July 12, 1893.] 



Garden and Forest. 



299 



bulbous plant, and some very large specimens of Yucca glo- 

 riosa about ten feet high. ~, „ , 



Dallas, Texas. 7- Revcrchou. 



The Flowering of the Virgilia. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — In regard to tlie inquiry of your correspondent, F. S., 

 who asks whether the Yellow-wood or Virgilia, Cladrastis lutea, 

 has the habit of flowering on alternate years in other sections 

 of the country than Boston, I can only say that there is a fine 

 specimen of the Yellow-wood, about twenty years old, growing 

 on the campus of the Michigan Agricultural College, and so 

 long as I have been acquainted with it it has flowered pro- 

 fusely every year. Where a lawn-tree of medium size, com- 

 pact growUi and great beauty of flower and foliage is required, 

 I agree with your correspondent that the Yellow-wood should 

 certainly find a place. 



AgrlcuUural College, Fargo, N. D. 



C. B. IValdron. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — In reply to the queries of F. S., I can say that my Vir- 

 crilia-tree, which, by the way, is, with one exception, the only 

 "specimen of this fine tree which I have ever seen in this 

 vicinity, has flowered very freely this year, but did not flower 

 last year. It has previously produced flowers, as I remember, 

 some years, and on others it has not produced them, but I can- 

 not now recall whether there have been regular annual alter- 

 nations in these periods of flowering. Your Boston corre- 

 spondent failed to mention one of the good points of the tree — 

 namely, that the flowers are delicately and agreeably fragrant. 

 A few years ago more than one-half of the top of my tree sud- 

 denly died, with every appearance of a blight similar to that 

 which is destructive to the Pear-tree. I expected the whole 

 tree would go next year, but several seasons have passed, and 

 the remaining branches are, to all appearance, as sound and 

 healthy as ever, .although the beauty of the tree as a specimen 



is gone. 



Hammonton, N. J. 



■ IV/ji. F. Bassetf. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — I have never thought to keep a record as to whether 

 the Virgilia blooms only on alternate years. I know that two 

 years ago a tree at the Kissena Nursery, some thirty years of 

 age, flowered very profusely; last year the same tree bore 

 only a few scattering flowers, and this year it shows no flowers 

 at all. A large tree on the grounds of Mr. S. B. Parsons has no 

 flowers whatever this year. _, „ „ 



Kissena Nurseries, Flushing, N. Y. / • R- Iriimpy. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — On our grounds the Virgilia blossoms on alternate 



Ellwanger &= Barry. 



years. 



Rochester, N. Y 



The Columbian Exposition. 



Roses. 



No other floral display of the Horticultural Department will 

 be likely to awaken such interest as the Roses have done. 

 The last days of June and the first days of July have seen all_ 

 the Rose-plantations in excellent bloom. The chief interest' 

 centres about the Rose-garden in the south-eastern portion of 

 the island, for not only have the displays there been good, 

 considering the conditions, but there is something of unusual 

 suggestiveness in a garden given over bodily to a wealth of 

 Roses. This Rose-garden comprises a little less than an acre 

 of land in rectangular shape and surrounded by a chain fence. 

 It is laid out in the geometric fashion and comprises forty beds, 

 four of which are filled with Clematis. In design this garden 

 reminds one of a gigantic hot-air register. It is a matter of 

 doubt whether this is the best form in which the Rose-garden 

 could have been cast. From an artistic point of view, some 

 freer and more natural arrangement of groups or clumps upon 

 the sward would probably have been better ; but it must be 

 considered that the plants were received so irregularly that 

 litde definite planning for effects could have been confidently 

 made, and the plants are also so small that they would have 

 given little character to any bold system of grouping. 



In considering the ornamental plantations, one must remem- 

 ber that the soil is but a shallow covering of black earth, and 

 that it is loose and droughty ; and in the Rose-garden there is 

 no soil which is adapted to Roses. The gardeners also com- 

 plain that the intense suns of the American climate burn out 



the more delicate Roses as soon as they open. Yet, despite 

 all this, the intelligent visitor must concede that the Rose-gar- 

 den is a success. Alow trellis bounds the garden just inside the 

 fence, and most of its length is covered with the wonderfully 

 profuse bloom of the Rose, Pride of Washington, furnished 

 by the Dingee & Conard Company. A small portion of the 

 trellis was planted to Baltimore Belle, but this has failed to 

 make any show. Each of the interior beds contains but a sin- 

 gle exhibit, although an exhibitor may have several beds. 

 Many of the beds are without labels, either of the exhibit or of 

 individual plants, and much of the value of the displays is 

 thereby lost. It is, furthermore, impossible to find official 

 records of some of the exhibits. The following inventory of 

 the exhibitors and the numbers of varieties now living in the 

 Rose-garden, together with date of setting, has been obtained 

 with great care, and it is the most complete record yet pub- 

 lished : 



1892. E. Asmus, West Hoboken, New Jersey, 2 varieties, hybrids. 



1892. Robert Craig, Philadelphia, 2 varieties. 



1892. Alexander Dickson & Sons, Newtownards, Ireland, 20 varieties. 



1893. Alexander Dickson & Sons, Newtownards, Ireland, 3 varieties. 



1892. California exhibitors, 35 varieties, hybrids. 



1893. California exhibitors, 24 varieties, hybrids. 

 1893. California exhibitors, 67 varieties, Teas. 



. Dingee & Conard Co., West Grove, Pennsylvania, 3 varieties. 



1892. Boskoop Nursery Association, 144 varieties, hybrids. A few 

 of these have died. 



1892. M. Jeurgisson, Boskoop, Holland, 60 varieties. 



1893. E. G. Hill & Co., Richmond, Indiana, 20 varieties, Teas and 



Polyanthas. 



1892. Nanz & Neuner, Louisville, Kentucky, 15 varieties, hybrids. 



1893. Nanz & Neuner, Louisville, Kentucky, 17 varieties. Teas. 

 1893. John N. May, New Jersey, 4 varieties, Teas. 



1892. Ohio exhibitors, 10 varieties. 



1893. Pitcher & Manda, New Jersey, 30 varieties, hybrids. 



1893. E. Seyderhelm, Buda Pesth, Austria, aljout 200 varieties, 

 standards. 



1892. J. C. Vaughan, Chicago, I variety. 



1893. German exhibitors, about 500 varieties, hybrids, Teas and 



standards. 



Aside from these, there are on the island about sixty varie- 

 ties of standards from W. Van Kleeft" & Sons, Boskoop, Hol- 

 land ; a large lot of standards from the German Department 

 (included in the above estimate of 500 varieties) ; a lot of Mar- 

 shall P. Wilder, very fine, from Ellwanger & Barry, and an 

 attractive little bed of Dawson and Rosa Wichuriana by W. C. 

 Strong, of Massachusetts. The latter are not yet in flower. 

 About the Woman's Building, among the French plants, are 

 collections of Roses : (i) By L. Paillet, Vallee deChatenay, near 

 Paris, about 100 varieties, all standards ; (2) by G. Boucher, 

 Paris, about 200 varieties of standards and many low plants ; 

 (3) by Levavaseur & Son, Ussy, France, of Rosa rugosa. There 

 is also a collection of imported standards shown in the New 

 York exhibit in the rear of the Horticultural Building by Ga- 

 briel Marc & Co., Woodside, Long Island. Finally, about the 

 California State Building, there are several Tree Roses, six to 

 eight feet high and in fuU bloom, which attract considerable 

 attention. 



In all this abundance of Roses it is impossible to single out 

 any one exhibit as better than all others. Yet, so far as nov- 

 elty and striking merit of varieties are concerned, the exhibit of 

 Dickson & Sons, Ireland, probably excels. This firm originates 

 varieties, and it needs no introduction to American rosarians. 

 Among the striking Roses in this exhibit are Mrs. John Laing 

 (of which the head-gardener is very proud), Margaret Dickson, 

 Earl of Dufterin, Madame Planfier, Jeannie i3ickson, Mar- 

 chioness of Dufferin, Blanche Moreau and Ct^line, the last two 

 being Moss Roses. 



The German exhibit is the largest. It is made up of about 

 ten different lots, from as many German growers. The entire 

 German horticultural interests are in the hands of Ludwig 

 Schiller, who considers the following varieties to be among 

 the best of those under his charge : Of standards, Marie Bau- 

 mann, Victor Verdicr, Lady Mary Fitzwilliam, Fislier Holmes, 

 Sappho, Alfred Colombe, Baroness Rothschild; of low hybrid 

 Roses, Merveille de Lyon, Pride of Waltham, Captain Christy, 

 General Jacqueminot, Jean Liabaud, Anna Alexieff, Anne de 

 Diesbacli, Auguste Neumann, Baroness Rothschild, Etienne 

 Levet, La France, Mrs. John Laing, Souvenir de Paul Neyron ; 

 of Teas, Mile. Fran/.isca Kriiger, Madame Honore Defresnc, 

 Reine Nathalie de Serbie, Sunset, Marie Guillot, Grace Darling, 

 Souvenir de Victor Hugo, Perle des Jardins, Viscountess 

 Folkstone, Gloire de Dijon, and Kaiserin Augusta Victoria, 

 the new white Tea. The California Roses are very strong and 

 free-blooming, and have been among the best show-plants in 

 the garden. American Beauty and Mignonette have been par- 

 ticularly good in this collection. Other prominent varieties are 



