March 26, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



157 



gardening. A stock is easily prepared, as seeds of a good 

 strain (Dean's is as good as any) if sown in April or May will make 

 strong plants before winter, and will bloom the next spring. 

 After blooming they may be separated into single crowns and 

 planted in odd spaces to make growth for another season. 

 Flowers of a good strain, in color white, yellow and many in- 

 termediate shades, arc an inch or more in diameter, larger 

 than Polyanthus (P. elatior) and preferable in many respects. 

 In fact, the average cultivator will find the modern hybrid 

 hardy Primulas quite sufficient for his wants in this family, for 

 while there are some fine "species" a large number are of in- 

 terest principally to the specialist. Where protection of a 

 frame can be had P. cortusoides will be found satisfactory, as 

 it has been much improved in recent years by careful selec- 

 tion. This is a deciduous species, and it is now starting into 

 new growth, the foliage having disappeared in the fall. A 

 frame suitable for alpine Auriculas seems to suit it. 

 Elizabeth, N.J. J.N.Gerard. 



Orchid Notes. 



Cymbidium eburneum. — Many plants of this desirable Orchid 

 are now in full flower with us, rilling the house with their de- 

 lightful perfume. Even when out of bloom this Orchid, with 

 its finely arching, dark green grassy foliage, is highly orna- 

 mental, and the wonder is that it is not more commonly 

 grown. The scapes, which are erect and clothed with large 

 green bracts, bear one or two flowers about five inches across; 

 these are ivory white, of good substance, with a large blotch 

 of orange-yellow on the front of the lip, and numerous spots of 

 crimson on the under surface of the column. C. eburneum 

 grows freely in an intermediate temperature if abundance of 

 air can be given. At no time should the plants be allowed to 

 become dry. When not overpotted scarcely too much watcr 

 can be given. The pots should be well drained, and the soil 

 should consist of two parts of rich fibrous loam to one of well 

 rotted manure, with plenty of sand to keep it open. The thick 

 fleshy roots are great feeders, and as soon as they fill the pots 

 liquid manure should be given two or three times a week. 

 There are two or three named varieties of this species, but 

 none of them are particularly distinct. It was introduced from 

 the East Indies in 1846. 



Chysis Chelsonii. — This magnificent hybrid is the result of 

 crossing C. bractescens with C. aurea, but it is far superior to 

 either of its parents and in every way more vigorous. On 

 strong plants the bulbs are more than eighteen inches long 

 and three inches in diameter at thickest part. The upper por- 

 tion of the bulbs is clothed with the bases of the long lance- 

 olate leaves. The racemes which appear with the young 

 growth are about one foot long and bear about a dozen hand- 

 some flowers of fleshy texture and about three inches across. 

 These are of a nankeen color, with the apex of the segments 

 orange-red. The lip is prettily streaked with red, and the flower 

 lasts a long time. C. Chelsonii should be grown in the warm- 

 est house, potted in a compost of sandy peat and loam, with a 

 liberal addition of chopped moss and rotten leaves. Abund- 

 ance of water should be given after the new growth is well 

 rooted with occasional doses of liquid manure. After the 

 growth is fully matured water should be to a considerable 

 extent withheld, and the plant removed to a drier atmosphere. 



Lycaste gigantea, as its name implies, is of unusually large 

 growth.. The stout, conical bulbs are about six inches high, 

 and surmounted by two or three thin, lanceolate leaves more 

 than two feet long. The scapes, usually five or six in num- 

 ber, appear from the base of the bulb, and with the new 

 growth. They are erect, nearly eighteen inches long and bear 

 a single flower more than eight inches in diameter; the lan- 

 ceolate acute petals and sepals are yellowish green. The lip 

 is fleshy, purplish brown, beautifully margined and fringed 

 with orange. The large, pure white column is densely 

 clothed with short hairs on the under surface. L. gigantea 

 succeeds admirably in a mixture of peat and moss, with a 

 liberal addition of chopped, half rotten leaves. It requires 

 an abundance of water during growth and should at no time be 

 kept dry. It does best with us in the intermediate house — that 

 is, in a temperature of fifty-five to sixty degrees during the win- 

 ter months, and as cool as possible in summer, with abund- 

 ance of air. This species was introduced from Central Amer- 

 ica in 1848, but is not often noted in collections. 



Lycaste cruenta, now flowering freely, is of quite a different 

 type from the foregoing. It is deciduous, losing its leaves in 

 early winter, and consequently it should be kept fairly dry in 

 a cool house until the new growths appear. The numerous 

 scapes are about six inches long, bearing a single flower about 

 three inches in diameter. The sepals are greenish yellow, the 

 petals and lip deep orange, excepting a large blotch of crimson 



at the base of the latter and a few spots of the same color on the 

 base of the former. This is a very free blooming plant, and 

 the flowers — which are fragrant — last quite a long time in 

 perfection and are very useful for cutting. It requires very 

 liberal treatment during growth, but care should be taken 

 not to overpot it. F. Goldring. 



Kenwood, N. Y. 



Iris Susiana. — Of the numerous species of Iris now in culti- 

 vation, none are more beautiful than this. Exquisitely deli- 

 cate is the penciling of the petals, the inner three of which, 

 usually known as standards, are of such a size as to place this 

 species among the largest of the genus, a well developed 

 (lower measuring seven inches across. The three outer and 

 lower petals, or falls, are partly clothed with a dense beard, 

 and have a dark brown blotch in the centre of each. This 

 plant is by no means a new one, having been among those 

 cultivated by Gerard and figured in his Herbal three centuries 

 ago. Iris Susiana is a native of Mesopotamia and Syria, and 

 it is unfortunately too seldom met with in flower under culti- 

 vation. This is probably because its peculiar habits and 

 requirements are not sufficiently understood. /. Iberica much 

 resembles /. Susiana in this respect, and both belong to a 

 division of the sub-genus Euiris, known as Oncocyclus, 

 so that their botanical and cultural affinity is well marked, 

 and we find them both to succeed well under the same treat- 

 ment. These Irises are usually imported in autumn in a dried 

 state, together with other flower-roots, and when received 

 they should be potted up in a sandy compost and placed in a 

 cool house or frame, where they will commence to grow at 

 once, and continue to do so through the winter until their 

 flowering season, which is in early spring. They rarely flower, 

 however, the first year. When the weather will permit 

 the plants may be transferred to a well drained soil in the bor- 

 der. In June the leaves die down, and the plants rest until 

 September. During this period of rest English growers place 

 a hand-light over the plants to ripen them by artificial drought. 

 This is not necessary here, owing to the greater amount of 

 sun-heat to which they are naturally subjected. In September 

 growth begins and continues throughout the winter if the 

 plants be lifted in fall, potted and placed in a cool house ; and 

 then flowers may be expected in March. It must not be 

 inferred from this that these Irises are not hardy, for we have 

 flowered them in the open ground and expect to do so again. 

 But when their beauty and the simplicity of their culture is 

 considered, it is not too much to ask for them pot-room in a 

 cool house, where they will present a welcome relief to the 

 monotony of Calceolarias and Cinerarias in the spring months. 



Passaic, N.J. E. 0. Orpet. 



The Forest. 

 The Hemlock. 



A^ITH the exception of the White Pine, the Hemlock must 

 * * be regarded as the most valuable of all the trees of the 

 United States east of the Mississippi River, so far as abundance 

 of timber products up to the present time is concerned. 



The wood, for many purposes, especially in the unexposed 

 parts of structures, has no superior, if, indeed, it have any 

 equal. Its capacity for holding nails is greater than that of the 

 White Pine, while its durability is equally great in correspond- 

 ing exposures. With these qualities in its favor, the Hemlock 

 must be regarded as worthy of careful consideration with ref- 

 erence to its bearing upon the important forestal problems of 

 the nation. In the brief paper I have prepared for the present 

 occasion, I have drawn my matter largely from a report upon 

 the Hemlock, prepared by me for the Forestry Division of the 

 Department of Agriculture, based upon a somewhat extended 

 study of its biology, history and economy. 



The wide range of the Hemlock, covering, in its natural 

 distribution, more than one-half million square miles, extend- 

 ing through thirty degrees of longitude and thirteen of lati- 

 tude, would of itself suggest its adaptation to forestal purposes. 

 The impression received from its distribution is further 

 strengthened in the fact that the tree grows naturally in a con- 

 siderable diversity of soil, climate and situation. Few trees of 

 our native forest are more marked in this respect, and some- 

 where within its range it is found as an associate of nearly 

 every species of the arboreal flora of eastern North America 

 north of Alabama. If, however, we examine the question 

 from the stand-point of actual experience in the cultivation of 

 the Hemlock, the matter appears far less encouraging. 



I. — The demands which the Hemlock makes in regard to 

 soil and climate are (if so general a nature that no obstacle to 

 its cultivation can arise from this consideration, although, like 

 other plants, it manifests a certain preference for particular 



