5IO GENERAL REVIEW. 



Victor," " Lady Londesborough," " Mrs J. Bateman," " Lord 

 Londesborough," " Miss Bateman," Standishii, azurea grandi- 

 flora, Jaekmannii, viticella, lanuginosa, and others. Seeds 

 sown in autumn as soon as ripe, in a warm pit on a slight bot- 

 tom-heat, germinate the following spring. Seedlings flower 

 the first or second year from seed. Gather the seed as soon 

 as ripe in autumn, and either sow at once or keep it in a dry 

 place until the spring. Sowing as soon as the seed is ripe is a 

 good practice ; and for this purpose shallow boxes or pans of 

 moist sandy earth are best. Sow thinly on the surface, and 

 cover very lightly with fine soil, after which place the seed-pans 

 in a warm pit or stove until the seeds vegetate, after which use 

 great care in watering, and place them in a dry, airy, and sunny 

 position near the glass. The seedlings may be potted as soon 

 as fit to handle, and grown on to the flowering stage as quickly 

 as possible. If any variety turns out to be a decided improve- 

 ment, grafting is the best and quickest way of multiplication. 

 A glance at what has been effected in this genus will be inter- 

 esting to the cultivator or hybridiser, and also enable him to 

 avoid doing work that has been done before. One of the 

 oldest of all known hybrid Clematis is C. Hendersonii, which 

 is presumably the result of a cross effected in 1835 between 

 the Spanish C. viticella and the Hungarian C. inte.gr if olia. 

 The Japanese species appear to have varied very much in their 

 native country under cultivation; but whether this had been 

 brought about by culture, seminal reproduction and selection, 

 or hybridisation, we cannot say; yet we know that M. von 

 Siebold, the Japanese traveller, introduced several beautiful 

 forms of C. patens, a plant also known as .C. car idea or C. 

 azurea in books and gardens. In 1850 a seminal variety was 

 raised by M. Tulon of Libourne, this being recorded in the 

 ' Flore des Serres ' for the same year. One of the first hybrid- 

 isers in this country who set out with a definite and intelligent 

 object was Mr J. Anderson-Henry, who, in 1855, crossed C. 

 patens (azurea grandiflord) with C. lanuginosa, a large and 

 beautiful blue-flowered Japanese plant, the result being a large 

 lavender-flowered variety named C. regin<z. Messrs Jackman 

 & Sons, of the Woking Nurseries, set to work, in 1858, by 

 crossing C. lanuginosa with C. Hendersonii and C. viticella atro- 

 rubens, the result being the production of C. Jackmannii and 

 C. rubro-violacea, exhibited in 1863, as being two of the most 

 distinct hybrids. A large number of varieties, however, resulted 

 from the first sowing, and among others the following : C. 

 viticella pallida, C. viticella Mooreana, C. viticella amethystina, 

 C. Prince of Wales, C. rubella, C. magnified, C. Alexandra, and 



