282 



TflK CANADlaK IIOUTICULTURIST. 



suppressed. It will doubtless prove 

 to be a valuable garden plaiit, and as 

 popular as the other two species. 



Nepenthes Northiana.- — A new 

 Pitcher Plant from Borneo. It is one 

 of the largest species known, produc- 

 ing pitchers nearly a foot in length, 

 and of proportinate breadth. In form 

 they are distinct from those of other 

 species, inasmuch as the rim is broad 

 and deei)ly furrowed. The ground 

 colour, which is pale green, is marked 

 by large, irregular blotches of crimson- 

 red. The plant shown by the intro- 

 ducers, Messrs. Yeitch, bore but half- 

 sized pitchers, but those were quite 

 characteristic of the species. — The Gar- 

 den. 



Magnolia Parviflora. — Mr. S. B. 

 Parsons, writes lu The Garden concern- 

 ing this new vari» ty of the Magnolia 

 as i'ollows : — I wish you could see now 

 our specimen of Magnolia parviflora, a 

 new species which we received some 

 years ago from Japan. The tree is 

 about 8 feet high, and the leaves, which 

 are fully formed before the flowers ap- 

 peal-, are G inches long and 3^ inches 

 broad ; on it are 128 buds in all stages 

 of expansion. Some are the size of an 

 ^g^, while others are fully expanded, 

 making a flower five inches in diameter. 

 The most charming form is that of a 

 cup, the heart-shaped petals, two inches 

 in diameter, forming a perfect curve 

 over the stamens and pistil. The pe- 

 tals are of a pure and creamy white 

 without a trace of colour. The sepals 

 have a slight pink colour. The mass 

 of stamens is two inches in diame- 

 ter, and they lie horizontally and com- 

 pact, half of each being well-defined 

 deep vermilion, and the other half a 

 scarlet-tipped orange. The pistil ris- 

 ing from these stamens is 1^ inches 

 long and three-eighths of an inch thick, 

 with light green and scarlet tints. This 

 Magnolia has tlie combined fragrance 

 of banana, pine-apple, and winter 



green, and one flower will perfume a 

 room. With its beauty of form and 

 colour, and its exce])tionally delightful 

 fragrance, I think I am not extrava- 

 gant in pronouncing it the most charm- 

 ing hardy flowering tree that I know. 

 He further adds, I would like you to 

 see also our Japan Maples, for which 

 we think this region is the home. For 

 the convenience of ploughing between 

 them, we cultivate them in rows two 

 hundred feet long and three feet apart, 

 and the luxuriant mass of colour as you 

 look upon them from the end is some- 

 thing to be remembered. I have massed 

 a number of kinds upon a lawn with 

 grand effect, but I am very fond of two 

 kinds planted in a group — the japon- 

 cum aureum and the polymorphum 

 sanguineum. The rich gold of one 

 makes a charming contrast with the 

 blood red of the other through which 

 the sun shines as through a glass of 

 claret. The atropurpureum is very 

 nearly equal to the sanguineum. On a 

 bright summer afternoon I stood under 

 one of the latter nearly 10 feet high, 

 and, looking up through the leaves, 

 made transparent by the red light, the 

 effect was very charming. The cold of 

 the past winter had no effect upon these 

 Maples, while Retinosporas were badly 

 hurt, and even the Norway Spruce and 

 in some instances our native Hemlock 

 were entirely killed. 



RED ASTRACHAN APPLES. 

 Col. B. L. Wiley, one of the most 

 extensive apple growers and shippers, 

 as well as the pioneer in that line, at 

 Makanda, shipped 900 third-bushel 

 boxes of Bed Astrachan apples irom 

 only fourteen trees. As prices were 

 high for apples he netted about 62 cents 

 a box, or about an average of $40 per 

 tree. Besides, there were about 200 

 boxes in amount that dropped off*, the 

 value of which for cider or vinegar may 

 be added to the above. Has anybody 



