Auocst 25. 18S8.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



211 



L. e. incantans, n. var., Gardeners' Chronicle, Sep- 

 tember 17, 1887. Flowers 6 — 7 inches across, wax- 

 like in texture, sepals and petals quite unique in 

 colour, being Indian-yellow or yellowish-nankeen, 

 the front coloured portion of the labellum being 

 brilliant dark purple. Evidently of the same strain 

 is L. e. Measuresiana, n. var., Gardeners' Ckroniele, 

 February 12, 1887. This has sulphur-coloured 

 sepals and petals, and richly coloured violet front 

 lobe and tips to the side lobes of the labellum, the 

 tube being pure white. Also, following in the same 

 way, is the lovely L. e. Nyleptha, which was illus- 

 trated in the supplementary sheet of the Gardeners' 

 Chronicle, February 11, 1888. The sepals and petals 

 are cream-coloured, or pale sulphur-yellow, the tube 

 of the labellum being pure white and the expanded 

 front lobe of the labellum, which is 2| inches across, 

 as well as the erected tips of the side lobes, rich dark 

 crimson. L. e. Mooreana is of the true Turnerii 

 colour, viz., sepals and petals dull rose and the lip 

 purplish-crimson, but the flowers are more compact 

 and the labellum shorter, reminding one much of the 

 grand Veitchian hybrid Cattleya Chamberlainiana. 



L. e. cyanthus is also of the rose-petalled strain, 

 but very distinct and beautiful. The tube of the 

 labellum is sulphur colour, and the front lobe rich 

 maroon. The finest of all, L. e. Tautziana, is sending 

 up three stout spikes. Other distinct forms in flower 

 are L. e. Houtteana, L. euspatha, L. e. Schilleriana, 

 and various forms of white or blush-petalled typical 

 L. elegans. There is also a grand show of Cattleya 

 Gaskelliana, some fine C. Eldorado, white and 

 coloured ; many rare Cypripediums and other things 

 are in bloom, and notably a beautiful specimen of 

 Eulophia guinensis with thirty-eight flowers with 

 their flat rose-pink labellums. Odontoglossum 

 Schroderianum, a very rare and distinct plant, is now 

 in flower in the collection. The general appearance 

 of the flowers call to mind O. Ireve, but the lip is 

 broad and much more showy than in that species, 

 the basal part rich crimson, the front pure white ; 

 the sepals and petals are wavy at the edge, the colour 

 creamy-white blotched with brown. The plant has a 

 glaucous tint, and is altogether distinct, and very 

 handsome when in flower. 



Staxhopea platyceras. 

 This is certainly a king among Stanhopeas. It 

 has larger flowers than any we have seen, and the 

 colours — pale yellow with purple spots — are attrac- 

 tive, whilst for aromatic odours it is at least the 

 equal of any of the kinds. It is a recently intro- 

 duced plant, but figures of it have already appeared 

 in the Garden and in Beiehenbachia. The flowers 

 are 6 inches across, the sepals being .3.} inches long 

 by 2 1 inches wide, slightly concave, and spreading. 

 The labellum is proportionately large ; the mesochil, 

 or lower hollowed-out portion, is boat-shaped, and 

 1 inch deep , the horns are prominent and thick, 

 and the front part of the lip is tongue-shaped, the 

 whole length of the lip is 3 inches, and the column 

 is quite as long. The pseudobulbs are 2 inches long, 

 pear-shaped, and furrowed ; and the leaves are 15 

 inches by 4 inches. A plant of this species is now 

 in flower at Kew. It is a native of Columbia. W. W. 



Fruit Register. 



ALEXANDER TEACH. 

 As showing the earliness of this, I may mention 

 that we gathered ripe fruit on August 6 from the 

 open wall, which shows its great value for succeeding 

 others grown in houses or for forcing, as it is ready 

 long before others (except Early Louise or Beatrice, to 

 both of which it is superior), and puts on a fine 

 colour. Perhaps some correspondents who have 

 grown both would oblige by kindly giving their 

 experience or opinion as to whether this is really 

 synonymous with Hale's Early. If they are, we 

 do not want the two names. I would remark to 

 those young inexperienced cultivators about to plant 

 trees when the time comes, how much they lose by 



the old fallacious system of shortening back the 

 branches, as by pursuing that method of treatment 

 the work has to be done over and over again, whereas 

 if the Bhoots are left full length, and every encou- 

 ragement given the foliage, root-action, as a natural 

 consequence of the extra leafage, is doubled, and the 

 wall or trellis on which the tree is trained is rapidly 

 furnished, and the plant quickly established. J. 

 Sheppard, Woolvcrstone. 



Eab.lv Rivers Peach. 

 This is a fine showy-looking Peach, with a pale 

 skin, the fruit being about the size of the old well- 

 known Noblesse, but, unfortunately, it lacks quality, 

 and what also tells against it is, that it is very apt to 

 crack or split at the stone. The tree is a strong 

 grower, and not subject to mildew, and if the fruit 

 were only better flavoured it would be a very 

 desirable variety to have in a garden. J. S. 



WHICH IS THE EARLIEST PEA? 



Wrinkled Varieties. — We now possess a valuable 

 group of early dwarf wrinkled Marrow Peas of 

 great value for early crops in the open, and also for 

 frame and pot culture. In the front rank of these 

 must be placed William Hurst; it is a little taller 

 than American Wonder, but it is quite as early, and 

 bears the finest pod of the two. It will probably be 

 very scarce for a year or two more, and then I think 

 it will become very popular. A new Pea — that is, a 

 bond fide new variety — is, in these days, sent out in 

 small quantities, owing to the stock being limited, 

 and it takes two or three years at least before it 

 becomes widely known. Chelsea Gem is a counter- 

 part of this, only that the seed is white, while that 

 of William Hurst is blue in colour. American 

 Wonder is still a good useful dwarf Pea, and I should 

 think it is an American selection from Little Gem, 

 one of Dr. Maclean's varieties of some forty years 

 ago. Little Gem is a trifle taller than American 

 Wonder. Premium Gem appears to be a 

 slightly taller growing form of Little Gem. The 

 latter, and, indeed, all the early dwarf Wrinkled 

 Marrow Peas require persistent selection. They 

 all appear to show a tendency to run back to 

 small-podded types. At Messrs. Hurst & Sons 

 trial-grounds at Springfield, Chelmsford, where these 

 notes were taken, there were several rows of a very 

 select stock of Little Gem, bearing fine pods, contain- 

 ing seven and eight Peas. The seed from this stock is 

 carefully saved ; it is sown again next year ; rigidly 

 looked over, and the produce is sent out to be grown 

 in quantity for sale; perhaps it is of a more robust 

 character ; but since American Wonder came across 

 the Atlantic, Little Gem has not been in so much 

 demand as it formerly was. Multum in Parvo is a 

 variety that I think was originally selected from 

 Little Gem ; it is a true wrinkled Pea, the seed 

 white, and bears a distinct broad and stout pod, and 

 it is of excellent quality for the table, but somehow 

 or other it is always scarce, and the price high. It 

 is in great demand in Scotland, but the supply is 

 rarely equal to it. 



Bliss' Abundance is another American introduc- 

 tion, of the type of Advancer, but rather longer in 

 the pod and a little later : it is, I think, a probable 

 selection from it. Advancer, where grown in a rich 

 light soil, is an early table Pea of the finest quality. 

 I called upon a market gardener a short time ago 

 who was growing a good stock of this Pea for his 

 own eating, and he was loud in his praise of it, on 

 account of its high table and cropping qualities 

 Laxton's Standard or Charles I. is a good useful 

 dwarf free growing and bearing Pea, 2.J feet in height, 

 with curved pods that fill well ; but it is said not to 

 be of the best quality. I think it is a very fine 

 market gardener's Pea, and should displace Harrison's 

 Glory and one or two older sorts of a similar type. 



Laxton's Dr. Hogg is a first early wrinkled Pea 

 that does not appear to have made the mark expected 

 of it. It was only one day behind the earliest this 

 season : it produces good sized curved pods, of about 



the same character as William I. It appears to 

 show a tendency to produce both white and green 

 pods — a mixed condition not unusual in several of 

 Mr. Laxton's Peas. But I feel justified in describ- 

 ing it as a very good early Pea, a free cropper, and 

 of excellent quality ; it is about 2 feet in height. 

 Early Bird appears to be the same, and it is a reason- 

 able inference that the green-podded form was 

 selected and sent out under the latter name. Strata- 

 gem is well known as a standard early dwarf 

 wrinkled Pea, produciug fine pods, and valuable for 

 early exhibitions. 



I think Laxton's Alpha has had to give place to 

 William I. Mr. Laxton did good work in fertilising, 

 in order to give us a new race of Peas ; but he 

 attempted too much, or — shall I say ? — he introduced 

 too many varieties, as there is an inevitable same- 

 ness of character among many of them. Alpha has 

 medium-sized pa'e blue wrinkled seed, and a curious 

 kind of fold both at the top and under-sides 

 of the pods and it does not appear to be very hardy. 

 Day's Early Sunrise, originally sent out as a first 

 early Pea, has fallen behind some of the earlier 

 and later introductions, in point of earliness. It 

 is properly an indented Pea, though classed as a 

 wrinkled one. But it is so robust in constitution 

 that it makes a good variety for autumn or early 

 winter sowing, because it stands hard weather well. 

 The autumn sowing of Peas is not so much practised 

 as it used to be. It is said of Day's Sunrise that 

 autumn sown seed produce crops twice as large as 

 when sown in spring. For spring sowing this Pea is 

 now distanced by others of better character and 

 quality. Robert Fenn is a second early Pea that 

 is not nearly so well known or appreciated as it 

 deserves to be. It is a remarkably good wrinkled 

 variety, of dwarf growth, producing a large crop of 

 large pods of the finest quality. It is a decided im- 

 provement on Maclean's Best of All, and has one 

 remarkably good quality —it keeps its character well, 

 and does not run out. 



So much for the early wrinkled Peas. At 

 Springfield, Chelmsford, the whole of the trial Peas 

 are grown in ordinary field soil without any of that 

 special cultivation that is given in gardens. It is 

 only reasonable to imagine that the characters of the 

 Peas grown in ordinary land, in a fully exposed 

 position, can scarcely tally with those grown in the 

 better cultivated and more sheltered ground at Chis- 

 wick ; or in Messrs. Veitch & Sons' trial grounds at 

 Turnham Green. Perhaps the conditions under 

 which they are grown at Chelmsford are more 

 favourable to an appreciation of the character 

 of Peas under ordinary garden cultivation than 

 when grown in richer soil. That climate and 

 soil have a great influence upon growing crops of 

 Peas there can be no doubt. Some varieties appear 

 to do best in a dry, others in a moist season. But 

 the heights to which Peas grow this season are 

 greatly in excess of last summer's experience, and 

 generally the varieties may be regarded as rather 

 more dwarf than they appear this season. II. D. 



THE MELBOURNE HERBARIUM. 



Herewith I send you a photograph (just taken) of 

 the Herbarium here. The main building, consisting 

 of one large room, was constructed in 1857, under 

 the direction of Captain (now Major-General) Pasley, 

 the then Minister of Public Works for Victoria. 

 The material used for the walls is basalt, the ordinary 

 building material in Melbourne ; the roof is con- 

 structed of English tiles, rarely seen in use over 

 here, slate being generally adopted for roofing 

 purposes. The cost of the main building was 

 about £1000, but several hundred pounds sterling 

 were expended subsequently for fittings in wood of 

 Cedrela australis. Three years ago, when the great 

 Sonderian collection was acquired, an annexe of 

 galvanised iron was added at a cost of a few hundred 

 pounds with further costs for shelves, &c, amounting 

 to several hundred more. The total collections of 

 dried plants comprise now about half a million 

 sheets, each as a rule containing several specimens. 



