78 



Garden and Forest. 



[February 13, 1889 



form of this. It is generally known as N. Fothergilli major. 



N. Moorei is a most beautiful plant of recent introduction. 

 It is like N. ciirvifolia, but has bright green leaves, a com- 

 pressed scape nine inches long, and a nine-flowered umbel ot 

 large, bright scarlet flowers. It blooms in the latter end of 

 September. 



N. Miuiselli is the largest and best of all. It is a hybrid or 

 seedling of doubtful parentage, though probably N. curvifolia 

 was one parent. The leaves are twice as broad as those of 

 any other Nerine, and they are developed along with the scape. 

 This is one and a half feet to two feet high, stout, bearing an 

 umbel fully six inches through, and composed of from twelve 

 to eighteen flowers. These are one and a half inches long, 

 \vith broad recurved segments, and colored bright, sparkling 

 rose. They are developed in Novemberand last into January. 

 I saw a magnificent inflorescence from Guernsey on the sev- 

 enth of this month. This plant is certain to become a great 

 favorite. It has very few equals among winter flowering 

 plants, whether stove or green-house. 



N. flexuosa. — A free flowering, pretty species, which pro- 

 duces its flowers and leaves together in October. The scape 

 is tall, sometimes flexuose. The umbel is composed of from 

 ten to twenty flowers, which are declinate, with crisped seg- 

 ments, and colored pale pink. The stamens and style are 

 curved. There are several varieties of this, all of them pretty, 

 but small flowered when compared with the better kinds. 



N. pudica. — This is remarkable for its ivory white flowers ; 

 they are borne in four to six flowered umbels on scapes a foot 

 long. The segments form a ball which is semi-erect, one inch 

 long and three-quarters of an inch across. There is a tinge of 

 rose on the keel at the back of each segment. 



N. atr OS anguine a is a hybrid from N. Plantii and N. flexuosa. 

 It has a scape sixteen inches high, the flowers two inches across, 

 with wavy segments, the colors being deep salmon-rose. 



iV. Cami was raised from N. curvifolia and N. iindulata. 

 The umbels are ten-flowered, the scapes a foot long. 



N. amabilis has a scape a foot high, with a large imibel of 

 bright pink flowers. 



;V. excellens has a twelve-flowered scape, and is one of the 

 l>est of the rose-colored kinds. 



N. Meadozvbankii has flowers as large as N. curvifolia, and 

 colored glowing scarlet, while those of \. elegans are salmon- 

 rose. There are other hybrids which can be well recom- 

 mended as first-class kinds. 



Kew. IV. Watson. 



Tea Rose, The Gem, 

 'T'HIS variety has been previously mentioned as being possi- 

 J- blyan old sort presented to the horticultural public under 

 a new name. Some growers have pronounced it identical 

 with Marie Van Houtte, while others were of the opinion that 

 while it greatly resembled Marie Van Houtte in some points, 

 yet they were inclined to esteem The Gem superior to that 

 variety. It should be stated, in justice to the introducer of 

 The Gem, that it was not presented with a p(3sitive voucher as 

 to its origin, but merely offered as an apparently valuable ad- 

 dition to the list of Roses for forcing, and though he had an 

 idea that it miglit have been a sport from Perle des Jardins, 

 yet he was unable to make a positive statement to this effect. 

 Judging from the style of the plant and form of the bud, how- 

 ever, this opinion does not seem to l)e well founded, and we 

 are led to offer the opinion that it may have been an unnamed 

 seedhng which was accidentally distributed. 



But, be this as it may, The Gem has not yet proved such an 

 acquisition as was anticipated, and after one season's trial it is 

 not spoken of witli much enthusiasm. However, it should 

 not be utterly condemned because it is not a brilliant success 

 as a forcing Rose, for its sphere of usefulness may be found in 

 another direction, that is, when planted out-of-doors for sum- 

 mer use. It showed some good flowers last season under 

 such circumstances. One great objection to The Gem has 

 been found in its color, which is not decided enough. By 

 artificial light, however, its yellowish white petals appear to 

 much better advantage than when seen by daylight. 



In size few of the flowers equal those of a good Perle des 

 Jardins, though occasionally buds are seen that would com- 

 pare favorably with buds of that variety. In form it is inclined 

 to be globular, the petals being rather short, and sufficiently 

 numerous to make the flowers quite double. 



The Gem seems strong and vigorous in constitution, with 

 bright, handsome foliage, and it holds its leaves well when 

 forced, giving the plant a more attractive appearance than 

 some other more useful varieties. But the fact remains, so 

 far as it has fallen under my observation, that the flowers have 

 not proved to be so marked an improvement upon other roses 



in beauty and general utility as to render it of much value to 

 the commercial grower; and though it may improve as a 

 better knowledge of its cultural requirements is gained, yet 

 it does not now promise to be a profitable venture. The 

 public taste in the matter of Rose-buds is of a much more ex- 

 acting nature than it was a few years ago, so that color, size 

 and fragrance must all be taken into consideration ; and be- 

 sides all these, for the benefit of the grower, free production 

 of bloom is insisted upon as a necessary qualification W, 



January, 1889. 



The Green-house. 



A S most green-house plants are now in active growth a rather 

 •^^ higher temperature must be maintained than that used 

 in December and January; anight temperature of 50° to 55° 

 in the cool green-houses and 65° to 75° in the warmer ones will 

 be about right. But in very cold weather, rather than drive 

 the fires hard to maintain heat in the pipes, the temperature 

 should be allowed to fall 5° or 8°. Hard firing is injurious to 

 green-house plants and favorable to the development of red 

 spider. 



Ventilate in fine, warm weather, moderately and carefully, 

 a little at a time and early in the day, and shut up gradually 

 and early in the afternoon. In this way considerable sun-heat 

 is saved, and this natural heat is far better for plants than is 

 artificial heat of any kind. 



While Callas, Carnations, Roses, Streptosolen, Leptosyne 

 and somt other plants now in bloom, if copiously supplied 

 with water, delight in the bright sunshine, there are many 

 others, for instance, Calceolarias, Cinerarias and show Pelar- 

 goniums, that are benefited by a slight shading from warm 

 sunshine; and bulbous plants, as Hyacinths, Tulips, Orni- 

 thogalum, Narcissus, Amaryllises, and the like, last much 

 longer if slightly shaded when in bloom. Gloxinias love a 

 place near the glass, but at the same time perfect shade from 

 sunshine. 



With most cool green-house plants, such as Cytisus, soft- 

 wooded Heaths, Acacias, Chorozema, Hardenbergia and many 

 others, so long as an abundance of water and free ventilation 

 is supplied, shading is never necessary at this season. But it 

 is well to shade stove plants, including Marantas, Anthuriums, 

 Dracsenas, Dieffenbachias, Palms, Medinilla, Ixoras and many 

 others. Most Orchids, Ferns and Selaginellas should also 

 be shaded. But while a thin shading is desirable, a heavy 

 shading is injurious. Cheese cloth, tift'any, or some other light 

 linen cloth fixed to rollers, and arranged so as to be raised and 

 lowered at will, is the best ; but for those who have not time 

 to attend to this shading some sort of paint for the glass should 

 be used. Tiu-pentine or naphtha whitened like milk with white 

 lead, and applied with a whitewash-brush, adheres very well, 

 but can be easily washed off at any time. Linseed oil and 

 white lead make a capital shading, but it is almost impossible 

 to wash it oft" again. 



A moist atmosphere is absolutely necessary in our warm 

 green-houses, and in order to kee[) the plants in healthy condi- 

 tion, clean and free from insects, they must be syringed at 

 least once a day. Tepid water is best for this purpose, and 

 syringing should be done in the morning before warm sun- 

 shine reaches the house, and again in the afternoon just as the 

 sunshine is passing away. And in order to still further moisten 

 the atmosphere of the house and counteract in a measure the 

 evil effect of hot pipes, water should be sprinkled around 

 freely on the benches and floors. 



In the cooler houses where less fire-heat is used less water 

 will be needed, and in the green-houses where plants are in 

 bloom — and these should be collected in a house by them- 

 selves as much as. possible — syringing should be almost dis- 

 continued, to save the flowers from disfigurement. D. A. 



Boston, Mass. 



Orchid Notes. — Angrcecuvi Chailluanutn is a rare species 

 introduced some twenty }ears ago. It produces a slender 

 stem, with leathery, dark-green leaves about eight inches 

 long, deeply notched at the apex. The flowers are borne on 

 pendulous racemes, are pure white with narrow segments, 

 the lip being prolonged into a yellowish-green spur about 

 four inches long. This plant grows freely on a block of wood 

 or in a basket filled with sphagnum moss. The warmest 

 house suits it best, and it requires a liberal supply of water. 



Phajus irroratus is a charming and very rare hybrid (I 

 l)elieve the entire stock is here) between Calanthe vestita and 

 Phajus grandif alius, and presents the intermediate character 

 of these plants, with conical-ovate bulbs, and dark-green, lan- 

 ceolate, plaited leaves. The erect racemes bear about a 

 dozen flowers, three inches across, of a creamy yellow flushed 



