May 29, 1915 



HORTICULTURE 



715 



Clethra barbinervis 



The Japanese Pepper _Busli is liut rarely seen in Xew 

 England gardens, yet its beauty is undeniable and 

 it well deserves to be better known. Apparently it does 

 not readily make itself at borne here but that it can be 

 successfully acclimatised tiie illustration on the cover 

 page of this week's Horicii/rriiE bears ample witness. 

 The specimen here depiitcd is about fourteen feet tall 

 and is growing in the garden of William J. Stewart 

 at Winchester, Mass. on an exposed and very dry corner 

 in ordinary garden soil. It has never received any 

 protection during winter iind is not affected by insect 

 pests. I have known tliis particular specimen for five 

 years and each season in late July and early August 

 it has been laden with terminal racemose clusters of 

 fragi'ant, white flowers and it is worth a long journey 

 to see. There are other good plants in the vicinity 

 of Boston, but Mr. Stewart's is probably the finest 

 anywhere around here. 



In Jnpan. the pepper busb is widely distributed from 



tile extreme south to the northern limits of the main 

 island, and from sea level to G,000 ft. altitude. It is 

 veiy common in moist woods and thickets and under 

 the most favoral)le conditicms it forms a tree 40 ft. tall 

 with a trunk .5 ft. in girth. The bark is smooth and 

 pale gray and the branches form a flattened, spreading 

 head. As usually seen, however, it is a bush, more or 

 less shapely in contour and 6 to 15 ft. high. But in 

 any form this plant is handsome and is worthy of a 

 place in any garden. 



It may be propagated by cuttings of half-ripened 

 wood inserted in sandy soil in a greenhouse or frame 

 about mid-August, and kept rather close for a time. 

 This species is known in some gardens and nurseries 

 under the name of Cletlua canescens. 



Arnold Arharetum. 



BRITISH- HORTICULTURE. 

 Carnation Show. 



The Perpetual Flowering Carnation 

 Society held its 18th show at Leeds, at 

 the end of April, in conjunction with 

 the North of England Horticultural 

 Society. The silver challenge cup, 

 valued at 50 guineas offered by Geo. 

 Monro, Jun., of Covent Garden, in the 

 class for twelve vases of carnations, 

 was won by A. F. Dutton, a trade grow- 

 er on an extensive scale, who staged 

 some splendid samples of Lady Meyer, 

 Champion, Mrs. C. W. Ward, Beacon, 

 Mrs. C. F. Raphael, Benora, White En- 

 chantress, Lady Northcliffe, Mikado, 

 Enchantress Supreme, and two others. 

 The challenge cup presented by J. S. 

 Brunton, for three vases containing 

 twelve blooms of British novelties, was 

 secured by F. Englemann, with Col- 

 leen, Scarlet Carola, and Circe. The 

 American Carnation Society's chal- 

 lenge cup, for three vases containing 

 twelve blooms of American novelties 

 distributed since January 1, 1912, was 

 won by Wells & Co., of Merstham, 

 Surrey, who staged: Champion. En- 

 chantress Supreme, and Philadelphia. 

 F. Englemann was second with Cham- 

 pion, Wodenethe, and Philadelphia. 

 This competitior also obtained Lord 

 Faber's cup offered for the best exbiliit 

 in the open classes. Gold medals were 

 allotted to A. F. Dutton, Alhvood 

 Brothers, W. Wells & Co., and Stuart 

 Low & Co. 



Kew Official's Retirement. 



It is announced tliat Mr. George 

 Massee, a well-known official at Kew, 

 is about to retire, having reached the 

 age limit. For many years he has 

 rendered a notable and useful service 

 in the investigation of diseases of 

 plants, and his writings on this sub- 

 ject have afforded enlightenment to a 

 wide circle of readers. He possesses 



an unrivalled knowledge of fungi. His 

 sterling qualities have gained for him 

 a wide circle of friends, and he will 

 be greatly missed from the scene of 

 his activities, which he has served so 

 assiduously and effectively during the 

 last 22 years. 



A Scottish Spring Show. 



The Spring Show of the Royal Cale- 

 donian Horticultural Society was re- 

 cently held in Scotland. The entries 

 totalled aljout 400. Scotland is noteil 

 for its achievements in the horticul- 

 tural world, and its gardening sons 

 are to l)e found holding important posi- 

 tions in all parts of the globe. There 

 was a brilliant display of spring 

 blooms, the daffodils lieing particularly 

 good. Storrie & Storrie, of Glen Carse, 

 exhibited a number of fruit trees and 

 bushes flowering, and a miscellaneous 

 collection of cinerarias, calceolarias, 

 polyanthuses, schizantbus, and primu- 

 las. The carnations of Young & Co., 

 were especially fine. John Forbes, 

 Ltd., made a special feature of Alpine 

 auriculas. Ireland was represented by 

 Hogg & Robertson, of Dulilin. Reams- 

 bottom, of Geashill, contributed fine 

 samides of St. Brigid ane-nones; Laird 

 & Dickson made a special feature of 

 liydrangeas and other flowering shrulis. 



CYPRIPEDIUM MAUDI/E. 

 The rapidity at which this hybrid 

 can be increased by division is truly 

 astonishing, and the following facts 

 cannot fail to be of interest: — Just 8V4 

 years ago Mr. G. V. Moore, of Chard- 

 war, Bourton-on-the-Water, received 

 through the kindness of an orchid 

 friend a plant of C. Maudiiie, which has 

 since been divided whenever opportun- 



ity presented itself, until, at the pres- 

 ent time, no less than 434 plants exist. 

 This figure would have been still high- 

 er had not several plants been pre- 

 sented on various occasions to friends. 

 The stock will soon be once again re- 

 potted, when, if desired, it can easily 

 be increased to 1,000 healthy pieces. 

 Only a few months ago over 300 flow- 

 ers were open at the same time, while 

 100 are now open, and many more will 

 be produced throughout the coming 

 summer. This state of almost perpet- 

 ual flowering makes C. Maudi;e one of 

 the most beautiful and useful plants 

 for decorative purposes, and it should 

 prove a very profitable subject for 

 those engaged in the cut-flower trade. 

 .Although this hybrid grows like a 

 weed, Mr. G. F. Moore finds its two 

 Ijarents, callosum Sandera> and Law- 

 renceanum Hyeanuni, very diflicult to 

 cultivate successfully, which is some- 

 what remarkable. In the Chardwar 

 collection the same back growths of C. 

 Maudiiv have yielded young plants on 

 three and four successive occasions, 

 and even when a piece of the old 

 plant carried but one leaf, and that in 

 a yellow condition, healthy little plants 

 have been produced. If there is a 

 secret attached to the method of culti- 

 vation adopted at Chardwar it is to 

 be found in the fact that C. Maudise 

 dislikes too great a mass of compost. 

 An examination of the plants will show 

 that the roots are mainly surface ones, 

 preferring to grow round the top of the 

 pot, and rarely deeper than 1% inches. 

 It is thus clear that any unneeded 

 depth of compost is almost sure to be- 

 come sour, with consequent damage to 

 the health and vigor of the plant. There 

 is a])parently no reason why anyone 

 should not achieve equal success in 

 the cultivation of this attractive 

 cypripedium, the principal points be- 

 ing the careful selection of a suitable 

 pot and the correct amount of com- 

 post. — The Orchid World. 



