522 



Garden and Forest. 



[OcTOliER 30, 1889. 



Foreign Correspondence. 



London Letter. 



THE event of tlie past week has been the great exhibition of 

 vegetables at the Royal Horticultural Society's gardens, 

 hekl in conjunction with a conference on vegetables. It was 

 highlv successful, there being a large concourse of visitors, 

 chielfy practical gardeners, to witness a collection of vege- 

 tables that has probably never been surpassed in variety or 

 quality in London. The remarkable point about this show- 

 was the fact that it had been organized and brought together 

 without the aid of prizes or any reward whatever, ijeyond the 

 thanks of the Society and the gardening public, so that it tends 

 to prove that there is still abundant energy and resource 

 among English gardeners in this direction, even if the 

 Society itsetf is not flourishing as much as it did a generation 

 ago. 



I will not attempt to detail this enormous vegetable exhi- 

 bition, because I think your readers are not interested enough 

 in the sorts we grow, and, beyond the multitudes of varieties of 

 every class of vegetables, I must confess that there was little 

 that was novel or out of the ordinary run. I was on the look- 

 out for something new, but failed to see the shadow of any- 

 thing I had not seen before. I did not even see a dish of the 

 new Chinese vegetable, Stachys tuberifera, or Spirals, as the 

 tubers have been appropriately called. It was expected that 

 there would have been a good show of Spirals, but somehow 

 the public has not yet taken to them. Messrs. Vilmorin, the 

 great seed-firm of Paris, showed a few things that seemed to 

 attract everybody's attention, none more than the enormous 

 Capsicums, "named Large Bell and Golden Queen. Both these 

 sorts had fruits quite four inches in length and as much across, 

 the one being a bright red, the other a golden yellow. They 

 are therefore highly ornamental and quite worth growing for 

 decoration. There was a large collection of Capsicums from 

 the same firm, but these were the most noteworthy. Messrs. 

 Vilmorin also showed some varieties of Sweet Maize, which, to 

 most people here, were novelties, and are quite likely to find 

 favor if they can be cultivated. One called Extra Early Sweet 

 Maize has a sweet, pleasant taste, even uncooked, and would 

 be delicious after leaving the hands of a skillful cook. 



Another novelty was the Melon Pear, an absurd name for the 

 fruit of Solanum Guatemalense, which has recently been intro- 

 duced, I t)elieve, from the West Indies. It is a kind of Egg 

 Plant, but I am told that the fruits, which are about the size and 

 shape of turkey's eggs, and ivory white, are delicious in flavor 

 and suitable for a dessert fruit. It requires to be grown, no 

 doubt, in stove heat. 



It will give you some idea of the exhibition when I state that 

 the " Committee of Selection " awarded considerably over 200 

 certificates of merit to as many varieties which were neces- 

 sarily not all new, but were selected for first rate quality. The 

 certificate is intended to be a stamp of excellence, so that the 

 public may have some authoritative and independent assist- 

 ance in making selections. The reports of the committees will 

 be published in a convenient form in due time, and they will 

 undoubtedly be valuable, particularly to amateurs who do not 

 employ professional gardeners. Though September is, on the 

 whole, the best time of the year for a vegetable exhibifion, the 

 summer vegetables, such as Peas and Beans, could not be well 

 represented, which was to be regretted. 



A conference of growers and others interested in vegetables 

 was held on each day during the exhibition, and the papers 

 read and discussed were all of a practical nature, and they will, 

 like the report, furnish sound information on their respective 

 subjects when published. Among the papers were those by 

 Shirley Hibbard, on Asparagus culture ; H. J. Veitch, on the 

 production of new varieties, which was supplemented by 

 good information on the subject by H. Vilmorin, of Paris. 

 Others read papers on Salads, food of plants, improvements 

 in Peas (by the well-known raiser, Laxton, of Bedford), 

 improvement in Potatoes, and on the supply of vegetables for 

 a large family all the year round. All these papers, and the 

 discussions thereon, will be awaited with great interest by 

 gardeners. 



During a walk round Kew Gardens to-day, in search of novel- 

 ties, I came across several most interesting plants in bloom, 

 and the one that most attracted me was Pringle's new Tiger 

 Flower [Tigridia Pringlei). It was in full bloom in company 

 with its well-known relative, T. Pavonia, from which, how- 

 ever, it may be distinguished at a glance although there is sim- 

 ilarity between them. Botanically, the two plants may be 

 distinguished from each otlier by the different form of the 

 petals and other parts of the flower, besides other less ob- 



vious characters. From a garden standpoint it is quite an 

 acquisition, because of its very brilliant color, the sepals 

 being as bright a scarlet as it is possible for a flower to 

 be — so bright, indeed, that the old species and its varieties are 

 dull in comparison with it. Its growtli is also dwarfer. The 

 figure given of it in Garden and Forest admirably repre- 

 sents the plant. The bulb nurserymen are already inquiring 

 for it, as they recognize in it " a good thing." 



Another first-rate open-air bulb is the still rarer Crinuin 

 Powellii, a very beautiful hybrid variety, raised some years ago 

 by a Mr. Powell, who hit upon the happy idea of intercrossing 

 the common C. Capense, which is quite a hardy semi-aquatic 

 plant with us, and the much more tender and far lovelier C. 

 Moorei. The result of this cross is a plant possessing the 

 hardiness of C. Capense and the splendid flowers of C. Moorei. 

 In fact, some think that Powell's hybrid is even finer in flower 

 and color than its tender parent. I saw it the other day in 

 an open-air border in a cold part of Sussex, where it had 

 wintered two years and was this season very robust. It had a 

 stem a yard high and bore a half dozen very fine flowers, 

 sweetly scented and of a deep rose pink. Tlie leaves are as 

 narrow as those of C. Capense, and it flowers continuously for 

 six weeks. It is decidedly a plant to make a note of, and I 

 believe it would be perfectly hardy in America. 



W. Goldring. 



Cultural Department. 



Rot in Iris Germanica. 



T N the cultivation of Iris Germanica, which has fleshy, 

 ■^ running root-stocks, it is not rare to find a more or less ex- 

 tensive rotting of the root-stocks. The rot renders the affected 

 portion soft and mushy ; white, not changing the natural 

 color, and highly offensive. Any portion of the root-stock 

 may be affected, but it is more commonly the older portion, 

 the newer, growing- tips being freer from attacks. A large 

 number of maggots were found in the rotten portion of some 

 plants. On showing these to an entomological friend, he said 

 they were the larvae of a fly which lays its eggs in decaying 

 tissue, and they were to be considered as an effect, not a 

 cause, of the decaying condition. 



During the past wet summer serious attacks of rot wei-e 

 seen in some instances. In a friend's garden, in June, large, 

 established clumps of /. Geruianica were literally rotted 

 away at the roots, so that large n-iasses could be pulled up 

 by a slight twitch of the yellowish, sickly looking leaves. This 

 garden is situated in strong loam in rather low-lying flat land. 

 My own collection, consisting of about one hundred and fifty 

 plants, is growing on a slight slope on strong loam with a 

 sandy subsoil. A few of my plants were badly affected with 

 rot, but none died. Most plants on examination showed 

 slight or considerable injury in June, but have since re- 

 covered, and in transplanting then-i recently all were in good 

 condition, slight traces of rot only being observable. Be- 

 sides /. Germanica, many closely allied species having simi- 

 lar fleshy root-stocks have been observed to show indications 

 of rot similar to that above described ; but I have seen no 

 such indications in bulbous species, or species like the /. Icevi- 

 gata [Kcempferi), which have dense, tough, abbreviated root- 

 stocks. 



The reniedy to apply appears to be removal to a drier, 

 well drained soil, where these Irises will thrive. An occasional 

 extra wet season like the present one will cause some injury 

 in almost any spot; but as the decay is due to super-moisture 

 rather than disease, serious losses need hardly be feared if a 

 suitable situation is selected. In winter it is best to protect 

 German Irises with a light covering permitting a free circula- 

 tion of air to prevent the retention of moisture. Evergreen 

 branches or salt hay are desirable, as they lie loosely and do 

 not easily rot. 



In importing Irises with fleshy rhizomes from Europe I 

 have met with some quite heavy losses, and have seen fre- 

 quent damage from rotting, doubtless on the journey ; 

 whereas other roots, such as Narcissus, Tulips, etc., in the same 

 package with the Irises, have been, in the instances observed, 

 in a perfectly sound condition. It would be a great advan- 

 tage to purchasers if dealers, in sending such Irises for any 

 considerable distance, would make sure that they are perfectly 

 dry before packing, and then pack them in well dried material. 

 Peat would be desirable for a packing material in such cases, 

 as its antiseptic properties would tend to counteract rotting. 

 A preliminary artiiicial drying of roots and packing n-iiglit 

 even be desirable. ^ -r ^ , 



Boston. Robert T .Jackson. 



