3°4 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 493. 



and give examples of both hardy and exotic plants that have 

 been improved thereby. 



10. After seed of the Chinese Primula has been ripened 

 describe the method of sowing and subsequent treatment of 

 the plants up to the period of their flowering. 



11. What is the native country of the Celery-plant, and under 

 what conditions does it grow naturally ? Give a short account 

 of its culture, such as time of sowing and subsequent treatment. 



12. When and under what conditions is Sea Kale found in a 

 wild state ? Describe its culture and state the time of the year 

 it is in use. 



13. Where is the common Asparagus said to be found in a 

 wild state ? State all you know of its culture, and for how long 

 a period it may be had in use. 



14. Give an account of the Apple. How are the trees propa- 

 gated ? State what you know of its culture, and the diseases 

 to which the trees are liable, and the remedies. Name one 

 good cooking variety for use in each month from August to 

 April inclusive. 



15. State all you know about the Raspberry. What sort of 

 soil is best adapted to its culture ? Give method of training 

 and pruning, and the best varieties to cultivate, both yellow 

 and red. 



16. Give an account of the usual method of Gooseberry- 

 culture adopted in gardens ; and also the Lancashire method 

 to obtain prize fruit. Name six of the best prize varieties and 

 six best for ordinary garden culture. 



The examiners were the Rev. George Henslow and Mr. J. 

 Douglas, and they have reported to the Council of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society as follows : 



We beg leave to report that we have examined the papers 

 submitted to us — in all 184. Of these we selected 89 as worthy 

 to be placed in the first class, 55 in the second; and 28 in the 

 third. The remainder, 12, are not placed ; the number of 

 marks attained being below 100. These results are most 

 encouraging. Speaking generally, the answers are extremely 

 well done. The information is accurate upon the whole, and 

 the subject-matter well expressed. Perhaps the practical hor- 

 ticulture showed, as might be anticipated, a slight superiority 

 over the elementary principles. 



A Variegated Plane. — Mr. J. Russell, nurserymen, Rich- 

 mond, obtained a first-class certificate last week for a 

 beautifully variegated variety of Platanus acerifolia. It 

 was shown and certificated under the name of P. occi- 

 dentalis argentea variegata. The young leaves when fully 

 developed are colored a clear creamy white, or striped and 

 flaked with that color on a green ground. Ultimately they 

 become wholly green, so that a plant in good condition 

 is clothed with rich green leaves, and on the young shoots 

 either white or variegated leaves, so that at a short dis- 

 tance off the plant appears to be in flower. Mr. Russell 

 says his plant is a seedling sport which originated in his 

 nursery. It appears to be identical with P. acerifolia, var. 

 Su'ttneri, which has been known and grown for at least 

 twelve years at Kew. There used to be two large trees, 

 said to be fifty years old, of a variegated Oriental Plane in 

 the public park at Buda-Pesth. As grown in Mr. Russell's 

 nursery, where the plants are perfect pyramids six feet 

 high, this Plane is most ornamental. 



Plagianthus Lyallii. — This beautiful New Zealand shrub 

 is flowering freely at Kew this year, where it is grown 

 against an east wall and also in the open border, the latter 

 position being most favorable this season, probably be- 

 cause of the mildness of the past winter. It has thin 

 twiggy branches, ovate cordate dark green leaves and 

 numerous axillary clusters of pure white flowers each an 

 inch across, and borne on a long, slender, drooping pedi- 

 cel, in effect not unlike the double Cherry. Under glass 

 we have never succeeded in flowering this plant. It 

 appears to require a sunny, airy position sheltered from 

 cold winds and severe frosts in winter. TTr rir 



London. W. WatSOll. 



The wild shrubs which skirt the waysides have a beauty 

 bevond that of the cultivated exotics in spaded gardens; they 

 cover the nakedness of stone walls with foliage and flowers ; 

 they give shelter to the birds and fruit for them, which is also 

 a luxury to the children ; they protect adjacent farm lands 

 from winds and constitute the most interesting embellish- 

 ment of a rustic farm. — Wilson Flagg. 



New or Little-known Plants. 



A New Hickory — Hicoria pallida. 



IN its relation to the other Hickories, Hicoria pallida is 

 nearer to the Nutmeg Hickory than to any other, but 

 while the Nutmeg Hickory, Hicoria myristicccformis, has 

 many characters which ally it to the Pecan and Bitternuts, 

 this has characters which show close affinity to the White 

 Hickory. The sterile flowers of Hicoria pallida are only 

 from the base of the shoot of the year, while in the Nutmeg 

 Hickory they are from separate lateral buds as well. 

 There are in both seven or nine rather small ovate-lanceo- 

 late leaflets which are covered on their lower surface with 

 silvery peltate scales. In Hicoria pallida these scales are 

 also found on the sterile inflorescence, covering the pedun- 

 cles, bracts and calyx-lobes, on the young twigs and on 

 the petioles, and this in the early spring gives a brilliancy 

 to the foliage when the sunlight falls upon it that renders 

 it very conspicuous. Although these scales are persistent 

 on the leaves they become dulled and lose their lustre by 

 the middle of summer. Covering the buds and young 

 fruit and mixed with the scales on the lower surface of the 

 leaves are resinous globules similar to those which occur 

 on Hicoria alba, and which render the young foliage of 

 that tree so fragrant. The divisions of the calyx of the 

 pistillate flower which subtend the very large stigmatic 

 lobes are broad and covered beneath with tufts of purplish 

 hairs, the young fruit being like that of Hicoria minima, 

 but larger. The petiole is covered with tufts of coarse 

 yellow or brownish hairs, which add greatly to the re- 

 semblance between the foliage of this tree and that 

 of the White Hickory, as both have about the same 

 number of leaflets ; those of the White Hickory, however, 

 are somewhat larger and are a lighter and a brighter 

 green. 



The twigs, which are even more slender than in most forms 

 of the Pignut, are purplish brown in color, marked with few 

 oblong, light gray, but rather inconspicuous lenticels, and 

 are usually smooth, although some collected in south- 

 western Georgia are tomentose toward the tip around the 

 base of the terminal buds. The oval buds are sharply 

 pointed, and are borne on an evident stipe ; the lateral 

 buds are similar to the terminal in shape and general 

 appearance, but are somewhat smaller. The terminal are 

 enfolded in from six to nine imbricate scales, and the lateral 

 in from five to seven ; while the number of scales in the 

 terminal bud of the Nutmeg Hickory seldom exceeds five 

 or six, and in the lateral bud four. Although the scales are 

 imbricate, they lengthen but little in exfoliation. The outer 

 are nearly glabrous on the back, but the inner are covered 

 with a close fine pubescence. Sometimes there are coarse 

 tufts of hair on either side of the midrib of the leaflets, but 

 this is not always the case ; whenever present it is per- 

 sistent. 



The fruit, as in most of the Hickories, varies much in 

 shape and size, being sometimes almost globular, and 

 again nearly pear-shaped, frequently assimilating forms of 

 the Pignut or White Hickory. The usual form is subglobose, 

 with a nut of nearly the same shape, barely apiculate at the 

 bottom and subcordate at the top. The husk in this form 

 is thin, less than one inch thick, and splits nearly or quite 

 to the bottom, freeing the nut, or remains on the tree until 

 the middle of winter without splitting at all. Another form 

 resembles closely the pyriform fruit of the Pignut, the thin 

 and indehiscent husk prolonged at base into a slender 

 apophysis. The nut of this form is oblong, nearly circular 

 in cross-section and mucronate at the base. It is seldom 

 found over three-fourths of an inch long, and is not at all 

 angled. In another form the fruit is nearly globular ; the 

 husk is over one-eighth of an inch thick and is wing-mar- 

 gined along the sutures. The nut is laterally flattened, 

 angled, sharply pointed at both ends, and is about 1.5 

 inches long. The nuts of the last form resemble those of 



