AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



87 



Gourds continued. 



Summer Crookneck. Fruit bright yellow, small, with warty 

 excrescences on the surface. Plant compact, does not run. 



FIG. 132. TURK'S CAP GOURD. 



Turk's Cap. Fruit pale green, flat, with rounded margin ; centre 

 elevated, of a deep green, marbled white and yellow ; medium- 

 sized, firm flesh. An ornamental variety. SYN. Turban Pumpkin 

 See Fig. 132. 



Valparaiso. Fruit oblong, citron-shaped, sometimes lift, long 

 by 1ft. in diameter in its widest part ; flesh orange-yellow, sugary ; 

 rmd greyish-white, covered with a fine network when ripe. A 

 strong grower, steins attaining a length of 4yds. or 6yds. 



Winter Crookneck. Fruit pale yellow, solid, with long neck. 

 A runner variety, and an abundant bearer. Much grown in 

 America. 



Yokohama Gourd. Fruit flattened, generally twice as broad 

 as long, irregularly ribbed, very dark, almost black, green. 

 (CucurbUa meloncejormis, B. H. 1880, 137, 431.) 



GOVENIA (named after J. E. Go wen, Esq., the raiser 

 of some fine hybrid Rhododendrons, &c.). OBD. Orchidece. 

 A genus containing about sixteen species of stove ter- 

 restrial orchids, natives of tropical America. Flowers 

 usually white or cream-coloured, but in some yellow, with 

 or without blood-red spots; sepals and petals free, of 

 nearly equal length ; lip much shorter, without spur, 

 entire, and jointed to the base of the column. About 

 seven species have been cultivated; but, in all proba- 

 bility, those described below are the only ones now to 

 be met with. For culture, see Bletia. 



G. Andrienxii (Andrieux's). fl. yellowish, white at base ; lip 

 white, spotted purplish-red in front, above yellow, barred with 

 brown. Mexico, 1884. 



G. deliciosa (delicious), fl. white, marked with small purple 

 bars inside ; lip nearly elliptic, apiculate, with dark brown spots 

 in front. Mexico, 1884. 



G. Gardner! (Gardner's).* fl. white, spotted, refracted after 

 flowering ; raceme elongated ; sepals and petals ovate, bluntish ; 

 lip ovate, acute, naked, marked with five marginal spots and two 

 convergent convex lines in middle; scape bluntly tetragonal, 

 sheathed in middle, h. 2ft. Brazil, 1837. (B. M. 3660.) 



G. utriculata (bladdery), fl. white ; racemes elongated, many- 

 flowered ; sepals and petals curved, acuminated; lip oblong, 

 ovate, acute. September. I. twin, broad-oblong, plicate, 

 Pseudo-bulbs ovate, inclosed in a large, membranous, oblong- 

 pellucid, striated, sheath, h. lift. Jamaica, 1843. (B. M. 4151.) 



GRABOWSKIA (named in honour of Mr. H. Gra- 

 bowsky, an apothecary, and a botanical author, of Ohlaf, 

 in Silesia, 1792-1842). OBD. Solanacece. A genus con- 

 taining four or five species of hardy or half-hardy shrubs, 

 natives of extra-tropical South America. Flowers pale 

 violet. Leaves obovate or oblong, entire. The genus 

 is nearly aUied to Lycium (which see for culture). 



G. boerhaavieefolia (Boerhaavia-leaved). fl., corolla pale dull 

 blue, imbricate in aestivation ; calyx fleshy, sub-regular, often 

 broadly cleft. April. I. fleshy, glaucous, h. 6ft. Peru, 1780. A 

 singular spiny scrambling shrub, sufficiently hardy to withstand 

 our winters when planted in the open shrubbery border in the 

 South of England, or against a south wall elsewhere. (B. R. 1985.) 



G. duplicata (toothed), fl. axillary, fascicled, from the upper 

 leaves ; calyx tube short, hemispherical ; limb of five spread- 

 ing ovate -lanceolate segments; corolla greenish - white ; tube 

 straight, very hairy within. July. I. alternate, very broadly 

 ovate, or almost orbicular, exceedingly glaucous, waved, entire, 

 slightly attenuated at the base into a moderately short petiole. 

 South Brazil. 1840. Half-bardy. (B. M. 3841.) 



GRAFT. A small shoot or scion of a plant or tree, 

 inserted on another plant, the stock, which supports and 

 nourishes it. 



GRAFTING is an art which has been practised 

 from a period of remote antiquity; by whom it was dis- 

 covered is unknown. The operation consists in plac- 

 ing two cut surfaces of one or of different plants 

 under conditions which cause them to unite and grow 

 together. The plant usually termed the stock on 

 which the graft is inserted, should, in almost every case, 

 be provided with roots, for the purpose of drawing and 

 transmitting nutriment to support the graft after a 

 union has taken place. The part inserted is called the 

 scion, and is analogous to a cutting placed in the soil, 

 although its growth is developed by nourishment supplied 

 through the stock. The action of the one on the other 

 is frequently marked and very important. Some fruit- 

 trees, for instance, grow freely on one stock, but scarcely 

 bear, whilst on others they produce abundant crops, though 

 they do not grow so vigorously; nevertheless, although 

 both are so intimately connected, they retain their in- 

 dividual characters distinct. The stock will become en- 

 larged by the elaboration of sap in the leaves of the 

 scion without the nature of the wood in either case being 

 much altered, each part forming its own peculiar secre- 

 tion from sap arising from the same source. Scions from 

 variegated trees will frequently cause variegated shoots 

 to develop on the stock far below the graft; and these 

 can be used to increase the supply of a given form 

 just as well as those produced by the original tree. The 

 Golden Laburnum is a well-known case in point. 



The importance of the possibility of Grafting cannot 

 be over-estimated, as, by its adoption, the propaga- 

 tion of varieties of fruits, flowers, many forest trees, 

 shrubs, &c., is rendered available, and the good qualities 

 or habits of any are retained, without alteration, ex- 

 cepting such modifications as may be caused by the 

 superior constitution or special suitability of the stock. 

 Grafting may also be employed for restoring defective 

 branches on any part of an otherwise healthy fruit-tree, 

 or for the insertion of fruit-bearing wood, where there 

 is a deficiency. Seedling fruit-trees are brought more 

 quickly into a bearing condition by being grafted on fruit- 

 bearing stocks, so soon as sufficiently-matured scions can 

 be obtained. The two sexes of monoecious plants may, 

 in some cases, be brought together on one stock in order 

 to eventually insure their reproduction by self-fertilisa- 

 tion. Certain conditions are essential for attaining success 

 in Grafting. A great deal depends on the skill of the 

 operator, the condition of the sap, a healthy growth in 

 the stock and scion, and the season when the operation is 

 performed. In order that a vital union may take place, 

 it is essential that the two parts employed should have 

 a natural affinity to each other, either as varieties of the 

 same species, species of the same genus, or genera of the 

 same natural order. In the works of celebrated ancient 

 writers, accounts are given of various attempts having 

 been made, and supposed unions effected, under conditions 

 which have since been found impossible, on account of a 

 natural affinity being non-existent. A temporary union 

 has sometimes taken place, but not a vital and lasting 

 one. A fundamental principle, which applies to every 

 method of Grafting, is the necessity of forming a direct 

 communication between the layers of inner bark in each 

 of the parts to be united; as, without this, a perfect 

 joining is not effected. The pithy or woody parts never 

 unite, as may be frequently observed when grafted trees 

 of long standing are cut down, and the ends of wood 

 originally placed in contact are found to have become 

 decayed. Provided this essential principle be kept in 

 view, the methods of Grafting may be varied almost in- 

 definitely. The natural vigour of the stock and scion 

 should be somewhat similar for inducing a steady growth ; 

 bnt, at times, it is preferable that the scion should be the 



