14 
THE GARDENERS’ 
CHRONICLE. 
{Jory 6, 1895. 
EDITORIAL NOTICES. 
Advertisements should be sent to the PUBLISHER. 
Newspapers.—Correspondents mg newspapers should be 
ef tomar D paragraph hay id he Кай ios 
will thankfully receive € select 
pages, of gardens, or of remarkable plants, lieu," trees, 
dc. ; but he cannot be responsible for loss or injury. 
APPOINTMENTS FOR THE ENSUING WEEK. 
MEETINGS 
Royal e e Society’s Com- 
mittees, a Drill Hall, James 
Dl 
TUESDAY, JULY 9 
SHOWS. 
National Rose Society, at the 
SATURDAY, JULY $4 London Pansy and Viola Society, 
at the Crystal Palace, 
= lverhampton Floral Féte (three 
ув). 
Ipswich Horticultural and Rose, 
Rose Shows at —— gg Farn- 
ham, and Hitch 
Reigate Cottage end Horticultural, 
at — П. 
Royal Botanic Society, Evening 
Fate, 
TUESDAY, JULY SM 
WEDNESDAY, JuLy 10 
th dle and Begonia, Worksop 
г 
Woodbridge Rose, Helens- 
THURSDAY, JULY dE burgh Rose, Great Malvern (Here- 
ford Rose). 
SALES. 
TUESDAY, Jury 9 (mi yy eng E a at Protheroe & 
FRIDAY, Jurr 12 f герти отм» at Protheroe & 
CORRECTED AVERA THE ENSU- 
E TEMPERATURE FOR 
ING Ain DEDUCED FROM THE OBSERVATIONS 
OF FORTY-THREE — АТ OHISWICK.—63' E 
sns. R. WALLACE & Co., of | 
Mzs 
Colehester, send us a box of out 
flowers of some of mes varieties 
of this lovely genus. Their markings are so 
delioate and so intricate, their aides of colour 
so nicely graduated, that а verbal description is 
more than ever inadequate to convey an idea of 
their beauty and variety. There are still many 
who care little for the significance of all this 
variety and beauty; to them the flowers are 
beautiful, and that is enough. =. the real 
plant-lover finds in them an added in 
Calochortus. 
аро,” and е. of coloured hairs 
to attract and entangle the insect guest, per- 
chance to bar the passage to undesirable visitors, 
stamens pale-coloured and 
relatively inconspicuous, | but in one labelled С. 
РА ре 
сшопгев, 
pale lavender, thinly besprinkled with whitish 
the stamens and the ovary are of a rich purple 
colour! 
What the insects are which visit these flowers 
in their Californian homes, and what precise 
variations occur in the mechanism of fi ertilisation, 
we do not know; growers might, with advantage, 
record what takes place here, and who are the 
222 
: visitants, This matter is not merely one for the 
ee or botanist, it is of direot practical] 
curious illustration of this 
ae is given us by Messrs, WALLACE, who find 
that one particular rem. C. venustus var. citrina 
is injured by a leaf-cutter bee. The insect 
destroys nearly all the flowers of this variety, 
, to a less extent, those of the similarly- 
coloured C. luteus, Why the insect should thus 
manifest a preference for yellow, and take no 
heed of flowers of other colour, is a mystery to 
be solved. Messrs, WALLACE ask for a remedy, 
but short of covering the flowers with a net, 
which would be very objectionable, we do not 
see how the enemy is to be circumvented 
Calochortus differs from Tulips or Lilies, 
though allied to both, On handling the bulbs 
for the first time, one marvels most of all at the 
prodigality of blossoms that keep following each 
other in rapid succession from the tiny bulbs or 
root-stook. By growing a fair collection of 
these plants in early, mid-season, and late 
varieties, these bulbs may be had in succession 
from April 1 to the епі of July. These bulbs 
are quite hardy under proper caltural conditions. 
Planted in cold, wet, or crowded herbaceous 
borders, where the struggle for life and growth 
is incessant, and the survival of the strongest 
only the bitter end of so many brilliant hopes, 
the Calochortus might not come to much. 
best place for them is а thoroughly drained, dry 
border, facing and also sloping south, and raised 
1 foot or so above the surrounding surface, The 
soil should be compounded of sea-sand, leaf- 
mould, and road-grit in about equal proportions. 
Sandy loam might compensate for the absence 
of sea-sand and road-grit, Мы neither is easily 
available; but the former is the compost for 
"€ rtus at Go дыкы 
It is good practice to take up the bulbs i in the 
month of August, and replant again towards the 
end of Ootober or the beginning of November. 
The plants make little foliage, and produoe 
almost a forest of flowers. They are greatly 
helped through the blooming season, and espe- 
cially through such droughts as we have had 
this season, by good thorough waterings every 
alternate day. choice collections of 
these showy bulbs were exhibited at the Col- 
chester Rose show, containing some of the 
choicest varieties, 
Though most of the earliest had faded at the 
time of our visit on July 2, the following were 
among the best in the different sections, 
Earliest: C. albus, C. amcenus, C. pulchellus. 
The mid-season bloomers: C. Benthami, C. 
eceruleus elegans, C. lilacinus, C. Tolmei. 
The latest section are the tallest and the 
most showy, the flower-stems rising to a height 
of 2 feet in some of the varieties, one flower- 
emn showing à dozen or more 
uch as one of the largest 
beni d inches across the cup. The following, 
among others, were beautifully in bloom in 
Messrs. WALLACK'S nursery on uly 2:— 
luteus, С. І. concolor, C. splendens atroviolaceus, 
рхо 5 v. eitrinns, v. purpurascens, 
v. roseus, v а, 
Messrs. Wie sum up the cultural pro- 
cedures best adapted for these plants as follows : 
—“ Early planting [in September, October] to а 
depth of 3 inches іп a light porous soil, sunny 
position, protection from hea winter-rains, 
but no ooddling, plenty of water whilst in foll 
growth, and thorough ripening of the bulbs 
either by taking them up or by placing lights 
over them.” We should glad to hear 
experience of those who are cultivated the 
plants in pots. 
The following notes on the flowers submitted 
s may serve to convey some а. of the? 
ма rin; of the varieties, though nothing but a 
well-exesuted coloured illustration can suffice to 
convey any adequate idea of their beauty :— 
1 C. splendens atroviolacer us,’—F lowers upwards ot 
3 inches across. Sepals linear-lanceolate acuminate; 
petals pale lavender, with a small purple bloteh at 
the very base, elsewhere self-coloured, thinly beset 
with white hairs; filaments deep violet, ovary 
jolet. 
C. eitrinus.— Flowers upwards of 3j inches 
across; sepals oblong-acuminate aristate, greenish 
externally, with а small eye-spot in the centre of the 
inner surface; petals canary-yellow, with а median 
ear spots, aud 
band of orange reis v pointing downwards; stamens 
yellowish ; ovar 
“ C, luteus (c omen 3 of 2} inches across, 
Sepals oblong, tapering ac te, green, convex = 
ternally, yellowish internally, "with a few purplis 
yellow, with ni 
blotch, but numerous small radiating purplish lin 
in the centre, and s broad crescentic tuft of orange 
hairs pointing downwards; filaments and ovary 
yellowish. 
“ О, oculatus, Flowers тне of 4 inches across, 
Sepals b broadly t 
* күлү 
d with canary- 
pees petala miens with a central blotch 
n the sepals, but larger, claw with numerous 
ins unter vm purplish lines or spots, and pro- 
ided with & crescentic band of С hairs; 
— cream-coloured ; ovary glauc 
* C, ve 2 pictus," — Flowers . of 4 inches 
across, ве uminate, aristate, spo 
ecury: 
and ү лг] оп the inner surface, Petals creamy- — 
e-shaped, reddish- 
dish-brown spots and hairs, and 
central circular pit, Stamens pale pink, Ovary 
nish, 
C. Vesta,"—Flowers upwards of 4 inches across, 
sepals | broadly pato. aristate-acuminate, recurved, 
greenish, finely spotted on the inner surface; petals 
pale lavender, with а central reddish-brown, square 
blotch, surrounded by a halo of yellow, claw marked 
with minute reddish spots, and with a ring of gold and 
brown hairs midway between the blotch and the 
bud. Filaments and antheracream-coloured. Ovary 
Pm pinkish 
OSEUS, "— Flowers upwards of 3} inches M 
i 
lower a chestnut-brown; claw w 
squarish of yellowish hairs, and numerous fine 
reddish-brown radiating streaks; anthers and ovary 
pale. 
Tue death of Professor HUXLEY 
entails the loss of one of the 
most industrious, persevering, and 
clear-headed students of science 
in our times. 
Professor 
HUXLEY, 
for quantity and diversity but also for excellence, p» 
‚Җ 1248 зь оон е + atk . 
by his colleagues, but his lucidity of exposition; 
his disinterestedness, directness of purpose, 
we are afraid we must say his s pugnacity, gain 
him the ear of the public. It is as the 
apostle of Darwinism or rather 
of“ evolution,” ud 
be 
that he is best known. DARWIN himself was tbe 
most modest and retiring of men, shrinking from 
publicity, averse from controversy, and considerate 
man was 
lery of those who, eminent in their own d 
ment, considered that they should have the 
monopoly of orthodoxy in matters of nie 
also. the 
science Understanding nothing of 
