1 88 



Garden and Forest. 



[April 16, 1890. 



exhibited by Messrs. James Veiteh & Sons, who raised it. 

 The only other hybrid raised in gardens, and of which L. cin- 

 nabarina is one of the parents, is L. flammea, a plant of some- 

 what similar character to the new one. Dendrobium Wardi- 

 auuni, Schroeder's variety, was remarkable for its large flowers 

 and their deep color, the sepals being wholly rich amethyst, 

 with a margin of white; the petals white, tipped with amethyst, 

 as also was the lip. Cattleya Triance Schroederi alba is a 

 white flowered fragrant variety of exquisite form and large in 

 size ; the lip is blotched with pale yellow. Odontoglossum Lee- 

 anum was represented by a large specimen bearing a stout, 

 many-flowered spike. This is one of the best of the many 

 forms of 0. odoratum, its flowers being unusually large, bright 

 and clear in colors, and prettily marked on the lip. 0. Sander- 

 ianum, O. Hebraicum and O. gloriosum are its near allies. 

 Dendrobium nobile nobilius was in its best form, a most gorge- 

 ous flower, with petals an inch broad and colored the richest 

 glowing amethyst. Many plants which arc called by this name 

 have small claim to it. Phajus Cooksoni was again shown, its 

 flowers this time showing a distinct yellow color on the under 

 portion of the lip. Angracwn sesquipedale was shown with 

 gigantic flowers fully nine inches across the segments, the 

 spur measuring thirteen inches in length. A. citratum gigan- 

 teum, a most elegant plant, bearing four spikes, each fifteen 

 inches long, and the individual flowers an inch in diameter, or 

 almost twice as large as the type. This is one of the most 

 charming of the Angraecums. Ccelogyne Cummingsii is a rare 

 species seldom seen in flower ; it has erect scapes with me- 

 dium sized white flowers, the deeply fringed crest colored 

 yellow and brown. C. pandurata, the giant of the genus and 

 a most remarkable Orchid in respect of color. Its flowers, 

 which are fragrant, measure four inches across, and are 

 borne about a dozen together on a stout, erect spike (Lind- 

 ley says pendent), are colored pale pea-green, except the lip, 

 which is yellowish green, warted and marked with large 

 irregular blotches and veins of ink-like black. Cyrtopodium 

 Legerianum was represented by two huge specimens bearing 

 immense spikes, or rather sheaves, of yellow and brown 

 flowers. Mr, Cummings, who grew these specimens, in- 

 formed me that he has flowered them now three years in 

 succession by growing them in pots partly submerged in a 

 water-tank and feeding them liberally with Clay's manure all 

 summer. During the winter they are placed in a vinery and 

 kept dry. A wonderful example of Oncidium sarcodes bearing 

 two spikes about eight feet long with many branches and 

 crowded with flowers, revealed capabilities in this species not 

 previously suspected. Spikes two feet in length have been 

 considered good for this Oncidium. 



Other noteworthy exhibits were Epiphyllum Gcertneri, a 

 beautiful and distinct Cactus of great promise as a garden 

 plant. Htzmanthus multiftorus, a tropical African species and 

 one of the best of the genus as a stove-flowering plant ; its 

 scape, which precedes the leaves, is a foot high, and bears a 

 globose head, nine inches through, of rich crimson flowers, 

 which remain fresh a fortnight or more. 



Cannell showed stands of his marvelous Pelargoniums and 

 double Cinerarias. B. S. Williams sent a collection of Clivias 

 of the best kinds. By the way, the writer of the note in Gar- 

 den and Forest on Clivias was in error in stating that many 

 hybrids had been raised from the species of this genus. As a 

 matter of fact, there is only one hybrid, C. cyrtanthiflora, 

 raised by Van Houtte about tifteen years ago from C. miniata 

 and C. nobilis. The many named garden forms of Clivia are all 

 seedling sports of C. miniata. A new and enlarged form of 

 Lily-of-the-Valley was shown, its spikes a foot in length, and 

 crowded with bells of large, well shaped flowers, the leaves 

 also being unusually large. 



Kew. 



IV. Watson. 



The Veitchian Nurseries. 



CHELSEA, a suburb of London bordering the Thames on 

 the Middlesex side, has always possessed famous gar- 

 dens. The Botanic Garden of the Apothecaries' Society was 

 founded here more than two hundred years ago, and for 

 about a century and a half occupied as prominent a position 

 in botany and horticulture as Kew does now. Ranelagh and 

 Cremorne, the two favorite pleasure resorts of the wealthy of 

 the last century, flourished here, Chelsea then being " a pretty 

 village, two miles from London." It is very different now. 

 The Botanic, or " Physic," garden remains, a withered cripple 

 of its former self ; the builder has long since taken possession 

 of Ranelagh and Cremorne, and instead of being a pretty 

 village, Chelsea is an enormous workshop, with a population 

 considerably over a quarter of a million. Its famous gardens 

 of the present time are nurseries, and the most famous, not 



only here but in the whole world, is the Royal Exotic Nursery 

 of Messrs. James Veiteh & Sons. Some account of an estab- 

 lishment which for over half a century has exercised a very 

 great influence on the development of English horticulture, 

 and has a staff of over 400 employees, will probably interest 

 American readers. 



It is customary to speak of the nurseryman as a mere 

 tradesman, whose sole object is to make money out of horti- 

 culture. This may be true of the majority, but there are and 

 always have been in England nurserymen who have taken a 

 leading part in all movements for the advancement of horti- 

 culture from pure love of the work. By forming magnificent 

 collections of plants of all kinds, both ornamental and useful, 

 and by showing that they may be successfully and easily 

 grown in a garden, these nurserymen have contributed more, 

 perhaps, than any other body of men or institution to foster 

 a love of horticulture among the people of this country. The 

 names of Switzer, Lee, Abcrcrombie, Loddiges, Backhouse, 

 Rivers and Veiteh will always be placed amongst those to 

 whom horticulture owes most. 



The Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, was established in 1814 

 by Knight & Perry. From its commencement it has held a 

 foremost rank amongst the nurseries devoted to the introduc- 

 tion and cultivation of new plants. In 1853 an advertisement 

 in the Gardeners' Chronicle announced that this nursery had 

 become the property of James Veiteh & Sons, of Exeter. The 

 nursery at Exeter was conducted by the father and grand- 

 father of James Veiteh, and it had been for many years one 

 of the principal nurseries in England in the days when Lod- 

 diges, at Hackney, and Rollison, at Tooting, were in full 

 swing. The young James Veiteh was apprenticed to Rolli- 

 son, with whom he acquired that taste for and love of exotic 

 plants, and especially of Orchids, which was of so much ser- 

 vice to him at Chelsea. 



It appears that the grandson was the sole owner of the 

 newly acquired Chelsea nursery, the partnership with his 

 father being only in regard to. new plants which they conjointly 

 introduced and shared. Collectors were despatched to 

 America and the East, amongst them being the brothers 

 Lobb, Pearce, Hutton, and Mr. Veitch's son, John Gould, who 

 went to Japan and the South Pacific. The many beautiful 

 and interesting plants that were thus obtained enriched horti- 

 culture as it had never been enriched before, with all kinds of 

 conifers, including the Sequoia, Acers, Orchids, Nepenthes, 

 Begonias, Liliums, Berberis Darwinii and others. 



In 1869 James Veiteh died, the connection with Exeter was 

 severed, and the management of the business devolved on 

 the three sons, Harry J., John Gould and Arthur. The father 

 was a man of remarkable energy.clear-headed, a most skillful 

 cultivator and a true son of Adam. It was said of him that "a 

 quick temper and impatience of opposition were natural ad- 

 juncts to a character such as his; but at the same time there 

 was thorough conscientiousness and straightforwardness, a 

 disgust for all semblance even of meanness or underhanded- 

 ness." In the following year John Gould died at the age of 

 thirty-one, and in 1880 Arthur also died, leaving the business 

 to be managed by Mr. H. J. Veiteh. Two of his nephews have 

 lately joined him in the management. The development of 

 the nursery and the amount of important work done in con- 

 nection with it during the last ten years have been most re- 

 markable. In the introduction of new plants; in cross-breed- 

 ing Orchids, Rhododendrons, Begonias, Hippeastrums, hardy 

 flowers and vegetables and in the superior cultivation of 

 almost every class of plant, Messrs. Veiteh occupy the pre- 

 mier position among English nurserymen. Besides all this, 

 the publication of their most useful " Manual of Coniferae " in 

 1881, of the classical and scientific "Orchid Manual" now in 

 course of publication; the numerous papers prepared for the 

 Linnsean and Royal Horticultural Societies, are evidences of a 

 zeal in the cause of horticulture, a desire to help forward the 

 science and the art, of more than an ordinary kind. Messrs. 

 Veiteh may be " making a fat thing" of their nursery work, 

 but they are also doing a great deal more than most people to 

 make gardening easy and delightful as well as remunerative. 



The Chelsea nursery is only five and a half acres in extent, 

 but it is almost wholly covered by no glass houses, many of 

 them large. The entrance is through a long, lofty glass corridor 

 banked with Ferns, Palms and other foliage plants, the whole of 

 the roof being covered with red and white Lapagerias. On the 

 right is the suite of offices, where a staff of twenty clerks is 

 employed. On the left of the corridor are the large seed and 

 bulb warehouses, an enormous business being done in this 

 department. The corridor is terminated by a high house in 

 which a collection of Tree Ferns, Cycads and large Palms are 

 kept. From this the visitor may turn to the left and walk 



