December 4, 1895.] 



Garden and Forest. 



487 



ists under the name of Bertolonia, and it is likely that hybrids 

 have been raised between the two. The nomenclature is 

 much confused, and many species and varieties are named in 

 commercial plant-lists. A few of the most desirable are here- 

 with given : 



Bertolonia aenea : Leaves, when yovmg, coppery ; when older 

 of a bronzy, metalliclustre ; dull violet-purple below ; petioles 

 as lonof as the blade (three to five inches), red; flowers pale 

 rosy-lilac, opening during early morning and in dull weather, 

 three-fourths of an inch across, pleasing. Leaves crowded 

 and spreading ; height of plant, six to ten inches. B. (Gravesia) 

 guttata : Leaves ovate, four to six inches long, deep lustrous 

 green, with longitudinal rows of circular rose-colored spots. 

 The varieties albo-punctata and roseo-punctillata have respec- 

 tively white and rose-colored dots scattered over the surface of 

 the leaf. B. maculata : Leaves ovate-cordate, hairy, spotted ; 

 flowers racemose, pale violet-purple ; a plant of creeping habit, 

 dwarf and ornamental. B. margaritaceae (Gravesia guttata 

 magaritaccEe) : Leaves ovate, acute or acuminate, deep shining 

 olive-green, with circular white spots resembling rows of pearls. 

 B. marmorata: Leaves three to eight inches long, on some- 

 what shorter petioles, green, with a bronzy lustre, and five 

 broad silvery white bands along the five principal veins, bor- 

 dered with minute spots of white, dull violet belovv^ ; rose- 

 colored flowers in terminal cymes on scapes si.x to eight inches 

 higli, three-fourths of an inch across ; habit erect and robust. 

 This is the best species for general culture, hardy and orna- 

 mental. B. pubescens : Leaves oblong- lanceolate, green, 

 with a broad chocolate centre covering each side as far as the 

 second longitudinal vein, duller below, very pubescent on both 

 sides ; flowers in terminal and axillary umbellate cymes, pure 

 white, with a crimson centre, and yellow stamens ; very pleas- 

 ing ; habit dwarf and compact. B. superbissima ; Leaves with 

 a metallic lustre, covered with large and small circular, bright 

 rose-colored dots ; a splendid robust variety. B. Van Houtteii : 

 Leaves heart-shaped, brightgreen, with five longitudinal, bright 

 rose-colored veins and small magenta-colored dots all over the 

 surface, red below, hairy on both surfaces ; leaves spreading ; 

 habit compact ; tender, but very beautiful. B. vittata, B. 

 punctatissima, B. mirabilis and the probable hybrid B. Le- 

 grelli are also desirable. », <-, 7-, 



Newark, N. J. ^- /• KOSe. 



Vergennes and Moore's Diamond Grapes. — These two varie- 

 ties of grapes originated in very different regions, but they 

 have many characteristics in common. The Vergennes is a 

 true variety of Vitis Labrusca, a wild grape of New England. 

 It originated in 1874; at least, the fruit was first seen in that 

 year at Vergennes, Vermont, being fruited by William E. 

 Green, and it was introduced in 1880. Of all v/ell-known pure 

 native grapes it is the best keeper, lasting until the holidays. 

 Catawba is also a long keeper, but this has some European 

 blood in it. The quality of the Vergennes has been underesti- 

 mated, and it is often condemned for other reasons, but in 

 certain places it is a grape of great beauty and productiveness 

 and of more than ordinary quality. The second grape is 

 Moore's Diamond, the best all-round white grape which I 

 know at the present time. This is not a pure native, but is 

 what might be called three-fourths or seven-eighths hybrid. 

 It is a cross of the Concord and lona. The Brighton is one of 

 the very best of our modern grapes, and is a cross between the 

 Concord and the Diana-Hamburg. The Brighton and the 

 Moore's Diamond were both originated by Jacob Moore when 

 he lived at Brighton, New York, but who was later a resident 

 of Attica. Jacob Moore has been one of our most successful 

 grape growers, and he was one of the first to conceive the 

 fact that, in order to improve our grapes, it is necessary 

 when hybridizing to use those varieties or types which are 

 themselves hybrids; that is, secondary hybrids, in which the 

 blood of the parents is somewhat diluted or attenuated, gen- 

 erally give better results in grapes, and, in fact, in most plants, 

 than primary hybrids. This is well illustrated in some of 

 Munson's new grapes. The opposite truth is illustrated in 

 most of the Rogers' grapes, which, while excellent in them- 

 selves, generally have some vital weakness which unfits them 

 for vineyard use on a commercial scale. 



Cornell University. 



L. H. B. 



Hybrid Perpetual Roses.— The houses which have been filled 

 with Chrysanthemums at the Waban Rose Conservatories are 

 being cleared and filled with these plants. They are pruned, 

 fop-dressed, gradually watered, and inured to a forcing tem- 

 perature of sixty degrees at night. Theyaregrown in boxes, and 

 although out-of-doors from June until frost, most of their growth 

 is made indoors, the season outdoors being little more than a 

 ripening period. For nearly two months the boxes have been 



turned sidewise toward the sun to insure a thorough ripening 

 of the wood, and at the same time prevent any fresh and 

 useless growth during the warm autumn months. Nearly all 

 the plants are imported. All varieties will grow, and many 

 will do well on tlieir own roots ; Giordani Bruno is a nota- 

 ble instance, making splendid growth on its own roots, but the 

 majority do better and are certainly longer-lived when budded 

 on either the Manetti or the English Dog Rose stock. Varie- 

 ties on the Dog Rose stock always do better in heavy soils, on 

 the Manetti in light soils, and growers take these matters into 

 consideration when importing. 



Japan Anemones past blooming are stored in a cold frame 

 for the winter. This protection is needed to save the crowns, 

 which are nearly always killed when exposed. We have never 

 been successful in whatever means we have adopted to bring 

 them through uninjured out-of-doors. It is not a question 

 of temperature, as farther north they succeed better. One 

 would think American florists might add this handsome flower 

 to their stock in trade. The flowers are produced in such 

 abundance that even at a low price they should be profitable; 

 and by their regular outline they are well adapted to all kinds 

 of floral designs, and equally appropriate for any loose or nat- 

 ural arrangement in vases. Those who propose to use them 

 might prepare a rough frame, and if stock is at hand it had 

 better be planted now. The frames should be lined on the 

 outside with liglit material to keep out frost, and covered with 

 shutters, and these need not be removed until the following 

 March. The summer treatment is such as we should give 

 Chrysanthemums. During the months of July and August 

 they will take an extra supply of water, and liquid-manure may 

 also be given freely until the buds are well formed. The 

 flowers will open a better color (being naturally creamy white 

 in the variety Honorine Joubert) and last longer when shaded 

 by a light framework of cotton cloth. I have always thought 

 they might be worth the extra trouble and expense of a pitched 

 roof of oiled cloth, open at the sides so as to shed water as 

 well. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D. H. 



Correspondence. 



Notes from Wellesle}'. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The splendid plant of the beautiful New Zealand Cle- 

 matis indivisa in the garden of H. H. Hunnewell, Esq., the 

 specimen which was figured in G.A.RDEN and Forest, vol, vi., 

 page 167, again promises to bloom well. By the end of Feb- 

 ruary there will be a grand display of its dazzling white sweet- 

 scented blossoms in the orangery here. Although introduced 

 to European gardens nearly fifty years ago, it is still uncom- 

 mon. Probably few people take into account the fact that it is 

 a native of the warm temperate regions of the southern hemi- 

 sphere. It is not hardy in Massachusetts, and blooms only 

 during our winter season. In changing the habitat of a plant 

 it is not always possible to change its season of blooming, and, 

 in consequence, some special treatment is required in com- 

 pensation. A cool, yet light, glass structure is best suited to 

 this Clematis, where it is subject to as little excitement as pos- 

 sible during our hottest months, and later a thorough ripening 

 preparatory to flowering. 



Toxicophloea spectabilis, the Wintersweet, from south Africa, 

 lielongs to the order Apocynaceas, to which also belong the 

 Periwinkle, Oleander and Tabernasmontana. Its small white 

 rotate flowers are borne in axillary whorls, and are deliciously 

 sweet, filling the whole of the large Palm-house with perfume. 

 It is a small shrub with opposite, ovate, dark green, shining 

 leaves. 



Here are many fine Palms, and some of the largest speci- 

 mens that are to be found in the United States, and some 

 which had grown beyond the capacity of the house were sent 

 to the World's Fair. In this country we are badly in need of 

 large structures which will allow of the full development of 

 these magnificent tropical plants. The only one I know in 

 the vicinity of Ik)Ston belongs to Joseph H. White, Esq., of 

 Brookline. A large specimen of Acanthophcenix crinifa, from 

 the Leychelles, is now fourteen feet high, with leaves from ten 

 to twelve feet long. It was introduced into European gardens 

 in 1868, and the specimen here is nearly twenty years old. The 

 leaves are pinnate and gracefully recurving. "The under sur- 

 face of the midribs is covered with long black spines in young 

 specimens. These almost entirely disajipear as the plants 

 increase in age, so that now they are to be found only on the 

 lower part of the leaf-stalks. 



The magnificent pair of Phoenix reclinata which visitors see 



