296 GENERAL REVIEW. 



with the previous hybrid variety R. altadarense, gave a beau- 

 tiful lot of varieties, among which were Paxtonii, " Mrs 

 Beecher Stowe," " Gem," and several others ; and Paxtonii, 

 fertilised by Lindsay ii, gave " Climax," Fimbriatum, and others. 



A third series of varieties was originated by crossing R. 

 ponticum purpureum with R. altadarense. One of the best of 

 these was " Queen Victoria," which in its turn was fertilised 

 with R. altadarense, and produced ". Vesuvius;" and the last- 

 named again, crossed with R. Blandyanum, gave Brebnerii, 

 11 Madame Titiens," and many other fine forms. 



R. maximum, crossed by R. caitcasicum, produced " Cunning- 

 ham's White ; " and the last, with Blandyanum, produced lim- 

 batum, one of the most beautiful of all the forms then known. 



From the hybrids of the R. catawbiense section for example, 

 album elegans, pictum, and others such fine forms as " Stan- 

 dish's Perfection," " Minnie," " Mrs Standish," and others, 

 were produced. 



In the * Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society,' vol. v. 

 p. 271, Messrs Standish & Noble thus relate their experience 

 in raising hybrid Rhododendrons : 



" We find that, analogous to what is observed in the animal 

 kingdom, the greater the cross the more healthy the progeny, and 

 that breeding ' in and in ' produces weak and deteriorated con- 

 stitutions. We have a remarkable instance of this in a batch 

 of hybrids, raised from Caucasicum album (that being a hybrid), 

 fertilised by its own pollen. The plants are extremely dwarf, 

 with variegated foliage. So dwarf are they that many of them 

 had eight or ten flower-buds on, when only from four to six 

 inches high, and four years old. They, however, bloomed 

 quite freely when only three years old, and about as many 

 inches high. Flowers produced by these dwarfs were again 

 fertilised by their own farina, and although seeds were pro- 

 duced and vegetated, the plants could not be kept alive, but 

 after various durations of existence, from two to eighteen 

 months, they finally disappeared. One of the dwarfs above- 

 named, which we have called Bride, fertilised with the pollen 

 from another distinct hybrid, has, however, produced some very 

 healthy seedlings. A remarkable example of the varied nature 

 which hybridising effects in the Rhododendron is afforded in 

 a hybrid raised from R. catawbiense by a large yellow Ghent 

 Azalea. The object was to raise a hardy yellow hybrid, but in 

 this we have been disappointed, as it has proved to be pink, 

 and we have named it " Deception." It is an extraordinary 

 cross ; we never recollect meeting with so decided a * sport.' It 

 resembles neither of its parents, being one of our best growers, 



