Milford chronicle., 1896-08-14
PLANTS AT NIAGARA.
stsdies Of a Botanist Around the
Great Cataract
manv varieties Of Flewers Are Found IN
the scant Soil OF the ROCKY
Region-The Hand of Man
Not Necessary.

Nature never fails to give us her over
tones when she plays her great SYM
nhopies. any more than do the great
composers. We cannot fail to eabeh
the softening and mellowing thus lent
~ the musical strain, for hearing Is IN
voluntary. but we must so often pc
to,,e,bt 10 see what is right before us,
and onr teachers are so few, Il at we MOI
;DfrennentIy miss all but the most
dazzling part OF the outdoor picture
THE devofee of field science IS never
more aware of this than on Visiung
Niagara Falls. Standing a tortnigh'
aqo on Prospect Point, perhaps the
most striking scenic spot in the woria
7 leaned over the edge of the sheer ana
1astlv overhanging wall and looked
down. not at the great sheet OF wafer
,,,,t ~ tl,a rocks that continue the gorge
northward. se., -
There IS often scarcely handful OF
so;l ~ the square foot. and sometimes
anparently none at al on the race OF
the great preeipice, yet 1t is elo1neu
with wild plants almost from top 10
bottom. So hidden are they by the per
,,.nd;cular wall and the artificial cop
DO above II that many of them are haiu
- make out. but new discoveries are
made at every change Of position 1 ne
columbine. Aqailegia Canadensis, loves
tbe sDot so well that it's brightred Dios-
SONS appear sometimes after they nav
disappeared from gardens. Inc plan,
;s the most venturesome ana haEuy Vi
anv there. and appears in rock ereHlce
,,,bare nothinc else but the bare wall u
go, II is difficult TO understand now
a. s,,heists or even clings to the wall
Int A. Is content and holds outno hahos
Cor sustenance except to the humid an
One or two wild roses are there, ana Ihe
,yild gooseberry sends up sturdy stems
near the top of the wall. A Splr'ls'l
probably tomentosa, is at hoIne' an,
Golden rods. Rhus tONicodendron AM
1robablv Rhus ralicans, as u Is ever!
,.h.rs about the falls, and AmpeiOpsi
o,,iponefolia. CreePers are rampah'
1sor5Iy less so than in the woods OF
Got island. where the wild grape az
.tains GREAT size and runs freely over TN
toDs ~ ouite~>tall trees. Inc wiz
crane on the edge of the gorge wa
lust setting its crop and showed
linvnriance of punches that Woui'
obarm a yineyardist. Bittersweet AM
colanum Dulcamara are also tiieI'
Tbase vines do not venture far down IN
vail ms they need soil, but they ar
IN the spirit of the place, and are see.
,isin0 from it's base and sometime
making their way far up the mos
surface. while the Aquilegia and som
smaller greenery that it IS hard 10 mar man
ont in the distance crop out OF ever
seam and ridge and terrace from oas
TO summit.
II is this acceptance of the wild splr
- NIAGARA that makes its fora so al
oeDtabie. The soil is naturally tn
and sterile. 50 that the effort to tut
+be river bank on the mainland into
cultivated park is SO far indl1fereh
lv successful, and the ambitious eve
greens that were planted on Bath lsl,.l
are ali gone. But this makes no di1re
'ence with the wild pianist they hou
ish everywhere and are as indiherel
to the soil as any but actual air plan
can be.
The widest OF our native plants
not Weld naturally to cultivation D
cause they demand atmospheric conc
,tions that cannot be transplant
with them. The result is that tn,
Iinper awhile out of their native el
ment and then disappear. Let Niaga
pretty generally alone and it viii neV
want for flora that is appropriate
IT. There is very doubtful need OF t
forest tree nursery that is made to d
figure a part of Goat island OF
ithicket of snowberry, SymPhoricarp
racemosus, that begins to shut IN
drive from Bath island.-Garden a