37 2 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 500. 



Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society. — The Au- 

 gust number of the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society 

 is of exceptional interest. It contains the list of the "Vic- 

 toria Medallists" (I omitted the name of the learned Canon 

 Ellacombe from the list which I wrote for Garden and 

 Forest). A paper by Professor Marshall Ward on Micro- 

 scopic Fungi and their Cultivation will be read with interest 

 by all cultivators who hope for some cure for the many 

 fatal diseases which now affect garden plants. Diseases 

 of Plants (fungoid), by Mr. Massee, is of similar purport 

 and value to the paper by Professor Marshall Ward. The 

 Value of Artificial Manures is set forth in an excellent paper 

 by Mr. J. J. Willis, probably the first authority in England 

 on this question. A paper on the Storing and 1-reserving 

 of Fruit, by one of our leading growers, Mr. J. Cheal, gives 

 some useful advice to amateurs as to the best means of 

 preserving and utilizing fruit, especially in times of good 

 crops, when the tendency is to let it waste or sell it for 

 nothing. 



Orchid Pans. — Cultivators of Orchids differ as to the 

 merits of block, teak-basket, pan or pot cultivation, and 

 while some prefer to use baskets for almost everything, 

 others declare that pots or pans are better. The funda- 

 mental principle to be borne in mind is that epiphytic 

 Orchids cannot succeed in a compost which is not sweet 

 and open or aerated, and therefore a pot or pan open only 

 at the top and with a small hole in the bottom is not likely 

 to prove safe except in certain cases and in careful hands. 

 On the other hand, teak baskets are apt to allow the com- 

 post and roots to dry too quickly. I have recently seen 

 some pans which combine the qualities of pot and basket ; 

 these are about half their diameter in depth, with an ordi- 

 nary rim at the top, the bottom conical and perforated 

 with large holes and the sides also perforated with round 

 and elongated holes. These pans are made of red clay 

 and they have holes for wires to suspend them. They are 

 light and they may be stood on a stage or shelf as safely as 

 if suspended. The advantage such pans have over wooden 

 baskets is that they do not rot and afford a lodging place 

 for fungoid and other pests. They do not require pot- 

 sherds for drainage, and they do not allow the compost to 

 dry too quickly; at the same time it is impossible fur 

 plants to become water-logged in them. I saw them 

 in extensive use in the nursery of Messrs. F. Sander 

 & Co., who have found them so admirably suited 

 for Orchids, Nepenthes, etc., that they manufacture 

 them largely, and now offer them for sale. They are 

 almost as cheap as ordinary pans, the price of one six 

 inches in diameter being twopence. They are therefore 

 much cheaper than baskets; so cheap, in fact, that one 

 need not hesitate to break them if necessary when re- 

 moving the plants into larger pans. 



Strawberries. — A trial of a select number of kinds of 

 strawberries has been conducted at Chiswick during the 

 last two years. The results are published in the Journal 

 of the Royal Horticultural Society. Most of the stocks were 

 planted 111 August, 1895, but some were planted a year 

 later. It should be borne in mind that probably no fruit 

 varies more than strawberries, both in different seasons and 

 on different soils, and therefore sorts which may prove in- 

 ferior in one season may be first-class the next. Still, there 

 is not much difficulty in separating the good from the bad 

 in a properly conducted trial extending over two years. 

 The kinds which were voted best of fifty-six sorts tried are 

 as follows. They were awarded first-class certificates. The 

 name of the variety is followed by the raiser's name and 

 the year when it received a certificate. Auguste Boisselot 

 (1890): good crop the first year, much heavier the second, 

 quality excellent ; ripe June 11. Countess (1896) : splendid 

 crop first and second year, flavor delicious ; a very fine 

 variety with a wonderful aroma ; ripe June 11. Edouard 

 Lefort(Vilmorin, 1896): splendid cropper, flavor delicious ; 

 ripe June 11. Latest of All (Laxton, 1894): very heavy 

 cropper, flavor better the second year ; ripe June 1 5. Royal 

 Sovereign (Laxton, 1892) : a grand cropper, quality good; 



proved to be the hardiest and earliest variety ; ripe June 4. 

 Veitch's Perfection (Veitch, 1896) : this variety has won a 

 first place among the newer sorts ; it was not received at 

 Chiswick in time to be properly tested but it has proved a 

 superb cropper, large and handsome in berry and of ex- 

 cellent flavor. Wonderful (Bunyard, 1897) : good crop 

 first year, very heavy second, quality excellent; ripe June 

 11. I had an opportunity of tasting and inspecting the 

 varieties here mentioned and in my opinion the best of all, 

 judging by the Chiswick test, was Countess. 



Phloxes (P. decussata). — A large collection of the varie- 

 ties of the popular garden Phlox has been formed at Kew 

 during the last two or three years, numbering over one 

 hundred named sorts. These have been obtained chiefly 

 from the Continental nurserymen, who have paid special 

 attention to the improvement of this Phlox, chief among 

 whom is Monsieur Lemoine, of Nancy, who has bred most 

 of the best sorts in cultivation. A selection of the best of 

 them was made this year, and I give here the list in the 

 hope that it will be helpful to any one wishful to grow a 

 select few of this, one of the most ornamental of garden 

 plants. At Kew, at any rate, the following are preferable 

 to all others tried : — White : Berenice, Sylphide. White 

 with dark eye : Pascal. Rose : Ouragon, John Forbes, 

 Le Siecle. Grevin, Adonis, Moliere, Beranger. Rose-purple : 

 Cceur de Lion, Champs Elysee, Roxelane. Lilac : Espoir, 

 Eugene Danzanvilliers. Salmon-red or orange : Aurore, 

 Roi des Roses, Regulus, Tom Welsh, Coquelicot, Toreador, 

 General Chanzy. Blood-red : Coccinea. Bronze-violet : 

 Solon. If I had to confine myself to three sorts, they 

 would be Sylphide, Coquelicot and Tom Welsh. Phloxes 

 like a riclr'soil. an open, sunny position, and plenty of water. 

 In a dry border they lose their bottom leaves and become 

 unsightly. They are easily multiplied from cuttings. 

 London. W. Watson. 



The Chestnut in Bloom. 



" The bloom is gone, and with the bloom go I." — T/tvrsis. 



THERE never was, nor, perhaps, ever may be a more 

 perfect idea of the transition from early summer into 

 midsummer than is conveyed by two stanzas of "Thyrsis," 

 where the "red and white of May" passes into the deeper 

 coloration of summer, with the "Chestnut-flowers strewn" 

 between. In those perfect lines the English Chestnut is 

 associated with plants of an earlier period of bloom than 

 our native tree, but even closer our native Chestnut touches 

 the high-water mark of the year. After Chestnut-tassels 

 have fallen the time of preparation and expectation has 

 passed, and not only has summer fully come, but autumnal 

 flowers have begun with scouting parties of Asters and 

 Golden-rod. 



The past season has been noted for profusion of bloom 

 of every sort, and the " high midsummer pomps " were 

 ushered in by a perfect outburst of bloom from the Chest- 

 nuts. Hillside and valley woodlands were in places 

 really illuminated by the cloud of pale golden tassels. 

 One of the most beautiful specimens was a Chestnut 

 found a short distance from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 

 near the North Penn Railway (see figure 48 on page 573), 

 and while not remarkably large, it was so perfect in 

 form, so covered with bloom that one could not fail to be 

 impressed by its unusual beauty. It stood far from a house 

 in an open field, and was an ideal tree for the corner of a 

 lawn, with down-drooping branches on one side, and on 

 the other horizontal boughs that framed the landscape 

 beyond. The economic uses of the Chestnut cannot be 

 touched upon at present, but simply its aesthetic side. 

 Every one who travels cannot fail to observe whole dis- 

 tricts given up to a petty, trifling kind of planting, and it 

 cannot be insisted upon too often that for broad and last- 

 ing effects, for dignity and increasing beauty, we must turn 

 to the Tulip-tree and our Oaks, including with these, of 

 course, the Chestnut. This tree fills such an important 

 part in the landscapes of the Atlantic states, that it is only 

 after passing beyond the Alleghanies one realizes how large 



