426 



Garden and Forest. 



l^lil'TEMBER 4, IJ 



certainlv become popular. Ot the other class of hybrids 

 i^those ironi G. piirpnreo-atirattis) there were numerous sorts 

 shown, three of which, named Andre Chenier, Alsace and La 

 France, were distingaiished by awards, wliile another, shown 

 bv its EngUsh raiser, and named Hippolyta, was also voted an 

 award of merit. It has lart^^e and perfectly-shaped Howers of 

 lemon-yellow, blotched with maroon-crimson. The growth is 

 vigorous, and the spike long- and massive. Next in interest 

 were the double Begonias of Messrs. Cannell, who showed a 

 reallv wonderful group ot seedling plants, all raised from 

 seed in February of the present year. The remarkable point 

 about these seedlings was the very large size of the blooms, 

 which looked more like double Hollyhocks than Begonias, so 

 perfect were the rosetted blooms. Some may think they are 

 too big, and perhaps so, to be really beautiful, but the amateur 

 is alwavs asking for larger and larger blooms, and so the busi- 

 ness of the Horist is to produce them. The colors of these new 

 double Howers are exquisite, soft, yet brilliant, and one could 

 trace almost every intermediate gradation of tint from a rich 

 deep crimson through the palest of pinks to snow-white. 

 The sorts to which awards of merit were given were named 

 Litkie, pale salmon-pink ; A. Blanc, rich cherry-crimson ; 

 Mrs. Cayzer, bright rose. Though only three won distinction, 

 there were others equally fine, but the committee do not like 

 to be too liberal with awards. 



The Java Rhododendrons of Messrs. Veitch are always ad- 

 mired, and, now the firm whose peculiar specialty these green- 

 house shrubs are, have taken to show cut blooms in l.ioxes like 

 Roses, so numerous have' the sorts become. It is not often 

 now that anything special is obtained in the way of color, but 

 on this occasion they showed one, called Duchess of Fife, of 

 a singular color — pinky-cream, I heard it described — while the 

 large blooms were perfect in form as well as large in truss. 

 This race of green-house plants is becoming extremely popu- 

 lar now, as they do not require much heat to grow them to 

 perfection, while they yield flowers almost throughout the 

 year, in winter especially. 



There was a tirst-rate new Chrysanthemum called Golden 

 Shah, which the experts on the committee considered worthy 

 of an award, as it is said to be finer than any other yellow 

 early-tiowering sort. It is dwarf, perfect in bloom, and in 

 color Ijright and good. The crowds of new Dahlias exhibited 

 Sufficiently proves that the demand for them is as great as 

 ever. I will not attempt to describe even those that struck 

 me by the distinct colors or other novel point. Only two were 

 certificated, as the committee are very careful now in dealing 

 out awards to new Dahlias. Both were single, one, called 

 James Scobie, is warm yellow, with a centre zone of crimson — 

 a distinct break in color ; the other is yellow, flaked and pen- 

 cilled with scarlet. Single Deihlias seem to have had their day 

 of popularity, the rage now being for Cactus-flowered sorts of 

 the Juarezii type, and here were to be ^een from such great 

 growers as Ware and Cheal some beautiful sorts in color dif- 

 ferent to any shown before. Those I made special note of 

 were Panthea, Charming Bride, Ziflu, Empress of India, all 

 first-rate. But we shall see Dahlias better later, when other 

 things are less engaging, A firm of market-growers, Messrs. 

 Hawkins & Bennett, think they have obtained the perfection 

 of a double scarlet Pelargonium for the market-grower. This 

 they call the Duke of Fife, with massive truss of brilliant scar- 

 - let and very double, and, lest it should be thought that it too 

 much resembles that well-known and first-rate sort, F. V. 

 Raspail, they showed some blooms of the latter for compari- 

 son. The Committee believed in it, too, for they voted an 

 award of merit. 



LoniLin. W. GoldrXllg. 



Cultural Department. 

 A Few Late Pears. 



'X'HE Abbott is a good pear for family use, though not much 

 -•- grown. It is a little smaller than the Bartlett in size, with 

 a nice blush on the sunny side, and people who dislike the 

 musk of the Bartlett woidd prefer the Abbott. The tree is a 

 strong grower and yields well. Its merits have been over- 

 looked. 



Belle Lucrative is a pear of medium size and excellent 

 quality when well-grown. It is an abundant bearer, and, if 

 allowed to do so, will over-bear, to the detriment of the fruit, 

 both'in size and quality. The skin of the fruit is an unattractive 

 green, and for tliis reason, among better-looking pears, it is 

 apt to be passed without notice, but its buttery, juicy flesh 

 amply compensates for any lack of good looks. 



Golden Beurre is of medium size, and in appearance directly 

 the opposite of the preceding, while approaching it in quality. 



It is an abundant biennial bearer, but, for some reason, has 

 not achieved great popularity. 



Flemish Beauty is another large and exceedingly delicious 

 pear, and of almost honeyed sweetness at its best, but it cracks 

 and spots so badly over a large extent of territ.ory, that it is 

 absolutely wortliless except in limited areas. 



The White Doyenne or Virgalieu, with a dozen other names 

 as synonyms, used to be the standard of excellence of the 

 whole pear family, and would be to-day if it could be grown 

 as well generally as it was forty years ago. At that time it was 

 the pear of pears in the farmers' estimation in this part of New 

 Jersey (but this was before the advent of the Bartlett or 

 Williams' Bonchretien, as It was sometimes called), but it also 

 became subject to spotting and cracking, and is now so abso- 

 lutely worthless that it is seldom seen, and is unknown to 

 most of our younger people. 



Howell, a large, handsome, light yellow pear, a good grower 

 and bearer, is liighly esteemed by many, but I never consid- 

 ered it quite good enough for a standard dessert fruit. 



Louise Bonne de Jersey, where it succeeds, is a noble fruit, 

 of buttery texture and juicy,' but in this section it is gritty, 

 astringent, and only fitted for cooking purposes. Of late years 

 it has developed the fault of shedding its leaves so early that 

 the fruit is seldom more than two-thirds grown, so that it is 

 difficult to imagine that it cOidd ever attain the degree of ex- 

 cellence which it reaches when grown in perfection. 



Angouleme, or Duchess, as it is popifiarly known, is of the 

 largest size and best quality, if well-grown ; if not, it is just the 

 reverse. The larger the specimen, generally, the better it is. 

 The flesh is coarse-grained, but juicy, sweet and delicious ; 

 one of the most popular pears grown, after the Bartlett, and 

 more largely grown as a dwarf on Ouince-root than any other. 

 It must have congenial soil, however, and high culture. On 

 my soil, as a dwarf, it is like other dwarfs, of little account. It 

 is said to prove satisfactory as a standard, but I have no expe- 

 rience with it as such. There are few advocates of dwarf-Pear 

 culture left. The few successful orchards of dwarf-trees, are 

 those which have rooted from the graft, and have become 

 standards in fact. 



Anjou is another large, popular pear of very good c[uality, 

 when in perfection, and it will keep till November and Decem- 

 ber in good condition, if properly cared for. The tree is one 

 of the best in health, foliage and growth, and should be in the 

 smallest collection. This was Colonel Wilders' favorite. 



Buft'um, a pear of medium size and fair quality, is one ot the 

 most healthy, vigorous growers in the whole list, and an 

 abundant bearer every other year. Sometimes the fruit is 

 rather unc^er-sized from over-bearing, a tendency in all pears, 

 and some years, too, it is less juicy than others. It is then ex- 

 cellent for cooking. With approaching ripeness it assumes a 

 yellow and handsome appearance. 



Bosc is a long, slender-necked russet pear of the highest ex- 

 cellence, sweet and rich. The tree is a poor, open grower 

 while young, and the fruit is borne singly or in pairs generally, 

 and very evenly distributed. It is most satisfactory when 

 top-grafted. This was Mr. Downing's favorite pear, and his 

 judgment on this point seems to me eminenti}' sound. 



Clairgeau is a pear of the largest size, handsome and good, 

 when in perfection. The tree is a fair grower and an eariy and 

 abundant bearer, but it is liable to shed its leaves prematurely. 

 When the foliage is held till October, and the fruit is fully ma- 

 tured, it ripens up fiandsomely, and the quality, to my taste, is 

 much superior to that of the best Bartlett. This spotting and 

 premature fall of our Pear-leaves is a more serious trouble 

 with me than the 'fire-blight. The latter kills, and leaves no 

 doubt as to the course to pursue, while the former leads on 

 hopefidl}- to certain disappointment in the end. 



Sheldon, a round, russet pear of medium to large size, flesh 

 granular, melting, sweet, juicy and aromatic, is a fruit of the 

 highest excellence. The tree is a lusty grower and generally 

 productive. It should be in the smallest collection. 



Seckel is too well known to need description. The tree 

 grows moderately slow, bearing its fruit in clusters, which 

 should be thinned to single specimens, if possible. Its small 

 size is its only fault. 



Onondaga is a large, greenish-yellow pear of excellent qual- 

 ity. Tree vigorous and productive. 



Lawrence is an American pear of great excellence. The tree 

 is of moderate growth, very healthy and productive ; the fruit 

 of medium size, smooth, yellow at maturity when grown on 

 young trees, but on old trees it is very apt to become cloudy 

 or rusty. The skin is thick, flesh fine grained, buttery, sweet 

 and juicy, and it will keep till Christmas with ordinary care, 

 and, on the whole, is the nearest approach to a good winter 

 pear I am acquainted with. The tree holds its foliage 



