August 14, 1895.] 



Garden and Forest. 



329 



These hybrids flowered last year, and the present season reached 

 maturity. The field of three acres slopes gently to the east, 

 the soil is a light sandy loam ; in an air-line the distance to the 

 Pacific Ocean is about twelve miles, and the air is tempered by 

 daily ocean breezes. For moisture only cultivation is needed. 

 In the field about one hundred thousand of the hybrids were 

 in bloom on the fifteenth of June ; a small portion had not 

 reached maturity. It is needless to say that a richer mass 

 of yellow, scarlet and gold could not well be imagined. Nearly 

 all, unlike Lilium pardalinum, were fragrant. 



Among so large a number of hybrids with so many violent 

 crosses, treaks and monstrosities were to be expected, but, 

 outside of a few exceptions, it can be said that all are symmet- 

 rical in form and Iieautiful in coloring. In form the range is 

 from the closely recurved form of the typical L. pardalinum to 

 a very flat flower, in which the petals approach the horizontal, 

 a form which, so far as I know, was heretofore unknown 

 among Lilies, and most nearly approached by L. candidum 

 and L. tigrinum. Then there are many running into the trum- 

 pet forms, but none with the long trumpets of the L. longi- 

 Horum type. 



In color the flowers range from the usual yellow or orange 

 centre and scarlet tip of Lilium pardalinum to dark red on one 

 hand and rich orange red, lemon, and a few white and pale 

 lemon or straw-colored flowers on the other. Nearly all are 

 spotted or dotted, many faintly, and some are clear lemon-yel- 

 low. The traces of all the staminate parents can be seen in 

 the leaves and in the bulbs. My own examination and Mr. 

 Burbank's information is that the result is equally various. In 

 one particular it is especially notable and valuable. Mr. 

 Burbank, I need hardly say, is a careful and success-ful grower, 

 yet with very many of the Lily species he has the sort of 

 success so many of us are too well used to. His bulbs dwin- 

 dle away or suffer from disease until a few bulbs are all that 

 are left to represent a plantation of hundreds. The hybrids, 

 however, have inherited the strong constitution of L. pardali- 

 num and its freedom from disease. In most cases, also, they 

 inherit its tendency to rapid propagation. I also noted that 

 hybrids of L. Parryi and L. Humboldtii show a vigor which 

 neither parent possesses. 



There is another and, doubtless, very potent reason for their 

 vigor. In Mr. Burbank's work with Lilies the doctrine of the 

 survival of the fittest has been carried out to an unusual ex- 

 tent. About two million seedlings have been grown altogether ; 

 in this last lot a hundred thousand are left out of four hundred 

 thousand. There must certainly have been a pretty thorough 

 elimination of the less vigorous seedlings. A healthier lot 

 than the survivors would be hard to find. 



In fragrance the seedlings rather follow the fragrant stami- 

 nate parents than the odorless Lilium pardalinum. Practically 

 all are fragrant, many exquisitely so. With a favorable wind 

 the odor from these great Lily-fields can be perceived at a dis- 

 tance of five miles. To describe all of the variations to be 

 found in this wonderful field would be impossible ; to de- 

 scribe even the striking ones would require a volume, 

 since scarcely any pair of plants are alike, and a thousand 

 forms as distinct as named Gladiolus could be selected. 



All are extremely floriferous, thirty to fifty flowers to a plant 

 being common, and a few having over a hundred. One of the 

 most curious forms was one in which Lilium pardalinum, var. 

 minor, had been crossed with an unknown species. This might 

 be called a Tree Lily. The bulb threw up many stalks. One of 

 these branched about a foot from the ground into eight branches. 

 The largest branch had forty-three blossoms, while the bulb 

 bore two hundred and seven — this at six years from seed. An 

 equally wonderful plant is a cross between L. pardalinum and 

 L. Wallacei, which, at the same age, had thirty-seven stalks 

 flowering. Many plants clearly show the influence of L. ele- 

 gans in the very dark red flowers, and in the leaves of others 

 can be seen the blood of L. giganteum. Crosses between L. 

 pardalinum, var. minor, and L. maritimumare remarkablefor 

 vigor and very numerous fine flowers. 



The cross on Lilium pardalinum gives a vigorous constitu- 

 tion, and with such vigorous hybrids of nearly every type 

 Lilies must soon become the flowers of the people. 



Ukiali, Calif. Car/ Purdy. 



Iris hexagona. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Mr. Gerard's interesting article on American Irises in 

 Garden and Forest of July 17th, suggests a word on I. 

 hexagona in its natural habitat. 



In Gray' s Manual of 1890, Iris hexagona is given only in 

 the appendix. I judge from that that it is a comparatively rare 



plant. It is not plentiful here, and I have met with it in a wild 

 state not above a half dozen times in twice as many years. 

 This is the more singular, as under cultivation it is exceed- 

 ingly robust and thrifty — single rhizomes set out eight years 

 ago in garden soil, and twice subdivided since then, having 

 grown into matted clumps four feet across. Grown in masses 

 it is decidedly a showy plant, the color is so clear and bright, 

 and the flowers so freely borne. All of our plants of this Iris 

 have been grown in ordinary garden loam, in quite the reverse 

 of wet soil, and have never been watered. Contrary to the 

 usual belief, they have grown as well as in swampy land, and 

 have endured several droughts uninjured. 



Apparently this is a most variable species. We have in our 

 collection of these plants three well-defined varieties. The 

 one that most nearly answers to the type described by Gray is 

 the most robust of all, and somewhat later to bloom. The 

 flowers of this are large and showy, much larger than the 

 second form of I. hexagona that came into my possession, a 

 full shade darker, and the markings brighter and deeper. The 

 third form, that Mr. Gerard has done me the honor to name 

 I. hexagona, var. La Mance, is by far the best of the three. 

 It is the earliest of all to bloom, and tlie large, wide-spreading 

 flowers are from a third to a half larger than the flowers of the 

 other two formsof the species in the same bed, and with the 

 same treatment. The color is remarkably fresh and clear, a 

 deep, rich blue, with darker shadings and white markings. A 

 touch of yellow further enhances the general brightness. This 

 plant was discovered last year in Benton County, Arkansas, 

 just across the state line of Missouri. A semicircle of wild 

 hills, half bluff, half woodla'nd, was its home. Climbing from 

 rocky step to step, we had clambered up from the valley be- 

 low. Half-way up the mountain side ran a broad, heavy ledge 

 of rock, and in a pocket-like dip of tliis ledge, so shallow that 

 there was not more than six inches of earth above the naked 

 limestone, were growing two dwarf, but thrifty-looking Irises. 

 They were not in flower, but the situation was such a singular 

 one for an Iris that we dug up all we could find, hoping it 

 would prove to be a new species. Half of our little find we 

 sent to Mr. Gerard for identification, and the other portion 

 planted out in our own border. No special attention was given 

 to it, and we were quite surprised at its remarkable size and 

 beauty when it bloomed. 

 Pineville, Mo. Lora S. La JMixnce. 



Recent Publications. 



In a Gloucestershire Garden. By Henry N. Ellacombe, 

 M.A. London : Edward Arnold. 



Every one who reads the current horticultural literature 

 of England is familiar with the vsritings of Canon Ella- 

 combe. The present volume consists mainly of articles 

 which were prepared originally for The Guardian, al- 

 though they have been somewhat modified in their perma- 

 nent form. The first part of the volume is a garden calen- 

 dar, each of its twelve chapters being devoted to the flowers 

 of one of the months of the year, and there are fourteen 

 other chapters on various garden subjects, sucli as Spring 

 Flowers, Climbing Plants, Garden Walls, Palms and Bam- 

 boos, Parsonage Gardens and the like. Canon Ellacombe 

 lacks neither imagination nor profound affection for his 

 plants, and yet his writings never degenerate into sentimen- 

 talism. He has actual and accurate knovidedge gained 

 from close personal investigation, and this means not only 

 the ordinary knowledge of the horticulturist and botan- 

 ist, but that intimate acquaintance with all the ways and 

 habits of plants vi'hich is only gained by one who takes a 

 constant and affectionate interest in them in all stages of 

 their growth. The purpose of the book is not primarily 

 didactic, but as the story flows pleasantly on a great deal 

 of genuine practical information is conveyed, along with 

 many gleanings^ from rare old volumes that have a value 

 purely literary or historical. Although the record is one 

 of an English garden, the principles enforced are sound for 

 all countries and climates, and the American reader will 

 find it not only pleasant reading for midsummer days, but 

 helpful and suggestive when he is studying what to do 

 and what to refrain from doing in his own garden. 



It ought to be added that the mechanical part of the 

 book, its style of type, its illustrations and press-work are 

 all of the very best quality. 



