IRISH GARDENING 



181 



may perhaps imlucL' enterprising (irius tu take u]) 

 similar work uu commercial lines. Interesting 

 Ash, Alder and Pojjlar hybrids have been made. 

 With the Ash hybrids, which are ])erhaps the 

 most important, considerable patience is required, 

 as the seed " lies over " for a year, and seedlings 

 do not come u)) till two years after the date of 

 pollination. The Poplar hybrids are more 

 advanced, as seedlings are obtained in the same 

 season that the ])ollination is effected. One of 

 these, which may be conveniently named Populus 

 generosa, has already shown such astounding 

 vigour that it merits immediate descrii)tion. It 

 is remarkable 

 not only for its 

 ra]»id growth, 

 but also for its 

 handsome aji- 

 ])earance. hav- 

 ing beautiful 

 large leaves with 

 conspicuous red 

 veins. It de- 

 serves to be 

 l)ropagated as 

 it promises to 

 rival, if not ex- 

 cel, the remark- 

 able hybrids at 

 Metz, Populus 

 Eugenei and P. 

 robusta. 



The history of 

 the new hybrid 

 Po])lar is as fol- 

 lows; -In March, 

 1912, a pistil- 

 late Carolina 

 Poplar (Popu- 

 lus angulata) at 

 Kew was crossed 

 with the pollen 

 of P. tricho- 

 car])a. of which 

 there is a line 

 specimen, then 

 sixteen years 

 old, in that gar- 

 den. From the 

 few seeds, 

 which ri])ened 

 towards the end 

 of June and 

 were sown iin- 

 lu e d i a t e 1 y , 

 t h e r e w ere 

 raised at Cam- 

 bridge four seedlings. These attained about 2 ins 

 in height by the end of October. 1SJ12. Starting 

 next season as tiny ])lants in good garden soil at 

 (ilasnevin. they grew remarkably in 1!U;}. reached 

 by the end of that year '6 feet •> inches, ',i feet 

 1 inch, and 2 feet 1 1 inches in lieiglit. and were 

 very uniform in vigour and in a]iiiearance. Two 

 were ti'ansplantetl lasl winter, aiul on that 

 account have l)een tem])orarily checked in growth. 

 The two which had not been disttirbed throve 

 amazingly in 1914, one jtlant continuing to grow 

 till the end of .Ivily, when it measured 7 feet 

 •) inches in height, the other only finis'iing its 

 growth by the end of Se]>tember." wlien Kt feet 

 1 inch of total height was attained. 



The parents of this hybrid are wide apart, 

 belonging to different sections of the genus. P. 



The Tkee, ok I^eim-ktiai. I'EuwKuiNc;, Cahnation 



angulata is a Black Poplar, slow in growth in 

 England, with broad leaves, green on both 

 surfaces, usually cordate at the base, and girt 

 around the margin with a narrow translucent 

 border ; petioles laterally compressf^d ; buds 

 slightly viscid, scarcely odorous. P. trichocarpa 

 is a fast-growing Bal.sam Poi)lar, native of the 

 Pacific Coast of the Cnited States, with viscid 

 buds, giving oft" a strong balsamic odour ; leaves, 

 narrow, very white beneath, without a translucent 

 Ijorder, never cordate ; petioles cylindrical. 

 Populus generosa," the new hybrid, is inter- 

 mediate between the parents as regards 



the width and 

 colour of the 

 leaves, their 

 under surface 

 being ))ale grey ; 

 but it re- 

 sembles P. 

 angulata in the 

 leaves being 



coarsely ser- 

 rate, often cor- 

 date, and always 

 suri'ounded by a 

 translucent bor- 

 d e r. T h ei r 



rounded peti- 

 oles are nearly 

 identical with 

 those of P. 

 trichocarpa. 



It may be 

 mentioned that 

 some catkins of 

 P. angulata 

 (same tree at 

 Kew) pollinated 

 on the same 

 day by the 

 English Black 

 Poi)lar (P. 

 nigra betuli- 



folia) gave 

 another set of 

 seedlings, tot- 

 ally distinct in 

 appearance and 

 remarkable for 

 their want of 

 uniformity of 

 vigour. T h e 



\V. Wiit,<..n 4 s.ins. two best of 



these seedlings, 

 though very 

 flourishing, are 



considerably inferior to P. generosa. — A. IIenky 



in Tlic dardencrs' Chronicle. 



* I'opulus 'jeiierosu, A. Henry li.vl>nda nova inter /'. mnjiddUtm, 

 Alton, $ , et P. ti-'chocarpam, Torrcy ot (Iray, (^; foliis mediis, 

 :ini|)li!>, subtus nee concoloribus neo albis sed incanis, saepe 

 cordaiis, semier iiclliicidc niaririnatis : i)etiolis tt-retibus. 



i^ t^ t^ 



Black Apple. 



A i'Ei;i'E( Tl.Y black ajiple was sent to the Scientific 

 Committee of the Koyal Horticultural Society, 

 London, by Mr. J. A. Walker, of Woodberry. 

 Sydenham' Hill, S.E.. Only once before a black 

 apple was shown before the c-ommittee. and Dr. 

 M. C. Cooke attril)uted its colour to an attack of 

 the fungus Sclerotiuia fructigena. 



