1869.] THUJA LOBBII. EARLY SPRING-BLOOMING SCILLAS. 247 



Desniartis states that both eggs and perfect insects of the Phylloxera have been 

 also found on the leaves, an observation which goes to confirm the identity of 

 the root and leaf maladies. M. 



THUJA LOBBH AS A HEDGE PLANT. 



IT may be a wrinkle to many nurserymen and gardeners to know that this 

 fast-growing conifer makes the best of all evergreen hedges. The Ameri- 

 can Arbor-vitae is universally used by nurserymen to form hedges to shelter 

 their finest half-hardy plants and shrubs, but Thuja Lobbii (=T. gigantea, 

 Nutt.) grows quicker, is more compact in habit, and keeps its fine green colour 

 all winter. A few years ago I raised a quantity of Lobbii seedlings from im- 

 ported seeds, and having a very exposed quarter in the orchard that wanted 

 shelter, I had a hedge of them planted out. This hedge is now about ten or 

 eleven feet in height, has never been clipped, but is quite compact, and I am 

 glad to see a quantity of small cones on it this year, which, if they produce good 

 seeds, will enable me to raise young plants. For growing into specimens, I like- 

 wise believe T. Lobbii will yet be found to be the best of all the Thujas — from 

 its fine habit and its beautiful green foliage. 



Having an immense quantity of Cupressus Lawsoniana raised from seeds 

 grown here, I have likewise tried these for making evergreen hedges in the 

 kitchen garden, and they seem to bear clipping well ; and being of such rapid 

 growth, they will form a good sheltering hedge in three or four years. This fine 

 tree bears seeds at so young a stage, that seedlings may now be raised as plentiful 

 as larches ; it is therefore worthy of a trial for forming evergreen hedges in 

 nurseries and gardens where shelter is wanted. 



Welbeck. William Tillery. 



EARLY SPRING-BLOOMING SCILLAS. 



'OME time since (1868, 20G) we quoted some remarks of our contemporary 

 the Gardeners' Chronicle relating to the early Vernal Squills, and we now 

 add some further notes from the same source, founded on a collection of 

 bulbs consisting of 14 varieties, communicated by Messrs. E. H. Krelage 

 and Son, of Haarlem. They are all referrible to one or other of the three follow- 

 ing species — S. bifolia, S. sibirica, and S. anioena, and the newer forms are 

 seedling varieties of the first named. They are here commented on in the order 

 in which they came into flower, growing side by side under equal conditions. 

 In the several forms of S. bifolia, the bulb varies, yet the differences in that 

 organ are of a much slighter character than those afforded by the leaves, and 

 especially by the flowers : — 



Scilla bifolia var. pallida. — This was the pioneer of the group, being in bloom by February 

 14. It appears to be distinct, the flowers growing in racemes of seven or eight on very long 

 stalks, and of a lavender-blue colour, the anthers being of a dark slaty-blue ; ovary slightly 

 tapering at the apex. 



