318 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
through the press, upon the cause of this ‘ dying off,” the most recent 
being by certain continental gentlemen in ‘“‘ The Garden ” of February 18, 
1899, in which Messrs. Goos & Koenemann give their opinion that it is 
caused by the bursting of the cells through excessive moisture. Mr. J. 
Nicolai believes it to be caused by injury from frost ; Mr. C. A. Meyer 
thinks it is brought about by too rich food or too much water ; and Pro- 
fessor Dr. P. Soraner, that too much water, nourishment, and heat are 
the cause. All these gentlemen are to a certain extent right, as there is no 
doubt in my mind that frost is the cause in some cases, too much water 
and bad drainage in others; but in my opinion they have not yet arrived 
at the principal reason, as I have seen plants affected which have never 
been touched by frost. And my experience is that plants mostly go off 
during the summer months, when the ground is driest and the tempera- 
ture hottest; and in most of these cases I could not detect any sign of 
the plants having had too much moisture, or that the drainage was bad. 
In addition to this, the collapse often comes after the plant has made 
several feet of growth, and is forming the flower buds; which to me 
seems to imply that its vital power had been expended, the result being a 
speedy and total collapse. Besides, if the reasons given by these gentle- 
men are the only and right causes, how is it that this ‘‘ dying off” was 
not noticed twenty-five and thirty years ago, and why should it have 
increased of recent years? Again, how is it we do not see the rampant 
robust growths each year which there used generally to be? Putting on 
one side for a moment the fact that the Japanese and Chinese species 
have not the stamina of some of the European, American, and other 
species, there seems to me but one answer to all these queries—vyiz. that 
the Clematis is suffering from loss of constitution through over-propagation ; 
and that is, in my opinion, to a great extent the cause of the “ dying 
off,” for it has been conclusively proved that neither insects nor fungi are 
responsible for it. Assuming that this is correct, we have at once the 
cause of some of the disappointments and failures in raising new hybrids 
in past’ years, and the reason why several of the newer varieties are 
affected in the same way. 
With regard to the new race of coccinea hybrids already mentioned, 
several seedlings have been raised, from which I have at present 
selected the following varieties, showing great diversity in colour and 
form from any other hybrids, as well as improved constitution, which 
were the objects aimed at in making the cross. They are C. Countess of 
Onslow, a bright violet purple ; C. Duchess of Albany, a beautiful bright 
pink ; ©. Duchess of York, a pale blush pink ; C. Grace Darling, a bright 
rosy carmine ; C. Sir Trevor Lawrence, a bright crimson ; and C. Admi- 
ration, a rich magenta purple. These new varieties also lay claim to pro- 
fuse and successional blooming properties, more graceful habit, greater 
substance in the sepals of the flowers, which, in conjunction with their 
being produced on long peduncles, renders them of great use for 
decoration. 
The following is a table of several specific crosses made between 
species, and species and hybrids. Unfortunately no records have been 
kept of the parents of several of our best hybrids; consequently I am 
unable to trace the improvements made to any great extent. 
