I50 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 214. 



paragus plumosus, Dracsenas, Aspidistra, Hydrangea, 

 Ferns, Crotons, Pandanus, Cycads, etc. It would take an 

 enormous number of such plants to justify a charge of 

 ;^i,400. Mr. Wills, however, in his special efforts uses such 

 plants as Nepenthes, Orchids and all kinds of flowering 

 plants, I have seen some of these costly arrangements 

 made by Mr. Wills, and they were certainly very beautiful. 

 At the same time one cannot help thinking with Dr. Mas- 

 ters that the art sometimes displayed in the cottager's win- 

 dow is at any rate as pleasing. 



Flower Dyeing. — A few weeks ago a green Carnation 

 made its appearance in the button-holes of the members of 

 apolitical party in Paris, which consequently became known 

 as the party of the Green Carnation. The badge of the 

 Boulangists was the red Carnation, while the anti-Bou- 

 langists wore the same flower, but with its stalk uppermost. 

 The green Carnation attracted some attention on account 

 of its exceptional color, an English daily paper stating that 

 this "new color in Carnations had been raised by a Parisian 

 florist, who was in the way of making a fortune out of it 1 " 

 The color was really the result of placing the flowers in a 

 dye which soon permeated the petals and gave them an 

 artificial color. In the Gardeners' Chronicle this week is an 

 interesting account of some experiments of this kind wh'ich 

 were made by Mr. W. Dornington and Mr. Brockbank. 

 They procured some aniline dyes, which were dissolved in 

 water to about the transparency of claret. In these solu- 

 tions flowers of various kinds were placed, or rather their 

 stalks, for the dyes did not change the colors of the flowers 

 when simply immersed in them. Lily-of-the-valley became 

 beautifully tniged with pink or blue in six hours ; Narcissi 

 changed from pure white to deep scarlet in twelve hours, 

 and yellow became striped with scarlet in the same time. 

 Flowers of Lapageria, Coelogyne, Calla, Cyclamen, Snow- 

 drop, Hyacinths, Hellebores, Tulips and other plants were 

 treated, and gave equally striking results. White Tulips were 

 changed to pink, blue, green or purple in a few hours, and 

 White Lilac became pink or blue. The blue Rose, blue 

 Chrysanthemum and red Daffodil can therefore now be 

 made to order ! 



Bordeaux Mixture. — A report upon the experiments made 

 for the prevention and cure of the Potato disease (Pero- 

 nospora) has just been published by Messrs. R. Veitch & 

 Son, Exeter. They experimented on ten varieties of Potato, 

 applying the mixture twice, once in June and again in 

 July, the result being an "unqualified success, for it acted 

 as a preventive where the disease had not appeared, and 

 as a cure where it had done so, at the same time showing 

 itself to have had a fertilizing effect as well." Messrs. 

 Veitch state that the use of the mixture for potatoes last 

 year was "a great success in many parts of America, and 

 almost universally so throughout France, where the idea 

 was first carried into practice." A committee of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society of England have recommended that 

 renewed experiments on Potatoes with this mixture be 

 taken in hand again during the forthcoming season, and Mr. 

 Carruthers, F. R. S., of the British Museum, has undertaken 

 to conduct an inquiry into the exact nature of the effect of 

 the mixture upon the Peronospora. Messrs. Veitch urge 

 cultivators generally to give this Bordeaux mixture an ex- 

 tended and impartial trial. The results obtained by Messrs. 

 Sutton & Sons, which I mentioned in a previous letter, 

 were almost the opposite of those obtained by Messrs. 

 Veitch. Evidently, therefore, the time for a verdict as to 

 the value of the mixture in England, at any rate, has not 

 yet arrived. 



Rhododendron seabrifolium. — I forget if I have men- 

 tioned this new Chinese Rhododendron, which flowered at 

 Kew for the first time last j^ear, when it was figured in the 

 Botanical Magazine (t. 7159), where it is described as an 

 erect unbranched plant, with scabrid, hairy ovate-acumi- 

 nate leaves two and a half inches long, and a compact head 

 of white flowers one and a half inches across. Neither this 

 description nor the picture which accompanied it does full 

 justice to the plant as it is now at Kew. It has six 



branches, each bearing a terminal cluster of exceedingly 

 pretty white flowers, slightly flushed with rose, and with 

 pink anthers. The "legginess" of the plant last year was 

 owing to its not having been stopped. With a little man- 

 agement it may be made bushy enough, and as it flowers 

 freely early in the year it will be useful. So far, it has 

 only been tried in a greenhouse, but it may prove to be 

 quite hardy in England, for, according to Delavay, who 

 discovered it in Yun-nan,it grows at a higher altitude there 

 than R. decorum, a species very like R. Catawbiense, and 

 which we also owe to Delavay. Now, R. decorum has 

 stood the severe weather of the present winter in the open 

 as well as the hardiest of Rhododendrons. We have in 

 cultivation at Kew, beside the tvi'^o species mentioned, R. 

 Delavayi, said to be one of the handsomest, R. lacteum 

 and R. racemosum. These are all from Yun-nan. 



Azalea calyciflora. — This is one of the forms of A. in- 

 dica, and nearest that generally known as A. amoena, of 

 which we possess now several pretty seedling varieties, 

 which were raised by an English amateur, Mr. Caldwell. 

 A. calyciflora differs from these, however, in having larger 

 flowers and their color, which is a soft salmon-red. The 

 habit of the plant is like that of A. amoena ; like it, too, it 

 forces well. By the way, has the last-named Azalea ever 

 been tried out-of-doors in your country } Here it is quite 

 hardy, forming a beautiful little shrub which is pretty at 

 all times, and emphatically so when clothed with its rosy 

 purple flowers. Another of the same type, known in gar- 

 dens as A. obtusa, is equally hardy. „, „, 



London. i .- ^ f^_ WatSOU. 



[Azalea amoena is well known in this countr)% and per- 

 fectly hardy in the latitude of New York. — Ed.] 



Cultural Department. 



Flower Garden Notes. 



T T is in season to note a few of the desirable plants for the 

 ■^ summer garden, both annual and perennial. We have 

 many plants that are perennial if wintered over vi'here 

 the space can be spared for them. One of these is the 

 beautiful Grass, Pennisetum longistylum. Last summer, 

 when planted the length of a wide border in front of green- 

 houses, it was very attractive, and it will be better known 

 in future, though it is by no means new. Pennisetum grows 

 about two feet high, and can easily be raised from seed 

 of good quality, but it can also be easily propagated by 

 dividing the roots and starting them in small pots in spring. 

 Our plants are now stored in a cellar with other tender plants 

 and must now be divided and started into growth to produce 

 good effect early in summer. The same is true of the Cannas, 

 called dwarf, the more recent varieties of which are distinctly 

 in advance of all others. The Star of 1891 is now a fine sight 

 in full flower in the greenhouse here. We have eighty plants 

 from one obtained last spring, it propagates so readily by 

 division. .A bed of this Canna alone, seen last summer, was 

 very attracdve and worthy of reproduction by those who have 

 the plants at their disposal. When planted out, the Canna 

 Star of 1 891 grows to a height of about five feet, but under pot- 

 culture it becomes a handsome plant, rarely more than three 

 feet high. 



The newer strains of Dahlias are to be recommended, espe- 

 cially the dwarf ones, both single and double. The staking, 

 which is usually necessary with other kinds, is not needed for 

 these plants, as they make a handsome bed of themselves. 

 In this locality Dahlias are a complete failure after the Chrysan- 

 themum fly appears. These insects sting the growing tips of 

 the shoots and buds and that is the end of the display for the 

 season. I have noticed in cottage gardens by roadsides, where 

 the Dahlias can hardly be recognized for the dust that covers 

 them, that they flower freely and the insects do not trouble 

 them. 



The Marguerite Carnations are rapidly gaining in favor, and 

 have already passed through the "novelty" stage or crisis, 

 which means usually fifty per cent, single flowers if double 

 ones are promised. These carnations, now offered in separate 

 colors, are fragrant and free-blooming, but to get the most 

 out of them they should be sown at once in heat, if this has 

 not already been done, to be pricked off singly and transferred 

 later to the place where they are to flower. They will need 



