THE HEATH AND RHODODENDRON FAMILY. 295 



" Mrs John Glutton," the gem of all others amongst the whites, 

 and " Caractacus" amongst the purplish crimsons. We have here 

 half-a-dozen sorts which are comparatively new, and which it 

 would be very difficult to beat, taking into account their high 

 and pure colours, their magnificent flower-trusses, and their 

 fine hardy Laurel-like foliage. 



It is the duty of the hybridiser to infuse a good constitution 

 into his creations, just as it is to improve them in form and 

 colour ; hence he should be a close observer of the effects of 

 temperature and exposure on the plants he attempts to improve, 

 so as to enable his seedlings to withstand our climate with 

 impunity; and this particularly applies to the hardy varieties of 

 Rhododendron. 



In crossing Rhododendrons, the hardiest and best-habited 

 plants should always be selected as the seed-bearing parents ; 

 and R. catawbiense or R. maximum are the best in this respect 

 from which to originate races ; but if the object is merely to raise 

 seedlings of existing races, then seeds should be saved from 

 cross-fertilised, modern, hardy varieties now annually sent out 

 by the Messrs Waterers, Messrs Lane, and others. If early- 

 blooming varieties are desired, then R. caucasicum is one of 

 the best species to start with, or some of its varieties, as R. 

 Nobleanum or R. Nobleanum album. We yet hope to see some 

 new greenhouse varieties raised between the tubular-flowered 

 species of which R.jasminiflorum is the type, and the hardy vari- 

 eties of Rhododendron, Azalea sinensis, or the Ghent Azaleas. 



The late Mr John Standish was one of the first who at- 

 tempted to improve the hardy Rhododendrons by hybridis- 

 ing them with the Indian species; and he appears to have 

 gone to work in the gardens of the Duchess of Gloucester at 

 Bagshot Park, soon after the introduction of R. arboreum, for 

 one of his first hybrids was R. altadarense (R. arboreum x R. 

 catawbiense]. Then came R. Blandyanum (R. catawbiense x 

 R. altaclarense), and R. Blandyanum superbum was the result of 

 crossing R. Blandyanum with pollen from a variety named 

 " Queen Victoria," other seedlings from this last-named cross 

 being Manglesit, " Robert Burns," Menziesii, " Countess de 

 Morella," " General Cabrera," and others. 



Another race was produced by using R. maximum, another 

 North American species, as the seed-parent, this also being 

 fertilised by pollen .of the Indian R. arboreum. One of the 

 first products of this cross was R. Lindsayii; and this variety, 

 fertilised with pollen from R.ponticum album, produced a numer- 

 ous progeny, whose flowers varied from white through all the 

 shades of lilac to a deep purple. These being again crossed 



