626 



HORTICULTURE 



November 4, 191 1 



NEW CHINESE PLANTS 



An Address Before the Horticultural Club of Boston, by E. H. Wilson, November 1, 1911. 



Twelve years ago April lllli. last. 1 

 d land on mj first trip to China 

 in q U < Three ether 



jourm followed this first one. 



Fortune baa Invarlablj been tdnd. 

 True, there have been set backs, dls 

 appointments, accidents and minor 

 annoyances, but on the whole, good 

 fortune bas kept with me. The Bo 

 tanical, Horticultural and lay press 

 have thought tit to publish much that 

 is of most complimentary character. 

 That, grand old periodical, the Botani- 

 cal Magazine, has. to date, figured no 

 fewer than arty-eight of my introduc- 

 tions. The Horticultural press, the 

 Gardeners' Chronicle in particular, 

 have figured many more than this 

 number. 



Corydalis thalictrifolia was the first 

 of many new plants to be exhibited be- 

 fore the Royal Horticultural Society 

 ndon, on June 10th, 1902, and it 

 received their highest award— a first 

 class certificate of merit. Since that 

 date this same Society has given 

 some sixty-three awards of merit and 

 certificates and six gold medals. 

 These awards are adjudged by com- 

 petent and impartial critics and hall- 

 mark the plants they are given to. 

 On this side, as far as my knowledge 

 goes, one award onlj a silver medal 

 to Lilium Sargentiae last summer — 

 has been given to these plants. 



I give prominence to these facts, 

 not in any spirit of braggadocio or 

 conceit, but simply in order to lay 

 stress upon the value the plants are 

 conceived to possess, across the 

 water. In response to a request from 

 our President, Mr. John K. M. L. Far- 

 quhar, 1 am about to speak of these 

 new introductions of mine and in so 

 doing I will exhibit as much broad- 

 minded impartiality as possible. In 

 all earnestness, frankness and sincer- 

 ity, these remarks are conceived and 

 I speak of things that are, as they 

 are. drawing no fanciful pictures and 

 spinning no "old traveler's yarn." 



My two first journeys were promot- 

 ed by the nursery firm of James 

 Veitch & Sons, London, England— a 

 firm well known to you all and to 

 every nurseryman, amateur and pro- 

 fessional gardener in the world. Of 

 the twenty-three travelers and collec- 

 tors dispatched by this firm to vari- 

 ous parts oi the world, I was the last 

 but one. Whilst the collecting work 

 conducted and financed by this firm 

 was promoted in the instincts of true 

 business, yet, and it cannot be gain- 

 said, this firm lias dene more in the 

 interests of true horticulture than any 

 r firm or institution extant. With 

 characteristic liberality living plants 

 and herbarium S] have al- 

 ways 1 n fi eh distributed among 



I institutions of Europe 

 and this country. Nevertheless, my 



journeys for Messrs. Veitch, like 

 those of their other travelers, were 

 business ventures, and were I still 

 connected with this firm I should feel 

 precluded, for obvious reasons, from 

 giving publicity to this address. 



My two last journeys were promoted 

 by Prof. Charles S. Sargent, Director 

 of the Arnold Arboretum, solely in tiie 

 interests of scientific horticulture; 

 they had no connection with business 

 in any shape or form. Prof. Sargent 



had distributed the results of ' |i 

 expeditions with an open hand, where- 



i and to whomsoever he felt 

 would take real interest in the mat- 

 ter. It is getting time now to take 

 stock, investigate and call the score. 



I mention these facts in detail In 

 order to emphasize that whether you 

 or others take up, develop and utilize 

 the material I have been privileged to 

 introduce I shall noi benefit, pecunia- 

 rily, a single cent. Beyond a real love 

 for the plants themselves and a gen- 

 uine desire to see them as widely cul- 

 tivated and appreciated as they de- 

 servo to be, I have no interest what- 

 soever. 



I admit my opportunities have been 

 exceedingly limited, but in no single 

 instance, in this country, have I seen 

 full justice done to these newcomers 

 from China. Give a few of them the 



E. H. Wilson 



attention you lavish on your roses, tar- 

 nations, lilacs, peonies, etc., and judge 

 by results. Some will doubtless say: 

 "It is all very well to talk of plants 

 which thrive in England, but here we 

 have a very different climate to con- 

 tend with. Our winters are more se- 

 vere, our summers hotter, the drought 

 greater, etc." Admitted, but don't take 

 a narrow view of things. Look at the 

 range of climate you have in this 

 vast continent. From northern Maine 

 to southern Florida ; from Boston to 

 San Francisco, surely somewhere 

 there are congenial spots for all. 



As far as New England is concerned 

 the question of these newcomers be- 

 ing able to withstand the severe win- 

 is of course, of paramount im- 

 portance. Experiments alone can 

 ibis, but I would point out the 

 well-known fact of deciduous trees 

 and shrubs from Japan and North 

 China succeeding better here, around 

 Boston, than in England. Give these 

 newcomers from Western China a fair 

 chance and they will win through, cred- 

 itably enough. There are plenty of 

 them to pick and choose from and if 



only 50 first-class plants win through, 

 is the trial not worth attempting? 

 Now, suppose that out of the whole 

 mass there are only a dozen equalling 

 Berberis Thunbergii and Clematis pan- 

 iculata. will the trial prove nothing 

 but a costly failure? Suppose we add 

 only two good evergreens, has nothing 

 been accomplished? Reduce the possi- 

 bilities and probabilities to bed-rock 

 proportions and it is obvious that the 

 game is worth the candle! 



Some may advance that stock argu- 

 ment: -- "that we lac!; here an appre- 

 ciative public." Gentlemen. I Submit, 

 this is a poor argument for business 

 men to voice. Make your goods talk, 

 as they have to in every line of busi- 

 ness, bring your goods before the pub- 

 lic- and, if they are worthy, the public 

 will respond. The Arnold Arboretum 

 gave you Berberis Thunbergii ; it 

 gave you Azalea Kaempferi and heaps 

 of other notable plants; take up some 

 more of its introductions, put your best 

 work Into them and let the proof of 

 the pudding be in the eating. 



Acting on a suggestion I published, 

 in HORTICULTURE, through the 

 courtesy of the editor, our esteemed 

 fellow member, Wm. J. Stewart, a 

 series of thirteen short articles, enti- 

 tled Plant Novelties from China, com- 

 mencing Jan. 1st, 1910. I have recently 

 questioned the editor concerning these 

 articles with the result that, while they 

 have elicited some favorable comment, 

 yet neither he nor I feel that they have 

 attracted anything like the attention 

 the subject deserves. Tonight I per- 

 force, try again. 



Under ten different headings I pro- 

 pose to discuss very briefly, just sixty 

 plants. I have here to show you il- 

 lustrations and photographs of the 

 majority, and, save the herbs, through 

 the courtesy of Prof. Sargent, dried 

 specimens of the actual plants them- 

 selves. 



Six Herbaceous Plants. 



Astilbe grandis (5 to 6 ft. tall, flow- 

 ers pure white), Senecio clivorum (4 

 to G ft. tall, rich golden-yellow flowers), 

 Primula pulverulenta (flowers rich 

 crimson on scapes 3 to 4 ft. high). Ar- 

 temisia lactiflora (3 to 4 ft. tall, flow- 

 ers milk white), Aconitum Wilsonfi 

 G to 7 ft. tall, flowers deep blue, open- 

 ing in September), Paeonia Veitchii 

 ll' 1 2 to 4 ft., flowers deep red), Here 

 are my six herbaceous plants, every- 

 one of them perfectly hardy here in 

 Boston, strong growing, free-flowering 

 and vigorous in habit. 



The first three are happiest when in 

 c lose proximity to water — a stream or 

 pond side free of rank weeds is the 

 ideal situation. The Aconite and 

 Wormwood require nothing more than 

 the average herbaceous border affords 

 hut they should not be allowed to suf- 

 fer from drought. The Paeony re- 

 quires only to be grown in the ordin- 

 ary way of herbaceous paeon ies. 



Coed, strong loam, leaf soil and cow 

 dung in the usual proportions will 

 suit them all. Being good species 

 (like all the plants I shall enumerate) 

 they come true from seed and are 

 also readily propagated by division. 

 Grown singly as specimens, in small 

 clumps or in masses they are fascinat- 

 ingly effective. 



