94 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the plants by keeping them in a small pot, has a tendency to cause 

 them to flower at an earlier period. 



Mr. Hovey spoke of the clematis as deserving more attention 

 than it had received here, and alluded to the Jackmanni type and 

 other improved forms which have recently been produced in Eu- 

 rope. Clematis Fortu7iei, a double white variety, had flowered and 

 produced seed abundantly with him, and a specimen of the progeny 

 was exhibited. It had a lavender colored flower w^ith seven or 

 eight petals, resembling the original type. He thought we could 

 produce varieties here as good as the improved Europeau kinds, 

 such as Rubella, Jackmamii, Prince of Wales, etc. 



In answer to an inquiry by Henry F. French, Mr. Hovey said 

 that the habit of the flower exhibited was the same as that of our 

 native species ; it is hardy and grows rapidly. 



J. H. AVoodford asked how long the seed was in germinating. 



Mr. Hovey replied that it was sowed as soon as ripe, in August, 

 and some germinated in January and February, while others laid 

 in the ground a year before the plants came up. It was planted 

 about three years ago. 



President Parkman said that some species take longer to flower 

 than others. The specimen exhibited seemed to have returned to 

 the patens type, but to have inherited from its parent a tendency 

 to come double. He thought the single varieties more beautiful 

 than the double. He had raised a large number of seedlings, and 

 in England so many had been raised that the market was glutted, 

 a single nurseryman having received from the originators two 

 hundred new seedlings. Sometimes, however, we got something 

 so superior that it is worth while to attempt raising seedlings. 

 Clematis Jackmanni was a cross of C. lanuginosa and C. viticella — 

 the latter having a smaller flower with four petals, and in some of 

 the varieties being very dark colored. One of the best of these 

 varieties is Hendersoni, which blooms freely and is very hardy, and 

 was probably used by Mr. Jackman to cross C. latiuginosa. C. 

 Jackmanni sometimes comes with four petals like, C. viticella. 



Mr. Hovey remarked that the varieties with but four petals, 

 though producing a fine effect in a mass, were not so beautiful as 

 individual flowers, and we should now, with improved sorts, reject 

 those with only four petals, unless remarkable for color, and retain 

 those with five, seven, eight, or nine petals, which are circular in 

 form, and beautiful as single flowers. He sowed the seeds in a 



