August 21, 1S89.] 



Garden and Forest. 



403 



tlie new C. Seegerianuin, C. Pageaman, C. 

 Bitchanianiim, C. Godseffianum, C. Win- 

 nianuiii, C. regale, C. pavoninum and C. 

 J avanico-stiperhiens. Here is a list for the 

 specialists in Cypripedia, who probably are 

 the only people who will be able to define 

 and appreciate the subtile differences be- 

 tween them and well-known species. As to 

 the names of these so-called new Orchids, 

 it seems as if we are gettins^ from bad to 

 worse. Every one assumes that he has a 

 right to christen Orchids, now that they can- 

 not l)e sent to Reichenbach, and the result 

 is that they are making confusion worse con- 

 founded. Instead of one competent man 

 describing new Orchids, we have two or 

 three, and their descriptions of the same 

 plant do not agree, and, in some instances, 

 old species have been described and named 

 as new. The work could be done very well 

 at Kew if the cultivators and importers 

 would only be loyal to the recognized head- 

 quarters of botany in this country. Let us 

 hope that no other large family of plants will 

 suffer from sucli excessive popularity as 

 Orchids. Among the list of the newest 

 novelties I see a pure white variety of our 

 old favorite, Dendrobiuiii nobile, and if this 

 does really come up to description we shall 

 have indeed a valuable addition to winter 

 flowers. How many have sigfied for it, and 

 how often have collectors been instructed 

 to be on the look-out for it at home and 

 abroad. It will be interesting to see what 

 figure such a rarity will be sold for. It must 

 be white and nothing but white to be of 

 value, hut this has to be proved. A pure, 

 colorless variety of D. nobile is what florists 

 want iox winter work, but it will be many 

 years probably before they will get it. When 

 I was in India I was continually on the look- 

 out for it, hut no one had seen or even heard 

 of it. W. Goldrinsc- 



Fio 



-Uiiiola Palmeri. — I'wo-thirds of natural size. — See page 401 



124 



. A male plant ; 2. A female plant ; 3. A male plant with small, close leaves ; A. A spikelet of the male 



plant; B. Empty glumes of same; C Flowering glumes of same : D. Paletofsame; a. Female spikelet; 



b. A pair of empty glumes of same ; c. A Howering glume of same ; d. Palet of same ; rf.' A transverse 



section of the palet ; e. Young fruit with the styles united ; y. Older, ripe fruit, with the styles separate. 



The dissections are magnified three diameters, e.xcepting "y," which is magnified four diameters. 



are set prettily amidst the handsomely marked foliage, and 

 last for weeks in perfection. Thougli the present is the low- 

 est ebb of the Orchid-Hower season, there is much activity 

 among Orchidists on account of the numerous novelties, 

 genuine and otherwise, that appear at the auction-rooms. 

 Cypripedium seems to produce most novelties, and this week 

 there are to l)e sold the " new and beautiful C. Savageaniun" 



Cultural Department. 



A Few Summer Pears. 



I AM asked to name a list of Pears for family 

 use by one who is fitting up his garden 

 in a newly-acquired home, and having but 

 little room, and getting well on toward the 

 meridian of life, he wants trees that will be 

 likely to yield fruit as quickly as possible, 

 anil of quality fit for table use. As a rule, 

 the actual popular knowledge of Pears is 

 limited to the Bartlett and Seckel, and, per- 

 haps, a few old-timers, which, in the child- 

 hood of people, like our enquirer, were 

 voted e.Kcellent. People of this class have 

 usually given some study to the books and 

 the catalogues of some eminent nurserynien. 

 They have probably made a list after much 

 thought, only to have some acquaintance or 

 tree agent advise an entirely different one. 

 Such persons should be told at the outset that 

 all Pears do not succeed equally well in all 

 localities. Besides this, individual tastes dif- 

 fer widely. One will prefer a sweet Pear to 

 an acid one, and another the reverse, so 

 that if these, and other characteristics, are 

 fairly stated, they can make the most satis- 

 factory selection themselves. 



Pears do best generally on a stiff, heavy, 

 rich, well-drained soil, such as a clay loam. 

 The earliest Pear I have ever grown is the 

 Summer Doyenne. It usually ripens here 

 from the iSth to the 20th of July, and lasts 

 It is small, about the size of a Seckel, good 

 specimens measuring about one and a half inches in diameter, 

 nearly round, sweet, with a handsome red cheek. Altogether 

 it is a very a'oreeable and welcome fruit so early in the sea- 

 son. The tree is healthy, a good grower, and an early bearer, 

 it is sometimes called a summer Seckel. 



The Madeleine comes in at the same time, is nearly, or quite 



about a weel^ 



