July 8, 1905 



HORTICULTURi: 



33 



British Horticulture 



A FAMOUS TRAVKLHR 



Horticulturists have lately extended a hearty wel- 

 come home to Mr. E. H. Wilson, who has returned 

 from a second visit to China, where for five years 

 he has heen traveling and exploring in the interests 

 of Messrs. Veitch and Sons, of Chelsea. As evidence 

 of his boundless activity, during that period he col- 

 lected and introduced about 5,000 species. Included 

 are attractive new ornamental vines, rubus, jasmines, 

 clematis, maples, oaks, liornbeams, etc. Amongst 

 Mr. Wilson's "find" were two fine poppies, Meconop- 

 sis integrifolia, with yellow blooms, and M. puniceus, 

 witli crimson tinted flowers. These have lately re- 

 ceived awards from the Royal Horticultural Society. 

 The British gardens will be enriched l)y many of the 

 interesting specimens brought from the Celestial Em- 

 pire by Mr. Wilson, who has once more rendered a 

 sterling service to horticulture. In recent years a 

 great deal has been accomplished in unearthing the 

 floral treasures of the East, due to the efforts of 

 Dr. Augustine' Henry, Mes.srs. Moriss. Wilson, and 

 others. Dr. Henry was employed by the Chinese 

 Customs Department, and he was able to send home 

 large quantities of dried specimens to Kew Gardens, 

 besides diffusing knowledge as to the flora of central 

 China, and the mountainous country surrounding 

 Thibet. 



HARDY PLANT CULTURE 



In recent years, increased attention has been paid 

 to the culture of hardy pjants and alpines, and at all 

 the shows of the Royal Horticultural Society this 

 branch is well represented. Thirty years ago when 

 Mr. Amos Perry, of Winchmore Hill, took a collection 

 of hardy flowers to the old Horticultural Gardens 

 at South Kensington, he was very coldly received, 

 and as a favor was granted a place amongst the 

 sundries in the western arcade. In the change of 

 attitude which has set in, Mr. Perry by his energy 

 and persistency has been a substantial contributor. 

 He has shown what can be done in the improvement 

 of this large section of plants, whilst he has intro- 

 duced many useful alpines from the Pyrenees, amongst 

 them being Heuchera sanguinea. Amongst the varied 

 collection at Winchmore Hill are to be seen all the 

 new hybrid varieties of water lilies, both American 

 and European.' Plants are sent to all parts of Europe, 

 including several of the royal gardens, and to America, 

 Canada, Australia, etc. Mr. Perry has secured a big 

 list of awards, including a silver medal at the St. 

 Louis exhibition. His latest honor is a certificate 

 from the Royal Horticultural Society for Phlox cana- 

 densis (Perry's var.), a very useful border plant, 

 this being included in the Temple show last week.- 



FLORAL WEALTH 



A feature of the great show at the Temple gardens 

 was the valuable collection of orchids staged. The 

 collection shown bv Messrs. Sander, of St. Albans, 



was stated to be worth ;(^i 0,000. The firm sold 

 for ;£i,ooo Cattleya Schroderas, The Baron, named 

 after Baron Schroder, a noted orchidist. During the 

 show week, Messrs. Protheroe and Morris conducted 

 an auction sale of a selection of orchids from Messrs. 

 Sander's unique collection, and this attracted con- 

 siderable notice. There was a keen competition 

 amongst leading experts. A record was made by 

 Odontoglossum crispum Roger Sander, which was sold 

 for 87s guineas, this being the highest price ever 

 attained by a single plant at an auction. O. c. Mun- 

 dyanum was sold for 230 guineas, O. c. Princess 

 Helena 190 guineas, O. c. Franz Masereal 200 guineas, 

 and O. c. Queen Victoria 100 guineas. In the other 

 sections the prices realized were equally satisfactory, 

 showing that the orchid cult is still a very expensive 

 hobby. The total obtained from the sale was over 

 ./;3,Soo. The chief tmyers comprised Messrs. E. 

 Rogerson, J. Leemann, N. C. Cookson, Briggs-Bury, 

 W. Thompson, and H. T. Pitt. This week the same 

 auctioneers have been disposing of the Stand Hall 

 collection of orchids at Whitefield, near Manchester. 



"HOLLAND IN IRELAND" 



The capabilities of Ireland as a successful center 

 for bulb culture liavi- been demonstrated in recent 

 years, and many of the nurserymen are now formid- 

 able rivals to the Dutch growers. Messrs. Hogg and 

 Robertson, of Dublin, are carrying on an extensive 

 business in this branch. At Rush they have 32 acres 

 under cultivation, and their bulb farm at this place 

 was recently visited by the Dublin Seed and Nursery 

 Employee's Association, who were able to see the May 

 flowering and Darwin tulips in all their brilliancy. 

 The farm lies practically on the seashore, the soil 

 being of a light, sandy character. Hedges have been 

 provided in each of the fields to protect the bulbs 

 from the cold winds. The land is deep and easily 

 worked in almost all climatic conditions. Moisture 

 is supplied from below in a similar manner to the 

 bulb gardens in Holland and Belgium. The strip 

 of land is stated to have the lowest rainfall in Ire- 

 land, for which the subterranean moisture makes 

 amends. A visitor describing his inspection of the 

 farm sometime ago stated: "I never even in Holland 

 saw foliage so clean, strong, and healthy, nor flowers 

 so fresh and splendid in form and color. Now that 

 the fact is accomplished, one wonders why bulb-cul- 

 ture was not tried here long ago." 



yi^H. aUi'^. 



London, En^., June H. rgoj. 



We hope our readers will, as far as possible, buy 

 everything they need from Horticulture's adver- 

 tisers. 



