30 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 
and R, Thomsonii. It forms a large shrub of sturdy habit, 
and is very free flowering, with loose heads of large, bell- 
shaped, rosy-red flowers. A darker-flowered variety of it, 
known as splendens, first bloomed in Mr. Godman's collec- 
tion about fifteen years ago ; a second form, with rosy-lilac 
flowers, is Luscombei II. 
No good results have been obtained so far by using 
as breeders the large-flowered R, Falconeri and R. eximeum, 
Mr. Anderson Henry raised a hybrid between R. Dal- 
housice and R. formosum which was named Henryanum. 
The beautiful Countess of Haddington is a hybrid between 
R, Dalhousice and /?. ciliatuniy and Victorianum is a hybrid 
between R. Dalhousice and R. Nuttallii. Enough is known of 
R, Dalhousice to justify the belief that it would breed good 
garden Rhododendrons. We have already the Countess 
race raised by crossing R, Dalhousice with R, formosum, and 
it would be worth while to cross R. Dalhousice with some 
of the most likely species amongst the new introductions 
from China. The possibilities in this direction are endless. 
We know that the species in the several sections inter- 
breed freely, and we are only now beginning to realise that 
a judicious blending of their characters by cross-breeding 
would greatly enrich the Rhododendron garden. 
A history of garden Rhododendrons must pay tribute 
to the work of the Waterers, namely, Anthony Waterer, of 
Knap Hill Nursery, and John Waterer, of the American 
Nursery, Bagshot. In these two nurseries many of the 
best of the R, catawbiense type have been raised. Professor 
Sargent, writing of garden Rhododendrons in America, 
stated that in the United States, on the Continent, wher- 
ever Rhododendrons can be grown, there were the name 
and fame of Anthony Waterer established. So long ago 
