174 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 427. 



and the wood is so valued there that Sir H. H. Johnston, 

 Her Majesty's Commissioner in that territory, has taken 

 steps to protect the remnants of the forests and to plant 

 more on an extensive scale. According to a report recently 

 made there are about 150,000 large trees covering some 

 thousand acres, with an average of forty cubic feet of 

 timber in each tree, which is valued at three shillings per 

 foot. The destruction from forest fires, etc., has recently 

 been so great that "it is no exaggeration to say that five or 

 six years' more delay in the assumption of control over the 

 remaining forests would have meant the entire extinction 

 of this unique conifer." It grows to a height of about 150 

 feet, the trunk being six feet in diameter at the base. 



Prunus Pseudo-cerasus. — English horticulture has only 

 recently become acquainted with the value of this beauti- 

 ful spring-flowering tree, but now it is certain to be soon 

 abundantly represented. I first saw it in the nursery of 

 Mr. A. Waterer, at Knap Hill, where it was called Prunus 

 Watereri. Messrs. Veitch & Sons exhibited it last week 

 before the Royal Horticultural Society, and in the last issue 

 of The Gardeners Chronicle there is an excellent illustration 

 of it. Young trees of it at Kew are at the present time 

 literally laden with beautiful, large, rose-tinted or white 

 flowers in crowded clusters ; a yellow-flowered variety is 

 also in bloom at Kew. The Japanese nurserymen recom- 

 mend it as a street-tree, and offer about a dozen named 

 varieties characterized by white, various shades of pink, 

 greenish white, single and double flowers. The wood is 

 also said to be invaluable for engraving. As a spring- 

 flowering tree P. Pseudo-cerasus deserves to rank with the 

 Almond, double Red Peach, P. triloba and P. Mtime. The 

 last-named is also offered in considerable variety by Japa- 

 nese nurserymen, who call it the queen of Japanese trees. 



Prunus spinosa floripleno. — One of the most attractive 

 shrubs in flower in the arboretum at Kew is a bush of a 

 double variety of the Black Thorn, its branches being 

 thickly clothed with clusters of pure white flowers, com- 

 posed of many petals spreading outward and showing a 

 bright green eye. The black bark of the branches heightens 

 the effect of the pure white, and when the sunlight is upon 

 it the bush appears to glisten like snow. This, is a plant of 

 exceptional merit, and is as hardy as the Black Thorn. 



Prunus triloba. — I omitted in my last letter to empha- 

 size the fact that this plant should not be grafted on to 

 another species, as is too commonly the practice among 

 nurserymen. Grafted plants of it invariably die young. 

 It may be increased by layering or from suckers, and when 

 on its own roots it goes on happily for many years. 



Prunus Grayana. — This is now in flower at Kew. It 

 does not appear to differ from Prunus Padus, the Bird 

 Cherry. The Kew plant was obtained from Dr. Dieck. 



Berberis Nepalensis. — This noble species is hardy only 

 in the warmer parts of England. In Cornwall it is repre- 

 sented by large specimens, and I have seen it about fifteen 

 feet high in a garden near Dorset. At Kew it does not 

 grow well, and is injured by frost in winter. The foliage 

 of healthy plants is very ornamental, being pinnate, a foot 

 or more long, with leaflets four or five inches long of a 

 glossy green color. The flowers are in terminal erect 

 heads nearly a foot long, very crowded, and colored bright 

 yellow. According to Sir Joseph Hooker, it occurs in the 

 temperate Himalaya at an altitude of from four to eight 

 thousand feet, and also in the Nilghiri mountains. A form 

 of it known in gardens as Berberis Bealei, a native of Japan, 

 has even larger leaves than the type. It is grown in the 

 temperate house at Kew, and I have seen very fine speci- 

 mens grown as pot-plants for the conservatory. 1 saw a 

 magnificent specimen of it in the garden of Colonel Tre- 

 mayne in Cornwall, where it is grown as B. Japonica, var. 

 Bealei. 



Berberis buxifolia. — This Chilian species, known in 

 gardens as Berberis rotundifolia and B. fascicularis, a 

 variety of the common B. Aquifolium, are two of the most 

 attractive shrubs in flower here now. Bushes of the former, 

 six feet high and eight feet through, are covered with pend- 



ent balls of bright golden yellow, and suggest B. Darwini. 

 The other plant is remarkable for the numerous clusters 

 and bright yellow color of its flowers, far brighter than any 

 other form of B. Aquifolium. 



Saxifraga Stracheyi. — Flowering examples of this spe- 

 cies were shown a fortnight ago by Mr. G. Paul, and 

 obtained a first-class certificate. Although introduced from 

 the Himalaya by Sir Joseph Hooker in 1851 and cultivated 

 out-of-doors at Kew for many years, it has not become 

 popular, probably because it is not so hardy as its ally, Saxi- 

 fraga ligulata, although it is handsomer than that species. At 

 Kew it is grown on the rockery, where its thick contorted 

 prostrate stems embrace and nestle against the gray stones 

 in a partially shaded position. Here it has grown freely 

 and flowered profusely every year. The leaves are decidu- 

 ous and the flowers are developed in March or April before 

 the new leaves appear. In colder localities it ought to be 

 protected in winter or lifted and placed in a frame till 

 danger is over. The flowers, which are borne in large 

 cymose clusters, are an inch across, white, tinted with rose. 

 There is a yellow-flowered variety. S. Stracheyi is a native 

 of Kashmir at an elevation of 8,000 to 14,000 feet. 



Pinguicula caudata. — A few pans of this pretty Butter- 

 wort help to liven up the greenhouse in the early months 

 of the year. At Kew it is grown along with the Mexican 

 Orchids and thrives satisfactorily. The plants go to rest 

 in winter when they are kept moderately dry. They are 

 again started into growth in February by repotting them 

 into new soil and placing them on a shelf in a temperature 

 of about sixty degrees. At present they are in full flower 

 and are as effective as large-flowered Masdevallias. A 

 stock of plants can easily be raised by breaking off the 

 outer leaves from the plants when at rest and planting 

 them in sand in a propagating-house. It is now fifteen 

 years since this species was introduced from Mexico by 

 Messrs. F. Sander and first flowered at Kew. If a number 

 of plants are grown and started in batches a succession of 

 flowers may be had from spring until late in the autumn. 

 Seeds are ripened freely, and from them some variation in 

 flower-color has resulted. Good varieties have flowers two 

 inches across and of a brilliant crimson color. 



Narcissi. — Flowers of these plants among grass are a 

 delightful feature if tastefully planted. I have lately seen 

 attempts at this kind of wild or natural gardening in some 

 of the London parks which are an utter failure, owing to 

 the formal massing of the bulbs. Anything in the nature 

 of a strict outline must be avoided. At Kew the bulbs are 

 planted so as to look as natural as possible, here and there 

 a thick colony with a few stragglers and smaller clusters, 

 finally thinning down to nothing. They are most effective 

 when planted on lawns where trees are numerous and 

 especially where conifers and deciduous trees are mixed. 

 In such situations a glade-like effect is obtained. In one 

 part of the garden the Incomparabilis and Poeticus varie- 

 ties have been planted so extensively among the grass that 

 they present the appearance of a meadow overrun with 

 Daffodils. The bulbs of these plants are now so abundant 

 and cheap as to place such a display as is here described 

 within the means of all gardeners. But the bulbs must be 

 planted with taste. TTr rTT 



London. W. Watson. 



T 



New or Little-known Plants. 



Rose, Mrs. Pierpont Morgan. 



H IS comparatively new Rose (see opposite page), which 

 is much admired, and promises to be an important 

 commercial variety, is a sport from the well-known Tea 

 Rose, Madame Cusin. It is a strong plant of good habit, 

 and it grows vigorously under glass, making sturdy stems 

 with luxuriant foliage and producing a flower on every 

 shoot. Good judges pronounce it the most prolific of all 

 Roses for greenhouse cultivation. The flowers are larger 

 than those of Madame Cusin, and when fully developed are 

 as large as those of the Hybrid Perpetual class, being at 



