of bulbs which flower in the summer and fall, Gloxinias and tuberous
rooted Begonias are great favorites and easily managed. For early
summer a few of each should be started at once--using sandy, friable
soil. Six-inch pots, well drained, are large enough for the very
largest bulbs, while for smaller even three-inch pots will answer.
In a green-house there is no difficulty in finding just the place to
start them. It must be snug, rather shady and not too warm. They can
be well cared for, however, in a hot-bed or even a window, but some
experience is necessary to make a success.
Lilies, in pots, whether _L. candidum_ or _L. longiflorum_ that
are desired to be in flower by Easter, should now receive every
attention--their condition should be that the flower buds can
be easily felt in the leaf heads. A temperature of fifty-five to
sixty-five at night should be maintained, giving abundance of air on
bright sunny days to keep them stocky. Green fly is very troublesome
at this stage, and nothing is more certain to destroy this pest than
to dip the plants in tobacco water which, to be effective, should be
the color of strong tea. Occasional waterings of weak liquid manure
will be of considerable help if the pots are full of roots.
_J. Thorpe._
Entomology.
Arsenical Poisons in the Orchard.
As is well known, about fifty per cent. of the possible apple crop in
the Western states is sacrificed each year to the codling moth, except
in sections where orchardists combine to apply bands of straw around
the trunks. But as is equally well known this is rather a troublesome
remedy. At all events, in Illinois, Professor Forbes, in a bulletin
lately issued from the office of the State Entomologist of Illinois,
claims that the farmers of that state suffer an annual loss from the
attacks of this single kind of insect of some two and three-quarters
millions of dollars.
As the results of two years' experiments in spraying the trees with
a solution of Paris green, only once or twice in early spring, before
the young apples had drooped upon their stems, there was a saving of
about seventy-five per cent. of the apples.
The Paris green mixture consisted of three-fourths of an ounce of the
powder by weight, of a strength to contain 15.4 per cent. of metallic
arsenic, simply stirred up in two and a half gallons of water. The
tree was thoroughly sprayed with a hand force-pump, and with the
deflector spray and solid jet-hose nozzle, manufactured in Lowell,
Mass. The fluid was thrown in a fine mist-like spray, applied until
the leaves began to drip.
The trees were sprayed in May and early in June while the apples were
still very small. It seems to be of little use to employ this remedy
later in the season, when later broods of the moth appear, since the
poison takes effect only in case it reaches the surface of the apple
between the lobes of the calyx, and it can only reach this place when
the apple is very small and stands upright on its stem, It should be
added that spraying "after the apples have begun to hang downward is
unquestionably dangerous," since even heavy winds and violent rains
are not sufficient to remove the poison from the fruit at this season.
At the New York Experimental station last year a certain number of
trees were sprayed three times with Paris green with the result that
sixty-nine per cent. of the apples were saved.
It also seems that last year about half the damage that might have
been done by the Plum weevil or curculio was prevented by the use of
Paris green, which should be sprayed on the trees both early in the
season, while the fruit is small, as well as later.
The cost of this Paris green application, when made on a large scale,
with suitable apparatus, only once or twice a year, must, says Mr.
Forbes, fall below an average of ten cents a tree.
The use of solutions of Paris green or of London purple in water,
applied by spraying machines such as were invented and described in
the reports of the national Department of Agriculture by the U.
S. Entomologist and his assistants, have effected a revolution in
remedies against orchard and forest insects. We expect to see them,
in careful hands, tried with equal success in shrubberies, lawns and
flower gardens.
_A. S. Packard._
The Forest.
The White Pine in Europe.
The White Pine was among the very first American trees which came to
Europe, being planted in the year 1705 by Lord Weymouth on his grounds
in Chelsea. From that date, the tree has been cultivated in Europe
under the name of Weymouth Pine; in some mountain districts of
northern Bavaria, where it has become a real forest tree, it is
called Strobe, after the Latin name _Pinus strobus_. After general
cultivation as an ornamental tree in parks this Pine began to be used
in the forests on account of its hardiness and rapid growth, and it
is now not only scattered through most of the forests of Europe, but
covers in Germany alone an area of some 300 acres in a dense, pure
forest. Some of these are groves 120 years old, and they yield a large
proportion of the seed demanded by the increasing cultivation of the
tree in Europe.
The White Pine has proved so valuable as a forest tree that it has
partly overcome the prejudices which every foreign tree has to fight
against. The tree is perfectly hardy, is not injured by long and
severe freezing in winter, nor by untimely frosts in spring or autumn,
which sometimes do great harm to native trees in Europe. On account
of the softness of the leaves and the bark, it is much damaged by the
nibbling of deer, but it heals quickly and throws up a new leader.
The young plant can endure being partly shaded by other trees far
better than any other Pine tree, and even seems to enjoy being closely
surrounded, a quality that makes it valuable for filling up in young
forests where the native trees, on account of their slow growth, could
not be brought up at all.
The White Pine is not so easily broken by heavy snowfall as the Scotch
Pine, on account of the greater elasticity of its wood. The great
abundance of soft needles falling from it every year better fits it
for improving a worn-out soil than any European Pine, therefore the
tree has been tried with success as a nurse for the ground in forest
plantations of Oak, when the latter begin to be thinned out by nature,
and grass is growing underneath them.
And finally, all observations agree that the White Pine is a faster
growing tree than any native Conifer in Europe, except, perhaps, the
Larch. The exact facts about that point, taken from investigations on
good soil in various parts of Germany, are as follows:
Years. Height. Annual Growth During
Last Decade.
The White Pine at 20 reaches 7.5 meters. 37 centimeters
" 30 " 12.5 " 50 "
" 40 " 18.5 " 60 "
" 50 " 22.5 " 40 "
" 60 " 26.5 " 40 "
" 70 " 28.5 " 20 "
" 80 " 30.0 " 15 "
" 90 " 32.0 " 20 "
For comparison I add here the average growth on good soil, of the
Scotch Pine, one of the most valuable and widely distributed timber
trees of Europe.
Years. Height. Annual Growth During
Last Decade.
The Scotch Pine at 20 reaches 7.3 meters. 36.5 centimeters
" 30 " 11.6 " 43.0 "
" 40 " 15.7 " 41.0 "
" 50 " 19.4 " 37.0 "
" 60 " 22.1 " 27.0 "
" 70 " 24.0 " 22.0 "
" 80 " 26.0 " 17.0 "
" 90 " 27.5 " 15.0 "
" 100 " 28.5 " 10.0 "
" 120 " 30.0 " 7.5 "
That is, the White Pine is ahead of its relative during its entire
life and attains at 80 years a height which the Scotch Pine only
reaches in 120 years. It appears then that the whole volume of wood
formed within a certain period by an acre of White Pine forest is
greater than that yielded by a forest of Scotch Pine within the same
period.
As far as reliable researches show, a forest of White Pine when
seventy years old gives an annual increment of 3 cords of wood per
acre. On the same area a forest of Scotch Pine increases every year by
2.4 cords on the best soil, 2 cords on medium soil, and 1.5 cords on
poor soil.
But notwithstanding the splendid qualities which distinguish the White
Pine as a forest tree its wood has never been looked upon with favor
in Europe. Many of those who are cultivating the White Pine for
business seem to expect that they will raise a heavy and durable wood.
These are the qualities prized in their own timber trees, and they
seem to think that the White Pine must be so highly prized at home for
the same qualities, when in fact it is the lightness and softness of
the wood which are considered in America. It would seem also that some
European planters believe that a Pine tree exists which will yield
more and at the same time heavier wood than any other tree on the same
area. It is a general rule that the amount of woody substance annually
formed on the same soil does not vary in any great degree with the
different kinds of trees. For instance, if we have good soil we may
raise 2,200 lbs. per acre of woody substance every year, from almost
any kind of timber tree. If we plant a tree forming a wood of low
specific gravity, we get a large volume of wood, and this is the case
with the White Pine. If we plant on the same ground an Oak tree, we
will get small volume of wood, but the weight of the woody substance
will be the same, that is, 2,200 pounds of absolutely dried wood per
acre.
It is remarkable that there is hardly any difference in the specific
gravity of the wood of the White Pine grown in Europe and in its
native country. I collected in Central Wisconsin wood-sections of
a tall tree and compared the specific gravity with the wood of a
full-grown tree of White Pine from a Bavarian forest. The average
specific gravity of the Bavarian tree was 38.3. The average specific
gravity of the American tree was 38.9. In both trees the specific
gravity slightly increased from the base to the top. Professor Sargent
gives 38 as the result of his numerous and careful investigations.
I was much surprised that the thickness of the sap-wood varied much in
favor of the Bavarian tree.
The sap-wood measured in thickness:
Of the Bavarian tree. Of the American tree.
At the base 2.7 centimeters 9 centimeters.
In the middle .4 " 6 "
Within the crown .3 " 4 "
I am inclined to believe that on account of the generally drier
climate of America a greater amount of water, and, therefore, of
water-conducting sap-wood, is necessary to keep the balance between
the evaporation and transportation of the water. The wood of the White
Pine is certainly better fitted for many purposes than any tree with
which nature has provided Europe, and yet one can hardly expect it to
easily overcome fixed habits and prejudices. It will devolve upon the
more intelligent proprietors of wood-land in Europe to begin with the
plantation of the White Pine on a large scale. No Conifer in Europe
can be cultivated with so little care and risk as the White Pine;
the frost does not injure the young plant, and the numerous insects
invading the European trees during their whole life-time inflict but
little harm. Subterranean parasites are thinning out the plantations
to some extent, but in no dangerous way.
_H. Mayr._
Tokio, Japan.
ABIES AMABILIS.--Professor John Macoun detected this species during
the past summer upon many of the mountains of Vancouver's Island where
with _Tsuga Pattoniana_ it is common above 3,000 feet over the sea
level. The northern distribution of this species as well as some other
British Columbia trees is still a matter of conjecture. It has not
been noticed north of the Fraser River, but it is not improbable that
_Abies amabilis_ will be found to extend far to the north along some
of the mountain ranges of the north-west coast.
European Larch in Massachusetts.
In 1876 the Trustees of the Massachusetts Society for the Promotion
of Agriculture offered a premium for the best plantations of not less
than five acres of European Larch. The conditions of the competition
were that not less than 2,700 trees should be planted to the acre,
and that only poor, worn-out land, or that unfit for agricultural
purposes, be used in these plantations.
The prize was to be awarded at the end of ten years. The committee
appointed to award the prize were C. S. Sargent and John Lowell. The
ten years having expired, this Committee lately made the following
report:
Mr. James Lawrence, of Groton, and Mr. J. D. W. French, of
North Andover, made plantations during the spring of 1877 in
competition for this prize. Mr. Lawrence, however, at the end
of one year withdrew from the contest, and Mr. French is the
only competitor. Your Committee have visited his plantation at
different times during the past ten years, and have now made
their final inspection. The plantation occupies a steep slope
facing the South and covered with a thin coating of gravelly
loam largely mixed towards the bottom of the hill with light
sand. This field in 1877 was a fair sample of much of the
hillside pasture land of the eastern part of the State. It had
been early cleared, no doubt, of trees, and the light surface
soil practically exhausted by cultivation. It was then used
as a pasture, producing nothing but the scantiest growth of
native Grasses and Sedges with a few stunted Pitch Pines.
Land of this character has no value for tillage, and has
practically little value for pasturage. Upon five acres of
this land Mr. French planted fifteen thousand European Larch.
The trees were one foot high, and were set in the sod four
feet apart each way, except along the boundary of the field,
where the plantation was made somewhat thicker. The cost
of the plantation, as furnished by Mr. French, has been as
follows:
15,000 Larch (imported), $108 50
Fencing, 20 81
Surveying, 6 00
Labor, 104 69
-------
Total, $240 00
This, with compound interest at five per cent. for ten years,
makes the entire cost to date of the plantation of five acres,
$390.90.
The Trees for several years grew slowly and not very
satisfactorily. Several lost their leaders, and in various
parts of the plantation small blocks failed entirely. The
trees, however, have greatly improved during the last four
years, and the entire surface of the ground is now, with one
or two insignificant exceptions, sufficiently covered. There
appear to be from 10,000 to 12,000 larch trees now growing
on the five acres. The largest tree measured is 25 feet high,
with a trunk 26 inches in circumference at the ground,
There are several specimens of this size at least, and it is
believed that all the trees, including many which have not yet
commenced to grow rapidly or which have been overcrowded and
stunted by their more vigorous neighbors, will average 12 feet
in height, with trunks 10 to 12 inches in circumference at
the ground. Many individuals have increased over four feet in
height during the present year. It is interesting to note as
an indication of what Massachusetts soil of poor quality is
capable of producing, that various native trees have appeared
spontaneously in the plantation since animals were excluded
from this field. Among these are White Pines 6 to 8 feet high,
Pitch Pines 14 feet high, a White Oak 15 feet high and a Gray
Birch 17 feet high. The Trustees offered this prize in the
belief that it would cause a plantation to be made capable of
demonstrating that unproductive lands in this State could be
cheaply covered with trees, and the result of Mr. French's
experiment seems to be conclusive in this respect. It has
shown that the European Larch can be grown rapidly and cheaply
in this climate upon very poor soil, but it seems to us to
have failed to show that this tree has advantages for general
economic planting in this State which are not possessed in
an equal degree by some of our native trees. Land which will
produce a crop of Larch will produce in the same time at least
a crop of white pine. There can be no comparison in the value
of these two trees in Massachusetts. The White Pine is more
easily transplanted than the Larch, it grows with equal and
perhaps greater rapidity, and it produces material for which
there is an assured and increasing demand. The White Pine,
moreover, has so far escaped serious attacks of insects and
dangerous fungoid diseases which now threaten to exterminate
in different parts of Europe extensive plantations of Larch.
Your Committee find that Mr. French has complied with all
the requirements of the competition: they recommend that the
premium of one thousand dollars be paid to him.
Answers to Correspondents.
When the woods are cut clean in Southern New Hampshire White Pine
comes in very, very thickly. Is it best to thin out the growth or
allow the trees to crowd and shade the feebler ones slowly to death?
J. D. L.
It is better to thin such over-crowded seedlings early, if serviceable
timber is wanted in the shortest time. The statement that close growth
is needed to produce long, clean timber, needs some limitation. No
plant can develop satisfactorily without sufficient light, air and
feeding room. When trees are too thickly crowded the vigor of
every one is impaired, and the process of establishing supremacy of
individuals is prolonged, to the detriment even of those which are
ultimately victorious. The length is drawn out disproportionately to
the diameter, and all the trees remain weak.
Experience has proved that plantations where space is given for proper
growth in their earlier years, yield more and better wood than do
Nature's dense sowings. Two records are added in confirmation of this
statement, and many others could be given:
1. A pine plantation of twelve acres was made, one half by sowing, the
other half by planting at proper distances. In twenty-four years
the first section had yielded, including the material obtained in
thinnings, 1,998 cubic feet, and the latter, 3,495 cubic feet of wood.
The thinnings had been made, when appearing necessary, at ten, fifteen
and eighteen years in the planted section, yielding altogether ten and
three-quarter cords of round firewood and seven cords of brush; and at
eight, ten and twenty years in the sowed section, with a yield of only
three and one-fifth cords of round firewood at the last thinning and
seven and four-fifths cords of brush wood.
2. A spruce growth seeded after thirty-three years was still so dense
as to be impenetrable, with scarcely any increase, and the trees were
covered with lichens. It was then thinned out when thirty-five, and
again when forty-two years old. The appearance greatly improved,
and the accretion in seven years after thinning showed 160 per cent.
increase, or more than 26 per cent. every year.
The density of growth which will give the best results in all
directions depends upon the kind of timber and soil conditions.
--_B. E. Fernow._
Washington, D. C.
Book Reviews.
Gray's Elements of Botany.
Fifty-one years ago, Asa Gray, then only twenty-six years of age,
published a treatise on botany adapted to the use of schools and
colleges. It was entitled "The Elements of Botany." Its method of
arrangement was so admirably adapted to its purpose, and the treatment
of all the subjects so mature and thorough, that the work served as a
model for a large work which soon followed,--the well-known Botanical
Text-book, and the same general plan has been followed in all the
editions of the latter treatise. About twenty-five years after the
appearance of the Elements, Dr. Gray prepared a more elementary work
for the use of schools, since the Text-book had become rather too
advanced and exhaustive for convenient use. This work was the "Lessons
in Botany," a book which has been a great aid throughout the country,
in introducing students to a knowledge of the principles of the
science. Without referring to other educational works prepared by Dr.
Gray, such as "How Plants Grow," etc., it suffices now to say that
for two or three years, he had been convinced that there was need of
a hand-book, different in essential particulars from any of its
predecessors. When we remember that all of these had been very
successful from an educational point of view, as well as from the more
exacting one of the publishers, we can understand how strong must have
been the motive which impelled the venerable but still active botanist
to give a portion of his fast-flying time to the preparation of
another elementary work. In answer to remonstrances from those who
believed that the remnant of his days should be wholly given to the
completion of the "Synoptical Flora," he was wont to say pleasantly,
"Oh, I give only my _evenings_ to the 'Elements.'" And, so, after
a day's work, in which he had utilized every available moment of
sunlight, he would turn with the fresh alertness which has ever
characterized every motion and every thought, to the preparation of
what he called fondly, his "legacy" to young botanists. That precious
legacy we have now before us.
In form it is much like the Lessons, but more compact and yet much
more comprehensive. Its conciseness of expression is a study in
itself. To give it the highest praise, it may be said to be French in
its clearness and terseness. Not a word is wasted: hence, the author
has been able to touch lightly and still with firmness every important
line in this sketch of the principles of botany. This work, in the
words of its author, "is intended to ground beginners in Structural
Botany and the principles of vegetable life, mainly as concerns
Flowering or Phanerogamous plants, with which botanical instruction
should always begin; also to be a companion and interpreter to the
Manuals and Floras by which the student threads his flowery way to a
clear knowledge of the surrounding vegetable creation. Such a book,
like a grammar, must needs abound in technical words, which thus
arrayed may seem formidable; nevertheless, if rightly apprehended,
this treatise should teach that the study of botany is not the
learning of names and terms, but the acquisition of knowledge and
ideas. No effort should be made to commit technical terms to memory.
Any term used in describing a plant or explaining its structure can
be looked up when it is wanted, and that should suffice. On the other
hand, plans of structure, types, adaptations, and modifications,
once understood, are not readily forgotten; and they give meaning and
interest to the technical terms used in explaining them."
The specific directions given for collecting plants, for preparing
herbarium specimens, and for investigating the structure of plants
make this treatise of great use to those who are obliged to study
without a teacher. The very extensive glossary makes the work of
value not only to this class of students, but to those, as well, whose
pursuits are directed in our schools. The work fills, in short, the
very place which Dr. Gray designed it should.
_G. L. Goodale._
_The Kansas Forest Trees Identified by Leaves and Fruit_, by W. A.
Kellerman, Ph.D., and Mrs. W. A. Kellerman (Manhattan, Kansas). This
octavo pamphlet of only a dozen pages contains a convenient artificial
key for the rapid determination of seventy-five species of trees.
By the use of obvious characters the authors have made the work of
identification comparatively easy in nearly every instance, and even
in the few doubtful cases, the student will not be allowed to go far
astray. The little hand-book ought to be found of use even beyond the
limits of the State for which it was designed.
_G. L. Goodale._
Public Works.