414 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 236. 



live of summer-flowering plants. In the conservatory at 

 Kew, Fuchsias are grown as ch'mbers ; they are planted in 

 a border below the side stages, and the stems are trained 

 up and below the rafters of the roof, from whence the pro- 

 fusely flowered shoots hang in great abundance and have 

 a very pretty effect. In the Temperate House the Fuchsias 

 are trained to tall stakes twelve feet high, and in the sum- 

 mer they form narrow pyramids of bloom. Of course, the 

 hardy kinds are also employed for summer bedding, a pur- 

 pose for which when used with a little judgment and com- 

 bined with suitable companions they are exceptionally well 

 adapted. 



Mr. Fry has grown perfect pyramidal specimens of the 

 best kinds as high as fourteen feet. He recommends the 

 sowing of the seeds, which are produced abundantly, much 

 more than is at present practiced, as with ordinary care 

 the plants will bloom when only six months old, and while 

 all, or nearly all, the seedlings will be worth growing, 

 variety, and probably some of superior quality, may be ni 

 this way secured. The arrangement of the stamens and 

 pistil in the flowers of Fuchsia renders their cross-fertiliza- 

 tion easy. There are a considerable number of species of 

 Fuchsia which, in the hands of the skillful hybridizer, 

 would probably yield good results in the shape of nevi^ 

 varieties. Such species are F. triphylla, F. decumbens, F. 

 syringteflora and F. dependens, none of which, so far as I 

 know, have been bred from. 



The cultural details given by Mr. Fry were pretty much 

 the same as are known to all who have grown Fuchsias. 

 He recommends shade for the plants when grown under 

 glass, plenty of ventilation, plenty of v\'ater in the growing 

 season, and a range of temperature from fifty to seventy- 

 five degrees. 



Mr. Fry's ambition had been to raise a Fuchsia with pure 

 white flowers, but in this he has been forestalled by Messrs. 

 Cocker, of Aberdeen, who raised a few years ago Countess 

 of Aberdeen, which is almost wholly pure white, and is a 

 very beautiful variety. There is a good collection of gar- 

 den Fuchsias in the gardens of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society at Chiswick, and at Kew there are altogether thirty- 

 six true species under cultivation. 



New Plants. — The following obtained certificates at the 

 last meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society : 



Lselia-Cattleya Ingramii, raised by Mr. Bond, gardener 

 to Mr. C. L. Ingram, of Godalming, by crossing L. Dayana 

 with Cattleya aurea. The plant, though small, was of 

 promising appearance, and the flowers showed distinct 

 traces of the characters of both parents, the Cattleya being 

 most evident in the labellum, which was large and colored 

 deep crimson ; the sepals and petals were colored rose. 

 Cypripedium caudatum, Luxembourg var. This was sent 

 by Monsieur Godefroy-Lebeuf, of Paris. It is a very su- 

 perb variety of a very handsome species, the flowers being 

 large, with broad sepals, long tails, and the color a deeper 

 shade of yellow than in the type, the markings of the label- 

 lum, etc., being as usual in this species. Calanthe San- 

 deriana, from the St. Albans nurseries, is a new species of 

 considerable interest lately introduced from New Guinea. 

 It belongs to the evergreen section of the genus, and re- 

 sembles C. veratrifolia in habit, but the flowers are larger, 

 with a peculiarly thick spur, and the color is mauve on the 

 sepals and petals, crimson-maroon on the labellum. Laelia 

 Oweniana, also from Messrs. F. Sander & Co., is a hybrid 

 betvi'een L. Dayana and L. xantheria, in which the flowers 

 are like those of the first-named parent, the sepals and 

 petals white, the lip deep maroon in front, with a yellow 

 blotch in the throat and a white disk-like area on the mid- 

 dle of the front lobe. 



Sarracenia Farnhami, a hybrid between S. Drummondii 

 and S, rubra, is another pretty addition to the cultivated 

 varieties of Side-saddle plants. It has medium-sized erect 

 pitchers, green in the lower half, crimson toward the apex, 

 and prettily tessellated with greenish white and spotted. 

 It was exhibited by the raiser, Mr. Farnham, of Lough- 

 borough. 



The following Carnations were submitted to the com- 

 mittee as new, and obtained certificates : The Moucher 

 (yellow), Old Coin (light brown, yellow and crimson). 

 Salamander (rose). King of Scarlets (a very handsome full- 

 flowered glowing red variety). Acme (yellow, with rose 

 flakes). Duchess of Sutherland (Picotee, white, with rose 

 margins),' Nellie Bath (Picotee, yellow, with deep crimson 

 edges), Mrs. A. Barrett (Picotee, yellow, heavily edged 

 with rose. These were exhibited by Messrs. C. Turner & 

 Sons, Slough, who have long held a foremost position 

 among the raisers and cultivators of Carnations. 



Mr. Rivers, of Sawbridgeworth, showed his new cherry, 

 Emperor Francis, which was awarded a first-class certifi- 

 cate on account of the great size and rich flavor of its 

 bright red fruits. At the previous meeting Mr. Rivers ex- 

 hibited a collection of his best varieties of cherries, peaches, 

 apricots and plums, which had been grown in his famous 

 orchard-houses, and which astonished those who had not 

 seen to how large a size these fruits can be grown under 

 glass in England. He also obtained a certificate for a new 

 plum named Late Transparent Gage, and which is remark- 

 able for firmness of flesh, lusciousness and lateness, 

 ripening at the end of August. 



BuDDLEiA CoLviLLEi. — Mr. Gumbleton, of Cork, has been 

 the first to flower this beautiful Himalayan shrub, specimens 

 of the flowers having lately been forwarded by him to 

 Kew. There is also a figure prepared from a specimen 

 from the same source in the Gardeners' Chronicle this 

 week. B. Colvillei was named and described by Hooker 

 in his Illusiralions of Himalayan Plants, published in 1855. 

 He found it on the Sikkim Himalaya at an elevation of from 

 9,000 to 12,000 feet, where it forms a large shrub fifteen 

 or twenty feet high, vifith lanceolate-crenate leaves six 

 inches long, and large erect terminal panicles of crimson 

 campanulate flowers an inch across. It is hardy in Mr. 

 Gumbleton's garden, which is, hov^'ever, favorably situated. 

 From the altitude at which the plant is found it would, 

 however, be safe to infer that it will prove as hardy in 

 England as some of the Sikkim Rhododendrons which are 

 found at the same altitude and are hardy here. I believe 

 B. Colvillei will prove to be a good garden-shrub. 

 London. W. Watson. 



Cultural Department. 



Some New Pears. 



SOME new Pears are fruiting here, the first tune this season, 

 and notes upon them will be more interestmg now than 

 when the season is past. Some varieties prove themselves 

 worthless in our region with their first fruits, while others are 

 equally pronounced in the opposite direction. I find the 

 greatest differences of opinion among individuals upon the 

 quality and value of different pears. Tlie Kieffer Pear is con- 

 demned as emphatically as it is praised throughout Pennsyl- 

 vania, yet the points in its favor are so eminently good that 

 it will win in its fight for a place in our orchards. As a market 

 pear and for canning, I have only the warmest praise for the 

 Kieffer as I know it here. 



These notes on Pears were prompted by a very remarkable 

 fact concerning the Lawson Pear. From stout, healthy trees, 

 six years from planting, the first crop of fruit was set and 

 ripened this summer. A more beautiful lot of pears was never 

 seen, but not one out of the whole yield of two pecks con- 

 tained seeds ! The core was very much contracted and spongy. 

 This seems to be a feature of the variety, as there is nothing 

 abnormal to cause it temporarily. The trees are in the best 

 state of health, and all the fruits are as near perfection as a 

 summer pear can be. The Lawson deserves considerable at- 

 tention as it is a very good early pear. The fruit is above 

 medium size, broadly pyriform ; skin, waxen lemon-yellow, 

 with many green and brown dots, richly colored with bright 

 crimson or red in the sun. The stalk is of medium thickness 

 and length inserted at one side at an inclination, with a lip of 

 flesh above and a depression on the under side ; the caylx is 

 partly closed in an open, even basin. The flesh is white, not 

 very juicy, slightly granular, with a somewhat sweet, highly 

 perfumed flavor, without seeds ; it ripens from August ist to 

 August 20th. This pear will not keep very long after ripening 

 as it softens at the core ; this softening is most sudden in fruit 



