June 4, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



275 



produced on plants in northern gardens, and young seedlings, 

 when well started, make a vigorous and even rapid growth. 



The Rhodora may bloom a few days earlier than R. Vaseyi, 

 and it lasts forabout the same length of "time. Although normally 

 rosy purple, the color of the flowers on some plants is much paler 

 and even occasionally almost white, a circumstance which has 

 not yet received much attention from propagators. Except 

 when in flower the Rhodora cannot be called an ornamental 

 shrub, but it grows well in the partial shade of other shrubs or 

 of trees in any good garden soil, and is not so difficult to trans- 

 plant as its rarity in cultivation might indicate. When the 

 full grown plants are collected in their native habitat they 

 should be lifted in clumps with as much of the adhering soil 

 as possible. When such care is taken the plants will continue 

 to grow without interruption even when transferred to a much 

 drier soil than that to which they had been accustomed. 



Few people seem to know that there is a native species of 

 Laurel which in cultivation blossoms with the Rhodora, but 

 continues in bloom somewhat later. This is theso-called Pale 

 Laurel {Kalmia glancd), whose first flowers expand three 

 weeks before those of the Sheep Laurel {K. angustifolia) or 

 the Mountain Laurel (A', latifolia) when growing side by side. 

 It is a straggling little plant from one to two feet high, with 

 small narrow leaves, which are shining dark green above and 



grant, pinkish red flowers. In unsheltered spots these appear 

 about the first of May, reaching fullest development and 

 abundance in about two weeks, after which they gradually 

 diminish in number, although good sprays of blossom may be 

 collected up to the first week in June. Again, in July and Au- 

 gust or later, a second, though very scattering, crop of flowers 

 is produced among the evergreen foliage. Though sometimes 

 subject to injury in winter, these plants well repay the slight 

 protection necessary to secure an abundance of bloom. 



Daphne Genkiva, a Japanese species, has an entirely different 

 aspect from D. Cneorum when in bloom. The lilac-blue 

 tubular flowers appear in little clusters along the branches, 

 which are entirely free from leaves during the first ten days of 

 blossoming. The flowers are sometimes described as fra- 

 grant, but in specimens at the Arboretum the odor is very 

 faint and delicate when compared with that of D. Cneorum. 

 Each year's experience shows that this Japanese species is 

 quite as hardy as D. Cneorum, but both are of slow growth. 

 Although the flowers of these Daphnes are showy and fra- 

 grant, they seem to be rarely visited by insects, and I have 

 never known the plants about Boston to bear fruit. Two 

 other species, however, D. Mezereum and D. alpina, of Euro- 

 pean origin, ripen seed in considerable abundance. 



Arnold Arboretum. J . Cr. J aCK. 



A Stone Bridge in Wales. — See page 270. 



white beneath. The flowers are about half an inch broad and 

 usually lilac-purple in color, but, like the Rhodora, the color 

 of the corollas of some plants is found to vary, and be either 

 darker or much lighter than the type. 



The Sand Myrtle {Leiophyllum buxifolitnn) is a pretty, 

 •diminutive, dark evergreen shrub, also of the Heath family, 

 which only grows from six inches to a foot, or a little more, in 

 height. At Boston it comes into full bloom about the third 

 week in May. The flowers are borne in terminal umbel-like 

 clusters, and are usually so abundant as to completely cover 

 the plant. The unopened buds are pinkish, the flowers very 

 small and white, but the red anthers give them all a pink 

 effect. The white flowers of the Labrador Tea {Ledum latifo- 

 lium) open a few days after those of the Sand Myrtle, and 

 although appearing at a time when white flowers are abundant, 

 they possess a peculiar charm and individuality which is so 

 characteristic of almost every flower in the Ericacea. The 

 Sand Myrtle is a native of the sandy Pine-barren districts in 

 New Jersey and other more southern localities, while the 

 Labrador Tea inhabits regions much further north ; but once 

 well established, both thrive in Massachusetts when given the 

 same conditions as to Rhododendrons. 



Wherever Daphne Cneorum becomes known it is admired 

 and appreciated for its compact little clusters of strongly fra- 



Originating New Peas. 



IT was long thought that natural or insect cross-fertilization 

 of the Pea was practically impossible, but Mr. Laxton, who 

 is known as the originator of some fifty varieties, now thinks 

 that minute insects which appear to feed on the pollen before 

 the flower opens do, in many cases, carry it from flower to 

 flower. The presence of "rogues" or irregular plants is 

 sometimes due to this agency. Great improvements have 

 been made in Peas in point of earliness, size, productiveness, 

 quality and dwarfness of growth. But for various reasons 

 there is a constant tendency to revert to the old form and lose 

 the advantages gained. This makes the continuous produc- 

 tion of new varieties necessary in order to counteract this retro- 

 grade tendency. How new forms are originated by cross-fer- 

 tilization was explained by Mr. Laxton at the famous vege- 

 table conference held at Chiswick last autumn in the following 

 passage taken from the report in the journal of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society: 



" Natural fertilization usually takes place in the flower of the 

 Pea before expansion, and, therefore, in order to secure a suc- 

 cessful cross, the operator must let his work precede this, and 

 it will be necessary to operate two or three days prior to the 

 opening of the flower, and when the incipient blossom is 



