Alc.i ST 14, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



389 



Fig. 122. — Leucsena pulverulenta. — See page 



Asia, and, could seed be procured from near the northern 

 range of its distribution, plants could be raised which 

 might prove hardy in the northern states. 



It would be interesting to know if this handsome plant 

 is cultivated anywhere successfully in the United States. 



Foreign Correspondence. 

 London Letter. 



T^HE great Rose tournament in honor of the Shah of Persia 

 -'- at the Crystal Palace was simply an ordinary Rose show 

 magnified several times, and therefore needs no description. 

 Your readers will be more interested in the new Roses, which, 

 as a rule, are shown in full force, as the National Rose Society's 

 gold medal for the best new Rose not in commerce is a much- 

 coveted prize — is, in fact, the blue ribbon among rosarians. 

 Mr. Bennett, the raiser of Her Majesty and other fine Roses, 

 has done much to elevate the standard of excellence in new 

 Roses, so that now a gold-medal Rose must be of superlative 



merit. This year tiie fortunate medalist 

 is Mr. Prince, of Oxford, who is luidis- 

 putedly a prince of Tea-rose growers, and 

 the sort that gained the honor is the Sou- 

 venir de S. A. Prince, a pure white sport 

 from the old favorite, Souvenird'un Ami. 

 The flowers are large and full, of fine 

 form, and deliciously fragrant. If it can 

 be always grown as Mr. Prince shows, it 

 will prove one of the best of white Teas. 

 He grows it, as, indeed, he does all his 

 Teas, on the seedling Brier, and few here- 

 abouts can equal his blooms. I was 

 much pleased to see how very prominent 

 the lovely American Rose, The Bride, was 

 at this show. It was in all the best col- 

 lections, a proof tiiat it has established 

 itself in the good graces of critical rosa- 

 rians. Of the new Roses already in com- 

 merce there was a goodly show, and the 

 first prize for twelve trusses was taken by 

 Lady Alice, a pale sport from Lady Mary 

 Fitzwilliam, whose good qualities it pos- 

 sesses, but it was not so much admired as 

 The Bride, which was second, while a 

 good crimson hybrid perpetual, named 

 by Paul, of Cheslumt, Queen of Autiunn, 

 was third. The collections of a dozen new 

 Roses were fairly good, and among 

 the winning twelve were Grand Mogul, 

 Her Majesty, The Bride, Primrose Dame, 

 Silver Queen, Viscountess Folkestone, Miss 

 Ethel Burnside, Duchess of Leeds, Earl 

 of Dufferin, and M. Mat Baron, all first- 

 rate sorts. The prizes (silver medals) for 

 the finest blooms in the whole show of 

 hybrid perpetuals and Teas or Noisettes 

 were won by Ulrich Brunner and Com- 

 tesse de Nadaillac among nurserymen, 

 and among amateurs, Marie Baumann 

 and Comtesse de Nadaillac, which says a 

 great deal for the Tea-scented variety, 

 which has been grandly shown this season 

 everywhere. The classes for specified 

 varieties are generally well represented, 

 as the sorts are usually those most popu- 

 lar and grown on a large scale. Thus 

 there were classes for a dozen blooms of 

 Lady Mary Fitzwilliam, Marie Baumann, 

 Her Majesty, A. K. Williams, Marechal 

 Niel, and Niphetos, which are, probably, 

 the most extensively grown sorts now. 

 The classes for Roses of particular colors 

 were interesting. Prince Camille de Rohan 

 was the finest dark crimson, Alfred Col- 

 omb the best crimson, Merveillede Lyon 

 the best white, and Madame Caroline 

 Kuster the best yellow. 



The last fortnightly meeting of the 

 Royal Horticultural brought a few novel- 

 ties to light, and some of sterling merit. 

 Among the Orchids there was a lovely va- 

 riety of Caitleya Mendelii, from the Blen- 

 heim collection, and named Duchess of 

 Marlborough. It was called a white variety, though it is not quite 

 pure ; but the delicate suffusion of mauve, which overlies the 

 whole flower, renders it very charming, and the large size and 

 fine form of the flower add to its beauty. It won a first-class 

 certificate, as did also a wonderfully fine variety of Oncidiufii 

 crispiim called Grandiflorum. Its flowers are nearly twice the 

 ordinary size and richly colored, while the spikes were a yard 

 long and widely branched ; in fact, it was, in this respect, more 

 like the branching-spiked O. MarsJiaHiatnim than the ordinary 

 O. crispiim. Other noteworthy Orciiids were Phajus Humboldti, 

 one of the rare terrestrial Orchids from Madagascar, which 

 one seldom sees in flower or even in good health ; but it is 

 not a remarkable beauty — not comparable with its companion, 

 P. tiiberculosiis. The magnificent La'lia callistoglossa, one of 

 the hybrids from L. purpnrata, was grandly shown. It re- 

 sembles its parent in growth and in flower somewhat, but the 

 labellum, the finest part of the flower, is larger and of a very 

 rich amethystine purple. The beautiful, small, late-flowering 

 variety of Odo7itoglossu)n vexillariimt, named Superbum, was 

 shown in fine flower. It is smaller than the ordinary form, 

 and its blossoms are paler, but enriched with a large crimson 



