AUGUST. 241 



hybridiser has produced the greater part of our innumerable cultivated 

 varieties, and which are every year being added to. Nor must it be 

 supposed that the varieties which we already possess are merely 

 augmented in number by such additions. On the contrary, some 

 desirable quality, either in the shape or size of their flowers, or in the 

 brilliancy of their colours, or plants that bloom at an earlier age and 

 in greater abundance, are some of the advantages which are constantly 

 being obtained ; or a combination in the same plant of qualities 

 previously existing in separate ones, or perhaps a more hardy constitu- 

 tion is infused into a particular kind ; at all events, with each addition 

 to the number of existing kinds the aim is to produce and perpetuate 

 some desirable quality or qualities not previously obtained. 



Now it is well known that seedlings from, or once removed from, 

 arboreum are not suited for general culture. We have nothing to say 

 against the beauty of their flowers, for they are undoubtedly very 

 attractive ; but as they are generally produced very early in the spring, 

 they are, in the majority of seasons, and in the absence of artificial 

 protection, much damaged or wholly destroyed. However much the 

 advocates of these early blooming plants ma\'- write or speak in their 

 favour, we know too well that the delicate petals of a Rhododendron 

 cannot be preserved in beauty when subjected to the influence of 

 cutting winds, driving rains, and a temperature of 8 or 10 degrees 

 below the freezing point in March or April. 



We are frequently told, as a piece of valuable information, that, in 

 the garden of ^Ir. So-and-So, there is a magnificent hardy Rhododen- 

 dron, with deep red or crimson flowers, which are generally in bloom in 

 February or ]\Iarch. Sometimes we hear of these prodigies in January, 

 when the season has been very mild ; and such information is usually 

 followed by a hint that it would be much to our advantage to make 

 interest with the fortunate possessors of such treasures for a plant or 

 two of the kind. 



Sometimes we are induced to have a peep at these prodigies ; not for 

 our own gratification, however, for we are always well prepared for the 

 kind of exhibition that awaits us. The plants are generally surrounded 

 by an ugly frame-work of poles and rods, with an addition in the shape 

 of a collection of old mats, pieces of carpet, scraps of canvass, and a 

 bundle or two of straw, lying at hand in a convenient corner, to protect 

 with in frosty nights (and in the day, too, when cutting winds and 

 pelting rains prevail), forming altogether a by no means gardenesque 

 scene. But of course that is of little consequence ; Doesn't the plant 

 live in the open air and bloom in winter ? 



Some 25 or 30 years ago there was a popular distich which informed 

 us that 



" He who plants Pears, 

 Plants for his heirs," 



and it was no doubt true enough then ; but improvements in cultivation 

 have happily rendered it obselete. Now, if there were no other 

 Rhododendrons in cultivation than the kinds so highly praised by Mr. 

 Rog — , we beg pardon, we mean " J. R.," the observation embodied in 



NEW SERIES, VOL. V., NO. LVI. R 



