330 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 229. 



attractive of all Cattleyoid Orchids, its hug-e flowers of a 

 rich red-brown and maroon having few equals. Recent 

 importations of this plant into England have made it com- 

 paratively plentiful in English collections, although it is 

 still an expensive Orchid. 



Calla Elliottiana. — The whole of the plants of this new 

 yellow-flowered Calla, or, as it should properly be called, 

 Richardia, was sold by auction a week ago. It will be re- 

 membered that the plant was first brought into notice at 

 one of the fortnightly meetings of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society about three years ago, when it was awarded a first- 

 class certificate. Since then Captain Elliott had increased 

 the stock, by means of seeds and offsets, with such success 

 that he was able to put up nearly two hundred and fifty 

 plants for sale. These realized from seventeen guineas to 

 about twenty-five shillings each, according to size, the total 

 sum obtained for the whole being four hundred and sixteen 

 pounds. The London nurserymen were the principal 

 buyers. No doubt, in a few years this beautiful plant will 

 be as plentiful in gardens as the white-flowered one is now. 

 Evidently it is as easy to manage as the rest of the Richar- 

 dias. I omitted to state in my previous letter that Captain 

 Elliott's Calla was awarded the first prize for the best new 

 plant in bloom at the International Horticultural Exhibi- 

 tion at Earl's Court. 



Calla Pextlandil — A plant bearing this name was ex- 

 hibited at a meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society, held 

 on Tuesday last, and from its being yellow flowered it at- 

 tracted much attention. While it differs from C. Elliottiana 

 in having a slightly larger spathe, and in being tinged with 

 purple at the base inside the spathe, as well as in having 

 unmottled leaves, it still bears a good general resemblance 

 to that plant, and is probably another form of the same 

 species, whatever that may be. The species of Richardia, at 

 present known in gardens, areR. ^Ethiopica(Africana), R. al- 

 bo-maculata, R. hastata and R. melanoleuca, and no doubt 

 these two new yellow-flowered kinds are varieties of one or 

 the other of these. 



Tree-pruxing was the subject of a lecture by the Director 

 of Kew, i\Ir. Thiselton Dyer, at the last meeting of the Royal 

 Horticultural Societ)'. It is a fact that only very few people 

 pay any attention to the proper manipulationof young trees 

 intended to form ornamental specimens in parks and gar- 

 dens. As a rule, a tree is allowed to grow as it likes after 

 it is once planted, and as a consequence a large proportion 

 of the trees one sees in gardens are unshapely, and some- 

 times even a source of danger. Tree-growers who under- 

 stand their business are alive to the necessity of careful 

 pruning from the nursery to the full development of the 

 tree. Mr. Anthony VVaterer declares that if properly 

 managed all trees should be able to support themselves 

 from the beginning, and to enable them to do this they 

 must be prevented from making strong lateral growth 

 until the trunk, or back-bone, of the tree has been formed. 

 Mr. Dyer pointed out that, with few exceptions, height is 

 the first desideratum in a tree, and to enable it to attain 

 this the growth must be encouraged in the leader and 

 kept within bounds in the lateral branches. In shallow 

 soils most trees have a tendency to become mop-headed. 

 Like root, like top, is the rule that controls tree growth. In 

 deep soils there is less need of pruning, but in all soils it is 

 necessary to watch the development of the trees, and pre- 

 vent such growth as would throw the specimen out of 

 balance. Of course, the cultivation of trees for timber is 

 one thing, whereas that of trees intended for ornamentation 

 is another. But all trees require to be looked after and 

 kept shapely from the first. The way to prune and the 

 way not to prune were pointed out by Mr. Dyer, and the 

 value of coal-tar and carbolic acid as a dressing for tree- 

 wounds was testified to by the good results obtained by its 

 use at Kew. 



Rose Crimson Rambler. — This is a rich crimson-flowered 

 bunch Rose of very great promise, of which Messrs. C. 

 Turner & Sons, Slough, hold a large stock. It was ob- 

 tained by them, indirectly, from Japan, and was certificated 



two years ago by the Royal Horticultural Society, under 

 the name of "Engineer." Mr. Turner says it is one of 

 the freest Roses he knows, and the long, sturdy branches, 

 large, healthy foliage with huge bouquets of compact 

 blood-red flowers on the specimens he exhibited last 

 Tuesday, bore out this statement. The plant is one of the 

 many forms of R. multiflora, and is probably the very best 

 of these as represented in English gardens. The general 

 verdict with regard to it at the Royal Horticultural Society's 

 meeting last Tuesday was that it was a Rose of quite ex- 

 ceptional merit. 



The exhibition of Roses held last Tuesday was remark- 

 able for the number of beautiful cut flowers of Tea Roses, 

 and also for the collection of Sweet Brier hybrids exhibited 

 by Lord Penzance, to whose sagacity and skill we are in- 

 debted for these beautiful Roses. By crossing the common 

 Sweet Brier with various kinds of garden Rose, Lord Pen- 

 zance has obtained an entirely new break, for while the 

 flowers still retain the charm of form of the Sweet Brier- 

 blooms, they have gained in substance and in variety of 

 colors from the other parents. Thus there are many 

 shades from pale blush to deep crimson, and a few of the 

 kinds are semi-double. The leaves are almost as fragrant 

 as those of the Sweet Brier. 



Herbaceous P.eonies have lately received special attention 

 in England. Chiswick has now a large collection of 

 named varieties obtained from all the best growers, and a 

 committee of experts met there recently to judge them. 

 Great improvements, both in form and color of the flowers, 

 have been made by recent breeders of these plants, and 

 they are consequently becoming generally popular. Her- 

 baceous Pseonies have all the good qualities of first-rate 

 border-plants, and scarcely an)' bad ones. Planted in good, 

 deep soil, and let alone, they will form strong clumps in 

 a year or two, and when in flower they make a grand dis- 

 play. One of the lawns at Kew has this year been given 

 up entirely to large beds of Peonies, and although the 

 plants are too small to make much display, yet they already 

 show promise of developing into a most effective garden. 

 The named varieties are endless. In planting, it is advis- 

 able to pay some attention to the grouping- of the colors, 

 or harsh combinations will probably occur. The best of 

 those which received the premier avv^ard this year at Chis- 

 wick were as follows : White — Queen Victoria, Duchesse 

 de Nemours, Grandiflora nivea plena, Neomie Demay, 

 Virginie, Madame Montigo, Albiflora Whitleyi. Pink — 

 La Voluptuesse, Modeste, Camille Lemoine, IMadameDucel, 

 Eglaie Adanson, Lutitiana, Madame Jules Calot, Comte de 

 Nanteuil, Lilacina grandiflora, Furtado, Miranda, Charles 

 Binder. Crimson- — Edouard Andre, Rubra triumphans, 

 Paul de Ritert, IMadame Mechin. Yellow — Canari, Sulphurea, 

 Prolifera tricolor, Flavescens. ,., „, ^ 



London. W. WaiSOIl. 



Cultural Department. 



Notes on Shrubs. 



WITH the beginning of July there is a very marked decrease 

 in the number of our shrubs in flower, and every one 

 which comes into blossom after that time possesses more than 

 ordinary value, because the great majority of trees and shrubs 

 have ceased flowering by the end of June. 



One of the most conspicuous shrubs in blossom in the last 

 days of June and early in July, in this vicinity, is the tall Deutzia 

 scabra in its several forms. Although an introduction from 

 eastern Asia, this species is an old inhabitant of our gardens, 

 and, like the earlier-flowering dwarf D. gracilis, it has not been 

 much modified or very greatly improved since it was brought 

 to European and American gardens. There are, however, a 

 number of named forms in cultivation, none of which can be 

 called remarkable as distinct or as improvements over the 

 standard single and double flowering kinds. This Deutzia has 

 been received at the Arboretum under a number of specific 

 names, such as D. Sieboldiana, D. Japonica and D. crenata, 

 with their varietal designations appended, but all are unmis- 

 takably D. scabra. The single-flowered plants, which are very 

 easily raised from seed, often show a considerable difterence 



