474 



Garden and Forest. 



[MUMBEK 405;, 



cause the branches are natural in pose and clothed with 

 leaves, while the flowers are numerous on each plant and 

 complete the picture. I know no plant, either indoor or 

 out, which will grow into such a nice bush and look so 

 beautiful when in full flower as a rationally grown Chrys- 

 anthemum. 



A pretty arrangement of Chrysanthemums mingled with 

 Crotons, Cocos Weddelliana, Bamboos, Ferns, etc., cover- 

 ing about eighteen square yards, won a prize given by the 

 President to encourage the ornamental grouping of Chrys- 

 anthemums with other plants. Another interesting exhibit 

 was a collection of big cut flowers, each on stalks two feet 

 long, but it was not a success. There was abundance of 

 high-class material at the Aquarium to make a beautiful 

 exhibition, but in such a huge lumber-shed it is impossible 

 to arrange flowers with happy effect. We are in the unfor- 

 tunate position of possessing no suitable central exhibition 

 hall for flowers in London, notwithstanding the fact that 

 nowhere else in the world is there so much interest taken 

 in horticulture or so much material available to make 

 worthy exhibitions. 



Orchids and Chrysanthemums. — I saw in a shop in Re- 

 gent Street the other day a combination of Orchids with 

 Chrysanthemums. A cross about three feet long and six 

 inches across the sections was formed of closely set flow- 

 ers of a rose-purple Chrysanthemum. Upon this was a 

 spray composed of about twenty large racemes of flovi'ers 

 of Dendrobium Phaleenopsis arranged with exquisite taste. 

 The whole was a picture of bright purple, rich in variety 

 of shades, novel in arrangement, and to persons who do 

 not altogether object to formal flower-pieces it was most 

 effective. It was designed for an occasion of mourning. 

 On inquiry I was informed that its price was ten guineas. 



Pelargoniums. — Mr. Cannell is still the leader of the 

 Pelargonium cult. His group of flowers of Zonal varieties, 

 which filled a large stage at the Aquarium, was one of the 

 most meritorious exhibits seen in London this year. I 

 have before recorded in Garden and Forest Mr. Cannell's 

 methods of cultivation for the production of grand flowers 

 of these plants in winter. Certainly he improves upon his 

 practice every year. So far as I know he is the only 

 nurseryman in the south of England who makes a specialty 

 of the Zonal Pelargonium, and he proves, beyond all ques- 

 tion, that when well managed we have no greenhouse plants 

 to equal them for brilliant and continuous display of 

 bloom in winter. 



Potatoes. — Mr. A. Sutton, of the firm of Messrs. Sutton 

 & Sons, Reading, recently lectured before the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society on the Potato. He sketched its history 

 and development from its first introduction to the present 

 time, and while he found little to add to what is already 

 well known of the potato generally, his account of some 

 experiments recently made by his firm, with a view to 

 obtaining a new and disease-proof race, was of special 

 interest. It appears to be of little avail to cross Solanum 

 tuberosum with any other allied species, or even with 

 botanical varieties of S. tuberosum itself. After numerous 

 experiments of this kind, extending over some years, 

 Messrs. Sutton have obtained no result of any promise. 

 Disease attacked the hybrids at least as readily as the ordi- 

 nary potato, and S. Maglia itself, which was specially 

 selected as being the most suitable species to cross with 

 S. tuberosum for the production of a disease-proof race, was 

 almost entirely destroyed by disease last year in Messrs. 

 Suttons' trial-ground. Our only hope of improvement, 

 therefore, is in crossing and careful selection from the best — 

 that is, disease-resisting sorts. 



Begonia Disease. — Cultivators of Begonias, Gloxinias and 

 other indoor herbaceous plants have recently become ac- 

 quainted with a pest which attacks the leaves and flowers, 

 causing them to curl and ultimately fall off, or so discolor- 

 ing them as to render them very unsightly. The disease 

 IS generally supposed to be the work of a rust-fungus, but 

 it is undoubtedly caused by a mite which has been deter- 

 mined by Mr. A. D. Michael, F. L. S. , a specialist in Aca- 



rina (mites), to be a species of Tarsonymus, a genus of ex- 

 tremely minute, almost transparent mites, known to be 

 great destroyers of vegetable life, attacking healthy plants 

 and soon reducing them to a very bad condition. T. 

 Bancroftii is the "red rust" which attacks the Sugar Cane, 

 sometimes practically destroying whole crops of the canes 

 in the West Indies and Queensland. An account of this 

 species, prepared by Mr. Michael, was published in the 

 Kew Bulletin, 1890, p. 85. T. Buxi practically destroyed 

 all the foliage of the Box-trees in some of the Italian gar- 

 dens a few years since. The best cure for this disease, 

 so far as our experience goes, is frequent fumigation with 

 tobacco, say once a week, or if the plants cannot conve' 

 niently be treated in this way, they should be dipped fre- 

 quently in a solution of tobacco and soft soap. The mite 

 is not easily got rid of when once it gets possession of a 

 plant, as it sometimes bores under the cuticle of the leaf. 

 It breeds rapidly and will do much mischief in a short time' 

 if not eradicated. Mr. Michael recommends solutions of 

 soap and sulphur, benzole or carbolic acid, preferring the 

 last named for plants that will bear a solution of three 

 ounces of fluid carbolic acid to a gallon of vi'ater. Badly 

 infected plants should be burnt. I have seen whole batches 

 of Gloxinias, Gesnerias, Achimenes, Pentas, Justicias, 

 Hebeclinums and such like plants ruined by this pest in 

 gardens wdiere the nature of the disease was a mystery and 

 all chance of cure appeared to be hopeless. I find it wise 

 to fumigate with tobacco now and then as a preventive in 

 all cases of plants which easily fall a prey to the attacks of 



London. ' W. WatSOIl. 



Plant Notes. 



Fagus sylvatica. — With the exception, perhaps, of the 

 native White Oak, the last tree in the northern states to- 

 assume brilliant autumn colors is the European Beech. 

 The leaves of this tree in the middle of November, and in 

 some years a few days earlier, are bright yellow, then 

 gradually grow darker and glisten like old gold and fade 

 to a dull russet-brown, in which condition they fall almost 

 at once from some trees, and on others remain until late 

 into the winter. These changes do not begin until several 

 days after the branches of the American Beech are entirely 

 leafless. This late and beautiful change in the color of the 

 leaves of the European Beech is a sufficiently valuable 

 character to make the planting of this tree desirable here. 

 Perfectly hardy as far north as the valley of the St. Law- 

 rence River, it appears to flourish here as if it were in its 

 own land, growing to a great size and living to a good old 

 age. In some respects, however, the Old World species is 

 a less beautiful tree than its American prototype. The 

 bark of the trunk and branches is darker and the spray of 

 the leaves is less delicate, so that in winter, although very 

 handsome, it is a less cheerful and attractive object. The 

 green of the leaves, too, is darker and less cheerful than 

 that of our American tree, but they are richer and more 

 lustrous, and in summer the European Beech is a more 

 massive and imposing object. These peculiarities, how- 

 ever, do not make it appear out of place in an American 

 sylvan scene, and there are few exotic trees that can be 

 used in our landscape with less danger of introducing an 

 inharmonious note. 



Rosa spinosissima. — It is worth noting that the foliage of 

 the so-called Scotch or Burnet Rose, Rosa spinosissima, 

 turns to bright shades of scarlet and orange late in the 

 autumn in this country and that it does not suffer from 

 hard freezing. The Scotch Rose is a very hardy plant with 

 neat foliage and handsome and abundant fragrant flowers, 

 with numerous beautiful varieties. It vv'ould be an excel- 

 lent plant to use in masses with our native species in parks 

 and large pleasure-grounds, as it composes well with them, 

 looking as if it were to the manner born, but, unfortunately, 

 the foliage here is so injured by insects early in the season 

 that the plants, unless they are treated with insecticides, 

 look for several weeks as if they had been scorched by fire. 



