January 6, 1912.] 



THE GARDENERS CHRONICLE 



13 



i 



V 



\ 



is: 





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globular flowers almost as good in form as the 

 old strain of Asters, known as Betteridge's 

 Prize. The flowers are produced on very long, 

 wiry stems. Like Sweet Peas they ought cer- 

 tainly to be grown and used in separate colours. 

 Grown in pots Scabious form very good subjects 

 for conservatory decoration, but for this purpose 

 one of the dwarf strains should be used. 



The seed 



be 



at 



can De sown at any time. For 

 flowering in summer and autumn the best time to 

 sow is February or March. When the seedlings 

 are large enough they should be transplanted 

 into boxes of rich soil, and kept in a moderate 

 to cool temperature. If it is desired to cultivate 

 them specially well, the plants may be potted 

 up or transplanted into a frame, giving them 

 4 inches at least between each plant. Plant 

 them in beds where they are to flower early in 

 May. If they are not in pots, lift them from the 

 frame with large balls of soil, and water them 

 thoroughly after planting. They require 



distinct claw. It includes some five genera, the 

 most familiar of which is perhaps th$ uncommon 

 Wurmbea. Androcymbium is characterised as 

 having a very short peduncle, capitate inflores- 

 cence, and perianth segments distinct, but this 

 genus, well exemplified in A. melanthoides and 

 two other genera, if one may judge by descrip- 

 tion, is remarkable in having the claws of the 



d fused with 



perianth segment folding round 

 the base of the filament. That 



this 



the 



planation, 

 the 



the 



of the 



suggests, 

 " Stamens 



is tne ex- 

 flower of 



but 



appearance 

 present plant strongly 

 description prosaically reads 

 inserted at the apex of the claw of the perianth 



not that the claw itself 



six 



segments 

 formed 



by the filament, the true 

 folded around it. 



is partly 

 claw 



being 

 This may be the case, how- 



ever, because two of the allied genera have the 

 stamens basally inserted, i.e., the stamens are 

 either basal and free, or by having the claw 

 folded round the lower part of the filament they 



r J .r?'~'i':hf~rjt' v 



Fig, 



XI. — ANDROCYMBIUM MELANTHOIDES, BRACTS WHITE, 



LINED WITH GRE 



plenty of room in the bods, say 12 inches to 

 14 inches apart in the rows, and the rows 16 

 inches apart. 

 2 inches 



In June, mulch the beds with 

 decayed manure, and from the 

 moment the first flowers are 



of 



developed keep 

 cutting them, and thus a long continued supply 

 of flowers will be obtained. Annual. 



ANDROCYMBIUM MELANTHOIDES. 



Androcymbium melanthoides, the subject of 

 the illustration (fig. 11), i s certainly attractive. 

 By its narrow leaves and large bracts, quite like 

 "**"*" Tradescantias, it has the appearance of 



appearance 

 In reality it be- 



some 



belonging to the Spider-worts^ _ ^w*^ w w 

 longs to the Liliacese and to a curious group, 

 the Anguillariese, which has anthers with ex- 

 trorse dehiscence. 



appear to be inserted at the apex of the claw. 

 That this view may be taken is evident by 

 recollection of Rhagadiolus, a Mediterranean 

 annual of the order Composite, in which every 

 bract of the involucre seizes and folds round an 

 achene, both falling together as if they were 

 one in the semblance of a seed. In this case, 

 however, there is no actual fusion. What claim 

 to beauty this plant may have can be judged 

 from the illustration (fig. 11). The large, white 

 bracts which are faintly lined with green are, I 

 think, distinctly ornamental, and they measure in 

 the case of the largest 2 inches long and 1 inch 

 wide, while leaves below are silvery on the upper 

 surface as if with ambition to be bracts. The 

 flowers are of narrow parts and inconspicuous, 



perhaps | inch diameter, one to each 

 The leaves are all 



though 

 bract. 



In the tribe now in question, 11 inches long and £ inch wide. 



narrow, about 

 The plant is a 



1 1 



tne root-stock may be a bulb or a corm, but the native of South Africa, the home of the group, 

 perianth segments are narrowed always into a R. Irwin Lynch, Botanic Garden, Cambridge. 



HOME CORRESPONDENCE. 



(The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for 

 the opinions expressed by correspondents.) 



The Monterey Pine. — This tree, Pinus 



radiata, better known as P. insignis, is one of the 

 most beautiful of its kind, owing to the rich, 

 deep green of its foliage. It also makes timber 

 faster, probably, than any other of the true 

 Pines. I have carefully measured a tree thai 

 was blown down here in the gale of November 5. 

 It was planted in the autumn of 18&3, exactly 28 

 years ago, being then about 2£ feet high. Its 

 dimensions were : height, 62 feet ; girth, at 4 feet, 

 5 feet 2 inches; cubic contents, 49 feet. The 

 timber is light and soft, hitherto reckoned of in- 

 ferior value; but, as it takes creosote readily, 

 will probably prove to be of much value when so 

 treated. It is not a tree for all parts of tho 

 British Isles, being sure to succumb to frost 

 sooner or later in inland districts, but near the 

 sea it resists any amount of cold. The specimen 

 described above did not suffer in the least during 

 the memorable winter of 1894-5, although tho 

 mercury here fell below zero. Herbert Maxwell, 

 Monreith. 





Colour in Apples (see p. 447, vol.1.).— I am 

 no expert in fruit culture, but may relate what 

 might be an interesting instance of colouring. A 

 gentleman residing in a seaside town in Ayrshire 

 was some 15 to 20 years ago a leading prize- 

 winner in Apple classes with specimens of ex- 

 quisite colour. His fruits were all pot-grown, 

 and he informed me that if he kept them under 

 glass all the time the colour was inferior, but if 

 he transferred the plants to the open air for two 

 or three weeks before the show took place a 

 remarkable change was observed. This seems to 

 indicate that climatic conditions to some extent 

 govern coluor in Apples. Bolt. Fife. 



• The first matter to determine in dis- 

 cussing the cause of colour in Apples is why 

 some varieties develop high colour under all 

 conditions of growth or of weather. For ex- 

 ample, Calville Precoce, Duchess's Favourite, 

 Ben's Red, Red Quarrenden, Red Victoria, 

 Gascoyne's Scarlet Seedling, and Sops-in-Wine 

 always colour highly, let the season be what it 

 may. The most brilliant colouring may be seen 

 on fruits, when grown under glass, in many 

 varieties that do not develop much colour out- 

 of-doors. This shows that warmth, in company 

 with sunlight, is a great factor in creating colour. 

 The remarkable colouring seen on the fruits of 

 Spitzbergen, Jonathan, and other varieties of 

 Apples from British Columbia is no doubt largely 

 due to the brilliant sunshine of that Colony. It 

 may be that any variety of Apple which pro- 

 duces colour would, under exceptional conditions, 

 such as when grown under glass, produce that 

 colour in a very high degree. That colour on 

 Apples is intensified by alternating rain-showers 

 and sun-bursts is a very old theory. A. D. 



■ In reply to Mr. Bernard Hall, I can- 

 not say that I have any evidence of large sup- 

 plies of potash helping to colour Apples. On the 

 contrary, so far as my observation goes, the 

 heavy soils, which contain most potash, produce 

 Apples less highly coloured than light soils. I 

 get most colour on a light loam over the Tun- 

 bridge Wells sand, which is probably deficient 

 naturally in potash. Probably there was a con- 

 siderable proportion of iron in the burnt clay 

 referred to by Mr. Hall, and iron, I believe, does 

 help to colour fruit. The Woburn Fruit Farm 

 Report, just issued, refers to the extra colouring 

 of Apples in grass land, a point noticed in my 

 article on page 447. A Southern Grower. 



The Potato and Floral Sterility. — 



Although the production of fruits by Potatos 

 grown under ordinary conditions is now compara- 

 tively rare, yet there was a time, to me not so 

 many years ago, when varieties fraiied freely, 

 the ground beneath the plants at the ond of the 

 summer being covered with the scod ball*. Now, 

 although certain varieties bloom fresly, the 

 flowers set no fruits owing to a lack c»i" pollen, 

 the hybridiser finding it a difficult matte? to ob- 

 tain the merest grain. I attribute !his deficiency 

 of pollen to the large crops cf tubers which ex- 

 haust the energies of the plants. My conclu- 

 sion may be a wrong one, but no better reason 

 has been advanced. A. Dean. 



d 



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