October 6, 1888.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



391 



its flowers, which have sepals and petals with a 

 yellow ground colour thickly blotched with crimson ; 

 the lip is deep crimson. The variety sanguinea, 

 which is flowering now at Kew, is very rare ; it has 

 flowers of a deep blood-red colour. 



A. uniflora is a free-blooming species with white 

 flowers tinged with pink on the inner side. Like 

 the two preceding species it is a native of Columbia, 

 and flowers in July and August. There are a few 

 other species and hybrids in cultivation, but they 

 are rare, and not easily attainable. 



Saccolabium cceleste. 



This species, one of the latest acquisitions in 

 Saccolabiums, has recently been flowering in several 

 establishments near London. It is a beautiful little 

 Orchid, similar in habit to S. miniatum, with erect, 

 densely-flowered racemes, 3 to 4 inches high. A 

 distinct character is given to the species by the 

 colour of the flowers, of which the tips of the sepals 

 and petals and the front portion of the lip are sky- 

 blue — one of the rarest colours to be seen in Orchids ; 

 the rest of the flower is white. The plants should be 

 grown in sphagnum, the baskets being suspended 

 from the roof in the warm house. Free supplies of 

 water are necessary in summer, with much less in 

 winter ; at no time, however, should they be allowed 

 to become quite dry at the root. W. B. 



Home Correspondence. 



SHELTER FOR ORCHARDS.— In common with 

 most of readers I have read with great iaterest 

 your report of, and the papers read at, the Fruit 



often observe in the cold nights of autumn the cattle 

 and even the sheep find shelter in my plantation, 

 the trees composing it being now 30 feet high. These 

 remarks on shelter apply to fruit trees as dwarfs and 

 cordons, as well as to standards, for an equinoctial 

 gale will blow down much of the finest fruit on any 

 kind of trees unless these are protected. J. Bust, 

 Bridge Castle, 



BEDDING PELARGONIUM REV. F. M. ATKINSON. 

 — One of the most popular of bedding Pelargoniums, 

 perhaps the most popular, is Henri Jacoby, a deep 

 crimson, or almost maroon coloured variety. But it 

 is not a good dull weather colour ; and therefore I 

 prefer the one which heads this paragraph, because 

 the flowers are of a very bright and effective shade 

 of crimson and it is also a good green — quite equal 

 to the other, and remarkably free too. Calling the 

 other day upon a gardener who grows bedding Pelar- 

 goniums, he stated he should for the future discard 

 Henri Jacoby. and use the Hev. F. M. Atkinson in 

 its place. B. D. 



THE HARPALIUM RIGIDUM SEMI-PLENUM OFTHE 

 ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY'S FLORAL COM- 

 MITTEE.— On p. 364 of the Gardeners' Chronicle I 

 read that a First-class Certificate was granted at 

 the meeting of September 25 to Mr. Ware for Har- 

 oaliuni rigidum semi-plenum. I have a few remarks 

 to make, about this plant and its certificate. In the 

 first place the generic name Harpalium, authorised by 

 De Candolle, is disallowed by Bentham and Hooker in 

 their Genera P/antarum. and is not admitted by Asa 

 Gray in his Flora of North America, and the genus Har- 

 palium has been restored to Helianthus : so I think it 

 fair to protest against this sanction given by the 

 Koyal Horticultural Society's Floral Committee to an 



Fig. 55. — new horizontal tdboxab boiler, (see p. 390.) 



Conference held at the Crystal Palace lately. 

 Excellent instruction was offered to intending 

 growers, but one important thing was lost sight 

 of — not one of the gentlemen once alluded to 

 the subject of shelter for orchards. Now to my mind 

 this is a serious omission. In some place Nature 

 provides this by hills, or man has done so per- 

 chance by woods, and the growers of fruits are suc- 

 cessful, never dreaming that half the success is due 

 to situation. When a young man I grew Peaches 

 in the valley of the Thames, on the open walls, as 

 large as my fist (not a small one) and exhibited them 

 successfully ; but in later years I discovered that the 

 same could not be done in some places without a 

 good deal of shelter, either by planting trees or 

 employing glass structures. Again, Apple or Pear 

 trees may grow on well in an orchard during the 

 summer if the season be genial, but just when the 

 crop is nearly ready for gathering there comes a 

 violent gale of wind, and if the orchard is not well 

 sheltered half the crop is blown down : and the lament- 

 able part is that it is always the finest fruit which 

 fall. No longer ago than last week a gentleman told 

 me at the Brighton show that last year he had 

 half his fruit blown down and consequently spoiled ; 

 for, remember, with some few exceptions, the longer 

 fruit can be left on the tree the longer it will keep. 

 Some twenty years ago Apples were very scarce in 

 this country, but I heard of an orchard not far from 

 here, where there were plenty for sale. How can this 

 be ? was the question one naturally asked oneself — 

 there is some good reason for this ; and sure enough, 

 I found the trees surrounded by a belt of Pine trees. 

 This had protected the blossom in the spring, and 

 again in the autumn ; and so satisfied was I of this 

 that before a month had passed a plantation of 

 Scotch and Austrian Pines was made around our 

 orchard and with the best possible results since. I 



obsolete name. In the next place, as regards the 

 plant itself, I received after the meeting a letter from 

 a distinguished member of the Floral Committee 

 asking me to give him roots of the plant which had 

 been certificated, which he was told came from my 

 garden. I replied that I was in doubt about the 

 identity of the plant. I have a semi-double variety 

 of Helianthus rigidus. which I have given to several 

 friends, but this could hardly be in certificating con- 

 dition as late as September 25. My correspondent 

 then told me that the flower was labelled " Harpa- 

 lium tetiflorus of Mr. Wolley Dod.'' This is a gross 

 libel on my naming, and I am sure I never called a 

 plant so far " out of its name," but it gave me a clue 

 to the truth as I did give Mr. Ware Helianthus 

 hctiflorus, and I have no doubt that the certificated 

 plant is Helianthus Uetiflorus (Persoon) of Asa 

 Gray's Flora of North America, vol. ii., p. 275. The 

 history of this plant is as follows : — It was given to 

 me by Mr. W. Thompson, of Ipswich, about six or 

 seven years ago as H. doronicoides. This I soon 

 saw it could not be, but thought it then a late 

 semi-double form of H. rigidus. Two years 

 after I saw the same plant at Kew labelled 

 II. Uetiflorus, the Curator of the herbaceous 

 garden there, assuring me that the name was 

 certainly right. Having this clue I carefully went 

 through Dr. Gray's description, and concluded 

 that the plant is II. lajtiflorus, and nothing else, 

 and I wrote to Mr. W. Thompson, informing 

 him, of this — though he was not convinced. 

 In the course of Dr. Asa Gray's last visit to England, 

 two or three years ago, he went to Mr. Thompson's 

 nursery, and on being shown this Sunflower, at once 

 recognised it as his H. laetiflorus. We have thus the 

 very best authority for establishing the name. I 

 must say that, as regards habit and leaf and flower, 

 the differences which separate it from II. rigidus are 



few and slight ; the leading distinctive character, as 

 given by Asa Gray at the head of the species is, 

 that when the florets of the disc are fully expanded, 

 the prevailing colour of the disc in H. ioetiflorus is 

 yellow, whilst that of II. rigidus is black, and this 

 difference is conspicuous at a glance. Anyhow, as 

 these have been made separate species we had better 

 follow the most recent authority in the arrangement 

 of the genus. Perhaps the semi-doubleness of our 

 English stock may be accidental, and not essential 

 to the species. C. Wolley Dod. 



A CURIOUS PELARGONIUM SPORT.— A vigorous 

 growing double zonal Pelargonium bearing bold 

 trusses of violet-crimson flowers, has in one of the 

 plant-houses at Hanger Hill House, Ealing, thrown a 

 very strong growing sport of the nosegay type, having 

 very larg-: and somewhat starry cerise coloured 

 blossoms. It is like going back to a progenitor the 

 onward march of the species had left hopelessly in 

 the rear. But who is equal to interpreting the 

 rationale of a transformation ? Really, Mother 

 Nature plavs some curious pranks occasionally ! 

 B.I). 



OLD FAVOURITES UNDER NEW NAMES.--It is 

 frequent cause of annoyance to gardeners when, 

 having procured some plant under a new name and 

 watched its progress toward maturity, it turns out an 

 old well-known variety. This is trying and vexa- 

 tious where annuals are concerned, but it is much 

 worse with orchard trees. Two or three years ago a 

 correspondent in your paper strongly recommended 

 an Apple of French origin named after the raiser at 

 Amiens, "Jacques Lebel." With some difficulty I 

 procured two trees, which are now in fruit. The 

 Apple proves to be identical in leaf, growth, and 

 fruit, with Bramley's Seedling. I send you an Apple 

 of each for inspection. If it were the fruit alone 

 which resembled each other, there might be a mis- 

 take. The growth and habit of trees is as useful in 

 identifying varieties as the fruit itself, and all these 

 art unmistakably the same. If Jacques Lebel be an 

 old French Apple, I can only suppose that some 

 nurseryman has seen its splendid growth, and given 

 it an English name ; for, whatever be its source, the 

 Apple is one of the best in cultivation. James Ellis. 

 The Gynsills. Leicester. [You must have had sent 

 you Bramley's Seedling, as Jacques Lebel is a 

 different thing. The latter was distributed by Andre 

 Leroy in 1849, it having been raised by a nurseryman 

 of that name at Amiens. Bramley's Seedling is of 

 more recent origin. Ed.] 



THE JAPANESE ANEMONES.— It seems impos- 

 sible to praise these too highly in respect of their 

 value as autumn-flowering plants in the open. 

 Some beds of the old type, and the white and rose- 

 coloured varieties to be seen at the Royal Nursery, 

 Slough, are masses of bloom, and thousands of flowers 

 can be cut from them. It seems to do well in a sun- 

 less as in a sunny spot, but it does a great deal 

 better in the latter. When planted, it requires a 

 year to establish itself, and then when it begins to 

 grow it does so with great freedom, and multiplies 

 with wonderful rapidity : any small piece of 

 root appears to make a plant, and the plant puts 

 forth running rootlets, and so increases itself rapidly. 

 It is, perhaps, somewhat singular, seeing that it 

 bears seed, that no addition has been made to the 

 varieties by means of seedlings. B. D. 



THE HYPOCAUST GARDEN.— I find I expressed 

 myself rather vaguely, in my short paragraph on this 

 subject last week, I desired to convey the fact of the 

 quick ripening of the Pine-apple even in such a 

 season as we have had this year. It was in fact ripe 

 ten days before I sent it to you. I should feel greatly 

 indebted if you would give your opinion as to the 

 flavour, pro bono publico. I think Kingsley, who 

 made some experiments in this direction a few years 

 since, found the quality of Peaches, &c, very good. 

 I may add that some Pleiones throve in the warm 

 earth and are now throwing up their flower-stems. 

 E. T. C. [As we stated last week the juice was 

 abundant and the flavour excellent, better than in 

 many stove pines we have tasted. Ed]. 



ANNUAL CHRYSANTHEMUMS. — Calling at 

 Gunnersbury Park, Acton, a few weeks ago, I was 

 much struck with the beauty of some beds of 

 annual Chrysanthemums that Mr. Roberts had 

 planted out. Their profusion of bloom and bril- 

 liance of colouring is something remarkable. It is 

 nearly a century ago that Chrysanthemum carinatum, 

 or more popularly known as tricolor, came to us 



