522 



JOUENAL OP HOBTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ December 10, 1874. 



regular bunoli, large berries, black, tremendously vigorous, 

 hardy, and astonishingly productive ; a first-class Vine. 



In view of the fact that the lona does not succeed here, and 

 the Diana has to be plucked off, so as to leave but one bunch to 

 a shoot to ripen well, it seems as if Vines like those described 

 above, with such exceUeut flavour and vigorous characteristics, 

 must be destined to a celebrity of more enduring character 

 than the aveiage of new American varieties. From our own 

 personal examination we can honestly state not one of all the 

 white sorts exhibits a favour as inferior as the Martha, and they 

 are uniformly larger in berry and bunch. Neither was any white 

 variety less pleasant than the Croton in flavour, and but one 

 possessed a slight musky perfume of the black Grape ; neither 

 was inferior to Concord, although many not so sweet ; while 

 even if no other sorts were deemed valuable as table Grapes, 

 the acquisition alone of Raritan and Advance as wine Grapes 

 would mark an era in the Grape history of the United States. 



It is necessai'y to express all opinions with caution, for the 

 history of horticulture in the United States has too many re- 

 cords of death-blows to enthusiasm over new fruits which fail 

 when transferred to localities beyond the place of origin ; yet, 

 every active horticulturist will rejoice with pleasure at such 

 signal advance in so new and promising an addition to the 

 pomological treasures of the country. Mr. Eicketts' collection 

 is a valuable one financially — ^10,000 would be a fair estimate 

 of its worth, and we trust they will soon be disseminated and 

 he will receive their fuU value. — Henry T. Williams (in The 

 American Horticulturist). 



FLOWERS FOR OUR BORDERS.— No. 4r,. 



EOHE^'ERIA RETUS.i.— Blunt-leaved Echevebia. 



In its general habit the E. rettisa agrees with the other 

 members of the genus, but the radical leaves are neither so 

 regular in form nor arranged in so perfectly rosette-hke a 

 manner as in xeciinda and some others. When young they 

 are acute, but become ultimately extremely blunt and irregu- 

 larly scoUopeJ or creuate, and bordered with brownish-purple. 



The flower stem, which is also stained with purple, but of a 

 brighter tint, grows from 1 foot to 18 inches high, the blossoms 

 being produced at its summit in a dense, drooping, branched 

 panicle, which becomes gradually more erect as the flowers 

 develope themselves. These are externally of a rich crimson- 

 scarlet colour, covered with a delicate bloom, and internally of 

 an orange-yellow ; they continue expanded some days before 

 fading, and as strong plants will produce several flowering 

 stems, a succession of blossoms is maintained for two or three 

 months in winter, a season when flowers of much inferior 

 interest to the E. retusa are generally highly valued. 



Its cultivation is of the simplest character ; sandy loam en- 

 riched with a little leaf mould, or even sandy loam by itself, if 

 not of too sterile a nature, will be found sufficient for its re- 

 quirements. It is hardly necessary to state that the pots should 

 be well drained to one-third of their depth at least, for this 

 is an indispensable condition to success in the treatment of 

 Buoeuleuts. 



It may be more important to observe that the flowers of the 

 Echeveria retusa being produced in winter, it will require 

 more water at that period than those species which flower in 

 summer and autumn. During its period of growth, which 

 succeeds that of blossoming, it may also be kept in a mode- 

 rately moist condition ; but after this is completed, which 

 will occur about the end of July, water should be withheld, 

 and to facilitate the ripening process the plant may then be 

 stationed out of doors in a sunny corner for a month or six 

 weeks at least, but must be protected from rain, though slight 

 showers will do no harm. This exposition will be but a poor 

 imitation of the dry season of the tropics, but it will at any 

 rate be more conducive to the production of flowers than a 

 permanent occupation of the window. If the plant be then 

 removed about the middle of September to the sitting-room, 

 and cautiously watered, it will hardly fail, after the lapse of a 

 few weeks, to throw up its flower stems. 



Increase is easily effected either by the offsets, which may 

 be severed and treated as cuttings, or by the stem leaves, 

 which are readily detached, and will root freely if, after being 

 dried for a day or two, they are pressed into a pot of sandy 

 soil. The leaves of some of the species will throw out fibres 

 from the back if simply laid on the soil, as in the case of the 

 Gloxinia and other plants ; and it is to be presumed that 

 those of retwawill root in a similar manner. Flowering plants 

 are, however, produced more speedily from offsets, and as these 



are formed in some abundance, the leaves need only be em- 

 ployed when a considerable number of young plants is required ; 

 in either case they are best taken in spring or early summer, 

 so that the whole of the warmest months of the year may be 

 available for the rooting process. 



As an element in the formation of the geometrical beds now 

 becoming so popular in certain quarters, or for other outdoor 

 uses, the E. retusa is less desirable than some other species, 

 such as secundaand secunda glauca, metallioa, and its hybrids' 

 but as a winter bloomer either in the greenhouse or the window 

 garden it deserves to be kept in view. 



Fig. 147. — Echeveria letnsa. 



With one or two exceptions all Echeverias are natives of 

 Mexico, from which country the E. retusa was introduced about 

 thirty years since by the collector Hartweg, who transmitted 

 seeds to the London Horticultural Society. The oauline 

 leaves of all the species deserve a passing notice for the 

 curious manner in which they are attached to the stem, the 

 leaf adhering by its surface near the base, but so slightly as to 

 be easily detached without any apparent injury to the cuticle 

 if care be taken. — (IF. Thompaon's Enqlish Flower Garden, 

 Revised bij tlie Autlior.) 



THE CEDAR OF LEBANON. 



In answer to " .\ Schoolmaster" we can only reply that he 

 may employ as the Cedar's botanical name either Abies Cedrus 

 or Cedrus Libani, for modern botanists use each of these 

 designations, and if we went back to earlier writers we should 

 have to quote names still further differing. We have also to 

 warn our correspondent not to tell in his lecture that " its 

 wood is the outside of our blacklead pencils," for that outside 

 is wood of the Red Cedar, .Tuniperus virginiana. 



We have many letters consequent of those upon " the oldest 

 in England," and asking for such various fractions of informa- 

 tion that we will answer them in a continuous narrative. 



It is a superlative of all plants named in the Bible. It is 

 called there " the tree of the Lord," a name, to whatever 

 applied, which there signifies what is most excellent. It was 

 assumed to be the first and grandest of the vegetable world, 

 or, as Solomon's botanical knowledge is described, as included 

 between the Cedar and the Esob, a Moss common on the wallB 

 of Jerusalem. Dr. Tristram, after \'i8iting Mount Libanus, has 

 written that " the wood of the mountain-grown Cedar of 

 Lebanon is much closer in grain and darker in colour than 



