326 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 284. 



floriferousness. If any of the forms commonly grown 

 have a fault it is in the dullness of the color of the flowers. 

 Mr. A. Waterer, of the Knap Hill Nurseries, has, however, 

 a variety named as above, which possesses all the good 

 qualities of the type, plus flowers of a brilliant crimson 

 color. He declares it to be one of the very finest shrubs 

 introduced in the last fifty years, and he is an authority 

 whose opinion commands respect. He exhibited some 

 flowering branches at Chiswick this week and stated that 

 he could show flowers of it as good every week from now 

 till the frost comes. It is, of course, only a sport from the 

 type. Mr. Waterer has not yet distributed it. 



Cattleya Rex. — This distinct and beautiful Cattleya is 

 improving every year in popular estimation, and a stout 

 inflorescence bearing three large flowers, shown this week 

 at Chiswick by a Liverpool amateur, Mr. W. C. Clark, will go 

 a long way towards disposing of the doubts raised in some 

 quarters that this Orchid is not as good as it was painted. 

 It is apparently not more difficult to manage than the ordi- 

 nary Cattleyas, judging by a plant now flowering at Kew. 

 Mr. Clark stated that the spike he showed was one of tw^o 

 borne by the same plant. The pure white of the sepals and 

 petals, and the richly marked maroon and golden color of 

 the labellum are charming features of this Cattleya, which 

 Messrs. Linden, who introduced it a few years ago, de- 

 scribed as the most beautiful of all their introductions. 



Cypripedium Stonei, van CARNiERXiANUM. — This was shown 

 in flower at Chiswick by Mr. T. Staffer, of Manchester, and 

 obtained an award of merit. It has larger flowers than the 

 type, the petals broad, the basal half white, with reddish- 

 brown spots, the rest colored wholly brown-purple. 



Cypripedium Massianum is a new hybrid between C. super- 

 ciliare and C. Rothschildianum, which was raised by 

 Messrs. F. Sander & Co., and shown at Chiswick, where it 

 obtained an award of merit. It has large flowers, the dor- 

 sal sepal white with reddish line, broad fringed petals col- 

 ored pale yellowish-green, spotted with brown-red. It is 

 the first hybrid from C. Rothschildianum. 



Renantheramatutina.— Aplant of this, bearing a branched 

 inflorescence a yard long, was, to me, the most interesting 

 Orchid shown last week by Messrs. F. Sander & Co. It 

 was two feet high, with thick linear leaves six inches long, 

 the scape springing from near the apex, being crowded 

 with flowers suggestive of long-legged spiders. Each 

 flower was two inches in diameter, the linear segments 

 equal and spreading, the lip very small, with a saccate 

 base, the color of the whole reddish orange, with crimson 

 blotches becoming almost yellow and red with age. Although 

 a rare plant in cultivation, it was introduced into England 

 by Thomas Lobb in 1846. Messrs. Veitch say of it: "Be- 

 ing less refractory to the cares of the cultivator than R. co- 

 cinea, and being, too, of more manageable dimensions, it 

 has proportionally gained in favor." It is a native of Java. 



MoMORDicA cocHiNCHiNENsis. — The tropical Gourds are a 

 special feature at Kew, where a large collection of them is 

 cultivated on the spacious roof of the Water-lily house. 

 This rare species of Momordica is worth growing for its 

 foliage alone, which is palmately lobed, six inches across 

 and deep, lustrous green. It is a perennial, and, therefore, 

 a good plant for clothing pillars, etc., in large houses. The 

 flower is large and handsome, being four inches in diam- 

 eter, campanulate, with ovate acute petals, thick and fleshy, 

 with prominent veins, covered with soft hairs, and colored 

 straw-yellow, with a large blotch of maroon at the base of 

 the three inner petals. The flowers are produced singly in 

 the axils of the leaves and they are very fragrant. The fruit 

 I have not seen, but it is described as being five inches 

 long, ovate, fleshy, cucumber-like and colored bright red. 

 It is common in India and some parts of China. 



HipPEASTRUM PROCERUM.— This beautiful Brazilian bulb is 

 now in flower in an intermediate-house at Kew. It is the 

 Blue Amaryllis of horticulture, and it has also borne the 

 name of AmaryUis Rayneri (see Botanical Magazine, t. 5883). 

 Although introduced thirty years ago, and frequently noted 

 in the gardening papers as one of the most remarkable of 



the species of Hippeastrum, it has not yet come to the 

 front as a garden-plant, probably because its cultural re- 

 quirements were not understood. At Kew it is planted out 

 in a raised brick bed in the succulent-house, where it re- 

 tains its foliage all the year round, although kept dry in 

 winter. The figure in the Botanical Magazine does not do 

 the flowers justice, those now open at Kew being nearly as 

 large as those of Lilium longiflorum, the segments equal, 

 and colored violet-mauve, with numerous small purple-red 

 spots. The long-necked bulbs and distichous, falcate, 

 white-edged leaves give this plant an exceptional place 

 among the species of this genus. 



LiLIUM TESTACEUM and DoUBLE-FLOWERED ICELAND POPPIES 



planted together in a large bed on a lawn at Kew have 

 been a most effective picture during the past month. 

 Nothing could be finer than these Poppies for positions 

 where bright, telling colors are desirable, and the creamy 

 yellow flowers of the Lily overtopping the Poppies go 

 well with them. Both plants are cheap and easy to 

 manage. At Kew they occupy a bed which is planted 

 with Daphne Ponticum for winter effect. 



Lilium longiflorum and its two varieties, chloraster and 

 formosana, are flowering beautifully in large beds at Kew. 

 L. Henryi is eight feet high, and L. Greyi six feet. Per- 

 haps the prettiest of all the smaller Lilies is the variety of 

 L. concolor, called in gardens L. Coridion, which is barely 

 a foot high, and is crowned with erect bright crimson 

 flowers at this time of year. 



London. 



W. Watson. 



Cultural Department. 



Grapes under Glass. 



WE recently received from Peter Fisher & Co., Ellis, 

 Massachusetts, two photographs illustrating a house 

 of Black Hamburg Grape-vines. The Vines were in splen- 

 did health, as shown by the luxuriant foliage, and the 

 grapes hung in immense clusters of perfect fruit, and alto- 

 gether the pictures were a delight to the eye. At our re- 

 quest, Messrs. Fisher & Go. have sent us some notes describ- 

 ing their treatment of the Vines, which we herewith repro- 

 duce : 



The house is 105 by 20 feet, was planted June 26th, 1890, and 

 contains seventy Vines and nearly 2,000 bunches of grapes ; 

 part of the crop is cut. In making the Vine border we use 

 fresh turf from an old pasture, turned grass-side down, build- 

 ing it compactly together to a depth of eighteen inches, and 

 three to four feet in width along each side of the house. This 

 when fairly settled will give a depth of fifteen inches, quite 

 sufficient for successful grape-raising, the border can be 

 added to as required, and the fresh material will infuse new 

 vigor into the Vines. 



The Vines were planted three feet apart, and trained to a 

 stake until they reached the glass, and then to a wire or strong 

 piece of twine to the ridge of the house, and about twenty 

 inches from the glass. This prevents burning and gives a 

 free circulation of air. Abundance of moisture was given all 

 over the house and borders, syringing daily morning and 

 noon on all bright days. The house was closed up every 

 evening early enough to hold the night temperature up to sixty 

 to sixty-five degrees, and the day temperature ninety-five or 

 one hundred degrees. Under this treatment the Vines made 

 a strong and rapid growth, and by the last week in September 

 the majority had reached the top of the house, when we gradu- 

 ally increased night ventilation and reduced moisture, later 

 giving full ventilation day and night. 



We give no manure in any form the first year, as it tends to 

 cause a rank growth, and, as a result, failure in obtaining thor- 

 oughly ripened wood, which is of the greatest importance to 

 ensure success the following season. 



The Vines were pruned back two feet from the ground 

 about Christmas, 1890, and the house kept at a temperature of 

 from forty to forty-five degrees during the winter months. By 

 March ist, 1891, they had again started into growth, and under 

 treatment similar to the preceding year had reached the top of 

 the house by June 26th, one year from date of planting. No 

 manure was given this season, and they were again pruned at 

 Christmas. This time the canes were left 8 feet in length. A 

 wire trellis was then erected all over the house 20 inches from the 



