Auotst 4, 18?8.] 



THE GAPDENEBS' CHRONICLE. 



133 



treated of include the trees, timber, and fibre plants 

 of the Malay Archipelago, by M. van Eeden ; Cin- 

 chona, Coffee, Tea, Sugar, Cocoa, Vanilla, Rice, 

 Tobacco, and Spices, by R. W. van Goekom ; Fruits, 

 Drugs, &c, by F. Hekineyer ; Fats, Oils and Gums, 

 Caoutchouc, Gutta-percha, by Dr. De Loos. Unfor- 

 tunately for us the text is written in the Dutch lan- 

 guage ; but the indexes of botanical, commercial, 

 and vernacular names render the books useful even 

 to those unfamiliar with the language of the Nether- 

 lands and of the Dutch possessions in Malaysia. 



DUTCH BULBS. — The weather in Holland this 

 summer has been in general cold and rainy like in 

 other countries, and so the season is more backward 

 than usual ; the harvesting of bulbs, in conse- 

 quence, will take place at a much later date than 

 ordinarily is the case, as one of the principal rules 

 in their cultivation is never to take them up before 

 they are well ripened — the flowering qualities being 

 injured by too early removal ; thus, the bulbs 

 (especially Hyacinths and Narcissi) will probably be 

 ready a fortnight later than in ordinary years, when 

 the first days of August see the beginning of the 

 exportations. It is reported that several of the 

 leading firms in the bulb trade do not intend to 

 begin sending out their bulbs until they are quite fit 

 for the purpose. It is to be hoped that this system 

 will be generally adopted by the Dutch growers. 



British Tobacco. — The report of the judges 



appointed to determine the award for the prize of 

 50 guineas offered by the London Chamber of Com- 

 merce for the best specimen of British-grown To- 

 bacco has now appeared. The conditions made 

 when the prize was offered required that each speci- 

 men of Tobacco submitted for competition should 

 consist of not less than 400 lb., grown on a com- 

 mercial scale. It was also stipulated that each 

 sample should embrace an average of the crop 

 grown, and that the growers should give such par- 

 ticulars as would assist the judges in making " a 

 report on the yet doubtful question as to the possi- 

 bility of growing Tobacco in Great Britain such as 

 in quality relatively to price can compete with that 

 of other countries." The entries numbered eleven, 

 and were duly inspected at the Fenchurch Street 

 Bonded Warehouse on May 14. It was found that 

 only four exhibitors had complied with the condi- 

 tions so far as quantity was concerned ; but in view 

 of the interest which is being manifested in 

 regard to Tobacco growing in the United King- 

 dom, the judges considered it desirable to present a 

 supplementary report on the remainder of the speci- 

 mens, though not properly coming within the scope of 

 their adjudication. They placed the four exhibits sub- 

 mitted to them in the following order of merit : — 

 1st, Messrs. James Carter & Co. ; 2nd, Mr. W. L. 

 Wigan ; 3rd, Sir Edward Birkbeck, M.P. ; 4th, Mr. 

 John Graves ; and they recommended that the prize 

 of 50 guineas should be awarded to Messrs. James 

 Carter & Co. Detailed particulars, furnished by the 

 growers, as to the cultivation and preparation of the 

 samples sent in for competition are given, together 

 with remarks of the judges on the various exhibits. 

 In concluding the judges state that, speaking generally, 

 " not one of the four samples eligible for the prize 

 was in any respect valuable for trade purposes, or 

 even merchantable, presuming that no duty was 

 chargeable upon the article. Still, it was evident that 

 well grownTobacco leaf could be produced uponEnglish 

 soil, though, of course, this admission in no way takes 

 account of the cost of production. With regard 

 to the prospects of Tobacco-growing on a remunera- 

 tive basis in England, we share the opinion that, 

 even under the most favourable conditions possible, 

 such a crop cannot be made to pay, and that in most 

 seasons it must be an absolute failure and heavy loss. 

 The climate of this country, to begin with, is less 

 favourable than that of Kentucky or Virginia, and 

 the cost of production will be found far greater here 

 than in the United States. Until the curing of 

 Tobacco is perfectly well understood in the United 

 Kingdom the finest leaf that can be grown will be 

 absolutely wasted and useless." The judges were 

 Dr. J. Bell. F.R.S., Somerset House ; Professor W. 

 Fream, LL.D, College of Agriculture, Downton, 

 Wilts ; Dr. J. Augustus Voelcker, Mr. Henry F. 

 Moore, Frome, Somerset ; Mr. W. H. Wills, Mr. 

 James Biggs, Mr. Louis Morris (Tobacco manu- 



facturer). Mr. Algernon Gilliat (merchant), Mr. 

 James Chambers. Mr. C. II. Ball (Tobacco brokers), 

 and Mr. C. A. Miiller (Tobacco importer). 



WANTED.— The Editor would be obliged if any 

 reader would kindly send him a copv of the Gar- 

 deners' Chronicle for June 18, 1881. Full price will 

 be given. 



STYRAX OBASSIA. 



Messrs. Veitch are receiving the well merited re- 

 ward of their enterprise in introducing through the 

 late John Veitch, Mr. Maries, and others, a series of 

 hardy Japanese plants of various kinds. A visit to 

 the Japanese quarters at Coombe Wood is always a 

 source of delight to those interested in beautiful or 

 interesting plants. 



Among their numerous introductions of this 

 character there are none to surpass the very beauti- 

 ful hardy shrub above-named. The shrub in ques- 

 tion was first made known to the botanist in Siebold 

 and Zuccarini's Flora Japonica, vol. i., t. 46 (1835), 

 where a full description and illustration are given. 

 As our illustration (fig. 14), conveys an accurate 

 idea of the shrub, we need not enter into further 

 detail save to point out that in Znccarini's figure 

 the inflorescence is shown more pendulous than in our 

 drawing, which was taken by Mr. W. G. Smith from 

 the cut specimens exhibited at one of the meetings 

 of the Royal Horticultural Society in the spring, when 

 it was awarded a First-class Certificate. 



One peculiarity may also be mentioned, and that 

 is the fact that the buds are concealed in the base 

 of the sheathing leaf-stalks almost as in the Plane 

 tree. The flowers add fragrance to their charms. 

 The plant was first made known from the gardens of 

 Japan only, but it has since been found wild on 

 Fusi Yama and other localities in Japan, as well as 

 in Corea. The word Obassia is from the Japanese, 

 but we regret to be unable to give its meaning. 



Other species, such as S. officinale (from which 

 the drug Storax, used in incense, is, or was, pro- 

 cured), and S. japonicum, are grown in gardens, but 

 the present species is superior to alt in elegance. 



Trees and Shrubs- 



STRIKING KALMIAS. 



These plants are easily propagated by cuttings of 

 the young shoots inserted in sandy peat, underhand- 

 lights and placed in a shady place ; or, by seeds 

 sown in shallow pans of sandy peat, and kept close 

 in a frame until the seedlings are up, when they may 

 be pricked off, and kept close again, until rooted 

 afresh, and then gradually inured to the open air 

 before planting out. Owing to their having a dense 

 mass of fibrous roots, Kalmias may be taken up and 

 potted after the bloom is set without doing them any 

 injury ; and if assisted afterwards by gentle heat, and 

 well syringed, they flower freely in winter continuing 

 in beauty for several weeks in succession. Kalmia 

 latifolia, a species with broad leaves and red 

 flowers, will be found most useful for forcing ; K. 

 glauca, purple flowers ; K. angustifolia, narrow 

 leaves and red flowers ; K. lucida, K. nana, K. an- 

 gustifolia ovata, are all worthy of a place in the 

 American garden. W. A. Hodge. 



Raising of Embothiuum coccineum fkom Seed. 



Is your correspondent, " P. P.," at p. 8 — writing in 

 reference to this plant, sure that Mr. Bach has sown 

 perfect seeds ? In our experience here there has 

 been no difficulty in the seeds germinating when we 

 have been fortunate enough to get them, but the 

 trouble has always been to get matured seeds. The 

 seeds are, when matured, quite as large as that of 

 the sweet Pea, but not so round. The peculiar twist 

 of the stamens prevents easy fertilisation by insect 

 agency ; I have, therefore, with a camel's-hair pencil 

 artificially fertilised the flowers, and have thus 

 secured perfect seed. When the plant is very full of 

 flower it is best to pick off most of the seed-pods, 



when it will be found the remainder will often pro- 

 duce good seed without artificial aid. The best time 

 for sowing is directly the seeds are ripe. I have kept 

 them until spring, but have not been anything like 

 so successful as when I have sown at once after 

 the pods begin to crack or split in two pieces. 

 There are many plants iu Cornwall equal to, 

 and larger in proportion, than the one your corre- 

 spondent alludes to, but the difficulty of increasing 

 them lies in getting the seed, and not in the seed 

 germinating. Two seeds in a pod is the most I 

 have seen ; the blind scales of which the pod is 

 full have been sown for seed in some cases, and of 

 course resulted in failure. Henry Mills, Enys, Pcnryn. 



Flowering of Eucalyptus globulus. 

 There is now in the garden of Beaconhill Hous«, 

 Exmouth, Devon, a tree of Eucalyptus globulus, 

 which in a few days will be a beautiful sight — at 

 present there are some hundreds of flowers open and 

 a large number of buds are about to expand. The 

 height of the tree is about 30 feet, and at 6 feet 

 from the'ground, measures 24 inches in circumference. 

 It was planted about seven years ago. Does not such 

 a specimen speak well for our mild climate ? W. J. G. 



Cultural Memoranda. 



DELPHINIUMS. 



At this season of the year there are few, if any, 

 more strikingly beautiful plants in borders than Del- 

 phiniums, sending up, as they do when good varie- 

 ties are obtained and cultivated, fine towering spikes 

 of brilliantly coloured flowers, varying from scarlet 

 to nearly all shades of blue. These remarks, of 

 course, refer to the perennial kinds, of which there 

 are now a great many, for besides the fine species 

 that have been introduced, many hybrids have been 

 raised, which have enriched gardens very consider- 

 ably, and helped, where they are used, to make 

 places much gayer than was possible without these 

 tall showy plants. 



Besides the numerous single kinds, there are 

 several double sorts, and among the best of these 

 may be mentioned Madame Henri Jacotot, Madame 

 E. -Geny, Roi Leopold, Michael Angelo, General 

 Ulrich, Sphere, Trophy, Aureum, and Victor Le- 

 moine. The finest of the singles are Belladonna — 

 a lovely pale blue ; the good old formosum, Gloire 

 de St. Maude, Celestial, Coronet, Ilendersoni,, and 

 magnificum. The only scarlet ones worthy of note 

 are nudicaule and cardinale, both of which are very 

 desirable, and were thought much of when they first 

 made their appearance. These and all the other 

 single perennial Larkspurs may be made to bloom 

 much longer, and some of them almost con- 

 tinuously during the summer months, by cutting 

 off the spikes immediately they have done flower- 

 ing, and thus relieving them of their seeds, 

 which are so exhausting to the plants on account of 

 the quantity which they bear. Their freedom of 

 bloom may be increased by giving them plenty of 

 depth of soil, as they like [to send their roots 

 well down, and it is only when they can do this 

 that they are able to withstand the dry .weather 

 This being so, the places in the borders assigned 

 them should be well broken up by digging out holes ; 

 and if the land is at all poor a heavy dressing of 

 rotten manure worked in at the bottom, which they 

 will find and feed on, when it is of the most use to 

 them — at the time they come into flower. The way 

 to propagate the Delphiniums referred to is by 

 division, as they soon make strong spreading crowns, 

 and these maybe cut through easily by using a sharp 

 spade, which should be done early in spring, just as 

 the plants are beginning to grow ; and that is also the 

 proper season to remove any and replant, which is very 

 desirable every three or four years, as they exhaust 

 the soil in time ; but this may in a measure be 

 prevented by mulching around the crowns, or giving 

 a dressing of rotten manure. Although Delphiniums 

 cannot be depended on to come true from seed, it 

 is a good plan to raise them in that manner, as 



