Vol. VI. 



82.00 a Year. 

 24 Numbers. 



CHICAGO, APRIL 15, 1898. 



Single Copt 

 10 Cents. 



No. 135- 







RHODODENDRONS AT WBLLESLET. MASSACHUSETTS. 



Trees and Shrubs. 



T«E RHODODENDRON. 



Although more than forty years have 

 elapsed since I commenced the cultivation 

 of rhododendrons, my great admiration 

 for them has in no degree abated, and I 

 cheerfully respond to your invitation in 

 sending you a few notes which I hope 

 may prove of interest to some of your 

 numerous readers. Asshowing the great 

 change which has taken place in the cul- 

 tivation of these shrubs since I com- 

 menced growing them, let me say that 

 in those days we were obliged to content 

 ourselves mostly with the common seed- 

 lings raised in England, and a few named 

 varieties, such as Everestianum, Chan- 

 cellor and a few others, it being main- 

 tained by many experienced cultivators 

 here that none of the dark crimson and 

 scarlet hybrids could possibly be grown 

 in our cold New England climate, the 

 Himalayan R.arboreum, which was ten- 

 der, having been largely used for hybrid- 

 izing purposes. We have, however, finally 

 succeeded in growing a large number of 

 these choice hybrids in spite of many dif- 

 ficulties and discouragements, one that 



was very serious being our limited supply 

 of water in those days, when an occa- 

 sional watering pot of water was all we 

 could possibly spare for our suffering 

 plants, and the consequence was the loss 

 of several hundred of them. 



Even in New York the same idea was 

 prevalent in those days, Henry W. Sar- 

 gent, of Wodenithe, being one of the first 

 to become interested in the subject and 

 to import, as an experiment, a few of 

 those varieties selected by Antb ■ ny Wa- 

 terer, of Knap Hill, as being most likely 

 to succeed in this country. This led to 

 his giving more attention to raising half 

 hardy hybrids for the American market 

 and to his making later, in 1875, a visit 

 here for the special purpose of a personal 

 inspection of the plants he had been, for 

 several years, sending his customers. His 

 visit was of so satisfactory and encour- 

 aging a character that he continued up 

 to the time of his death, a year or more 

 ago, to be intensely interested in the sub- 

 ject of growing choice new varieties, 

 which, from his long experience, he had 

 god reason to believe would stand our 

 vigorous New England climate. We have 

 now, of course, large specimens of the 

 different shades of crimson varieties 

 which, at one time, it was thought, im- 



possible to grow here, and we are con- 

 stantly adding new ones to the list. 

 Some of the latest, which cannot be re- 

 commended too strongly to cultivators, 

 are: C. S. Sargent, Mrs. C. S. Sargent, 

 F. L. Ames, Mrs .H. S. Hunnewell, Lady 

 Grey Egerton and Mrs. J. P. Lade. We 

 have also been testing, for several years 

 past, many new unnamed varieties, grown 

 expressly with reference to their hardi- 

 ness in standing our severe New England 

 winters, which will in time be offered to 

 the public if found reliable and unusually 

 attractive by their rare colors and mark- 

 ings. 



The best mode of preparing a border 

 for the cultivation of rhododendrons be- 

 ing a subject we often find discussed, I 

 will here say a word, my experience hav- 

 ing been considerable. As to the proper 

 depth, three feet may be all that is neces- 

 sary when the plants are small, but when 

 they attain a great size with age, the 

 balls become very large, indeed, and will 

 require at the least full four feet of good 

 suitable soil. It has been my habit for 

 many years, as my plants have increased 

 in size and become crowded, to take them 

 up and move them at a greater distance 

 from each other, thus re-planting the 

 whole collection every few years. It in- 



