26 
Lady Grey Egerton, Mrs. H. S. Hunnewell and Delieatissimum have 
been killed. The last is a hybrid between R. catawbiense and R. max- 
imum , and for the last thirty years has been considered one of the 
hardiest and most desirable of the Rhododendrons which have been 
planted in New England. Plants of the following Catawbiense varieties 
have been killed in the Arboretum, but of the varieties marked with 
a star one or more, but not all the individuals in the collection, have been 
killed. On many plants which have not otherwise suffered the buds have 
been killed or injured. *Adolf, Alarich, Albin, Alfred, *Atrorubrum, 
*Bismarck, Bluebell, *Butlerianum, Circe, Daniel, ^Delieatissimum, 
*Diana, Duchess of Connaught, Earl of Shannon, Egge, Elysium, Fee, 
*F. L. Ames, *F. B. Hayes, *Hanna Felix, Herkules, Jay Gould, 
*King of the Purples, *Lady Grey Egerton, Madame Wagner, *Mar- 
quis of Waterford, Mum, *Mrs. Harry Ingersoll, Mrs. H. S. Hunne- 
well, Mnemoisyne, ^Prometheus, *R. S. Field, Salmonum roseum, Sir 
H. Haverlock. 
Rhododendron caucasicum. On the whole the different forms of 
R. caucasicum have come through the winter in comparatively good 
condition. The plants of the varieties Cleo and Ochroleucrum have 
been killed, and the flower-buds of a few others have suffered. The 
following varieties, however, are uninjured or have suffered only 
slightly: Boule de Neige, Coriaeeum, Jacksonii and Mont Blanc. 
The Rainfall of Recent Years. Whatever may have been the cause 
of the death this spring of so many Rhododendrons the small rainfall 
of the last seven years must account, at least in part, for the generally 
poor condition of Rhododendrons in eastern Massachusetts, for the death 
in this part of the country of many old Oaks and other native trees in 
the woods, and for the great number of dead branches on many native 
Ash trees, even on young trees which should be healthy and vigorous. 
It is interesting, therefore, to study in this connection the statistics 
of the rainfall in recent years on the watershed of the Sudbury River 
in Massachusetts, about twenty miles from Boston. For the following 
figures the Arboretum is indebted to Mr. Desmond Fitzgerald of Brook- 
line. During the years 1875-1903, inclusive, the average rainfall on 
the Sudbury basin was 46.34 inches; from 1904-1914 the annual average 
rainfall was, however, only 40.79 inches, or an annual deficit of 5.55 
inches. During the seven years from 1908-1914 the annual average 
was only 39.24 inches, or an annual deficiency of 6.76 inches as com- 
pared with the period from 1875 to 1907, that is, the loss of rain in 
the past seven years is rather more than the entire rainfall of one 
normal year; and, moreover, in these seven years there has not been 
a single year of normal rainfall. 
Rhododendrons in the United States. In some years, when condi- 
tions are comparatively favorable, Rhododendrons flourish in this cli- 
mate; in other years when conditions are less favorable they suffer. 
Compared with these plants as they grow in England and Scotland 
Rhododendrons are never really successful here. This is not a climate 
for Rhododendrons, that is for the sort of Rhododendrons European 
nurserymen usually propagate and send to this country. It is true 
