490 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 4, 1891. 
Society to assist in the inquiry conducted by the society 
into the cause of loupin-ill in sheep in the early years 
of the last decade.— North British Agriculturist. 
Theft at Kew Gardens.—At the Richmond Police- 
court, on Tuesday, Alfred Budd, age thirty-six, of 
Tennyson Road, Penge, described as a painter, was 
charged with stealing on Bank Holiday a number of 
cuttings of valuable Cactuses from the succulent house 
at Kew Gardens. From the evidence it appeared that 
the theft was committed at a period of the day when 
thousands of holiday-folk were inspecting the gardens. 
The prisoner was detected by one of the workmen in 
the act of cutting one of the plants, and when brought 
before Mr. Nicholson, the curator, no fewer than 
eighteen varieties of Cactus were found in his possession. 
The prisoner pleaded guilty, and was fined 40s. and 
costs, or one month’s imprisonment in default. 
A Novel Sale Catalogue.—When an amateur grower 
of Orchids like Mr. H. M. Pollett finds that his 
collection outgrows the space in his houses that he can 
devote to them, much as he may regret to part with his 
pets, there is nothing for it but to get rid of some of 
them in some way or other, and there is nothing more 
natural in this severely practical age than that way . 
should be found in a sale by auction. Consequently 
on Tuesday and Wednesday next, a portion of the 
famous Fernside collection will come under the 
hammer at Messrs. Protheroe & Morris’s Rooms. In an 
ordinary way, such an event would be of passing interest 
only, but the sale catalogue issued by Mr. Pollett, on the 
score of novelty alone demands more than a mere passing 
word. It is the first of the kind which has been 
issued from the press containing coloured plates, 
faithfully executed, of many of the varieties which will 
be offered for sale, and may reasonably be expected not 
to be the last of its kind. The greater number of its 
plates comprise Odontoglossums, and the varieties and 
allies of 0. crispum are most numerously represented, 
including those grandly blotched and variegated forms 
which have received First Class Certificates from time 
to time at the meetings of the Royal Horticultural 
Society. These comprise 0. c. ilaveolum, 0. c. lilacinum, 
0. c. leopardinum, and others. Allied forms, such as 
0. Ruckerianum insigne, 0. elegans, 0. Pollettianum, 
and 0. mulus (Bockett’s variety), also receive due 
attention ; as well as 0. Humeanum, 0. Halli mag- 
nificum, 0. citrosmum roseum, and 0. Pescatorei. The 
plates are not merely of temporary interest, but to an 
Orchid lover are of as much value as those issued in 
works of a more permanent character, hence we note 
the advent of this catalogue as the commencement of a 
new era in sale room literature, and shall watch its 
development with some interest. 
— 
AUTUMNAL ROSES. 
Me. George Paul always writes sensibly and to the 
point on Roses and Rose culture. He occasionally 
contributes to the Bose Annual a chatty paper brim¬ 
ful of information, and one of these — on autumnal 
Roses—he contributed to the Annual for last year, and 
there is great truth in his remark, that of the autumnal 
Roses, the Teas and their close fellows the Chinas, 
are the peers. ‘ 1 The China Roses, les Bengales of 
the French, stand first, and had they hut larger and 
more lasting flowers the Chinas would take a higher 
place than they do in all gardens. A hedge of the 
common pink China Rose furnishes a wealth of flowers 
from early June till November. It is the type of the 
autumnal Rose. The beautiful but dwarfer forms of 
the Crimson China, the Purple China, Fahvier, Cra- 
moisie Superieure, and the ever-blossoming, cream- 
coloured Mrs. Bosanquet are at the present moment 
(Nov. 25th) all still in full bloom.” This was written 
in 1889, a year, to the best of my recollection, not the 
most favourable to the autumn flowering of Roses; and 
it shows what fine autumnal bloomers the Chinas are. 
I think the Crimson China one of the very best of our 
late-flowering Roses. It seems to me to reserve its 
more generous floriferousness for that season of the 
year when autumn is changing into winter. Abbe 
Miolan, a vigorous-growing and a very free-blooming 
variety, makes a capital hedge Rose also. In Laurette 
Messimy we get what is known as a new China Rose ; 
and I remember that at the end of 1889, attention was 
called to its autumnal beauty in Kew Gardens. 
The China Rose, or Rosa indiea, is a native of China, 
and was introduced into this country about the year 
1789 ; from this and the Old Crimson have sprung all 
the members of this family. Few of the varieties are 
suited for standards, though most of them succeed well 
when budded upon low stocks ; and they are well 
adapted for small beds when the plants are upon their 
own roots. Unfortunately for lovers of fragrance in 
the Rose, the varieties of the China have little or no 
scent. The Fairy Roses come into the section of 
Chinas, and so does that vegetable singularity—the 
Green Rose, R. viridifolia. 
Mr. Paul mentions the fine old Bourbon—Souvenir 
de Malmaison—as coming next in order of merit as an 
autumnal Rose. He incidentally mentions that in the 
Rose catalogue of the firm, published in 1849, its 
description occupied two pages. All through October 
it is covered with large trusses of flowers, “ asking only 
to be cut and put in water to open the superb blooms. 
Under a warm wall, in December, it pays to go and 
seek for a stray blossom. ” One other Bourbon, Armosa, 
pink, equals it in its profuseness of autumnal bloom. 
Next in order of merit Mr. Paul places two or three 
of the hybrid Teas, “hybrids in which the Tea blood 
distinctly shows preponderance over theH.P. parents.” 
They are mainly seedlings from Teas fertilised with 
pollen from hybrid perpetuals. They make up a group 
of fine hardy autumnal Roses. First and foremost, as 
of value for its autumnal beauty, is Camoens, with its 
tinted, rosy pink flowers, very pretty in the bud, and 
most valuable as a decorative Rose, and also for cutting 
from ; then comes Grace Darling, white, shaded and 
edged with rose ; Viscountess Falmouth, and an old 
free-growing variety, one of the first set, Cannes’ La 
Coquette. 
Then follows the Tea-scented. “ But,” remarks Mr. 
Paul, “in their quality as real autumnal Roses there 
is much difference in varieties. Some are almost mildew 
proof; this is the first point necessary for healthy 
growth during the colder autumn nights. The second 
point is the greater tendency of some varieties to pro¬ 
duce only, or mostly, blossom-bearing shoots with each 
new growth. The varieties with this character most 
marked are Souvenir d’un Ami and Mr. Prince’s new 
white sport, Souvenir de S. A. Prince, both of great 
value as winter-blooming Roses in strong heat, from 
their continuous flowering. Then comes, perhaps, 
Madame Lambard.” 
According to Mr. Paul, the most evergreen of the 
Tea Roses are the most continual bloomers, as this is 
an essential quality if a Rose is to keep on producing 
flowers, and he mentions among these as the best of 
the autumnal-blooming varieties—Alba rosea, Anna 
Olivier, Caroline Kuster, Francisca Kruger, Hon. 
Edith Gifford, Innocents Pirola, Jean Ducher, Jules 
Finger, Madame Charles, Madame Falcot, Madame 
Hoste, Madame de Watteville, Marie Van Houtte, 
Perle des Jardins, Safrano, Sunset, and the Bride. 
Catherine Mermet, Madame Cusin, and Niphetos, 
not having much of the evergreen character, do well 
under glass, and are very continuous in bloom in the 
autumn, but are unsuited for the open.— R. D. 
-- 
THE LUGOMBE OAK. 
There is a manifest ambiguity in the text books as to 
the origin ofgthis majestic tree. For example, in an old 
book just given me by my learned friend Dr. Woodman, 
and which, by the way, was once the property of his 
enthusiastic uncle, the late Mr. R. T. Pince, entitled 
Flora Devoniensis, it is stated that the Lucombe Oak 
seems to have been a variety of the common British 
Oak (Quercus robur), retaining its leaves through the 
winter ; and in another work Mr. Loudon states that 
it is merely a seminal variation raised by Lucombe, a 
nurseryman at Exeter, from seeds of the species about 
1762 ; whereas in the recently published Dictionary of 
Gardening, by Mr. Nicholson, it is recorded that this 
kind is simply a garden synonym of Quercus Cerris 
sub-perennis. All this, to say the least of it, is rather 
conflicting, and I have every reason for believing that 
none of the statements are strictly accurate. My 
endeavour is to prove that the Lucombe Oak is neither 
the one nor the other, but a hybrid. 
The first writer on this famous tree was Mr. John 
Zephaniah Hoi well, a gentleman of Exeter extraction, 
though Dublin is said to have been his birthplace, and 
he is celebrated in history as being the chief of the 
unlucky prisoners of war who suffered the agonizing 
horrors of the Black Hole of Calcutta, on that memor¬ 
able night of June, 1756 ; but who later on succeeded 
the great and noble Lord Clive as Governor of Bengal, 
retiring in 1761. Governor Holwell was the author of 
several great works, and died at Pinner, near London, 
on November 5th, 1798. His letter is dated Exeter, 
24th February, 1772, and records the fact that the 
Lucombe Oak was raised by Mr. William Lucombe 
from a parcel of acorns, obtained from a tree of his 
own growth of the iron or wainscot species, and that 
some thousands had been grafted by that ingenious old 
gardener. He also refers at some length respecting his 
recent visit to Mr. Lucombe’s nurseries at St. Thomas, 
near that city, and mentions the size of the parent 
tree, giving its age as seven years, speaking of it as 
capable of proving an inestimable acquisition to this 
kingdom. It would therefore appear that 1765 was 
the actual year when the Lucombe Oak was first noticed 
by Mr. Lucombe as being different from the rest of 
his seedlings, in consequence of remaining evergreen; 
and there is a report of this remarkable phenomenon 
in the Gentleman’s Magazine about that time. 
We have thus shown clearly the starting point, and 
that the iron or wainscot Oak, popularly known as the 
Turkey Oak (Quercus Cerris) was the mother tree, and 
according to a note I possess given by Mr. Lucombe’s 
successor, the late Mr. Pince, this identical mother tree 
grew at the Exeter Nursery beside a Cork Oak (Quercus 
suber), so was of course fecundated by the pollen of that 
species, hence the hybrid character of the offspring, 
which, although having the nature and characteristics 
of the Turkey Oak in a marked degree, yet it is at this 
season of the year that the difference is most striking, the 
Turkey variety being now leafless and bare, whilst the 
Lucombe Oak remains clustered with its bold leathery 
dark green leaves, which, as a rule, remain on the trees 
until the young ones fill their places. 
Several fine varieties were also raised at the Exeter 
Nursery from the Lucombe tree, including Q. c. L. 
crispa, Q. c. L. suberosa, Q. c. L. incisa dentata and 
heterophylla, and at the entrance gates of those famous 
and extensive nurseries—once an oasis of horticultural 
stateliness—stood the original trees of Crispa and 
Suberosa, under whose friendly shadows the writer 
laboured for many a long year, for there stands the 
counting-house and seed stores. Crispa is still stand¬ 
ing, but is now, I hear, quite dead. It was a most 
imposing and graceful tree, towering to a height of 
nearly 70 ft., with a stem girting over 12 ft., whilst 
Suberosa was just as imposing, but the trunk was not 
so massive. These noble trees, together with the great 
purple-leaved Beech in their midst, have long been 
familiar objects to all persons acquainted with the 
Exeter Nursery. 
Ages ago the Oak was described by Virgil as “ The 
Monarch of the Mountains ’’— 
‘ ‘ High as the head shoots towering to the skies, 
So deep the root in Hell’s foundation lies.” 
But it has been left for my humble pen to write the 
Lucombe tree as the monarch of the Oaks, for it is un¬ 
doubtedly the most valuable of its class. It is of rapid 
growth, attaining dimensions in thirty or forty years 
which the common Oak can barely do in one hundred; 
and, moreover, as a park tree and for landscape effects 
it is unsurpassed. Many of the more important parks 
and gardens can boast of fine specimens which are 
probably the trees supplied by Messrs. Lucombe & Pince, 
and the finest that has ever come under my notice 
stands by the lodge gate of Trevarrick, near St. Austell, 
Cornwall. It is some years ago now, but I well 
remember with what genuine pride and pleasure the 
venerable and worthy squire of that highly-favoured 
place pointed out to me the peculiar characteristics and 
general contour of his pet tree. There is no doubt but 
that the Lucombe Oak will always continue to be a 
great favourite with our leading landscape gardeners 
and planters.— TV. Napper, Chelsea. 
- -»$<- - 
SAXIFRAGA BURSERIANA. 
Burser’s Rockfoil or Breakstone is one of those strik¬ 
ingly beautiful alpine plants which has been extolled 
on more than one occasion, hut which must still he seen 
to be appreciated. What a mountain-side must look 
like carpeted with this lovely large-flowered species I 
know not, nor can I comprehend ; but I do know that 
a potful of its round, milk-white, flat-petalled, disc¬ 
like flowers is a picture calculated to extort more than 
faint praise even from the usually non-observant. 
It requires a Ruskin to depict the full beauty of a 
plant like this, or a Shakespeare to philosophise on its 
intrinsic merits. What, however, even a casual 
observer cannot fail to notice is the great disproportion 
of its floral organs to the short, mossy, tufted foliage; 
the former being of elephantine dimensions as compared 
with the latter, and yet the whole plant does not exceed 
2 ins. in height. The veriest little bit seems capable 
of floral production, and tiny specimens in thumb pots 
are quite able to imitate their ancient progenitors. 
S. Burseriana is a native of the Alps, and was intro¬ 
duced in 1826 ; it is therefore quite hardy, and for 
cold frame work it is a gem of the first water. Not 
even the recent severe fogs have been able to operate 
derogatively in respect to its vernal charm?.— C. B. G, 
