424 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 505. 



Paris, and on inquiry I was told by Monsieur Patry, the 

 superintendent of those exceedingly well managed gardens, 

 that it was being distributed to the French colonies as a 

 silk-fibre plant, and that in this respect it is superior to the 

 China Grass, Bcehmeria nivea, and to Ramie, B. tenacissima. 

 It has been found to grow more freely and to be less diffi- 

 cult to manipulate than either of these two plants, which, 

 according to Monsieur Patry, have consequently been 

 abandoned in its favor by the French planters. I see that 

 this species is a common weed in various parts of North 

 America, and that its fibre has been utilized for textile pur- 

 poses. In the Treasury of Botany it is stated that L. Cana- 

 densis is a native of the Alleghany Mountains and that "it 

 has lately ( 1 884) been imported into Germany as a new 

 textile plant ; it is perennial and capable of enduring the 

 climate of central Germany, but further experiments are 

 needed ere its commercial value can be determined." In 

 view of the fact that these silk-fibre plants are exciting con- 

 siderable attention among manufacturers, and of the belief 

 in France that this Laportea is better than either of the 

 Bcehmerias, it would be worth while for some one in 

 America to investigate its, properties. Very little appears 

 to be known about it in England, where fibre plants of all 

 kinds have received considerable attention in recent years. 



Tigridias. — What are the natural conditions under which 

 Tigridia Pavonia grows in Mexico? Cultivators generally 

 treat this and the other species of Tigridia as plants that 

 require a comparatively dry situation. In the gardens of 

 the Earl of Ilchester, at Abbotsbury, however, T. Pavonia 

 is grown in a swamp and it thrives amazingly, growing to 

 a height of three feet, the leaves large, healthy and lus- 

 trous, and the flowers almost as large again as one usually 

 sees them. It has been in this position several years and 

 has increased rapidly. Possibly this is a case in which the 

 cultivator is more kind to the plant than Nature can afford 

 to be. An instance of this character is Begonia Socotrana, 

 which Nature grows in dry hot sand; in the hands of the 

 cultivator this plant is happiest, that is, it grows at least 

 three times as large and bears enormous crops of flowers, 

 when planted in strong loam, freely watered and kept in a 

 hot, moist stove. Another such case is Stapelia gigantea, 

 the largest flowered of all the carrion plants. At Kew it is 

 grown in a stove with Crotons, Dracaenas, etc., where 

 it blooms freely, and it is now coming into flower. 

 On seeing our plants a few days ago a Cape botanist ex- 

 claimed that this method of cultivation would kill the plant. 

 But, in a house where succulents are grown at Kew, it 

 grew indifferently and never flowered. By the way, culti- 

 vators of Stapelias, plants which often fail to grow, may 

 like to know that altogether the best method I have 

 tried is to plunge the pots containing them during the 

 summer in cinder-ashes in a frame facing south, where, in 

 warm weather, the lights are taken off. The Kew collec- 

 tion has improved astonishingly under this treatment. 



How New Peas are Raised. — The history of garden vege- 

 tables is a subject of absorbing interest. Darwin devoted 

 much attention to them in his Animals and Plants under 

 Domestication, a work which, I venture to think, present- 

 day horticulturists might study with advantage. In the 

 course of a lecture by Mr. A. W. Sutton, of Reading, on the 

 progress in vegetable cultivation during the last sixty years, 

 it was stated that a seedling Pea is now generally the result 

 of so much interbreeding that many distinct types will be 

 represented in the ultimate cross. This cross will give a 

 pod containing from six to ten or more seeds, and it is at 

 this point that the work of the hybridist ceases, and that of 

 the selector commences. When sown these seeds will in 

 all probability produce as many distinct seedling Peas, some 

 partaking of the character of the parents and some not. Seed 

 saved from each of these frequently varies in each case to 

 such an extent that the greatest patience is required in order 

 to secure any fixed type at all. Some will be tall, some 

 dwarf; some early, others later ; some large podded, some 

 small ; some pale green in color, some dark ; some curved 

 in the pod, some straight ; some pointed at the end and 



some square ; and last, but not least, some may be round- 

 seeded and some wrinkled. The selector must therefore 

 begin again, and starting from the most promising plant 

 in each row, endeavor to build up a seedling plant which 

 will reproduce itself from seeds without variation, a task 

 often extending over many years. While the garden Pea has 

 been enormously improved during the last sixty years, Ne 

 Plus Ultra, raised fifty years ago, is still, perhaps, the best of 

 all tall late marrow -fat Peas. Another popular favorite 

 now is Veitch's Perfection, introduced in 1859. American 

 Wonder, introduced by Messrs. Sutton in 1881, is still more 

 extensively grown than any other dwarf wrinkled pea. 

 Mr. Sutton also stated that in order to make their Pea trials 

 comprehensive enough to determine the value of new 

 seedlings, and to test older varieties offered, they find it 

 necessary to sow from 600 to 700 rows annually. 



London. W. WalSOn. 



Cultural Department. 



Notes from Baden-Baden. 



SCABIOSA CAUCASICA is one of our hardiest perennials in 

 all soils and positions, and it produces its beautiful pale 

 blue flowers throughout summer and autumn. A variety 

 called Connata or Elegans has larger petals, and is altogether a 

 more robust plant. There is alto a white variety, but this is 

 more delicate than the type and capricious as to soil and treat- 

 ment. I have worked constantly tor many years on S. Cau- 

 casica connata, sowing and selecting the best varieties, even 

 though the variation was slight. This season I have been 

 successful in getting a plant with bright deep ultramarine 

 flowers, and another with pure white flowers. The latter is 

 very robust and much more valuable than the typical white- 

 flowered form. 



Incarvillea variabilis has been in flower since June, and is a 

 plant well worth growing. It is half-shrubby, making a round 

 bush three feet high and of the same diameter. The main 

 stem branches into many divisions, the ends of the branchlets 

 bearing the flowers, which are bright purple and about the size 

 of those of a florist's Pentstemon. The leaves are bright green 

 and deeply cut. It is quite hardy and flowers the first year 

 from seed. 



Among Kniphofias, a new species, K. Tysoni, has flowered 

 here ; it is a large stately plant, with rather short bluish green 

 leaves at least five inches broad and two feet long. The 

 flowers, although not gaudy, are bright brick-red, changing to 

 white. 



Crocus pulchellus was in great beauty some time ago, with 

 soft purple flowers, faintly striped. At this time, October 10th, 

 C. Marathoniseus is showy, its pure white flowers being bright- 

 ened by a few orange blotches and the broad orange pistils. 

 Polygonum sphasrostachyum still throws up its handsome 

 spikelets dressed in bright aniline-red. 



Baden-Baden. Max Leichtllll. 



Ornamental Grass Beds. 



IT is rather puzzling to know why so many Coleus, Alteman- 

 theras and annuals are used in our public gardens and parks 

 year after year when there are many other plants of as easy 

 cultivation and much more pleasing. Beds of Coleus are little 

 more than patches of gaudy color, with which one is quickly 

 satiated. In this locality there are beds planted permanently 

 with Grasses ; these are made to look different each year by 

 introducing various species of moderately tall flowering and 

 foliage plants. In planting with Grasses the tall Reed, Arundo 

 donax, is given the central position ; next in height is Erian- 

 thus Ravennaa, and the varieties of Eulaha Japonica with 

 Arundo donax variegata come next. Eulalia univittata follows 

 in this order, and if smaller Grasses are needed, some of ttie 

 variegated Arundinarias, Pennisetum longistylum, Elymus 

 glaucus and Festuca glauca, the last-named being quite a 

 dwarf variety. All of these Glasses are hardy here, and the 

 plants should be placed far enough apart so that there will be 

 no necessity to change them for several seasons. 



If it is desired to use only Grasses and allied plants we have 

 Cyperus Papyrus, which grows next in height to Erianthus 

 Ravennas. The color of this Cyperus is a rich dark green, 

 unlike that of any other Grass. The purple form of the Sugar- 

 cane, Saccharum officinarum, var. violaceum, can be depended 

 on to grow at least five feet in a single season and form a neat 

 bushy plant. Cyperus alternifolius attains a height of from 

 three to four feet, and Pampas Grasses from two to four feet, 





