4G0 



JOUBNAL OP HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ NoTtmber 25, 1875. 



in vases, lionquets, &(s. Their culture is of the simplest 

 character, and they soon make large stools, which had better 

 be occai^ionHIIy lifted and divided, an operation best done in 

 ■early sprit (,'. Bnt let the cultivator beware of snails; the young 

 shoots, when they are just peeping above ground in early 

 eprinp, form a delicacy for the whole tribe of slugs, and there- 

 fore it ie Tpry desirable to keep the stools well surrounded 

 with scot and lime, and to have a sharp look out at night for 

 ■the depredators. As the plants seed freely, those who have 

 Gpace and sre so inclined will, by growing a few of the best 

 vari&ties, bfl able to obtain a great number of varieties. 



Having thin year been with Mr. Lakin of Chipping Norton, 

 an ardent lover of herbaceous plants, and at the nursery of 

 Mr. Ware of Tottenham, and having grown a selection of Mr. 

 Laing's and noted some of the best, it may not be unacceptable 

 to some of the readers of the Journal if I subjoin their names 

 and a short description of each, dividing them into double and 

 bingle sections. 



DOUBLE. 



Aloptcuroidcs. — A singular foxbrush-looking flower with a 

 -very closely set spike of greyish-blue flowers. Effective but 

 (not graceful. 



Argus. — Dwarf, with flowers of azure blue and suffused 

 slightly with violet, especially at the edges. 



Larlow's Perfection. — Large spiie, very brilliant blue, and 

 flower closely set on the spike. 



Euovne JSIezard. — Fine compact spike of large size. Flowers 

 blue and rose with white centre. 



Eugene Verdier. — Ranunculus-shaped flower ; blue and violet 

 with starry white centre. 



Uerman Stenger. — Very fine; violet and blue with white 

 centre. About 4 feet high, and a very striking plant. 



Keteleeri. — A very large, bright, sky-blue flower. 



Le Muntodun. — Bright blue ; an immense flower, centre light. 

 Fine epikn. 



Louis Fi;;H/cr.— Semi-double; rosy violet and blue. 



Madame Henri Jacotot. — Light azure blue. A very fine 

 flower of brilliant colour. 



Triomphc de Poisstj. — Ranunculua-shaped flowers of clear 

 bine. Very fine, 



Victor Lemninc. — Beautiful light bine, with lighter centre ; 

 petals imbricated. Very attractive. 



SINGLE. 



Belladonna. — One of the loveliest blue flowers grown. Un- 

 approachable in its peculiar hue by any other garden flower ; 

 reminding oie more of the beautiful Vanda casrulea than of 

 anything else. The smaller sprays are much coveted for 

 bonqnets. 



l<'ormosuni. — An old but very effective flower, and well de- 

 serving a place notwithstanding the large number of newer 

 varieties. 



Gloire de St. Maude. — Dwarf, large flower; blue and black. 

 Effective. 



General Ulrich — Cobalt blue shaded with bronze. Fine. 



M. Riviere. — Violet red shaded white. Quite distinct in 

 colour and very beautiful. 



Marquis de St. Innocent. — Sky blue and lilac, white centre. 

 Very distinct. 



Wilhelm Pfitzer. — A very fine bright blue flower. Striking 

 in colour. 



With these, or indeed a selection from them, I do not think 

 any cultivator will be disappointed. — D., Deal. 



HYBRIDS RAISED BY JAMES VEITCH & SONS. 



Great indeed has been the enterprise and success of hy- 

 bridists during this our day and generation. Fruits, flowers, 

 and vegetables have been increased in numbers and improved 

 in character to an extent which has no parallel in past times. 

 Genus after genus of plants has been taken in hand, and from 

 them are evolved new beauties — hybrids, as it were, of art and 

 nature. Ever and anon the horticultural world has been 

 startled by a fresh " break," a brilliant success it may be, of 

 Coleuses and Dracajuas by Mr. Bause, or Clematises by Mr. 

 .lackman. These are all great achievements, and stand out in 

 bold relief by the nature of the plants, their striking colours 

 and undoubted usefulness. 



Bat there are other evidences of lifelong work of the same 

 nature in whinh the minutest care, the greatest manipulative 

 skill, and extreme patience have been exercised before the 

 results have been seen and success has been reoognised. The 



fruits of these labours, too, have necessarily appeared at in- 

 tervals more or less remote, and their aggregate value was 

 consequently not seen to the fullest advantaKe until Messrs. 

 Veitch & Sons submitted the wonderful collection of plants 

 which were worthily awarded a gold medal on the 10th inst. 

 by the Council of the Royal Horticultural Society. This re- 

 markable group merits special note alike by the intrinsic ex- 

 cellence of the plants, and many of them as being the first 

 creations in their genera of the hybridiser'a skill. 



It is now nearly twenty years since Mr. Dominy received 

 the medal of the Devon and Exeter Botanical and Horticul- 

 tural Society for the first hybrid Orchid which had ever been 

 raised, Calanthe Dominii, and almost every year since has 

 brought oat some new gem surpassing the last, and future 

 years will give birth to newer forms which have not yet un- 

 folded their characters. Orchids are not everybody's plants, 

 they cannot be seen in every house and market ; yet even of 

 these one at least has become indispensable to all collections 

 of winter-flowering stove plants, Calanthe Vtitchii. This 

 plant is not only distinct in its beauty, vigour, and free-flower- 

 ing properties, but is remarkable as being a " mule," the 

 results of fertilising C. vestita with Limatodes rosea. There 

 are other results of noteworthy and unusual alliances, as 

 Phains and Calanthe, Goodyeras and Ana?ctochilu6es, Azaleas 

 and Rhododendrons, and Lapageria and Philetia. 



This firm was the first to succeed in raising hybrids of 

 Nepenthes, N. hybrida being the forerunner of other distinct 

 varieties. Cattleyas were made amenable to artificial ferti- 

 lisation, resulting in a family of unequalled diversity and 

 beauty. Cypripediums have also yielded a rich harvest; and 

 Aiirides, Laelias, and Dendrobiums have not been proof against 

 the hjbridiser's skill. Here it was that the first " break " was 

 made in the Dractenas, and here also, to coin a term, originated 

 the Azaleo-Rhododendrons. 



As an instance of the patience needed in raising plants in- 

 eluded in this list, is the fact that Nepenthes, Calanthes, and 

 Cypripediums are three to five years, Aiirides ten to twelve 

 years, and Cattleyas five to fifteen years, before they bloom 

 after the seed is sown; and the constant watchfulness and care 

 in nursing into life and to perfection plants of this nature ia 

 a tribute to the perseverance of the raisers that can hardly be 

 appreciated by the outside world. The extraordinary list of 

 plants now noted are an honour to the famed establishment of 

 the Messrs. Veitch, as they are a splendid example of the 

 power and influence of hybridisation. As being the produc- 

 tions of one firm they are probably unequalled in the annals of 

 European horticultural enterprise. Their names and parentage 

 are submitted. The list alone ia eloquent, especially when 

 considering the nature of the plants which the firm has been 

 operating on for a quarter of a century. 



Progeny. 



Nepenthes Dominii 



hTbrida 



hjbrida macoJata 



Sedeui 



Chelnoni 



intermedia 

 Cattle/a exoniensis 



Domiuiana 



Dominiana alba 



DDminiana luteft 



Dominiana hybrida 



Sidneyana 



BrabantiBB 



quioquecolor 



devonieneia 



Maoslesi 



Veitchii 



hybrida maculata 



faUHta 

 Cypripediiim Dominii 



Ilarrisianum 



vesillarium 



SRilcui 



Marshallianam 



,\rthnritiuum 



t;ellif,'erum 



hybridum 



tennellatnm 

 Calanthe Veitohii 



Dominii 

 Phaiu-t irroratug 

 Ana-ctochilna Dominii 

 Goodyera Veitchii 



Dominii 

 T,'Midert liybridum 

 Auilia Pileheri 



Pilcheri alba 

 Dendrobiam Dominii 



N. Ralflesiana and N. epeciea ffireenl 

 N. distiUatoria and N. species lepotted) 



(red) 

 N. Hookeriana and N. Dominii 

 N. sp. (very dark) and N. Rafflesiftna 

 C. Mossi.-e and Lrolia purpurata 

 C. amethystina and C. maxima 



C. grannioRa and C. Harrisoniin 



C. crispa and C. grannlosa 



C. Loddigesii and C AclandisB 



C. Aclandiffi and C. Furbesti 



C. criepa and C, Riiltata 



C. Mopsiie and C LoddigesU 



C. crispa and C. labiata 



C. Kuttata and C inteime^ia 



C. Loddigesii and C. exoniensia 



C. Pearcei and C. caudalam 



C. barbatam and C. villo^um 



C. barbatum and C. Fairrieaonm 



C. Schlimii and C. lonj,'.rolium 



C. concolor and C. vpnustum pardlnom 



C. Fairrieanum and C. in^icne 



C laevigatum and C. btrbatum 



C. Stonei and C. barbatum 



C. concolor and C. barbatnm 



C. vestita and Limatodes rosea 



C. masuci and C. lurcata 



P. grandifloriis and Calanthe Veitcliii 

 A. xanthophyllus and Goodyera discolor 

 Goodyera dirtcolor and Antek^toobilua Veitotrii 

 Goodyera discolor and AnteetocliiluB Lowii 

 Ac. atliue and Ai-. FieldiniJi 

 L. Perrini and Cattleya crispa 



D. nobile and D. monlliforme 



