598 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 251. 



is formed before the Concord flowers are opened. There is 

 an interval of ten days between tlie blossoming of the two. It 

 is certainly remarkable that the only old tron-clad vines on my 

 farm which bear annually full crops of perfect bunches are 

 those growing interspersed with vines of Concord and of Ives. 

 Remarkable, too, that the same is true of those which are left 

 to grow without pruning. I have planted Iron-clad vines at 

 the foot of each Apple-tree in my .orchard, letting them climb 

 as they will through the tree-branches. Thus growing they 

 fruit perfectly, in spite of the reflexed stamens. We know that 

 poUenization is essential to fructification, but it is by no means 

 certain that all Grape-blossoms which have both stamens and 

 pistils may not always be competent to their own impregna- 

 tion, notwithstanding the reflexed form of the stamens. These 

 organs are not reflexed until the cap is shed from the blossom. 

 I am assured by an eminent botanist that " the Grape stigma 

 is certainly pollenized from its stamens before the cap falls 

 from the flower." Hence the theory that pollen-bearing vines, 

 male vines especially, should be planted in the vineyard to 

 aid fructification seems unsound. For some fifteen years I 

 have practiced on this theory, growing pollen-bearing vines 

 scattered through my vineyards, yet I have never seen results 

 from so doing which might not be as well ascribed to other 

 causes. I suspect that a full fructification of the Grape-vine is 

 greatly dependent on the nutrition of the plant, on accidents of 

 the season and on the sterilizing influence of sundry fungus 

 germs. Since I have been making experiments in vegetable 

 pathology I think I have seen a marked benefit to fructifica- 

 tion by spraying the vine when in full bloom with the Bor- 

 deaux mixture. 



It has been suggested that for the development of the pulpy 

 or edible part of the fruit the normal development of the seed 

 is essential, and that, therefore, elements of plant-food which 

 largely contribute to the growth of the seed, notably phos- 

 phoric acid and potash, should be supplied. It is true that the 

 portion of my vineyard where the fruiting of the grapes with 

 reflexed stamens was heaviest had been heavily treated with 

 superphosphate of lime. Against the plausibility of this theory 

 stands the fact that good seedless apples and pears and other 

 fruits are not rare. 



The sum of the matter is that the process of fertilization is 

 not yet fully comprehended, and that we are still far from a 

 scientific solution of many of nature's mysteries. 



Vineland, N.J. Alex. IV. Pearson. 



Roses in California Without Irrigation. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Two young ladies of Oakland, who conduct a Rose- 

 nursery here, grow their stock from cuttings of mature wood 

 taken in the latter part of autumn or in winter ; these are put 

 as soon as possible into nursery-rows where they are to grow. 

 The rows are far enough apart to admit of cultivation with a 

 horse. It so happened last winter that the cuttings could not 

 be planted until well into February. For the most part they 

 rooted well, and at once commenced a vigorous growth. In 

 May the plants of La France, of which a large stock was put in, 

 commenced to bloom just one month later than the plants 

 from which the cuttings were taken. They have bloomed 

 continuously ever since, yielding an almost incredible number 

 of good commercial flowers. Duchesse de Brabant and Papa 

 Gontier follow pretty closely after La France in floriferousness, 

 but up to the present time no other kind equals La France. It 

 is remarkable that from May to the middle of October these 

 plants grew and bloomed without irrigation or rain. This 

 statement seems almost incredible, even to Californians, but it 

 is entirely true, nevertheless. The climbing sorts have made, 

 in many instances, a growth of five and six feet. A row of 

 Claire Carnots, another of Estella Pradels, and still another of 

 Madame Alfred Carrifires have sent up shoots the size of one's 

 finger, and in the early part of November they were blooming 

 quite freely. Perhaps 200 other sorts are doing equally well 

 after the habit of each. Of course, these Roses are well culti- 

 vated, and this experience is a confirmation of my belief, often 

 stated, that Roses will do well without irrigation on any land 

 where an orchard will thrive, provided they have good culti- 

 vation. 



I am frequently asked to name the twelve best Roses for our 

 locality, and have made the attempt perhaps fifty times with 

 as many dilferent results, but in every list La France stood at 

 the head — a place it is likely to hold for years to come. The 

 red sport. Duchess of Albany, promises to stand pretty closely 

 alongside the parent sort, but it seems a little weak yet from 

 overpropagation, no doubt, and besides has by far too many 

 imperfect flowers. A few years' propagating, by means of 



strong-selected cuttings from mature wood, will, no doubt, 

 create a greatly improved strain of this race. The same will 

 apply to Waban, the red sport from Catherine Mermet. 

 ■'CTaliland, Cal. • H. G. Pratt. 



New Cypripediums. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The following Cypripediums have recently flowered 

 at the United States Nurseries, Short Hills, New Jersey : 



Cypripediuji lutescens. — This is the result of crossing C. 

 Spicerianum with C. Javanicum. Leaves broad, rather long, 

 thick, pointed, light green, beautifully tessellated with dark 

 brown, with silvery cast underneath. Flower large, well pro- 

 portioned ; dorsal sepal large, recurved at the base, yellowish 

 green, with few faint lines of darker green. Lower sepal 

 small green ; petals yellowish green suffused with lilac at the 

 ends and spotted all over with very small brown purple spots. 

 Lip large, rather long, green, shaded with brown ; staminode 

 of a beautiful lilac color. 



Cypripedium Leeanum pulchellum. — A cross between 

 C. insigne Nilsoni and C. Spicerianum. Leaves rather narrow, 

 growth more compact than the type. Flower large, dorsal 

 sepal recurved, dark green at the base. Petals drooping, spot- 

 ted all over with small spots and margined with yellowish 

 green. Lip large, heavily shaded with brown ; staminode of 

 a beautiful lilac color. 



Cypripedium Leeanum lutescens. — A distinct type of C. 

 Leeanum, on account of its yellowish green color, derived 

 from a yellow variety of C. insigne, one of its parents. 

 Flower large, well formed ; dorsal sepal yellowish green at the 

 base, with a few faint lines of spots of a light purple. Sepals 

 and lip of the same color, slightly shaded with brown and 

 spotted with brown-purple. 



ShortHills, N. J. J OS. Manda, Jr. 



Plant Labels. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — With reference to the article in your issue of August 

 24th, I beg to state that the labels alluded to are manufactured 

 by the Fabrik der Universal-Etiquetten, 5 Winkelried Platz, 

 Bale, Switzerland. The ink is a marking ink, such as is com- 

 monly used for marking linen. These labels are neat, clean 

 and very durable ; but their great drawback is that the writing 

 upon them must be done with ink and that they can be used 

 but once, because this lettering cannot be effaced. Wooden 

 labels painted white or yellow, on which one can write with a 

 pencil, are still preferable, if "they are made from wood felled 

 in winter and seasoned for a year ; but nowadays they make 

 these from timber felled at any season of the year, and such 

 labels are subject to fungus, which they communicate to the 

 soil, and which is often destructive to delicate plants. Besides, 

 ' wooden labels must be replaced and renewed in writing after 

 a year or so. 



I have used in the boxes where I keep my rarest plants glass 

 labels, with good results. They are made of milky glass, 

 which is dipped in some acid to take off the gloss and thus 

 produce a soft surface, which is very agreeable to write upon. 

 Characters traced with a hard pencil stand the weather well, 

 and the labels look like porcelain, and are perfectly clean. By 

 rubbing with emery-paper, sand and water, the writing can be 

 perfectly effaced and the label used again. This form of label, 

 too, has one great disadvantage — that is, a brittleness which 

 makes it very liable to break. 



What is wanted, especially for amateurs, public gardens and 

 botanical establishments, is a label of some mineral material 

 with a smooth surface, easy to write upon, of a pale or whitish 

 color, which shows oif the writing to best advantage ; it must 

 be possible to efface the letters somehow, and it must not be 

 broken easily. Such a label might be made if inventors and 

 manufacturers could only be brought to interest themselves in 

 the matter. ,^ , . , ^,. 



Baden Baden. Max Leichtltll. 



The River Garden at Coblenz. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The article in your issue of November 23d on the 

 Rheinanlagen at Coblenz might have said much more of the 

 great beauty of that garden without risk of overpraise, and its 

 value to the city cannot be too highly estimated. I remember 

 an exceptionally hot June morning there, a few years ago, 

 when one thoroughly appreciated the facilities which the 

 Anlagen offered for a shady stroll or quiet reading as one sat 





