Decembeb 8, 1888.] 



THE GARDENERS 1 CHRONICLE. 



671 



its brilliant lilac flower-heads, but there is a lack of 

 refinement and "finish" about the plant that seems 

 to call for the aid of the florist. Eurybia argyro- 

 phylla is remarkable for its bold, Holly-like 

 foliage, the under surface of the leaves being 

 covered with white, felted down ; when crushed 

 the leaves emit a fruity odour. Then there is 

 that strange, straggling skeleton Bramble, Rubus 

 australis, that no one would value it for its 

 appearance alone, but so curious that the botanist 

 would find it as much to his catholic tastes as the 

 most gorgeous Cattleya. The leaves, in fact, are re- 

 duced to their ribs, and these having nothing to carry 

 stretch out rampantly bearing at their tips just an 

 apology for a leaflet which enables one to say that 

 these miniature scaffold poles really are leaves. 

 There is not much leaf-green (chlorophyll) in the 

 plant, but what there is, must needs work hard. 

 Another straggler equally interesting, but more 

 beautiful is the Cuscuta verrucosa, a leafless 

 twiner with clusters of white, bell-shaped fra- 

 grant flowers about half the size of those of 

 the Lily of the Valley. If the skeleton Bramble 

 had but little chlorophyll, this has still less. 

 but it makes up for its own deficiencies by appro- 

 priating the property of its neighbours, its neighbour 

 in this case being the pretty Calceolaria violacea. 

 In fact, the plant is a Dodder, such as is common 

 enough on heaths and in Clover fields, and which 

 sometimes appears in the I'elargonium-house to the 

 astonishment of the gardener, the mystery being 

 readily explicable from the fact that the seeds are 

 introduced with the peat used for potting. Ficus 

 diversifolia has curious thick wedge-shaped leaves, 

 the mid-rib of which branches with two equal divi- 

 sions above the base. Our correspondent asks 

 why ? The only suggestion that occurs to us 

 is that the plant, as its name implies, some- 

 times produces lobed leaves, and this branching 

 of the mid-rib affords an indication of a pro- 

 pensity which would otherwise not be suspected 

 from the very reniform leaves of the specimen before 

 us. Great water pores exist on the under surface 

 here and there, and a purplish blotch (gland ?) in 

 the fork of the mid-rib. In point of fact there are 

 all sorts of " whys " to be asked respecting this 

 curious plant, to not a few of which it would be 

 difficult to find an answer, all the more interesting 

 to the searcher after truth. The specimen before 

 us bears several of its small ovate " figs," the marvels 

 of which have been descanted on from time to time 

 in our colums by Dr. Gkoroe King and Mr. 

 Hemslet. Lastly, we may mention the " Buffalo- 

 grass " Stenotaphrum americanum, remarkable as a 

 forage plant and for the thick flattened rachis on 

 which the florets arc borne. 



H. ALOIS KropatSCH — This well-known cor- 

 respondent on horticultural matters in the pages of 

 a contemporary has been appointed as Head Gar- 

 dener at the Imperial Gardens at Laxenburg, near 

 Mudling, Upper Austria, in place of H. J. Ehblich, 

 who has been transferred to the Prater, Vienna. 



A Good Lacquer for Labels.— The Revue 



de I 'Horticulture Beige et Etrangh-e gives the following 

 as a means by which garden labels of wood may be 

 rendered lasting: — After writing the name on the 

 labels they are to be coated with a solution of gum 

 arabic digested in 30 per cent, pure alcohol, using a 

 soft camel-hair pencil, and observing to cover the 

 edges of the label thoroughly. When this lacquer is 

 dry it is brushed over with another made from mastic 

 ten parts, two-tenths fluid storax, and thirty-five 

 parts alcohol. 



RETINOSPORA PLUMOSA. — In a garden at Can- 

 terbury the other clay we noticed a shrub of this 

 denomination covered with unmistakable cones of 

 R. pisifera. Earlier in the year we saw at Wolver- 

 ston Park a bush of R. squarrosa, of which Mr. 

 Sheppard kindly sent us a specimen, and which was 

 also covered with cones of R. pisifera. These cases 

 afford proof that both plumosa and squarrosa are 

 only forms of R, pisifera. Cats have nine lives, 



greenfly nobody knows how many, and many plants 

 live under many different guises. 



PANDANUS FURCATUS.— Of this rather rarely 

 met-with plant, Mr. Harrow, Cambridge Botanic 

 Garden, says — " It is only in very large glass struc- 

 tures that the large growing species of this genus 

 can be accommodated, and this is one that requires 

 a good deal of room to develope its foliage which, 

 when this is effected, gives the plant a handsome 

 appearance. Both margins of the leaves are set with 

 numerous sharp reddish-brown spines, as is also the 

 keel, and here some spines point towards the apex 

 while others are reversed, as if to make the plant 

 extra secure against invasion. Your correspondent, 

 ' YV. W.,' p. 631, mentions, that ' It is only rarely that 

 cultivated species of Pandanus flower.' A female 

 specimen, some 10 feet or more in height, planted out 

 in a cool stove here, has flowered twice during the past 

 three years. There is nothing remarkably handsome 

 in these huge, ponderous, cone-like inflorescences. 

 Previous to its last time of flowering, a cone was 

 allowed to remain on the plant, which, when ripe, 

 scented the whole house with a very powerful per- 

 fume resembling that of Pine-apple and Melons, 

 quite a mixture, but the flavour was rather inferior, 

 and not to be compared to its odour." 



SEASIDE Shrubs. — For a genuine evergreen 

 with silver and golden varieties (the variegation 

 being either temporary or permanent), commend us 

 to the Japan Spindle tree, Euonymus japonicus ; but 

 if variety be needed, Ligustrum ovalifolium may be 

 introduced. It is all but evergreen, and bears the 

 sea blast with impunity. Tamarisks and Austrian 

 Pines do thoroughly well on the Kentish coast, but 

 the Pinaster cannot be recommended, its gaunt, 

 straggling branches being suggestive of nightmare or 

 other horrors rather than of shelter or elegance such 

 as one looks for in a tree. Cupressus macrocarpa 

 and Pinus insignis are quite at home in some sea- 

 side places, and Ribes alpinum is in such a hurry to 

 set up business that its buds are already half open. 



FLORAL DESIGN. — Some of our earliest attempts 

 at handwriting, if it may be so called, Jwere made 

 with the aid of Mustard and Cress duly sown in the 

 forms of letters. We were reminded of this the 

 other day by seeing the name of a hotel at one of 

 the south coast towns picked out with alpine Auri- 

 culas. In this mild season most of the Auriculas 

 were in bloom, so that the floral caligraph was every 

 bit as distinct as it would usually be in spring; and, 

 indeed, much more so than it is likely to be next 

 spring. 



Royal Society Medallists.— At the anni- 

 versary meeting of the Royal Society, held at 

 Burlington House on St. Andrew's Day, the Medals 

 awarded by the Council were, according to custom, 

 formally presented after the delivery of the pre- 

 sidential address. The Copley Medal, the most 

 ancient of the Society (dating from 1736) was given 

 to Professor Hcxlev ; the Rumford (which dates 

 from 1880) to Professor Tacciiini ; and of the 

 two Royal Medals (first founded in 1826 by 

 George IV., and continued by each succeeding 

 sovereign), one was given to Professor Osborne 

 Revnolds, and the other to Baron vox Muller, as 

 was mentioned by us in our issue for November 24 ; 

 while the Davy Medal (originated in 1877) was given 

 to Mr. W. Crookes. 



English Apple and Fruit Growing Co.— 



We are requested by Mr. A. F. Bareon to state that 

 he is not, as advertised, a director of this company, 

 his position in that respect having terminated some 

 time ago, other duties requiring all his attention. 



Carter's Provident Sick Fund.— The third 



annual meeting was held recently in the warehouses 

 of the firm at High Holborn, Mr. C. H. Sharman in 

 the chair. The number of subscribers during the 

 year had been 289 — making a total of 449, there was 

 no case of death to be recorded ; but fifty-three 



members had become chargeable to the funds, by 

 reason of sickness, and the payments on that head 

 were in excess of the previous year. Nevertheless, 

 a further sum of £25 could be carried to the reserve 

 fund, £10 to the Hospital Saturday Fund, and a 

 bonus distributed to the members at Christmas 

 which will amount to rather more than half the 

 year's subscription, and a working balance would 

 still be held in hand. The executive officers were 

 all re-elected. 



PULQUE. — This product of the young flower- 

 spike of Agave americana is such an important 

 article of consumption in Mexico that it forms the 

 principal item in the goods traffic of the Mexican 

 Railway Company, the report of the company show- 

 ing that in the half year ending December 31, 1887, 

 they carried no less than 41,607 tons, which brought 

 in for freight as much as £35,376. 



Roses. 



ROSES FOR WALLS AND FENCES. 



Besides the Noisettes of the Gloire de Dijon type 

 which I have already enumerated there are others of 

 a different character, which will be found very 

 suitable for these purposes ; it is well for those who 

 are able, to give them the benefit of a wall, but a 

 substitute for it may be found. I have a letter before 

 me from a friend in Ireland who says that he has 

 erected a wooden wall about 14 feet high, has 

 painted it a terra-cotta colour, and placed wire along 

 it ; on this wire he has trained fruit trees, which are 

 doing well, and look very handsome. There is no 

 reason whatever why the same should not be done 

 for the purpose of growing Roses ; it will last, if well 

 attended to, for a great number of years, and of 

 course the comparative cheapness with which it can 

 be done is much in its favour. As the place where 

 my friend has raised his wall is in the wind-swept 

 county of Clare, there is evidently stability as well 

 as cheapness about it, and lovers of Roses may be 

 tempted to imitate the example. 



The Roses already mentioned are nearly all yellow, 

 but there are amongst the Noisettes, Roses of other 

 shades of colour which are very effective. There is 

 Aiinee Vibcrt, a very old Rose — indeed, one of the 

 oldest we have in cultivation ; it was sent out by 

 Vibert in 1827. It is said by Ketten in their cata ' 

 logue to have been a sport of the Noisette " Repens ; " 

 it is pure white, sufficiently full, very free flowering, 

 and blooms in clusters. This is also another white 

 well known to many. 



Lamarque. — This was raised in 1830 ; it has a 

 slight saffron tinge in the centre, which has no doubt 

 been the origin of the yellow sport sent out by Ducher 

 in 1869 under the name of Lamarque Jaime, like the 

 type, but with bright yellow flowers. As a white 

 climbing Rose, Lamarque has long been valued. 



Fellenberg is a light crimson Noisette, very bright 

 and effective, blooming in clusters. 



Naixisie is a Rose which I have seen in some 

 situations, notably at a friend's house near Maidstone, 

 as a capital Rose for covering a wall ; the plant I 

 allude to was always full of flower, and I have seen 

 some exhibition blooms cut from it. 



Solfaterre. — Sulphur-yellow, of long straggling 

 bare habit, the flowers very light, but very apt soon 

 to open too much and show the eye. There is a fine 

 plant of it on a house close to me, facing the 

 south, which always blooms freely ; it suffered in the 

 severe winter a few years ago, but has made a fresh 

 start and is now doing well. 



Ophirie. — A light nankeen copper-yellow, very dis- 

 tinct and full. 



Rive d'Or. — I have already mentioned this, but it 

 is impossible to give a list of climbing Roses without 

 again referring to it ; my plant is on the east side 

 of my house, but withal it flowers most freely, and is 

 a delight when in full flower ; the foliage, too, is 

 close, and almost evergreen. Nor would the list be 

 complete without naming 



William Allen Richardson— for although not 



