J 20 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



June 19, ]9U1' 



WINTER-FLOWERING BEGONIAS. 



The mayuificeut begonias noiv in full 

 bloom (December 14) at Messrs. J. 

 Veitch & Son's Nurseries, Feltham, are 

 not from retarded tubers, like the liliums, 

 lily of the valley, spirKs, azaleas, ana' 

 other plants remarkable for their beau-" 

 tiful flowers at the Aquarium Show of 

 Chrysanthemums which were produced 

 by plants which had been subjected to 

 the process of retarding by means of 

 low temperature. They are simply the 

 result of skillful cultivation and anyone 

 having good greenhouse accommodation 

 may enjoy their lovely flowers at this 

 time of the year and for a couple 'of 

 months longer if the right species and 

 varieties be selected and proper atten- 

 tion is given to them. 



In the first instance it may be inter- 

 esting to state that all of them are hy- 

 brids of first or second degree from B. 

 socotrana a lovely species introduced into 

 our gardens by Messrs. J. Veiteh & 

 Sons some twenty years ago and one 

 which possesses the great advantage of 

 flowering naturally in midwinter. Un- 

 fortunately this most distinct plant is of 

 a somewhat capricious behavior and on 

 that account has not met with the gen- 

 eral cultivation which it deserves and is 

 seldom seen in first-class condition. The 

 same drawback, however, does not apply 

 to the several varieties resulting from 

 the crossings which have been m^de with 

 some varieties of the popular tuberous- 

 rooted species. In begonias, as in the 

 generality of hybrids produced by cross- 

 ing distinct species, and notably orchids 

 and nepenthes, the offspring are en- 

 dowed with much greater vigor than 

 their respective parents. This one reason 

 undoubtedly accounts in part for the ro- 

 bust appearance of the plants grown at 

 Feltham, and a skillful culture, such as 

 the one directed by a grower of Mr. 

 ^ohu Heal's experience, accounts for the 

 rest. Be this as it may, it is an indis- 

 putable fact that the ' splendid winter- 

 flowering begonias make at the present 

 time a magnificent show which, if we 

 take into account the innumerable quan- 

 tity of flower-buds in various stages of 

 development still on the plants, is most 

 likely to last a couple of months longer 

 and bring us well into the new year. 



Tliere are close upon a dozen varieties 

 of these useful plants already in com- 

 merce, and if there are no white, yellow, 

 or blue forms, on the other hand one 

 may see and admire among them all the 

 various tints and shades from pale pink 

 to dark crimson, red and bright scarlet. 

 Although three or four of these have 

 quite single flowers, tlie majority produce 

 double or semi-double flowers, " and this 

 is a certain advantage, inasmuch as in 

 nearly all classes of plants a double or 

 semi-double flower possesses the faculty 

 of remaining longer on the plant than a 

 single one. It may be of some interest 

 to recall here the fact that tho first of 

 these hybrids, "John Heal" by name, 

 was the result of a cross between B. 

 socrotana and a crimson-colored variety 

 of the tuberous section, called Viscount- 

 ess Doneraile, and also that as a seed- 

 bearing parent B. socotrana has only pro- 

 duced John Heal, Winter Gem, with 

 flowers of a deep crimson color, with 

 socotrana foliage, and Gloire de Lor- 

 raine, which at Feltham was the result 

 of a cross between that interesting spe- 

 cies and B. Moonlight; whereas, the 

 original B. Gloire de Lorraine of Le- 



moine was given as the result of a cross 

 between socotrana and, I believe, B. 

 Dregeana. 



But if the offsprings of B. socotrana 

 as the female parent are few in number, 

 those resulting from crosses in which that 

 species was used as pollen parent are 

 numerous, and also varied in colors. 

 There are Myra, Mrs. Heal and Winter 

 Cheer, all three very bright rich red, 

 large flowers, those of Mrs. Heal meas- 

 uring fully 3 inches in diameter. The 

 seed-bearing plant in this ease was an 

 orange-scarlet variety of tho tuberous 

 section. A semi-double flowering va- 

 riety of the tuberous section, with rofee- 

 oolored flowers, acted as the female 

 parent which produced Ensign, a double 

 bright pink variety so free-flowering that 

 seventy to eighty flowers and buds have 

 been counted on plants 18 inches high, 

 and grown in 32-pots. Winter Perfec- 

 tion, a variety of somewhat dwarf habit, 

 with double, pink flowers, disposed on 

 well-branched racemes, and with fine, 

 dark shining foliage; and the remark- 

 ably pretty Ideala, a particular- 

 ly dwarf variety, with double 

 flowers of a deep, rich rosy- 

 pink color, and disposed on racemes 

 showing well above the foliage. In Venus 

 we have a very fine semi-double variety, 

 with bright red flowers, issued from a 

 crimson-flowered tuberous form crossed 

 nith B. socotrana. But one of the most 

 distinct of all that section is undoubtedly 

 Julius, the result of a cross between a 

 white-flowering variety of the tuberous 

 section and B. socotrana. It is thorough- 

 ly distinct from all others, and its flow- 

 ers, which are produced in great abun- 

 dance, greatly resemble flowers of the 

 justly popular double-flowered pink ole- 

 ander, in color and shape, as well as in 

 size of its yery attractive flowers. 



The only hybrid of the second degree 

 known T\'ith certitude to this day is the 

 variety Adonis, w'hich is the result of a 

 cross eft'ected between an orange scarlet 

 form of the tuberous section and John 

 Heal, already an hybrid from B. soco- 

 trana. 



As to the duration of the flowering 

 season of the plants belonging to this 

 interesting section, the reader may draw 

 his or her own conclusions from the fact 

 that the plants above described and now 

 in full perfection at Messrs. J. Veiteh 

 & Son's Nurseries, have been exhibited 

 two or three times this season at the 

 Drill HaJl, in which locality flowering 

 plants do not improve. That any one 

 may easily grow tliese plants is made 

 sufficiently clear by the fact that they do 

 not require a high stove temperature at 

 any time, and that many of the plants 

 now in flower were raised from cuttings 

 struck in August last, and these of 

 course, are only single shoots in 60-pots, 

 but they each bear a spike of their lovely 

 flowers, and measure only 8 inches to 9 

 inches high, whereas the one-year and 

 two-year-old plants, which are grown in 

 pots 5 to 7 inches across, are bushy speci- 

 mens 18 to 22 inches high, and produce 

 flowers in great abundance. It may be 

 stated here that it is of the utmost 

 importance to insure thorough success, 

 that the jVlants should be kept perfectly 

 clean and free from injurious insects, 

 and especially of those of a little yellow 

 thrips which shows a great partiality 

 towards their succulent foliage, but which 

 may easily be kept off by careful atten- 

 tion and occasional fumigations, which 



should be of a light character and some- 

 what frequent during the period of 

 growth of the plants, that is, from May 

 to November. — J. Schneider, in Garden- 

 ers' Chronicle. 



Bloomington, III. — The recent storm 

 damaged to some extent all the green- 

 house plants here. The Phoenix Nursery 

 Co. and F. A. Bailer sustained the great- 

 est losses, each losing several hundred 

 lights of glass. J. D. Robinson, W. T. 

 Hempstead and A. Washburn & Sons 

 were more fortunate, each escaping with 

 slight losses. The vegetable forcing 

 houses of all the market gardeners in this 

 vicinity were considerably damaged. 

 Stock in the field suffered considerable 

 injury from the severe wind and heavy 

 fall of rain, but under favorable condi- 

 tions will soon recuperate. 



Slugshot was somewhat criticized in 

 a recent bulletin issued by the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture at Washington be- 

 cause it contained such a small percent- 

 age of arsenious oxide. Now Mr. Ham- 

 mond is out with a circular letter in 

 which he takes issue with the depart- 

 ment. He makes some good points, but 

 the best one, and the only one it was 

 really necessary to make, is that for 

 twenty-two years slugshot has been a de- 

 cided success in combating bugs. Who 

 cares what an insecticide contains if it 

 "does business" and harms nothing but 

 the bugs? 



Pekin, III. — A cyclone struck the city 

 the night of .June 10. It blew down and 

 uprooted trees by the hundreds. At Geo. 

 A. Kuhl's east side place a 60-foot 

 brick stack was blown down and about 

 200 lights of glass broken. It is re- 

 markable that more damage was not 

 done. Fortunately no great amount of 

 stock was injured. 



A copy of the catalogue of Edward S. 

 Schraid, Washington, D. C, has reached 

 us. Aquaria and aquatic plants are 

 prominent features, but practically ev- 

 erything in the way of birds and pet 

 animals is listed. Even snakes are in- 

 cluded in the list of pets. 



Harrisbtjeg, Pa. — Acting under in- 

 structions from the State forestry com- 

 mission, State Forester Geo. H. Wirt has 

 established a nursery at Mont Alto, 

 Franklin County. Arrangements are be- 

 ing made to plant half a million young 

 trees next spring. 



Alexandria, Ind. — The Alexandria 

 Floral Co. has been incorporated with a 

 capital stock of $.5,000. The directors 

 are F. P. Boyd, J. F. Merker, J. G. Bran- 

 num, S. J. Mack and V. P. Wilson. E. 

 W. Marland is manager of the business. 



DoYLESTOwN, Pa.— Prof. W. T. Pope, 

 horticulturist at the National Farm 

 School, has resigned to accept the posi- 

 tion of horticulturist to the Hawaiian 

 Islands under the direction of the U. S. 

 Dept. of Agriculture. He sailed for 

 Honolulu on .June 17. 



HouGHTO.N-, Mich. — The Lutey Floral 

 Co. has been incorporated with a capital 

 stock of $25,000. 



Ch.\tham, N. Y. — Christ Schneider is 

 building two houses, one for roses and 

 one for carnations. 



Madison, Wis. — E. S. Goff, professor 

 of horticulture at the University of 

 Wisconsin, died suddenlv June 6. 



