2IO 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 167. 



Acacias and hard-wooded plants generally. The " Andean 

 Rhododendron" (Be/aria glauca) is also flowering now, and is 

 much more attractive in color and number of flowers in a ra- 

 ceme than it has been before. This dwarf and evidently free- 

 flowering plant ought to become a favorite for the greenhouse. 

 Seedlings take a long time, about ten years, to grow to flower- 

 ing age, but cuttings or grafts from flowering plants would no 

 doubt bloom when only a year or two old. A hybrid raised 

 many years ago from R. Dalhousia and R.formosum is a very 

 beautiful and free-flowering greenhouse plant. It is not un- 

 like R. Countess of Haddington and R. Gibsoni in habit and 

 flower, and it closely resembles the true R. Dalhousico, a 

 Himalayan species scarcely known in cultivation. The flowers 

 are deeply campanulate, over three inches in diameter, and 

 white tinged with rose. They remain on the plant several 

 weeks. 



Epiphyllum GdERTNERl. — This plant was introduced into 

 notice by the Belgian nurserymen three years ago under the 

 names of E. Russellianum, var. Gcertneri, and E. Makoyanum. 

 It was at first thought to be a cross between an Epiphyllum 

 and a Phyllocactus, but it has since been shown to be an in- 

 troduction from Brazil, and is looked upon at Kew as a third 

 species of Epiphyllum, the other two being E. truncatum, of 

 which numerous varieties are known in gardens, and E. Rus- 

 sellianum. The new one differs from these in having flowers 

 of about twenty lanceolate petals varying in length from half 

 an inch to two inches, and arranged regularly round the clus- 

 ter of short stamens, so that when fully expanded each flower 

 is in form like a Phyllocactus ; the color is a brilliant orange- 

 scarlet. The leaf-like branches are similar in form and ar- 

 rangement to those of E. truncatum, each joint being about 

 two inches long by an inch in width, the margins dentate and 

 the upper end clothed with a brush-like tuft of stiff brown hairs 

 half an inch long. Grafted upon a thin-stemmed Cereus this 

 species forms in a year or so a sturdy standard, with a head a 

 foot through, and it produces two or three flowers on the end 

 of every branch. The plant at Kew has a dozen flowers fully 

 open, and is a beautiful object. 



Shortia galacifolia has been exhibited in flower several 

 times this year at plant shows in London. It has proved quite 

 hardy in England, growing freely and retaining its foliage all 

 the winter, in spite of severe frost and poisonous fogs ; in 

 spring it sends up numerous flowers, and when at its best it 

 is a really pretty rock plant. The leaves assume a deep, 

 glossy, chocolate color in spring. 



The Blue Himalayan Poppy, Meconopsis Wallichii, has 

 succumbed to the severe weather of the past winter, although 

 previous winters of the last eight years have not been too 

 much for it. Luckily, we have a batch of young plants which 

 had been placed in a cold frame for the winter, and these are 

 quite safe. At Kew this splendid plant is one of the annual 

 attractions of the rock garden, where it is grown in a damp, 

 somewhat sheltered and shaded position, in a bed of peat. 

 Here it grows well and produces, in July, its tall spikes, a yard 

 or more high, of rich, purplish blue, poppy-like flowers. 

 Seeds are sown every year, and the young plants grown on 

 in pots to take the place of those which die after flowering. 

 This plant is one of the many beautiful garden subjects which 

 come from the high Himalayan Alps, where, in Sikkim, Sir 

 Joseph Hooker found it at an elevation of 10,000 feet. Six 

 other species are found in the same region, three of which 

 are in cultivation at Kew. They are, however, not nearly so 

 useful in the garden as M. Wallichii. 



Orchids. — The meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society 

 this week was remarkable for the number of rare and beauti- 

 ful Orchids exhibited, chiefly by Sir Trevor Lawrence, the 

 president of the society, Baron Schrceder and Messrs. F. 

 Sander & Co. The collection of Masdevallias from Burford 

 Lodge was most beautiful, and comprised some very fine varie- 

 ties of M. Harryana and M. Lindeni and others. In Baron 

 Schrceder's group there were the following: Lcelia Digbyana 

 Mossice, with two large flowers on a raceme. It will be re- 

 membered that when this grand Veitchian hybrid flowered 

 for the first time, two years ago, it bore only one flower. 

 Cypripedium Morganitz , a fine specimen of this most beauti- 

 ful hybrid, bearing twenty-two fine flowers. Three varieties 

 of Odontoglossum crispum, named, respectively, Stevensii, Wol- 

 stomholmice and Veitchianum, and bearing each a strong 

 raceme of flowers. These are three of the very finest varie- 

 ties known. 0. kybridum dellense, 0. Ruckerianum, O. Cer- 

 vantesii moralla; Cattleya Laurenciana and two varieties with 

 a lilac shade in the segments, named Vinckii and concolor ; 

 Lalia Jonghiana, Cymbidium Devonianum and the hybrid C. 

 eburneo-Lowianum. Masdevallia Lindeni was represented by 

 a splendid specimen bearing over a hundred flowers. So fine 



a collection of Orchids has rarely been seen anywhere. 

 Messrs. Sander & Co. sent their new Dendrobium Venus, de- 

 scribed by me last week ; Maxillaria Sanderiana, Scuticaria 

 Hadweni, Zygopetalum graminifoliuuc, with some beautiful 

 Odontoglossums and Cypripediums, several of the latter being 

 new hybrids. These fortnightly meetings in London have 

 grown very much in interest and importance recently. Every 

 plant of anything like special horticultural interest, and 

 which happens to be in flower at the time of the meeting, is 

 sent for exhibition, contributions coming from even the most 

 distant parts of the country. In time the progress in English 

 horticulture will be focused at these meetings of the old 

 Society. 



London. W. Watsotl. 



Cultural Department. 



Earliness in Vegetables. 



"XI WHATEVER criticism we may make on the eagerness of 

 * * buyers for the earliest vegetables, and however philo- 

 sophically we may ourselves be disposed to wait for the better 

 things that come later, it is of prime importance for the com- 

 mercial grower to be first in the market with each of his 

 specialties. The best exposure and the warmest soil — often 

 much too warm for later crops— that can be obtained are 

 seized upon, and the competition between gardeners often has 

 the excitement of a game, and success gives an exhilaration 

 out of proportion to the mere money-value of the result. 



Usually, the gardener depends upon the seedsman in this 

 matter ; but nearly all gardeners of experience and skill have 

 some specialties of which they grow the seeds themselves, 

 and do not let them out of their hands without a liberal quid 

 pro quo. In this way originate many of the new sorts put for- 

 ward in our seedsmen's spring catalogues, and so severely 

 commented upon later by purchasers of little experience. 

 The older heads do not expect many real bonanzas, though 

 they make many tests. It seems to me worth while to ask 

 ourselves what we really have a right to expect of such offer- 

 ings. Nothing can be more unwise than to condemn them 

 all untested, unless it be to expect a large gain in testing 

 them. 



Every old gardener must be aware that our existing varieties 

 of garden vegetables are not only better grown, but better in 

 themselves — in some lines far better, and offer a much wider 

 choice than they did, say thirty or even twenty years ago. 

 Now, how has this advancement been realized ? It is safe to 

 say that, while some of it is due to care in cultivation, and a 

 close study of the requirements of each variety, as much or 

 more is due to a quick eye to note valuable variations, and a 

 quick mind to make the most of them. Every crop which we 

 grow exhibits many variations from the designated type, and 

 the best opportunity for success lies in noting those which in- 

 dicate special value. 



Though variation is constantly showing itself, it appears 

 more frequently as the distance widens between the locality 

 where a variety originated and that where its cultivation is 

 attempted. It often happens that such variation may seem to 

 ' make a variety utterly worthless in its new location. This was 

 the case in an attempt made, not long ago, to grow a northern 

 variety of Sweet Corn in the south. There was an almost 

 entire failure ; but, by successive replanting from the south- 

 ern-grown seed, not only was the type re-established by spon- 

 taneous adaptation, but it was absolutely improved. 



In my own experience, extending over twenty-five years in 

 northern Vermont, I have reached the conclusion that a 

 variety of early peas, or beans, or corn, can be made to order 

 in a longer or shorter time, according to the complexity of 

 the requirements imposed. When a variety begins to sport — 

 and they all do it— by successive plantings they may be made 

 to fly, so to speak, in all directions, and then we have only to 

 select and fix the form that suits us. From a single bean sport 

 I have grown hundreds of varieties, which could have been 

 increased to thousands before a tendency toward fixity again 

 showed itself. In these varieties were seen almost every form 

 of plant, of seed, and of markings ; but it was not until the 

 fourth generation that the original type reappeared, even 

 approximately. In peas, I have actually produced, by crossing 

 and selection, a predetermined variety with a special charac- 

 teristic previously unknown. In the same way I have, by 

 crossing, produced a sweet corn having all the characters of 

 the Black Mexican (but much earlier), without the least aid 

 from the latter. 



It is easy to see from this how easy it may be, in a proper 

 location, to obtain and measurably fix a habit of early maturity 



