ii4 



Garden and Forest. 



[March 5, 1890. 



twenty-four feet ; diameter of head, twenty feet ; girth of 

 stem at base, nine feet ; girth eight feet from the ground, 

 seven and a half feet; length of leaves, two and a half feet. 



There is a beautiful specimen of this Aloe on one of the 

 lawns in the Botanical Gardens at Grahamstown. The 

 frequent branching, smoothness and roundness of the stems 

 and remarkable habit of bark-peeling, similar to what oc- 

 curs in the Oriental Plane— these characters, as well as 

 the gigantic stature of full-grown plants, place this species 

 of Aloe among the most remarkable of the many vegeta- 

 ble monsters found in Africa. 



The practical value of this picture is in its presenting 

 the features of a plant which may be grown in tem- 

 perate and sub-tropical countries, and which is one of the 

 easiest of Aloes to cultivate. In Grahamstown slight frosts 

 are not infrequent, whilst the summer temperature and 

 other climatic conditions are about the same as those of 

 New York. In the south of France many species of Aloe 

 are grown in the open, and their flowers make a magnifi- 

 cent display. It is easy to imagine the fine effect that 

 might be produced in many gardens of your southern 

 states by groups of such plants as these arborescent Aloes. 

 In dry countries, or in poor, rocky localities, the African 



Aloes would be quite at home. rir Trr 



Kew. ' W. Watson. 



Cattleya labiata Warscewiczii, Autumn-flowering. 



Cattleya labiata Warscewiczii, or Cattleya gigas, as it is often 

 called, is a well known summer-flowering form. According 

 to Messrs. Veitch (in their Manual) it generally flowers in the 

 Orchid-houses of Europe in July and August, but it is not un- 

 usual for flowers to appear in May and June. A letter just 

 received affords evidence that it may flower later as well as 

 earlier than the usual period. The editor of Garden and 

 Forest writes: " I enclose for your consideration a Cattleya 

 flower and a sketch of the same. It is from a plant purchased 

 by Mr. F. L. Ames several years ago from Low & Co. as an 

 imported C. Mendellii. You see, however, that the flower is 

 quite distinct, or, at least, Orchid people here say that it is, and, 

 moreover, it flowers always late in November and in Decem- 

 ber, a peculiarity which gives this form great garden value. 

 The leaves are short and broad like those of C. Mendellii. It 

 is certainly a very showy and beautiful thing." The last re- 

 mark I fully endorse, for the dried flower is seven and three- 

 quarters inches in diameter, and the color very brilliant, so that 

 when fresh it must have been a superb thing. On compari- 

 son it seems to me, botanically, identical with the form named 

 above, well known to be the largest and most distinct of the 

 Labiata forms, and one which, even when dried, can hardly be 

 mistaken for any other. The sepals and petals are of a bright 

 rosy mauve, the front lobe of the lip rich crimson-purple, and 

 behind this are situated two large bright yellow blotches, sepa- 

 rated by the reddish-purple disc. If the autumn-flowering 

 habit should prove constant, as would appear from the letter, 

 it is certainly a very valuable acquisition. That the plant 

 should have been imported as the variety Mendellii is perhaps 

 not remarkable, seeing that both are natives of the eastern 

 Cordillera of New Granada, though lam not sure whether both 

 have been found growing intermixed. It is just possible that 

 Messrs. Low & Co. have some memoranda on the subject of 

 the particular importation in which it appeared. Unfortunately 

 such information is not often easy to obtain, especially when 

 the subject is such a handsome plant as is the present one. 



Herbarium, Kew. R. A. Rolfe. 



Since the above was written I have received a note from 

 Mr. William Robinson, gardener to Mr. Ames, stating that the 

 habit is remarkably like that of the variety Mendellii, and that it 

 has maintained the same character for five years consecu- 

 tively, flowering in November and December, after which it 

 commences to make its growth, which is matured some four 

 or five months before its flowering season, exactly as in C. 

 labiata vera. 



Cultural Department. 

 The Watermelon. 



T^HIS fruit grows in hot countries generally, but has not so 

 -*- great a range of climate as the Cantaloupe. It appears to 

 be divided into two distinct classes — one adapted to very hot 

 localities, and the other not able to bear well more than a lim- 

 ited degree of heat. Those from the tropics grow larger and 



finer in this latitude, and the melons of Spain and Italy do as 

 well here as in those countries, although but few. of them are 

 worth introducing. Watermelons from milder climates than 

 ours will grow in New Jersey soil, but are never inviting in 

 flavor. When cut open they crack before the knife with a sort 

 of explosive sound ; are often white-fleshed, and seldom of a 

 rich red; they are deficient in sweetness, and the flesh is some- 

 times tough. I have found one desirable Russian melon, one 

 Spanish, three Italian, one Cappadocian, one Japanese and one 

 African, in a large number of varieties tested from many 

 countries. All of the vines I have examined were of the same 

 peculiar, well known character of leaf, except one from Libe- 

 rian seeds, which had a large, solid, ovate-pointed leaf, set 

 close to the stem, and growing right and left alternately, and 

 parallel with the ground. 



Watermelons are long, semi-long, oval and round ; their 

 seeds are black, brown, white, red, buff, gray and mottled. 

 All of these colors may be found in very large, medium and 

 very small seeds. As a general rule, a large melon bears large 

 seeds, and vice versa, but there are exceptions. White-rinded 

 melons may have very small black seeds, as in the Russian, or 

 may be large and white, or buff with a brown edge. The most 

 delicious melons, as a rule, are thin-rinded, and pink or dark 

 red in flesh. Such Watermelons do not bear transportation 

 well, the breakage in some being up to fifteen percent. In 

 interior colors we also find white, yellow and amber-colored. 



Many foreign melons have very tiny seeds, and some of the 

 fruits may be readily eaten by one person. Orange melons, 

 or those having an easily separated rind, are said to be pro- 

 duced of very small size in Bulgaria and the extreme south of 

 Italy, but have not yet been grown here. 



Watermelons with very small seeds, down to half an inch 

 in length, are quite abundant in some countries, especially 

 southern Russia, Armenia and Sicily. In Persia the favorite 

 is called a "black Watermelon," from its very dark green color, 

 as we have the "black Italian"; it is very thin-rinded, and is 

 easily broken in transportation. The Japanese produce a 

 melon of a long apple-shape, having very tiny seeds and a thin 

 rind, that grows well in our climate, and has been considered 

 an excellent variety by private growers, but its small size has 

 prevented its acceptance by the trade. Such fruits make good 

 hybrids with larger varieties. 



Large, tough-rinded, symmetrical melons of fine quality, 

 which keep and carry well, are now produced in enormous 

 quantities in our Southern States, and some may be carried in 

 good condition to Europe or kept from the last of September 

 to Christmas. As an article of diet the Watermelon requires 

 a better digestive power in the eater than is required for the 

 Cantaloupe, and some dyspeptics who consume the latter with 

 comfort, do not dare to more than taste the former. 



This country now produces a greater variety of large Water- 

 melons than ever before, and they can be grown to a heavier 

 weight. In 1800 there were melons in the Philadelphia market 

 that measured forty-five inches in girth; but they did not grow 

 them in our country of 108, m and 125 pounds until within 

 a few years, when new varieties reached these weights, in 

 favorable seasons and localities. 



In the olden time, our Watermelons were chiefly long, oval, 

 dark green or striped, and had large black or brown seeds. 

 Spanish seeds produced our first thin-rinded melons; but these 

 soon changed in character under the work of the bees. Span- 

 ish melons are still grown, but are altered in form over those 

 produced by imported seeds. 



The French have a peculiar way of keeping a melon; the 

 fruit is cut with a long stem, which is coiled up and then 

 buried under brown sugar to keep it from drying up by ex- 

 posure to the air. — From a paper read before the Pennsylvania 

 Horticultural Society by Robert P. Harris, M.D. 



Reinwardtias. 



'T'HESE plants must be classed among the best that can be 

 ■*■ grown for the decoration of a warm greenhouse during 

 winter. There are three species, all of which are found in a 

 wild state on East Indian mountains. Regarding the species, 

 Sir Joseph Hooker says there is good ground for believing the 

 three to be mere varieties of a common type, and the two in 

 cultivation would certainly confirm that opinion. These are 

 R. tetragynum and R. trigynum — the latter perhaps better 

 known as Linnm trigynum. They are dwarf shrubs, of free 

 growth and neat habit, with leaves of a pleasing dark green 

 color, and large bright flowers, which, in the former, are of a 

 delicate sulphur color, and in the latter of a more distinct yel- 

 low. At the outset it must be understood that these plants 

 can be grown satisfactorily only by those who command a 



