N0VEMUER 5, 189O. 



Garden and Forest 



537 



artificial treatment. He is consequently an authority on gar- 

 den Crinums. Recognizing this, the Royal Horticultural 

 Society invited him to read a paper on Crinums atthe meeting 

 held on Tuesday last. The paper was far too short, consider- 

 ing how little is known of Crinums by horticulturists generally. 

 Still, it served to bring the plants into notice, the drawings of 

 some of the rarest of the species cultivated by Sir Charles 

 affording some idea of the character and ornament of the 

 genus. 



Dean Herbert was a keen admirer and grower of Crinums, 

 as may be seen in his book on Amaryllidacea, wherein forty- 

 six species are described, almost every one of which he appears 

 to have had in cultivation. He also describes no less than 

 twenty-three hybrid Crinums, the number being- soon increased 

 to thirty-two according to Sweet's " British Flower-Garden." 



A very remarkable fact, and one which intending breeders 

 of Crinums should make special note of, is the statement 

 made by Herbert that "all the hybrid Crinums raised between 

 C. Capeiise and the tropical species are hardy enough to stand 

 out-of-doors against the front wall of a stove, where, if a mat 

 is thrown over them in sharp frosts, they preserve much of 

 their leaves through the winter, and from May to November 

 continue throwing up a succession of Mower-stems in great 

 perfection." The only hybrid Crinum known in gardens now 

 is C. Powellii, which was raised in England about fifteen years 

 ago by crossing C. Capcnse and C. JMoorei. The result of this 

 cross was the production of at least two well marked varieties, 

 one with pure white flowers, the other with exquisite pink 

 flowers. This hybrid is perfectly hardy in England. It has 

 handsome semi-erect foh'age, stout flower-scapes, four to five 



Fig. 68.— A Remarkable Old Catalpa-tree. — See page 536. 



Herbert succeeded in making such crosses as C. Zey/am'cum 

 with C. Capense, C. pedunculatum with C. Capense, C. scabium 

 with C. Capense, C. rubescens with C, Capense, C. speciosum 

 with C. deftxiun, etc. He found that all Crinums, however 

 dissimilar, readily intermix when brought together by human 

 agency, and that it was only in cases of constitutional discrep- 

 ancy, as, for instance, when a moisture-loving species was 

 crossed with one which affected dry treatment, or a tropical 

 species with one from cool regions, that the progeny of such 

 crosses were not fertile. It is therefore surprising that not one 

 of the hybrids mentioned by Herbert and Sweet are in cultiva- 

 tion now. 



The first hybrid Amaryllid raised was Hippeastrum John- 

 soni from H. viitatum and H. regium, and the second was 

 Crinum Goweni, from C. Capense and C. Zeylanicum. This 

 was raised by the Earl of Carnarvon at Highclere in 1813. 



feet high, each bearing a bunch of from twelve to sixteen 

 flowers, which are larger than those of the Belladonna Lily, 

 and as elegant in form. The white variety lias shorter scapes, 

 but the flowers are fully as large as the pink ones, and they are 

 of the purest white. Planted in a deep, well manured soil, in 

 a sunny position, this Crinum increases rapidly. Mr. Gum- 

 bleton planted a single bulb which in seven years increased to 

 about twelve, which pushed up eighteen scapes, averaging 

 four feet in height, each bearing a huge bunch of beautiful 

 flowers of the greatest value in the garden or when cut and 

 placed in water. If some skilled cultivator and breeder would 

 but take the Crinums in hand he would almost certainly pro- 

 duce the most valuable results in a comparatively short time. 

 The material is at hand, its plasticity has been proved long ago 

 by Herbert and others, whilst as an example of what may be 

 expected we may point to the hybrid raised by Mr. Powell, 



