d)e 3R.6oi)obenbron ^otietp ^otes. . 
nor the spring frosts so infrequent, as some dwelling further north are apt 
to think. 
Thirty odd years ago excellent Barley grew where Pinuses and Rhododendrons 
now lord it over the valley. The first thing done was to plant a belt of Laurels, 
so as to break the wind rushing along the valley and over the water. Thus 
screened, I found giant specimens of the best of our well-kno’wn hardy hybrids, 
and many a seedling of my host’s owm raising. Some of these had grand trusses 
and striking foliage, and several seedling yellow Azaleas were very brilliant. 
Here and there large bushes of R. (Azalea) album* indicum proved that 
this plant is with Mr. Boscawen, as it is with me, as hardy as any shrub. In a 
quiet nook I found R. glaucum in bloom. Above rose what may weU be called 
the hanging gardens of Lamorran, and below lay the clear water, crisped by a 
slight breeze, and with its Water Lily plants glancing in the sun. 
My first lesson was soon learnt, and that was, not to hybridise indiscriminately 
with R. CAMPANULATUM. My host had been exterminating many of this breed, 
and the faggots lay around. 
Winding up the hillside, through a wild garden strewn with patches of Lilies 
of the Valley in full bloom, and perennials and bulbs sprouting through the grass, 
which had buried innumerable crocuses, and shaded now by a lofty Taxodiumf 
sempervirens, and now by an 80 feet Pinus insignis, and now again by a Copper 
Beech, we slowly made our way up through the Rhododendron and Azalea 
jungle. It has been my fortune to wander through many a jungle, but here was 
a jungle with a plan. Every plant had a history and a pedigree, and the oumer 
was at hand to name the children of his ovm rearing and point out their virtues 
with a parent’s just enthusiasm. Among the seedhngs I noted “Bluegown,” of 
a bluish tint, which flowered first when Bluegovm won the Derby, and “ Ben,” a 
brilliant crimson. That very fine white, " Mrs. Townshend Boscawen,” which 
won a First-class Certificate two years ago, was not in bloom, but a sister seedling 
in the same style deserved and received much praise. Shaded by a tall Pine 
from the morning sun (that fatal morning sun which plays such havoc among 
frozen shoots and blossoms), stood a stout plant of R. barbatum, which I was 
ver}^ anxious to see. A melancholy interest attached to the spot, for poor Mr. 
Arthur Veitch had described to me in glowing terms his visit to it in March of 
last year, when this Rhododendron was ablaze with fiery blossom. The plant 
this year had refused to bloom at all, but the vdnter had not destroyed its vigour, 
nor the spring frosts cut the shoots. I hope to see it another year in aU its glory. 
Mr. Boscawen mentioned distinctions between this plant of R. barbatum and 
another growing elsewhere in the garden. We had not time to examine them, 
but let me refer my host to tab. 5120 in the Botanical Magazine, representing 
R. Smithii, a species discovered by Mr. Booth, in Bhotan, and ha^dng much 
affinity with R. barbatum. When vdll other owmers of rare Rhododendrons 
take the trouble to get observed and recorded all such interesting variations, 
without the accumulation of which and their history the species of this genus 
* Azalea ledifolia var. leucantha. f Sequoia. 
84 
