August 26, 1891.J 



Garden and Forest. 



403 



rect to say the different varieties cannot be cultivated in 

 the same garden — those kinds which thrive in one place 

 failing in another. A remarkable fact in relation to seed- 

 ling Carnations is their dying out after a few years' culti- 

 vation, or, if they do not die out, they revert to some infe- 

 rior form. Of course, many are stable enough in character. 

 The raisers of new seedling Carnations send their most prom- 

 ising kinds to be cultivated in the trial grounds at Chiswick, 

 side by side with those of established reputation. These 

 are examined annually by a committee of experts, who 

 award marks or certificates to the best. The list of cer- 

 tificated new kinds is published in the Journal of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society, and in this way growers are made 

 acquainted with the best new seedlings as tried at Chis- 

 wick. The examination of Carnations, Annuals, Peas, 

 Beans and several other classes was completed last week. 

 Tomatoes will be examined shortly. Meanwhile, the exhi- 

 bition of these plants under first-rate cultivation, in a large 

 house set apart for them, is both interesting and instruc- 

 tive. A house over a hundred feet long by thirty feet 

 wide is entirely filled with Tomatoes, two of each kind 

 being grown and labeled with the raiser's name. The 

 gardens in which these trials take place are open to the 

 public as well as to the Fellows of the Royal Horticultural 



Kew ■*' W. Watson. 



Cultural Department. 



Some Hybrid Gladioli. 



MANY years ago I obtained bulbs of Gladiolus pur pur eo- 

 auratus, and at once began to raise hybrids between this 

 species, then new, and the Gandavensis varieties, and had sev- 

 eral sorts wben Monsieur Lemoine first offered his hybrids for 

 sale. Among the first seedlings were Alguacil and Corporal, 

 which I still regard as worthy of a name and place though 

 raised so long ago; indeed, Corporal, to which the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society awarded a first-class certificate 

 in 1884, is still the brightest of all my varieties. I mention 

 this to show that there is a strong element of chance in 

 hybridizing operations ; the first attempt may produce results 

 which thousands of subsequent seedlings may not surpass. 

 Nevertheless, every year has added to my collection, which 

 now numbers, of the Lemoinei strain, sixty-four varieties, all 

 sufficiently distinct to be recognized. Not all which have been 

 named have been preserved, for when a seedling has appeared 

 of the same general appearance as a named kind, the stock of 

 the latter has been sacrificed and its name and number given 

 to the new-comer. 



Of a lot of seedlings more than half will have the form of 

 G. purpureo-auratus, that is, hooded over at the top by the 

 strong curvature of the upper petal. This form is generally 

 accompanied by a uniformity of color, red or purplish red, 

 with a crimson blotch on the lower petal, which is tipped with 

 a greenish yellow. Yet I have seen three of this shape which 

 I think are good enough for any collection : Lemoine's 

 Sceptre d'Or, which is i fine, clear, yellow flower ; Lemoine's 

 Masque de Fer, a bright red flower whose two lower lateral 

 petals are black, with a bright yellow point in the centre of 

 each ; and a seedling, probably from the latter, which appeared 

 among my plants two years ago ; it is exactly like its supposed 

 parent, except that every division of the flower is edged with 

 a fine white line. 



A great many of the seedlings produce flowers of a broad 

 open shape, which, combined with their color, has caused 

 them to be compared to magnolias, not, I think, a very close 

 comparison. These are mostly of a pink, red or purple color. 

 Some of the best I have of these are Condesa (F. C. C, 1884), 

 a large flower whose color is much like that of a well-ripened 

 water-melon, and Centurion, which is deep red, of an orange 

 cast, the lower petals being crimson and black. 



Another class combines the colors of the first section with a 

 much more open shape. Many of these are very good, as 

 their tints are brighter and the yellow of their lower petals is 

 devoid of greenness and is sometimes changed for pure white, 

 as in Prince Regent (F. C. C, 1886). Admiral is another good 

 one of this class and is a remarkably strong grower. Auto- 

 crat and Steward are also worth growing. 



A fourth class has flowers about as widely opened as the 

 Gandavensis kinds, and a ground color of light buff or salmon 

 (I have never seen a Lemoinei variety with white ground), 



blotched heavily on the lower central petal or the lower lateral 

 one. Many of these may be seen at horticultural exhibitions, 

 and I raise a large number every year. Of this class I have 

 added to my list Principessa, which is a tall variety with a 

 purple throat, La Duquesa, with cherry and yellow blotch, 

 and Umpire (F. C. C, 1887), whose two lower laterals are 

 brownish red. It is, perhaps, worthy of remark, that the stems 

 in classes one and four are usually tall and slender, and in the 

 others more like those of the Gandavensis sorts. 



These four classes will be found to include over ninety per 

 cent, of every large collection of seedlings of the Lemoinei 

 strain. Anything really new and striking must come from the 

 small residue, such as Suffragan, a very small red and yellow 

 flower, which most people would not like, but so brilliant that 

 I still keep it; Pontiff, which frequently has all six segments 

 tipped with yellow and the lower one grained with narrow 

 parallel violet lines, and M. Leveque (Lemoine's), deep crim- 

 son-purple throughout. I sow the seed of well-opened flow- 

 ers only, yet more than fifty per cent, of the seedlings prove 

 to be of the purpureo-auratus type ; how strong and vigorous 

 must the influence of that species be to appear so abundantly 

 for nearly twenty years, though not but once in all that time 

 has a flower of that shape furnished seed for my sowing. 



My experience with Monsieur Lemoine's Nanceianus strain 

 has not been great, but from my observation I should say 

 that their value lies more in what they promise to be than in 

 what they are. The complaint that they have but one flower in 

 perfection at a time does not appear to me to be well founded, 

 for I have to-day counted six perfect and gigantic flowers on the 

 varietyComte HoracedeChoiseul, and three pale-pink flowers, 

 not yet withered, occupied the lower part of the same spike; 

 fading is the defect of this otherwise fine flower. President 

 Carnot also fades, though not so badly ; but the graining and 

 mottling, which is delicate and beautiful in the parent Saun- 

 dersi, becomes coarse and displeasing in this. In others the 

 shape is objectionable, being too wide for its height. No 

 doubt, these and other defects will be absent in seedlings yet 

 to come, but I do not believe that Nanceianus or Lemoinei, or 

 any other strain, will ever attain the excellence of the Ganda- 

 vensis tribe. 



Canton, Mass. W. E. Elldicott. 



Spring-flowering- Bulbs. 



"THE first spring-flowering bulbs are now making growth in 

 *■ the border, and this may be considered a warning to 

 plant this class of bulbs as soon as possible. None of my other 

 bulbs rest for so short a season as those of the Taurian Muscari, 

 which, having remained dormant scarcely a month, in the 

 middle of August have made leaves some three inches long. 

 An examination will soon show that many bulbous plants are 

 slowly commencing to move, and, of course, if such bulbs 

 are kept unplanted valuable time is lost to their detriment. 

 Bulbs, corms and rhizomes are always rather mysterious 

 things, and a general collection proves of constant interest, 

 and is no small care, until their habits are well known. Be- 

 tween the accommodating ones which can be persuaded into 

 growth and flower by a little moisture at any season, and the 

 obstinate ones which refuse to grow until a certain season of 

 the year, there is a wide difference with many variations and 

 with all manner of vagaries. 



However satisfactory those plants are which grow and 

 bloom with regularity and small care, to one with a spirit of 

 garden adventure in his veins there is great fascination in the 

 cultivation of unreliable and difficult subjects, such as the 

 Oncocyclus Irises of which Mr. Orpet wrote last week. This 

 fascinating group interests me very much, and after some ex- 

 perience I have sometimes thought I knew how to grow them, 

 and then again I have concluded that they are capital subjects 

 to humble one's pride in his cultural skill. It is very well un- 

 derstood that, given certain protection, so that conditions of 

 growth may be controlled, a fair proportion of these plants 

 may be expected to bloom, but some of us have too little time 

 in the garden to watch pots and frames, and we wish to grow 

 hardy subjects in the open. Certainly the Oncocyclus Irises 

 are hardy and do bloom well in the open sometimes, and it 

 would be interesting to know, in a general way, the proper 

 conditions. The first /. Susiana I planted made a strong 

 growth in the fall, and with other things in a south border was 

 covered with hard forest-leaves, and in the spring flowered 

 strongly. Since then I have grown numbers of them by the 

 most approved advice, and the result is generally unsatisfac- 

 tory. Pots were tried last season, an experiment I shall not 

 repeat. I grow about a dozen kinds of Oncocyclus Irises, and 

 they are all equally uncertain as far as culture is concerned. 

 They are ail beautiful in flower, however, and well worth 



