^f)e ^ijobobentiron ^oteg. 
which deserves a notice to itself; but what interested me most of all wa^ a 
hybrid, which, according to my friend’s notes, would seem to mix the blood of no 
less than three Rhododendrons, viz., Dalhousi^, ciliatum and Nuttallii. A 
plant he gave me two years ago blossomed this year with me grandly, pro¬ 
voking my curiosity as much as my admiration, and giving exquisite delight 
to all who saw it. 
Mr. Henry has several of the strain, and this may well console him for the loss 
of another hybrid, which perished lately, at the age of twenty-five, without once 
blossoming. 
Both sides of the picture should be shown. 
Rhododendron breeding requires time and patience, but Mr. Henry has never 
ceased to regard the Rhododendrons as his prime favourites, and his enthusiasm 
and his talk gave me the fullest encouragement. All his notes, I should add, as 
over and over again his plants and his pollen have been, were at my service. 
I know that there are many, Mr. Boscawen and Mr. Luscombe, for instance, 
who are on the same track as Mr. Henry and myself, and I see no reason why 
Rhododendrons should not have a literature to themselves as well as many less 
lovely flowers. 
If these few lines tend to such a result I shall be weU pleased, and 
if you can spare the space, I should like some day to add a few notes on 
the following subjects : Messrs. Veitch’s new strain of Rhododendrons at Chelsea, 
the Kew Rhododendrons, the Rhododendrons at River Hill, Sevenoaks, my 
own humble experience in hybridising, and, if it will not frighten you, many 
others. 
J. H. M. 
50 
