1878.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



320 



when Acacias, Cliorozemas, Croweas, Heaths 

 and Epacriceses, made our Winters gay, and 

 when there was some real gardening skill re- 

 quired to grow them well, with great regret that 

 times are changed, and that we see these pretty 

 things no more ; but the times will come again. 

 We still have to have some flowers, though 

 they are only Chinese Primroses, Carnations, 

 Geraniums, Cyclamens, Bouvardias and other 

 things which a child can grow, and which leaves 

 the occupation of a flrst-elass gardener, "gone." 

 To grow these we need scarcely give any hints. 

 A little sun, a little heat, a little air, a little care 

 as regards insects, and these and most of the plants 

 now grown in greenhouses will "grow" them- 

 selves. 



There is really more skill required to manage 

 a window than a greenhouse in these modern days. 

 A few general hints for these may not be unac- 

 ceptable. Window plants should not be kept very 

 warm at this season. They should have all the sun 

 and air, and as little of the artificial heat of the 

 room as possible. These remarks apply espe- 

 cially to Mignonette, which is very impatient of 

 in-door confinement. Succulents, such as Cacti, 

 are excellent window plants in this respect, as 

 the dry air does not affect them. To keep the 

 air about the plants moist, is one of the secrets 

 of window culture. Some who have very fine 

 windows well stocked with fine plants, make 

 glazed cases with folding doors of them, by 

 which, when the room is highly heated and very 

 dry, they can be enclosed in an atmosphere of 

 their own. Where it is not convenient to have 

 the window enclosed from the room by a folding 

 door, much benefit has been found by using a 

 simple curtain. This will prevent injury from 

 the coal or illuminating gas, which is often as 

 destructive as the dry atmosphere. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



ORCHID CULTURE. 



BY C. ir. S., BALTIMORE, >ID. 

 Maxillaria^ Ly caste, Trichopilia and Anguloa. — 

 I have put these four together, not because they 

 are all botanically related, but that the same 

 treatment will do for all, and they all make 

 their flowers on short stems from the side of the 

 bulbs. They all should be grown in pots, well 

 drained, and a mixture of sphagnum moss, char- 



coal and peat, suits them. In potting, the base 

 of the bulbs should be raised well above the edge 

 of the pot. This is particularly requisite with 

 Trichopilia, whose flowers are semi-pendant. 

 This also insures the roots from being rotted by 

 too much water. 



MaxiUaria. — This was formerly quite a large 

 genus, but Lycaste, Promenn(jea, Paphinia, Bifie- 

 naria, and several others have been taken from 

 it, and shorn it of some of its best species. It 

 has, however, a few good species left. All the 

 MaxiUaria that I have seen, have bulbs about 

 H inches long, fiattish, with one smooth leaf on 

 the bulb^ 



M. grandifora — Grows about one foot high ; the 

 flowers are pure white in the sepals and petals ; 

 lip, purple and yellow. 



M. renusta — Has also a white flower ; lip, white 

 with lemon yellow and red, sometimes nearly 

 all yellow. Both M. grandiflora and M. venusta 

 bloom in early spring, and are desirable. 



M. picta — Has small flowers, yellowish white, 

 spotted chocolate. 



Lycaste. — These have bulbs from two to five 

 inches high, dark green, and have several plicate 

 leaves from a foot to eighteen inches high. 



L. aromatica and L. cruenta — Have yellow 

 flowers about 14 inches diameter. L. cruenta 

 has some red spots on the lip. These bloom in 

 the spring, and have the odor of cinnamon. 

 They are very good bloomers, and keep in 

 bloom about three weeks. 



L. Deppei. — Not very handsome flowers, green- 

 ish yellow and brown ; lip white, with crimson 

 spots and yellow crest. Blooms in the spring. 



L. lanipes. — A very free blooming species, 

 with creamy white flowers ; lip, white and 

 fringed. 



L. Skinneri. — This is the gem of the genus. 

 The flowers vary very much in size and color. 

 The bulbs are dark green, Avith two or three 

 leaves from one to two feet long. Blooms mostly 

 in mid-winter, but there are some varieties that 

 bloom in Summer, when making their growth. 

 I have a variety that blooms in Summer, and 

 again in Winter from the matured growth. The 

 flowers are from three to six inches diameter ; the 

 sepals and petals are from pure white to deep 

 rose, and the lip, which is rather small, is white, 

 blotched rose, pink or carmine. The blooms 

 will continue good for over two months if kept 

 dry. It will do well in a sitting room under a 

 bell glass, as the gas will color the petals. No 

 one can grow too many of this grand Orchid, and 



