294 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 439. 



etc., can only be reproduced by grafting. I have been 

 informed that the inferiority of the oranges sent to market 

 from some of the islands of the West Indies is due to the 

 neglect of the cultivators to perpetuate good varieties by 

 means of grafting, relying only upon seedlings. To remedy 

 this state of things select varieties have lately been intro- 

 duced, and planters have grafted them upon the inferior 

 stocks already established. If Mr. Webber's statements 

 are correct, and they appear to be based upon careful 

 observation, all this trouble is unnecessary. With regard 

 to other selected varieties of fruits of similar character to 

 Citrus — 'that is, Apples, Pears, Persimmons, Peaches, etc. — 

 seeds are useless as means of reproduction. We should 

 like to hear at greater length the experience of growers of 

 choice oranges in the southern states. 



Calceolaria alba. — This is a perennial herbaceous shrub 

 which at Kew has grown from a seedling to a wide bush 

 five feet high in two years. It is planted against a south 

 wall which affords it a little protection in winter ; whether 

 it is hardier than this has not yet been tested. At the 

 present time it is beautifully in flower, and it promises to 

 make a display for about two months at least. Probably 

 it might be grown dwarfer and utilized as a summer bed- 

 ding plant. The stems are slender, erect, at first green and 

 succulent, becoming brown and woody with age ; the 

 leaves are linear, two to three inches long, and they bear a 

 few marginal teeth on the upper half. The flowers are in 

 erect terminal panicles, strong shoots bearing panicles a 

 foot long and six inches wide, with about one hundred 

 expanded flowers, which are pure white, half an inch in 

 diameter, the lower lip or " purse" being much larger than 

 the upper, and folding over so as to present the appear- 

 ance of round, inflated white bags. The species is a native 

 of Chili, from whence it was first introduced by Lobb, who 

 sent it to Messrs. Veitch, with whom it flowered in 1844. 

 It appears to have been again lost to gardens until recently, 

 when Herr Max Leichtlin reintroduced it. Cuttings of it 

 strike quite freely. 



Escallonia Philippiana. — This beautiful hardy shrub was 

 introduced from Valdivia in 1878, when it was described 

 and figured by Dr. Masters in Tne Gardeners' Chronicle. It 

 was discarded by some cultivators as being too tender, and 

 by others as a poor unattractive shrub. A few, however, 

 saw- merit in it and kept it. I first saw it in full glory in a 

 garden in Ireland three years ago, where it had grown into 

 an elegant pyramidal bush ten feet high and was crowded 

 with white star-like fragrant flowers in June. This year it 

 has shown its full beauty at Kew, where it occupies two 

 large circular beds skirting one of the principal walks. The 

 shoots are elegantly curved, the leaves are small and they 

 are almost entirely hidden by the myriads of white star- 

 like flowers which clothe them from base to point. Their 

 fragrance, too, is delightful. The effect of the Escallonia 

 is heightened by the admixture of the flowers of Liliums, a 

 common feature at Kew, almost every bed planted with 

 low-growing shrubs having some species of Lilium grow- 

 ing happily with them. The Escallonia is not hardy in the 

 north of England, but in countries where the winters are 

 not severe it is an evergreen summer-flowering shrub of 

 quite exceptional merit. 



Rhododendron Snirnowii. — The Gardeners' Chronicle for 

 this week contains a life-size picture of a flower-truss of 

 this Rhododendron, which was introduced from the Cau- 

 casus by means of seeds sent from the Botanic Gardens, 

 St. Petersburg, to Kew in 1886. The plants at Kew flow- 

 ered for the first time in the open air in May, 1893, but this 

 year the flowers have been larger and more attractive. 

 They are similar in size and general appearance to the 

 flowers of R. Catawbiense and colored a soft rose-purple, 

 with a few dull red spots on the upper segment. The spe- 

 cies is remarkable in having the under side of the leaves 

 clothed with a thick felt-like layer of pale yellow wool, 

 which becomes dull brown as the leaves get old. The 

 plant grows slowly, branches early, is evergreen and quite 

 hardy, and it possesses a special interest for the cultivator 



of Rhododendrons. As a breeder it is likely to prove 

 valuable, and that it will cross with the garden Rhododen- 

 drons has already been proved at Kew, where there are 

 now seedlings raised from an undoubted cross between it 

 and some good varieties of the popular Catawbiense 

 hybrids. 



Waterer's Spir/ea. — The most attractive shrub at Kew in 

 July is this beautiful variety of Spiriea Bumalda. Beds of 

 it twelve feet across in conspicuous positions on the lawns 

 are covered with large flat trusses of glowing crimson 

 flowers. With a little attention this effect may be retained 

 till the autumn, the attention needed being nothing more 

 than the removal of the old trusses as they fade. If these 

 are cut away daily — "delightful occupation for the young 

 ladies after breakfast," says my friend Mr. Waterer — the 

 lateral shoots continue to push up fresh heads almost till 

 the frost comes to stop them. As a pot-plant we have not 

 found this Spiraea worth the trouble, but in beds and bor- 

 ders it has proved itself worthy of the recommendation 

 given to it by its introducer, who sent it out as the best 

 summer-flowering hardy shrub introduced in recent years. 

 It is easily propagated from soft summer cuttings or by 

 division. 



Rose, Crimson Rambler. — The display made by this grand 

 climbing Rose has been exceptionally brilliant for the past 

 three weeks. Planted in a border among tall herbaceous 

 plants, with a pole twelve feet high to support the stems, 

 which are held loosely up by a kind of wire crinoline fixed 

 to the pole, the shoots have formed a massive sheaf of rich 

 green foliage and large clusters of flowers which can be 

 seen "a mile off." For pillars or as a clothing to pic- 

 turesque tree trunks no Rose can be more suitable. It 

 must be planted in a rich deep soil and be kept watered in 

 dry weather. The old shoots— that is, those that flowered 

 last year — should be cut out or thinned out, so as to make 

 room and throw vigor into the new shoots which are 

 pushed up from the base, and grow to a height of ten or 

 twelve feet in a few weeks. These stout Willow-like shoots 

 produce the finest bunches of flowers. This thinning treat- 

 ment is good for all the climbing Roses if abundance of 

 bloom is required. I hear that some nurserymen supply 

 grafted plants of this Rose ; they are almost as useless as 

 grafted Raspberries would be. The suckers pushed up 

 from below the soil every year are the life of this Rose. 



London. W. WalSOn. 



Cultural Department. 



Vegetable Notes. 



WE have tried a number of the round-seeded early Peas, 

 but find none better than Alaska. Besides being as early 

 as the earliest, it is, like all blue-seeded varieties, superior in 

 flavor and makes a better appearance on the table. Kentish 

 Invicta resembles it, but is a few days later. If sown when 

 Alaska is above ground it comes in just right for succession. 

 The only value round-seeded Peas have is their earliness. The 

 wrinkled varieties are always preferred on account of their 

 superior table qualities. Notts Excelsior and the Chelsea, 

 among dwarf kinds of the American Wonder type, are the best 

 we have grown. Passing to bush wrinkled varieties, in point 

 of earliness Station Pea has proved a worthy successor to the 

 old Alpha. This variety of late years has been uncertain. 

 Without doubt, Horsford's Market Garden and Bliss's Abun- 

 dance are the two best early midseason Peas of medium 

 height. Juno follows them about ten days, and even in date 

 with Champion of England. No word of praise is necessary 

 for old Champion of England, still the standard of excellence 

 among large green-seeded kinds. It is always good. 



We have again followed the transplanting system for our 

 Onion crop in preference to sowing the seed in drills, and we 

 are more convinced than before that it is the best plan for pri- 

 vate places. Half an ounce of seed sown in a box in the green- 

 house or in a hot-bed in February (or even in the autumn 

 and held over in cold frames) will, when transplanted into 

 flats and hardened in cold frames, plant quite a large plot. A 

 foot apart for the rows and three inches between the sets is a 

 good allowance for distance ; and if the ground is rich the 

 onions will be exceptionally large. Prizetaker is an excellent 



