346 GENERAL REVIEW. 



Growing both Gooseberries and Currants on stocks is a prac- 

 tice which deserves notice, and experiments with any of the 

 Ribes in cultivation with this object in view would be interest- 

 ing j or seedling stocks might be especially grown for the pur- 

 pose, as is now done in the case of Apples, Plums, and other 

 hardy fruits. Trees grown on stocks 3 or 4 feet in height 

 might be planted in positions where ordinary bushes would be 

 in the way, and the ground beneath could also be sown with 

 Lettuce, Radishes, or other light crops. The fruit on standard 

 trees could also be more readily protected from birds, and being 

 more fully exposed to the air, would hang later than when 

 grown on low bushes in the ordinary way. For an excellent 

 descriptive enumeration of Gooseberries in all, thirty-six vari- 

 eties see ' Trans. Hort. Soc.,' 1835, p. 226. 



THE HYDRANGEA FAMILY (Hydrangeacece\ 



A small group of shrubs, having opposite leaves bearing 

 cymose clusters of white, pink, or bluish-tinted flowers. Most 

 of the cultivated forms of Hydrangea, such as H. hortensis, H. 

 stellata fl.-pl., H. rosea, H. nivalis, and many others, owe their 

 beauty to the suppression of the sexual organs and the enlarge- 

 ment of the floral envelopes in a way analogous to what takes 

 place in some Viburnums. Mr Hemsley contributes an excel- 

 lent paper on Hydrangeas to the ' Garden/ 1875, P- I 45 from 

 which we learn that most of the forms of Hydrangea in cultiva- 

 tion are forms of H. hortensis that have originated in Chinese 

 and Japanese gardens ; and this view is held by Dr Maximo- 

 wicz, who collected and introduced many of these beautiful 

 plants. This fact, Mr Hemsley remarks, " goes to prove that 

 this familiar plant is probably susceptible of further improve- 

 ment and a wider range of variation." We have before observed 

 that many hybrids which are sterile i.e., which never bear 

 fertile seeds have considerably more vegetative luxuriance 

 than nearly - related hybrids which are fertile ; but here the 

 enlargement seems confined to the floral envelopes, and it 

 would be interesting to notice whether the early removal of the 

 sexual organs of different flowers has any perceptible effect on 

 the size and after-development of the sepals and petals. We 

 know that Orchid flowers., which have waxy pollen, often keep 

 fresh for months, so long as the stigma remains in a virgin con- 

 dition; and gardeners have long known that emasculated flowers 

 endure much longer, owing to the fact that fertilisation is im- 

 possible. The flowers of Hydrangeas are remarkably persist- 



