IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // V. 1.0 I.I U '•25 i u 1.6 V] <^ /^ // -c'l ni A -_, u • _ riiuiugi"ci[jlliU Sciences Corpordtion :^\^ iV ^^ \\ a 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY I4S80 (716) 873-4S03 \ ^ '"troducfon n{ trees or other plants into districts unsnital.le for their proper devel-rment. Many plants are pecuh'arly aflerted by climate t!.e fhct that su,:h will grow even luxuriantly in a certain locality makes H .n .:<- n^eans sure that they will produce in paying quantities any useful products derived from them in their natural habitat Most plants show n.ip.Uience of being grown in unsuitable soil or climate by tht.r behaviour as to flowering or frtnting. Many of our wild plants when grown in England, flower very seldom or not a: all, as the Wgnr.n Creeper and Wax Works X'ine (G'/as/r.s sarnJe.s) The charming I!rit,,>h Coluu.bian shrub Xutt.I/ia ccr.sifonnis althou^.h k fl-vers frequently and proU,-,ely in Fngland, wHl not „roduce^he exquisitely beautitul waxy berries, with their shades of pure white ^■^•"';"' '"'^'^ ^^'^^' '•'-^^- ^'l' yowing on the same bnsh and' at the same time, whid, make it such an attractive object in the \a,u:„uver Island hedgerows and woods. Similarly the produc- ^'-^ '»■ P'ants of alkaloids, ar.natic oils, and other product^ -- ^ '"ay be util.ed in the various arts and sciences, is mu,h aflected '•>• 'l^nge ot climate. Hut, on the other hand, m my most useful .ncm.ers of the vegetable kingdom can, and have been introduced •rom one part of the world to others where t'ley were not found natur i''- ' "^ "■"'" ^'''''^^^' ^'"J ' '^'1^- ''--n. Arabia, the banana from AfVica tl- pea,h lron> Persia, a,,d many other luscious A-uits ; our own india,; • o-n. the sugar ,Mne and ntmierous grasses are now gro,vn over far w.dcr areas on the globe's surf.ce, than were originally adorned wtth tl'-n by nature. Forest trees and Uees and shrubs for hedges and ^>'"a:nent, arc frequently b.i.g i,,,;, ,rteJ from one coutn^y in'o another or fron, other parts of the sa:ne country. But all plants, even <-u. the same locality, do not thrive similarly when placed under the changed conditions o, soil and Himate consec,uent upon their introduc" ">" -nlo atiother country or locality. In this way thousands of plants have been destn.yed and much capital squandered, which might have !>ccn obviated had there „een a botanic garden, where careud experi- ment could have o.en made beforehan.l with all the parfculars record- ed (or reference when required. Certain trees will thrive well in some I"caht,es fur a few years and then suddenly their development will cea.e-ins'ances of , his are f^umd in the attempted cuiciration of certain kinds of ;.pplc arvl ,,car trees in .nmv parts of Ca.ada, where they scl(l.,ni attain I, any ^reat age <,r M/e. The hk., k waliuit a^rain ,s a tree whi.h has disajipointed sone <.( its achnirers. J^or a tew year, afier gerniinatmn, l,en:g a vigorous grower, the rapid prodiu lion ol wood gave so nuime pleasure to a child as a small plot of garcen of which it considers it has the sole proprietorship. If any one wishes to see true iileasure, let them take a seedsman's catalogue, about the V t I • • « I I » month of M;,y and ^ive it, toKcthor with a small amount of money to spend on seeds, to a child who has had a garc'en of its own and learnt '^' love flowers. Do not .ive any hdp in the choosing unless especi- Hlv ,:sked to do so, and liuut the dnncc to about three or four packets. I-or a child to ^ct the in.st pleasure out of a ^uaiden it should not have too mue should be done bv the juvenile proprietor and for the garden to be of the most use, it should not be made U.. easy to get i.lants, so that each one m.v be cherished and new ones mown from seeds or cuttings. I know fr.,in my own e.xperience when a child What a source of deliglit luy ga.den was. On coming home from board' ing-.school to spend the holidays, the tnst thing to be kn.ked at was my garden. 'J he asM;ciatioi,s with flowers are all good and enlighttnin- and a love for their, should be most carefully engendered and cherished in those unhappy , h.ild.en whera it docs not e.xist naturally. Such how- ever, are e.xceeding'y rare. 1 h. greatest encouragement to a , hild wh(j has a garden of its oun, is for the elders to take an interest in ,t, never decline to go and !o„k at it u lunes c r ask. d to do so, and ab.ve all'things do not interfere in the airargeutnt and management except to i .event dLsastrous mistakes ; small mistakes will do good, by teaching their own lessons. Now, what die.se g.udens are to children, public gardens are to the masses, furnishing them with, at the same time, innocent and beneficial and also engrossing and satisfying c upation. All public gardens should be scientific ic the extent of having everything properly named and plainly labelled. The first demand vn hen anything creates inteiest is to know its name, and it is a great dis appointment uhen this cannot be obtained. As a matter of history it IS mteresting to learn that the Royal liotanic Garden at Kew, now the most extensive sciuuific garden in the world, was far from being scien- tific at the time it was taken (ner, and the committee appoimed to investigate the matter, ^^ hen refrning to the fact that few plants were properly labelled, expressed the following opinion of a garden in that state: "It is not easy to disa.ver what advantage except that of a i.lea.sant walk has been derived, by the public, from the privilege of visiting the garden." The value of plants as food and medicine is a legitimate field of uiqUM-y Un th. hotai.ist and .he one hy n.c.i.s nl ^vhi, h he ronics most Ot'iucntly ,n rcmn with tic .,t>M iuitiflr: , ul;!ir. Now, there is no I'lare where surh inn sti^ntions r.n \n rnrricl on so conveniently n^ at a properly equipped i'.otanic Carden, where plants can he ^rown under oi.ervation .nd examined, at all slaves of dcvlo- in, nt l.y in- vx-sliyalors sp.nahy trainal to undustard arul make the mo-t . f uhat they see, and also lully equipped with the necessa.v apparatus and I-tcrature. Such knowledge as we have, as to the ^rlue for A.od ,n "^"st of the nu,re in>po,tant prrdu. ,.. of the vej.e.al:le kin.dr,m has f>eui derived fr.nr the ahorii^inal inhahita.Us o( the countries where t!,e I'l^'nts pn.duen. then, orrur ,n a state of nature ; hut the snentifir -otanist has added very nun h indeed to this list of useful plants A-on, his knowledge of olher species in the san.c or closely allied families. On the other hand u, ued.cal hotany the useful knowledge derived horn aboriginal sotines is coinparativelv small, hy far the larger I>-i-rlic.n of the valuable vegetable ren.edies having been discove^^d by die scentihc chemist as a result of .iirect chemical analysis of plants aided by e.xpenment or actual knowledge of the effects produced upon die human frame by the various products obtained. A subject of great interest to everybody and one which is freciueiuly n>ade an excuse by ill-mformed people for not studying wild Planis, ,s the fear of being pr ironed. Sfrangelv enough this tVar\.ever t'oubles them with rega.d to cultivated and greenhouse plants where a n.uch larger pr. poiti, n cf p„iM nous specus is to he found d.an is the case in the wo„ds around us. As a matter of fact poisonous plants in Canada a-e ex. eedinglv rare. The I'oison Uy(A'/^..- To.ic.ln.dn,,, ) -^ the only plant m this part <,f Canada, winch ,s poisonous to the ^'n.ch,and even with regard to this, although it is so virulent in the southern states it is, as you all know, an e.xtremely rare thing to find anyone affected by it here. There are, also, tar fewer plants than most people thmk whuh are a, tually pc;isonous, even when taken internahv • and anyone wuh a very small amount of knowledge and common sen;e IS warned .gainst these by then- acrid las.e or nauseous odour. This I have no doubt, ,s the reas. n why cattle and wild animals which feed on vegetation are so seldom poisoned. Tlie poisonous plants are dis- tasteful to them aiul are not eaten in any quantity when their dangerous -. \ " nature ha. hecn detected In the keen senses of ,asie or sn.ell. lor this reason I ran make un ex, use «.r |,eo, le, uho are ..Id enough t., dvnk who allow themselves to h. ; oi.v ned, and I do v.ni Inheve anv s.ns,|,le person ever will. I .i"itc aj^ree w.tl, my friend l-ro(e^s(,r >h, .he ^hap. <;f var.ous ,unu., touched on th,s sul-.jert and speaking of tl e small numher of poisonous plan's in -Vlocah.ys.id: "I h,:ve no pat.enee wuh the stupid people who a low themselves to starve to death in a country clothed with urass Plants, and trees, nearly all of wh.ch are capable of sustainin^hfe ■' \\.th regard to such plants as contain nox ...0 and tobacco are . xamples '1 he umbelliferous plants whK-h giow ,n ... places, have usually a nauseous smell : such plantJ -<■ A-..V.. as the water hcndcck. Umbelliferous plants which grow ■n .In- places, usually have an aromatic sn.ell and are n<,t poisonous asjaiaway and tenneh i'lant. wid. :abia,e coiollas, a, d '0.:!::: ur seecs ,n capsu'es, are often poisonous, as the foxglcne (7J.,.,a/is) a o such as contain a ..>.,.,>..■, unless they are compoundlwe. Such plants as have horned or hooded nectaries, as the columbine and monk's hood are mostly poisonou. Amongst plants which are sZ! T 8 f«H.s are the rom;,.nn.! n.nv.rs as ,h. Dandclinn an.l H.nc^ct {Eupatorium); su<-h ns l.avc lal.uu. comllas, .„!, sccls 'yin, nakc.l in the calyx, are seldom or never poisonous, the ,nint and thNme are examples of such planis." Plants containin^^ miK:ila,,inous matter are. as a rule wholesome and in Hrm^h Columbia the Indians eat almost any hulf.ous root making regular annual trips to ^Hstrirts where rertain liliareous plants abound Amongst those roots whirh they rollert in thi. wav are the ra.niss {Camassta csclcnla) Lilinm Col,>nHa>nnu, Fn//f/,na, th • snnll bulbs of Ca/ypso bor,„U, and, as Pmfessor Maroun tells me, the bulbs of nearly all bulbous-rooted plants, which they desi.'nate by the generd name of muck-a-mnck. Another article of food to whi-h they are very partial is the inner bark of young trees of Pi>,u. M.rmxnna. VHth regard to the poisonous properties of the parsley family referred to above, Dr. Trimcn says, "The properties of the Umbdlifcr.e are of three i)nnciple and remarkably different kinds. In one section a watery and acrid matter is present; in a second a milky gum-resinous secretion • and in a third, an aromatic and oiy one. U'hen the first of these pre ative ,,Iants for ..ilti vv tion. Every working botanist knows the difficulty of deciding spec ific I'in.ts from dried herbarium specimens. I shall, therefore, mak. a spe« i- alty of trying to clear up some of the botanical problems, which now bother botanists, by growing several specimens from seed, where possible from various localities. I have already several species under cultiva- tiun, the seeds of which were collected by Pr, fessor Macoun, mvself or some of my correspondents, an.l I shall be glad to experiment with any seeds sent to me for that purpose. I would parti-ularlv rec,u.^t now the seeds of Asters and Solidagoe.s, as I an. convinced there \- . -t nuuh to be done, in working up the Canadian representatives of these two genera, which can only be satisfactorily accomplished bv prowin.- them from the seed. Besides the solution of such scientific problems as the above economic plants from other parts of the world will be tested as to their suitability for profitable cultivation in Canada. Forestry now becoming •so important in Canada, will also receive aftentic.n. Already enormous numbers of young trees have been grown from the .seed and'distributed to settlers on the treeless praries ot Manitoba and the North-West rerntones. Before long it will become necessary „. Canada t. grow trees for timber, in the .same way as is now systematically done in (Ger- many. This however will not be done for many years to come and by tnat tune, I hope, valuable data will be available from the growth of the specimens on the Experimental Farm to show what kinds of trees can be profitably grown. Many other benefits, I trust, will come from th.s Botanic harden now begun, by which general botanical knowledge, economic and scien- tific will be advanced, and I look forward to the time when the Botanic Garden of Ottawa, shall be one of the chief attractions of this part of the Dominion.