April 17, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



183 



ing root-stocks fill the ground near the surface. It is a peren- 

 nial, tenacious of life, starts quickly after cutting and in the 

 spring, but does not become thoroughly established before 

 the third year after sowing. Altogether it is the best grass 

 for a lawn, and next to it comes Rhode Island Bent {AgrosHs 

 canina), which is rather finer than Red Top {Agros (is vulgaris, 

 var. alba). It will thrive on thinner soils than will Blue Grass, 

 and becomes fairly well established the first year. It is the 

 best grass to mix in quantity with Blue Grass. If in chaff, two 

 bushels of the Bent seed mixed with the same amount of 

 Blue Grass seed should be sown to the acre. 



A lawn thoroughly made will last for years, and, if properly 

 cared for, will improve with age. Cut often and leave the 

 clippings on the ground. Give a sprinkling of seed each 

 spring, followed by a heavy rolling while the ground is soft, 

 to fit the surface for the mower, and pack the soil about the 

 roots where frost has loosened them. A dressing of tine com- 

 post, or of some complete commercial fertilizer, should be 

 added. 



Foreign Correspondence. 



London Letter. 



A IT HEN the history of English horticulture in the nineteenth 

 * • century comes to be written its most remarkable feature 

 will be the position held by the great Orchid family. In a pe- 

 riod of less than fifty years the cultivation of Orchids has 

 developed into almost a passion, and has become an important 

 commercial industry. There are millions of pounds invested 

 in Orchids in England alone. Collectors are in all parts of the 

 world searching for them. They are objects of interest to all 

 classes of the community. Society journals open their pages 

 to long articles upon them,andall sorts of anecdotes about them, 

 sometimes true and often fictitious, are told and Hstened to by 

 all kinds of people. There are a few horticulturists who profess 

 to despise Orchids, and who constantly discover that a reaction 

 against them is setting in. But these plants are more popular 

 now than ever, and this popularity seems on the increase. And 

 yet there is no Orchid Society in England. Such plants as 

 Chrysanthemums, Carnations, Auriculas and Roses have each 

 their own society. Weak efforts to start an Orchid Society have 

 been made, but they came to nothing. There is, however, 

 special representation promised for Orchids now, the Royal 

 Horticultural Society having decided to appoint a committee of 

 specialists to adjudicate on Orchids alone. That such a com- 

 mittee is wanted is abundantly evident. The number of men 

 who possess a knowledge sufficient to enable them to decide 

 which Orchids are good and which bad, what is new, and what 

 is simply an old plant under a new name, is quite hmited. 

 When one remembers that at the present time there are close 

 upon 2,000 species in culdvation, not to mention the almost 

 countless varieties and hybrids, the necessity for the step which 

 the Royal Horticultural Society is about to take must be 

 apparent. A man may know ordinary garden plants well, or 

 be an authority on some special department of flower-culture, 

 but that does not qualify him for the post of referee where 

 Orchids are concerned. 



Disa tripetaloides is another addition to the useful garden 

 species of this large South African genus. It is not unlike D. 

 raceinosa, recently mentioned in Garden and Forest, and it 

 requires the same treatment. Mr. O'Brien, of Harrow-on-the- 

 Hill, has imported plants which have recently flowered. He 

 writes: " It is not only the freest growing and most profuse 

 flowering Disa I ever saw, but also the most easily grown of 

 South African terrestrial Orchids." 1 1 bears spikes of from twenty 

 to thirty flowers, each about an inch across, white, united with 

 pink, and dotted with rose-purple ; the dorsal sepal is helmet- 

 shaped, with a short spur, the lateral sepals are oblong, obtuse, 

 proportionately large, the petals are falcate-oblong and the lip 

 linear. At Kew this plant is growing freely by the side of D. 

 raceinosa, than which no Orchid appears more easy to culti- 

 vate. Whilst wridhg of a new Cape plant I may notice the 

 flowering of Drosera cistiflora, which is now at Kew in bud, 

 having been presented by Miss North, who not only drew at- 

 tention to it by her picture painted at the Cape, but who has 

 introduced it ihto culdvation. Droseras are delightful plants, 

 and, as a rule, easy to manage. At Kew there is a good col- 

 lection of species, and they are a source of much interest to 

 visitors. They are grown in a cool, sunny green-house along 

 with a collection of Sarracenias, Darlingtonias and other " car- 

 nivorous " plants. Guards of wire-netting are placed in front 

 of the stages, and it is amusing to hear the opinions of visitors 

 with regards to these plants and their "cages." The Darling- 

 tonia is the "Cobra plant," and is supposed to have a deadly 



sting. Dioncea is a kind of "vegetable octopus," and soon. 

 The cages are meant to prevent visitors from being injured by 

 these vicious plants ! Although not at Kew, yet plants are in 

 England of Heliainphora nutans, a very interesting Sarracenia- 

 like plant from the Roraima Mountain, and which was discov- 

 ered by Schomburgk about fifty years ago. Messrs. Veitch are 

 the lucky possessors of a stock of this plant. 



Amorphophallus Rivieri. — A very fine example of this well- 

 known Aroid was lately in flower with Messrs. Veitch. The 

 scape was a foot high, the spathe trumpet-shaped and a foot 

 across the mouth, whilst the erect club-like spadix was one and 

 a half feet high by one and a half inches in diameter. The color 

 was dull purple inside, and gray, with green spots, outside. 

 Most gardeners know the foliage of this old Cochin China plant, 

 but few are acquainted with its flowers. They are extraordi- 

 nary in appearance, and were it not for their abominable odor 

 the plant might be recommended on their account alone. I 

 beheve aU the Amorphophalli have this peculiarity in their 

 flowers. A new species, A. Eicleri, is in flower at Kew now, 

 the spathe being about the size of a wine-glass, but when the 

 tiny flowers which clothe the lower part of the spadix were 

 open the smell was so offensive that the artist who had to make 

 a drawing of it was compelled to inclose it under a bell-glass. 

 When A. giganteus is in flower many visitors will not venture 

 into the house where it is. This offensive odor arises from the 

 true flowers as they mature, so that after removing them with 

 a knifej the smell disappears. The marvelous A. Titanum 

 (Conophallus) is also in cultivation at Kew. Last year the 

 tuber was like a large, flat Pumpkin, eighteen inches in diame- 

 ter, the leaf-stalk eight feet high, straight and smooth as a gun- 

 barrel, and eight inches through at the base ; the blade was 

 divided into three main branches, from which spring numerous 

 smaller ones, the whole forming a huge canopy thirty feet in 

 circumference. This leaf was developed in less than two 

 months, and remained on the tuber till winter. Now the tuber 

 is at rest, and hopes are entertained, from its size and health, 

 that it will flower this year. The inflorescence was described 

 by Dr. Beccari, who discovered the plant in Sumatra about ten 

 years ago, and a life-size picture of it is in the Museum at Kew. 

 In this the spathe is three feet in diameter, and the thick spa- 

 dix six feet long. Apart from its flowers, this Aroid is one of 

 the handsomest and most interesting of the tropical foliage- 

 plants grown at Kew. 



The exhibitions of spring-flowering plants held in the Botanic 

 Society's gardens at Regent's Park are always of exceptional 

 interest and rich in display ; that held on Wednesday last being 

 voted one of the best seen in London for years. Besides the 

 usual spring-flowering bulbs, such plants as Cyclamens, Clivias, 

 Deutzias, Cinerarias, Primulas and Hippeastrums were shown 

 in abundance, and with scarcely an exception were splendid 

 examples of culture and selection. Mr. James, of Slough, 

 whose strain of Cinerarias is remarkable for dwarfness, large- 

 ness of flower and fine colors, surpassed his previous efforts 

 by the group he showed on Wednesday. Messrs. Carter & 

 Co., of Holborn, sent a group of their new seedling Cineraria, 

 Emperor Frederick. It is remarkable in having the ray-florets 

 quilled at the base, and colored violet, the spreading portion 

 being maroon-purple. Messrs. Cannell & Sons also exhibited 

 a very fine strain of Cinerarias. The Cyclamens from the St. 

 George's Nursery Company, Hanwell, and from Mr. Odell, 

 were especially good, both in size of flower and in color. The 

 cultivation of these plants is an art known to only few, if one 

 may judge by the wide difference between the Cyclamens of 

 the ordinary garden and those of the specialist. If the latter is 

 asked how the trick is done, he says we must have special 

 houses, special treatment and specially good luck in regard to 

 position, water, etc. Two new seedling Cyclamens, which 

 were awarded certificates, were Faust, with flowers of an uni- 

 form deep crimson color, and Striatum, with large flowers, 

 purplish-crimson, with a broad band of rosy-white down the 

 middle of each segment. Should this last reproduce itself 

 from seeds it will give us an entirely new race of Cyclamens, so 

 far as regards color. It was shown by Mr. Odell, of Hilling- 

 don. Hippeastrums, both new and old, were represented by 

 several large collections. The best of the new kinds were : 

 Lustrous, with flowers six inches across, of good form, and 

 almost wholly deep scarlet, with crimson veins (Veitch) ; Op- 

 tima, flowers very large, nearly a foot across, bright crimson 

 (Veitch). Amongst the Roses shown by Paul & Son were fine 

 examples of the pretty little fairy roses called Mignonette and 

 Golden Fairy, both forms of R. polyantha. As pot plants for 

 the green-house these bunch-flowered little roses are of great 

 value. R. Hardyi was also shown in bloom. It is a delightful 

 rose, with flowers like those of Cistus laurifolius, but yellow, 

 with a crimson blotch at the base of each petal. Boronia heter- 



