242 



JOUKNAL OF HOitriOULTUEE AND UOITAGE GAftDENER. 



t Sajitenibsr 14, 1873. 



planted as closely as 2 feet apart. For this purpose of grow- 

 ing Larch I have had no experience, my practice having been 

 limited to plantations established for growing useful timber. 

 The trees should be thinned so soon as there are signs of 

 crowding and when the lower branches show evidence of decay 

 — not waiting until decay has set in and the bottom branches 

 perish, for then injury is done which ia in all probability irre- 

 parable. On the other hand the trees must not be thinned 

 too soon or too severely, or the upward growth will be less 

 rapid and the poles less regular and less straight. There are 

 thousands of acres of land which are now useless which might 

 be rendered profitable by being planted with Larch and properly 

 tended, and I am glad to see that attention is being given to a 

 subject which is unquestionably of national importance. — 

 A Forester. 



EOSE ELECTION. 

 The poll will close on Wednesday, September 20th. Any 

 Eose-growers wishing to record their opinions will kindly com- 

 municate their replies to me at once, as there is much to do 

 before publishing, and I wish the result to appear if possible 

 this month or the first issue in October. I repeat the questions. 



1, Name the fifty best Eoses in cultivation according to 

 your judgment. Underline the best twenty of these. 



2, What is the best stock for Eoses? — Joseph Hinton, War- 

 minster. 



PORTRAITS of PLANTS, FLOWERS, and FRUITS. 



Liuum phillipinense. Nat. ord., Liliacese. Linn., Hex- 

 andria Monogynia. Flower white. — " It is a native of the 

 Phillippines, and was sent by Mr. Wallis to Messrs. Veitch, 

 and first flowered by them in August, 1873. Whether it will 

 prove hardy still remains to be Been, but the mountains in the 

 Phillippines are said to reach a height of 10,000 feet. Botani- 

 cally it is interesting as showing the extreme development of 

 the peculiarities that mark the Eulirion group."— (Bot. Mag , 

 t. 6250.) 



Lycaste lasioglossa. Nat. ord., Orchidaceaa. Liren., Gyn- 

 andria Monandria. Flower yellow. — "Lycaste lasioglossa, so 

 named from the hairy lip, is a native of Guatemala, from 

 whence it was imported by Messrs. Veitch." — (Ibid-, t. 6251.) 



Begonia Davisii. Nat. ord., Begoniacese. Linn., Moncecia 

 Polyandria. Flowers scarlet. — " It was discovered in Peru, 

 near Chupe, at an elevation of 10,000 feet, by Mr. Davis when 

 collecting for Messrs. Veitch, and it flowered in their establish- 

 ment in July of the present year." — (Ibid., t. 6252.) 



Drac^na fruticosa. Nat. ord., Liliacese. Linn. , Hexandria 

 Monogynia. Flowers green. — " The plant has the general 

 habit and lax leaves of the Mauritian and tropical African 

 D. reflexa, Lam., but ia more robust, with larger leaves and 

 flowers, and a longer perianth tube. It flowered in the Palm 

 house at Kew in April, 1862."— (Ibid , t. 6253.) 



Oncidium straminetjm. Nat. ord., Orchidaceas. Linn., 

 Gynandria Monandria. Native of the mountains of Mexico, 

 and requires cool treatment. — " O. stramineum belongs to a 

 small section of the genus, and according to Lindley is easily 

 recognised by its rigid unspotted leaves, not keeled at the back ; 

 its flowers have a faint primrose odour. It first flowered at 

 Kew in May, 1866."— (Ibid., t. 6254.) 



Peach — Grosse Mignonne. — " It ia most desirable that this, 

 one of the best of all our large mid-season Peaches, should be 

 well known among cultivators, and so indeed it is, and fully 

 appreciated by the most intelligent amongst them. A walk 

 through many a country show would, however, prove that this 

 knowledge, though widespread, is by no means universal. 

 The fruit is of large size, roundish, somewhat flattened, with 

 a deep suture at top ; the skin, which is clothed with thin soft 

 down, is of a pale straw-yellow, mottled with red towards the 

 sunny side, which is of a deep crimson or brownish-red. The 

 flesh is pale yellow, rayed with red at the Btone, from which it 

 parts freely, melting, very rich, juicy, and highly flavoured, 

 surrounding a small slightly-pointed stone. It belongs to the 

 group with large flowers and round glands, and is less subjeot 

 to mildew than some other sorts otherwise of high repute." — 

 (Florist and Pomologist, 3 s., ix., 205.) 



two such plants, but directly the Grapes became ripe the wasps 

 commenced their attack. On reading the above suggestion I 

 thought I would surround one of the finest bunches attacked 

 by wasps with several branches of the Tomato plant, but as far 

 as I could see it had no effect, except in making them more 

 determined to carry off their prey. I may say that the best 

 way to destroy wasps' nests in the easiest, cleanest, and most 

 effective manner is to pour benzoline down their nest, and a 

 lighted match being applied up go the vagabonds. — J. T. 



DESTROYING WASPS' NESTS. 

 In a recent issue of the Journal of Horticulture I notice one 

 of your correspondents recommends growing Tomato plants in 

 hothouses as a protection for Grapes against waBps. I have had 



ORNAMENTAL AND USEFUL TREE-PLANTING. 



No. 5. 

 We turn next to the sub-genus of the Abies which is known 

 by the name of Picea, and of which the best known species is 

 the common Silver Fir, or Picea pectinata, which owes its 

 introduction to this country to Serjeant Newdigate, its importer 

 from Switzerland in 1603. Of slow aDd critical early growth, 

 it makes up for this by rapid strides after 4 or 6 fe6t of growth ; 

 but it does far better in moderate shelter than as a tree in the 

 open, yielding finer and more close-grained timber when grown 

 en masse. It is observed by Grigor that it is unfitted for the 

 elevations suitable to native Pine and Larch, and in its original 

 haunts is not unfrequently associated with the Oak. At Long- 

 leat there is a Silver Fir 125 feet high and 4 feet 6 inches round. 

 Another, in Herefordshire, is more than 120 feet in height, 

 and has a girth of 11 feet 9 inches at 5 feet from the ground ; 

 but few other such are to be found in the English counties. 

 Its upper leaf is of a shining dark green, with two silver lines 

 on each side of the midrib beneath. Like the common Silver 

 in habit, though not in the glossy green of its shoots and 

 foliage, the Californian Picea grandia claims a vacant space in 

 plantation or pinetum, where it will weather the late frosts 

 which check the early growth of many of the Silver Firs. Its 

 forty years' experience of English soil promises a magnifioent 

 Conifer in the future, as it is said to reach 200 feet in its 

 native country. An odd fifty is said to be added to this tale 

 in California by the P. amabilis, of the same date upon English 

 soil, and of bright green hue, with glaucous under foliage. 

 But the most distinct, if not the hardiest, of Californian Silver 

 Firs which we have naturalised is the P. bracteata (1857), a 

 slender straight-stemmed tree, with bright green leaves above, 

 and ribbed with two silver lines below. Its bracteas, or leaves 

 of inflorescence, are wedge-shaped and peculiar. Its habitat 

 is in the limestone districts, into which, therefore, the owners 

 of English chalk-lands should introduce it ; and it has been 

 observed that its tendency to start too early into growth, only 

 to be checked by a late frost, may be corrected by planting in 

 a north or west aspect. 



'But even the stoutest of new-world Piceas fails to match in 

 constitution the Crimean P. Nordmanniana, introduced in 

 1845, and apparently unsusceptible of frost and indifferent as 

 to soil. In forty years it has attained 38 feet at Dropmore, 

 and in its own mountains its maximum is 100 feet. The secret 

 of its unbroken vigour appears to lie in its not beginning to 

 grow till the season is well advanced ; but what is manifest is 

 that it makes rapid growth, waxes a great and well-balanced 

 tree in a few years, and is as ornamental in its dense clothing 

 of light green foliage as it is useful (we are told) for its good 

 and hard timber. Two other Silver Firs deserve mention — 

 the P. cephalonica for its dagger-shaped foliage of daik shining 

 green and regular tiers of branches, on which it stands nearly 

 at right angles. Its stem is apt to be bulky in proportion to 

 its height, and it thrives best near the eeacoast. It is found 

 in different mountain districts of Greeoe, but was introduced 

 to England from Cephalonia in 1824. Not unlika it in its 

 earlier stages of growth is the Spanish P. Pinsapo (1838), but 

 the latter is broader in leaf and less particular as to soil and 

 situation. It is a cylindrical tree in habit, with a sluggish 

 leading shoot but vigorous laterals, which require space and 

 elbow-room. Deservedly a favourite, it merits a place in the 

 pinetum and the shrubberies, as witness the engraving at, 

 page 18 of Mongredien's " Trees and Shrubs." The Indian 

 Pindrow and Webbiana have their respective merits as orna- 

 mental Piceas, the former in its upright growth, the latter in 

 its ultra-silvery underleaf. But these scarcely realise in little 

 the descriptions that come of them from the Choor Mountains ; 

 and here, at least, they are not likely to make good or sound 

 timber. 



Before quitting the subject of the Fir tribes a passing tribute 

 is due to the Larch, as of all Conifers that which has proved 

 most useful and profitable to British planters. But the Larch 



