FOREIGN NOTICES. 



523 



absurdity. So with Orchids, now much and de- 

 servedly the fashion. In thai glorious order are 

 found species of the most brilliant colours, the 

 most exquisite perfume, and the strangest form — 

 each class admirable in its peculiar way. But 

 the cultivator who proceeds to till his house with 

 plants will be much deceived if he imagines 

 such qualities t<> be universal, or even usual, in 

 the race. About 2000 species are known to us, 

 with a legion of varieties, and certainly there 

 cannot be more than one-sixth of that number 

 whioh will repay the grower fur his trouble. In 

 the great genera of Epidendrum, Catasetum,Den- 

 drobium, Oncidium, Pleurothallis, Stelis, Obero- 

 nia, and Maxillaria, are to be found swarms of 

 species which would be thrown out of a bit of 

 rock-work in a flower garden, if they could be 

 cultivated there. He then who spends his coin in 

 making a collection of Orchids, will be inevitably 

 disappointed; he alone who forms a good selec- 

 tion will be rewarded. 



We need not say that these remarks are made 

 with reference to horticulture, and not to botanical 

 researches. The cultivator has one object in 

 view, the botanist another; and it will often bap- 

 pen that the qualities which interest the one in 

 the highest degree are precisely those which the 

 other disregards. But such botanists are not buy- 

 ers of live plants; their herbaria are their gar- 

 dens, and very satisfactory ones too. It is 

 forefore clearly the interest of nurserymen and 

 seedsmen to take ofT their botanical spectacles, 

 and to look at what they sell with the same eyes 

 as their customers. They will cultivate that only 

 which is worth cultivating; they will catalogue 

 those things only which a buyer ought to buy; all 

 the rest thev will relinquish to the student of the 

 " Curiosities of Horticulture." If they will do 

 that, wc shall soon see the lists of plants and 

 seeds cut down to reasonable dimensions, and they 

 will no longer be, as many of them now are, mere 

 mazes, in which one could not find his way even 

 with the clue of an Ariadne. Lindley's Garden- 

 ers' Chronicle. 



Vines in Pots — Repeated applications having 

 been made for information concerning vine forcing 

 in |>"ts, we now take up the subject, and, in 

 doing so, it will be requisite to defer entering into 

 the whole course of culture necessary as a preli- 

 minary proceeding at the present moment, on ac- 

 count of the period we write for, knowing that 

 many persons, who have established plants by 

 them, are anxious for a little practical advice. 

 In a short period, we hope to resume the subject, 

 and we shall trace the culture of the potted vine 

 from the " eye," or cutting, up to the forcing 

 period. 



Preparing Plants. — We may now suppose that 



the forcer is in possession of ^ 1 strong fruiting 



plants, and that thev have been wintered securely, 

 that, is to say, have been kept tolerably dry. and not 

 subjected to very severe weather; also, that they 



had been pruned in the autumn. Before intro- 

 ducing them to heat, it is well to dress their 



shoots al't< r the ma r of those in the hot-house 



up the rafters; a plan which, although not indis- 

 pensable, is of some benefit, as tending to prevent 

 the hatching of any insect eggs which may be de- 

 posited on their sliinitv. fur such i- almost sure to 

 be the ease. The mixture generally used is made 

 by beating up soft soap in warm water, at the 

 rate of about five ounces to the gallon, and then 

 adding at least one pound of flour sulphur. It 

 is well, also, to thicken it by some means to 

 the consistence of thick paint, and, to this end, 

 we use clay. As much clay, then, may be added 

 as will accomplish this, and the whole being tho- 

 roughly blended, may be applied with a painter's 

 brush, plastering it all over the wood, and into 

 every chink or crevice. This done, we recom- 

 mend that each end, where the pruning knife has 

 operated, be daubed with thick paint, or white 

 lead ; for strong young vines are apt to bleed on 

 being introduced to heat, and this effectually pre- 

 vents it. Care, however, must be taken that the 

 wounds are perfectly dry when the paint is ap- 

 plied, or it will not adhere perfectly. 



Soil. — The next point is to examine carefully 

 the state of the soil, both at the surface of the 

 pot, and at its bottom. As to the surface, some 

 portion will be found worn out, of a loose or pow- 

 dery character, and containing no fibres. All 

 such should be removed with a pointed stick, loos- 

 ening and emptying out all containing no roots, 

 and replacing it with a powerful compost. If 

 much is removed, and there is consequently room 

 for much compost, we would advise the use of 

 lumps of turf, which should have been cut a few 

 months previously, and which had been dried in 

 some shed ; this should be in pieces as large as a 

 middle-sized potato, and much of the loose soil, 

 being dry, should be shook out. With this, a 

 finer compost may be used, composed of sound 

 loam and good rotten manure, adding some small 

 charcoal, and some fine bone dust. The manure 

 should be good. Cow-dung, mellowed by age, or 

 old night-soil, will be found highly useful. In 

 filling up the pots, the turfy lumps should bo 

 placed first, all over the surface, and the finer 

 compost shook over and amongst it, taking care 

 that at least two inches of the finer compost sur- 

 mounts the turfy lumps. This is a necessary 

 course in all top-dressing affairs, where porous 

 turf is thus used; the finer compost acts as a 

 regulator or controller of the moisnre of the turfy 

 material, which, without this, is apt to become 

 suddenly dry, and to act fitfully. And now the 

 bottom of the pot must be examined, in order to 

 sec if no obstructions have taken place in the 

 drainage. We sin mid, however, have advised 

 this to be done before adding the fresh top-dress- 

 ing, as turning the pot or tub on one side fur this 

 purpose, would be apt in disarrange tin' top- 

 dressing, whioh, mice tixed and pressed down, 

 should remain without disturbance. Any lodg- 



