The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-12-20
PLANTS OF OTHER LANDS.
REM1RKABLE THINGS WHICH
 HAVE BEEN ACCOMPLISHED

Botanical Garden, fin TranspIanting
 Exotic Trees mud Vegetables-Ths Pe-
 taso Cure for the UnweIeome Insect
 Although the conservatories of tho New York Botanical Garden, in Bronx Park, have been in operation for nearly two years, little is heard about them, possibly because New York has not yet become thoroughly acquainted with one of the best and most remarkable of it's permanent exhibitions. Only practical gardeners can appreciate the work en- tailed in bringing together and classi- flying the varied collection of tropical and sub-tropical plants which fill the glass buildings. and they are more than amazed at the results obtained in so short a period. To the lover of curious flowers and plants the exhibition is a constant source of entertainment.
 The range of horticultural buildings is composed of thirteen houses, cover ing an area of about forty-five thou sand square feet. The style is modern ized Italian renaissance. and the build ings are believed to be fireproof, as they are constructed mainly of iron and glass resting on solid masonry.
 A palm house. circular in form, one hundred feet in diameter and about ninety feet in height, is the central fla ture of the range. From either side of this house, running east and west re- spectively, are two connecting wings each divided into compartments. At the ends are placed houses in the form of a cross, with lanterns on the roofs, and running south from these are two low connecting houses, at the ends of which are two square houses with cut corners. Running east and west from these are two low houses with octagO- nal ends. The different buildings are suitably proportioned, so that the whole presents a pleasing effect to the eye. The front elevation of the range is about five hundred feet in length, and the side elevation slightly over two hundred feet.
 Such large number of houses al- lows a diversified treatment of plant life, and the houses are splendidly equipped with watering, heating and ventilation systems. Commodious walks permit the visitor to view the plants without discomfort.
 Up to the present time it has not been possible to issue a catalogue of the col lection because of the rapid increase in the number of specimens. This, how yer, does not prevent the visitor from learning the names of curious plants that he sees, for all have tags attached, giving the species and telling the coun- try of which it is a native.
 The palm house, with its marvellous display of foliage, is not unlike the cor ner of a tropical garden. Bamboos of all sorts and descriptions, from the gi- ant trees, thirty feet high, to the small- CT varieties, slender and supple as a whip, grow here in profusion. Then there are young specimens of the royal palm, probably the most stately of this family, which grows to the height of ninety feet and at maturity has trunk like granite column.
 The most recent addition to this house is a wine or toddy palm, present. ed to the garden by H. Mex. Twombly. Its height from the top of the tub in which it grows to the tip of the upper most leaf is thirty-six feet, and it has most vigorous appearance. The trunk is about fifteen inches in diame- ter at the base, and the leaves measure thirteen to fifteen feet in length, and are but a little less in width, giving the palm a spread of twenty ight feet. As it stands in the center of the group, all the other palms except the great bamboo look very small in comparison, though they are not by any means pig mics.
 This particular variety is found in tropical Asia and other eastern coun- tries, and it is one of the palms from which palm wine or toddy is obtained. A peculiarity of the wine palm is the fact that it begins to flower at the sum init, the process continuing downward until, at last, when the base is reached, the plant dies. Palms that belong to this class are said to grow rapidly and lived comparatively only a short time. Other peculiar specimens are the gol- -fruited palm from Madagascar, which is very graceful, and the Bour- bon palm, whose trunk is protected by long sharp spurs.