Garden and Forest. 



[January i, 1890. 



smaller hybrid kinds of Cypripedium, combining, as it dues, 

 the characters oi two oi the best species in the genus. The 

 dorsal sepal is broad and recurved as in C. Spicerianum, but 

 greener at the base and veined with purple. The petals are 

 wavy, curved as in C. Fairreanum, deep green and bronze, 

 the lip being small and greenish. Three plants of it in llower 

 were shown by Messi>. Veitch, who raised it, ami to whom a 

 first-class certificate was awarded for it. 



Other hybrids shown were T. B. Haywood (from C. 

 Druryi and C. superbiens), C. Galatea major (from C. Chan /in! 

 and i\ Harrisianuni), C. Leeanum and C. Lathamianum. 



Cattleya Pallas, a hybrid raised from C. Dowiana and 

 Lcrlia crispa, was also certificated, but its only good point was 

 the color of the lip. In attractiveness the flowers were infe- 

 rior to those >>1 a good form of either parent. C. Dowiana has 

 had little inlluence either on the color or form of the flowers. 

 Vanda Amesiana, with a strong spike of flowers, was shown 

 by Lord Rothschild. Apparently there is some variety of 

 color amongst the plants of this Orchid ; some of them being 

 inferior to others in the deptli and clearness of the purple on 

 the labellum. 



Mr. Cannell showed a stand of cut flowers of Zonale Pelar- 

 goniums, for the cultivation of which he is famous. In Eng- 

 land, and especially in the neighborhood of London, it 

 requires considerable care and skill to bloom these plants 

 well in December. When grown as Mr. Cannell grows them, 

 with enormous trusses of flowers full of substance and clear 

 in color, they are of the greatest value in winter. The best of 

 those shown were the following : White flowered kinds, 

 Swanley White and Amy Ampheet ; pink, Mrs. D. Saunders 

 and Mr. Wildsmith ; pale blush, Stella and Massey ; salmon, 

 Souvenir de Mirande ; scarlet, Hyacinth and Brilliant; purple 

 or magenta, Dr. Tucker and R. Dean. I mention these be- 

 cause I do not think it possible to find better kinds amongst 

 the many large-flowered Pelargoniums now grown. There 

 are a few ardent admirers of these plants, conspicuous 

 amongst them being Mr. Chamberlain, wdio devotes a large 

 house to them in winter, and delights in their flowers as 

 much as he does in Orchids. Mr. Cannell also showed flowers 

 of Chrysanthemum Mrs. E. W. Clark, a child of America, I 

 believe, and remarkable for its fragrance. It is a large flow- 

 ered incurved Japanese kind, colored deep purplish magenta, 

 and not very attractive. Crimson and Gold was another of 

 Mr. Cannell's Chrysanthemums. It is one of the so-called 

 single flowered section, and has a large, dark yellow disc with 

 crimson ray florets flaked with yellow. 



Some well flowered panfuls of the pretty, snow white 

 Narcissus monophylhis came from Mr. Ware, of Tottenham. 

 A few years ago this plant was extremely rare in cultivation, 

 and was very difficult to manage. Now, however, it is easy to 

 grow and Mowers if only the bulbs are kept quite dry and baked 

 in full sunshine all summer. It is a native of Algeria, where 

 it occurs in abundance. Newdy imported bulbs always flower 

 with us in December, but after a year's cultivation in England 

 they do not come into bloom before February. It may not be 

 known to every one that N. monophylhis, sometimes called 

 Bulbocodium monophyllum, has short, rush-like leaves, and pure 

 white, hoop-petticoat-like flowers, in form like those of the 

 well known N. Bulbocodium. The flowers remain fresh a month 

 or more. One of the most striking of the exhibits was the 

 Carnation Winter Cheer, the plants being less than two feet in 

 height in perfect health, and covered with large full flowers, 

 two and a half inches across, of the brightest crimson color. 

 It would be difficult to find a better winter-flowering Carnation 

 than this, and I am told it is one of the very easiest to grow. 



The most attractive among the flowering plants in our 

 stoves at the present time are Ipomaea HorsfallicE, with its vari- 

 ety, Briggsii, and the closely allied species, /. tematea. The 

 first named extends over half the roof of the stove, its many 

 shoots hanging down or festooned from pillar to pillar, and 

 crowded with large clusters of rich, deep crimson, cup-like 

 flowers. It has been beautiful for a month or more and will 

 continue so at least as long again. The variety Briggsii has 

 paler and slightly smaller foliage and rosy red flowers, whilst 

 /. tematea has flowers as large as those of the Morning Glory 

 and as pure a white. We miss this year another beautiful 

 flowered species of Ipomeea, that is, I. rubro-ccerulea, a stove 

 annual, which may be grown so as to bloom in midwinter. 

 Treated liberally, it covers a large space in a short time, and 

 in winter its shoots are wreathed in large, flat-limbed flowers 

 of the purest china blue, fading to mauve. That remarkable 

 species, the Moon Flower of the tropics (I. Bona-nox), whose 

 great white flowers expand only at dusk and close at sunrise, has 

 also been flowering here for some time. I measured a flower 

 lately, and it was exactly six inches across. 



Kalanclioi camea. — I am afraid that this new introduction 

 has been somewhat overrated ; at all events, none of the ex- 

 amples I have seen this year are sufficiently attractive to rank 

 among good conservatory winter flowering plants. The habit 

 is erect, branching, about two feet high, the leaves coarse and 

 soft, and the terminal heads of flower, whilst large and full 

 enough, are too undecided in color, being neither white nor 

 rosy, but a dull milky color. With good cultivation and selec- 

 tion there may be something of value got out of this plant,.. 

 but the type does not please. It was introduced last year from 

 south Africa, and received a first-class certificate from the 

 Royal Horticultural Society. Begonia geranioides is one of the 

 most charming of late or winter flowering species. It is de- 

 ciduous, about a foot high, and produces numerous erect 

 peduncles of elegant pure white flowers. A group composed of 

 three dozen or so plants of this species, B. Socotrana and 

 the variety John Heal, mixed together, is one of the most 

 charming pictures one could desire to see in November or 

 December. B. geranioides is a native of the Cape. 



London. W. WatsOll. 



Cultural Department. 

 Sowing Seed. 



T^HERE are few good sowers of seeds. To buy seeds and to 

 *-' cover them with earth comprise the sum of practice with 

 many people, and failure to get the most from seeds means 

 more than the loss of the seeds themselves, for it is indication 

 of general incompetence or shiftlessness. To sow well is the 

 first operation to acquire in gardening; propagation by cut- 

 tings is the second. 



Two or three general rules are fully as important as many 

 of the explicit instructions: 1. Do not be in a hurry. In all 

 my teaching how to sow it is necessary to make this the im- 

 portant point. It means taking an abundance of time to pre- 

 pare soil and to provide proper conditions. Ten seeds well 

 sown are more valuable than fifty half sown, and, as a rule, 

 the more valuable the plants to be grown the more imperative 

 is this rule. 2. Avoid short-cuts which are wdiolly artificial. 

 In all the long catalogue of compounds devised to hasten 

 germination, I do not know one which is worth its cost or 

 trouble. It is always legitimate to hasten germination, but it 

 must be done by perfecting natural or normal conditions. 

 3. In cases of doubt as to the proper method of handling rare 

 or choice seeds, sow in installments, at intervals. This means 

 experiment. With practice comes an almost intuitive faculty 

 to determine at once what are the proper methods of dealing 

 with seeds with which we have never had experience. But 

 until this faculty comes, safety demands caution. And some 

 people never acquire the faculty. The gardeners of my 

 acquaintance are comparatively few to whom I would entrust 

 an entire sample of strange seeds from another region ; not 

 because I could do better with them, but I can learn from a 

 few how to handle many. I once failed completely in an at- 

 tempt to grow weak seeds of a couple of species, although the 

 year after, profiting by failure, I secured an abundance of fine 

 plants from the same samples. 



Seed-sowing comprises three distinct subjects : 1. Selection 

 of the seed. 2. Treatment of the seed preparatory to sowing. 

 3. The sowing itself. In the first division are to be considered 

 all those questions concerning the age of the seed, the con- 

 dition of the parent plant, weight, color, and so on. These 

 matters are too extensive for discussion here. The remaining 

 points may be considered. 



Treatment Preparatory to Sowing. — There are many 

 kinds of seeds which demand some particular treatment before 

 sowing. These are seeds of most fruit plants, nuts and bony 

 seeds, and various sorts of pulpy fruits. The pulp of fleshy 

 seeds and fruits should be removed before seeds are sown. 

 The pulp is usually removed by maceration. The berries of 

 Red Cedar, Raspberries, Cranberries and the like are mashed 

 or bruised and placed in water until the coverings become 

 soft. This occurs in a few days in such soft fruits as Rasp- 

 berries and Blackberries. The pulp rises and the seeds settle, 

 and it often becomes an easy matter to separate them ; or, if 

 the pulp still adheres to the seeds after a short period of 

 maceration, it may be cut by the addition of a half stick of 

 caustic potash to a pail of water. The seeds are allowed to re- 

 main in the potash water but a few hours at most, when they 

 are strained out and rinsed in fresh water. They are then 

 spread upon tables to dry. Sometimes I remove the pulp by 

 rubbing the seeds in sharp sand. The fruits are buried in 

 clean, sharp sand until the fleshy portions become nearly dry, 

 wdien the whole mass is rubbed through the hands until the 



