JANUARY 179 



creation, being more peaty, damp, and shady, like a 

 wee bit of the backwoods, has been given over to the 

 so-called American plants Rhododendrons, Azaleas, 

 Andromedas, Kalmias, Heaths, and, besides these, 

 Magnolias, Bamboos, and very many other things ; so 

 many, indeed, that besides the sixty Azaleas which fill 

 a bed in the centre, there are a hundred and seventy 

 kinds of rare plants in it, gathered from most of the 

 Temperate portions of our globe ; and, with one or 

 two exceptions, I must say they appear very promis- 

 ing, considering my little "America" was only colonized 

 in April last.' He then details his triumphs: 'My 

 greatest this summer was my flowering abundantly the 

 rare and beautiful Chilian shrub, the Crinodendron 

 hookeri. I got it from Mr. Smith, at Newry, and 

 planted it in my "Riviera" in the spring of 1897; it 

 stood last winter well, and early in June it blossomed 

 freely. We have but few shrubs with crimson flowers, 

 the blooms of so many of them being either white or 

 yellow. But the Crinodendron is a grand exception. 

 Its nearest neighbours on each side of it consist of 

 plants of the Abutilon vitifolium and Carpenteria cali- 

 fornica, both of which stood the winter ; and the 

 former, from having come on so well, will be bound 

 to flower next season. It has a great name now, espe- 

 cially in Ireland, for hardiness and for its beautiful 

 blossoms. I possess in my "Riviera" a number of 

 things, of which I know little or nothing, with queer 

 names, such as Coprosmas, Callistemons, Aristotelias, 

 Pittosporums, Raphiolepis, Agalmas, Styrax, Indigof- 

 eras, etc. ; and, in spite of their names, I must say 

 they look happy.' 



As from the other letter, I only extract what seems to 

 me most interesting : ' I must now tell the contents 

 of my Azalea bed, already referred to, all of which I got 



