546 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 247. 



(of gardens), then in that species we have the principal 

 progenitor of the present magnificent race of Gandavensis 

 Gladioli, and through them of the Lemoinei and Nanceia- 

 nus races. G. oppositifiorus is six feet high and has a 

 spike two feet long of large white flowers with amethyst 

 stripes. At least a dozen flowers are open together, and 

 they are arranged in two straight rows on each side of the 

 spike. The first flower opened a week ago and it is still 

 fresh. It is possible that the lateness of its flowering at 

 Kew is due to the corms not arriving here till June. 

 Should, however, the plant really flower regularly in Octo- 

 ber and November it might be possible, eventually, to ob- 

 tain from it a race of Gladioli to bloom at Christmas. The 

 exceptional stature of G. oppositiflorus and the chaste 



lishment from twelve o'clock till sunset. This arrange- 

 ment has worked well for fifty years. Now, however, the 

 British public, or, at any rate, that portion of it which 

 lives in the neighborhood of Kew, has decided to ask for 

 access to the gardens for the whole day. It is surprising 

 how many people there are who look upon Kevi' as a 

 pleasure-park merely. 



London. 



W. Watson. 



Cultural Department. 



The Grape Season. 



'X'HE remarkable grape season of 1892 opened on my grounds 

 ■'■ with the ripening of Moore's Early on the 9th ot Septem- 

 ber, just nine days later than the same variety ripened last 



, 92. — Felling a Sequoia gigantea in Fresno County, California. — See page 541. 



beauty of its flowers ought to make it valuable to breeders 

 of Gladioli. The Kew plants have been grown in pots in a 

 cold house. They do not appear to be at all drawn. 



Earlier Opening of Kew. — An agitation has been started 

 to get the gardens at Kew opened to the public in the 

 morning as well as in the afternoon. At present the use of 

 the gardens before noon is limited to professional people 

 and others specially interested, such as painters, photog- 

 raphers, etc. These are admitted by ticket, about a thou- 

 sand people annually availing themselves of this privilege. 

 In the morning, too, all the rough and dirty work, water- 

 ing and syringing indoors, are got through, so that by 

 noon the whole place is in trim and ready for the crowds 

 of people who then have the free run of the whole estab- 



year, and there lias not been a rainy day since which has inter- 

 fered with harvesting the crop. This unprecedented state of 

 things enabled the grapes to ripen thoroughly and to attain 

 their best quality, so that there was less loss from splitting 

 than I have ever experienced. The Pocklington suffered most 

 from this, which proves this variety to be chronically weak in 

 any season here, and on my soil its redeeming qualities do not 

 suffice to warrant its retention ; and yet I occasionally meet a 

 man who relishes its pronounced foxy odor and tough pulp. 

 On the other hand, Woodruffs Red, which has always cracked 

 badly heretofore, has showed scarcely any tendency to do so 

 this season. The clusters were large, generally shouldered 

 and compact, and the grapes ripened up to a bright brick-red, 

 which made them very attractive to the eye. The quality, to 

 my taste, though never very good, was rather better than 

 usual, but customers say they " look delicious," and perhaps 



