July 11, 190S 



HORTICULTURE, 



37 



It may be kept in health for several 

 years. The fleshy flowers last a long 

 time and one blossom will perfume an 

 entire greenhouse. 



During the months of June and July, 

 a number of fine cattleyas bloom. One 

 of the best of these is C. Warscewiczii, 

 and its variety Sanderlana, commonly 

 called C. gigas. It is a native of Vene- 

 zuela, and produces more flowers to 

 the spike than any other of the large- 

 lipped cattleyas. The flowers are large 

 and beautifully marked. It is easily 

 recognized by the two yellow eyes or 

 blotches at the base of the labellum. 

 This species should have a very de- 

 cided period of rest in order to produce 

 flowers in quantity. 



C. Hardyana, one of the most valu- 

 able of the cattleyas, also blooms dur- 

 ing June and July. It is a natural 

 hybrid between C. Warscewiczii San- 

 deriana and C. Dowiana aurea, and is 

 of course found in the same localities 

 as the parents, but in limited quanti- 

 ties, and for this reason and its beauty 

 it is highly prized. 



Another fine cattleya which blooms 

 during June and July is C. Dowiana 

 and its variety aurea. The species 

 is from Costa Rica and the variety is 

 from the U. S. of Columbia and usu- 

 ally blooms a little later than the spe- 

 cies. The two forms are very much 

 alike. The petals and sepals are nan- 

 keen yellow, and the lip is very large, 

 crimson purple and beautifully lined 

 with gold. They are more expensive 

 than most of the cattleyas, but furnish 

 a pleasing break to the prevailing pink 

 and purple shades of the other cattley- 

 as. and may be grown in the coolest 

 part of the East Indian house or possi- 

 bly in the warmest corner of the cat- 

 tleya house, as they require a higher 

 temperature than the other cattleyas. 



A very fine cattleya of the diphyl- 

 lous section, from Guatemala, C. Skin- 

 neri, appears in June and July and 

 sometimes a little earlier. Its purple 

 flowers are produced in great abund- 

 ance and as the plant is very cheap 

 and beautiful, it is a welcome addition 

 to every collection. 



Another cattleya of the two-leaved 

 section blooms during June and July, 

 C. Schilleriana. It is a little gem 

 from South Brazil. Its flowers are 

 fleshy and lasting, and are of a dull 

 purple with a little pink in the lip. 



C. Eldorado is a beautiful Brazilian 

 species and as its name suggests, has 

 considerable yellow in the lip. It 

 blooms during July and August. 



One of the cattleyas of the first rank 

 which blooms during August and Sep- 

 tember is C. Gaskelliana and it is from 

 Venezuela. Its petals are narrower 

 than most of the large-flowered cattle- 

 yas, but its lip is large and beautiful. 

 It might be called the best summer- 

 llowering cattleya. 



During these months, August and 

 September, C. granulosa also blooms. 

 It is a Guatelmalan species, and is very 

 distinct; its fleshy flowers are charac- 

 teristic of the two-leaved section to 

 which is belongs. Its lip is very strik- 

 ing, white with small purple papillae. 

 Its sepals and petals are yellowish 

 green and the flowers remain in good 

 condition for over one month. 



In the month of October, the well- 

 known C. Loddigesii and its variety 

 Harrisoniana appear. They are almost 

 alike, belong to the two-leaved class, 

 and are natives of Brazil. Their pink 



and white flowers are borne on rather 

 long spikes, and they are among the 

 best of their class. 



During the months of October and 

 November, two of the finest cattleyas 

 make their appearance, C. labiata and 

 C. Bowriugeana. These two are found 

 in every collection. C. labiata is the 

 type of the labiate or large-lipped 

 group and C. Bowringeana might be 

 taken as the type of the two-leaved 

 group, as it is commoner than any 

 other of the small-flowered species. 



C. labiata, one of the oest of the 

 cattleyas, begins to bloom in October 

 and continues during November. It 

 is of easy culture and can be obtained 

 in large quantities at very low prices. 

 It is a native of Brazil, and is some- 

 times sold under the name of C. labia- 

 ta vera to distinguish it from others 

 of the labiate class of which it is the 

 type. 



C. Bowringeana also blooms during 

 October and November. It is a native 

 of Honduras and much resembles the 

 Guatemalan species, C. Skinneri, al- 

 ready mentioned. Its flowers are rose 

 purple with a lighter throat, and 

 many are produced on each spike. It 

 is perhaps the best of the two-leaved 

 class. 



The cattleya house, during the last 

 month of the year is made bright by 

 one of the most beautiful of all cattley- 

 as, C. Percivalliana. Its flowers are 

 a little smaller than the other species 

 of the labiate section, but its extreme- 

 ly beautiful lip more than makes up 

 for this slight disadvantage. 



Many other fine cattleyas might be 

 mentioned "among the best" but a col- 

 lection of the above mentioned would 

 give a comprehensive idea of the whole, 

 genus, and abundance of satisfaction. 

 If greater variety is desired, forms of 

 the above might be added ad infinitum. 



How to Purchase. 



The best way to purchase cattleyas, 

 if for a large collection, is by the 

 case, just imported. In this way many 

 fine varieties are secured, including 

 the while or albino forms. When 

 only a few plants are wanted, it is best 

 to buy some unestablished plants from 

 reputable dealers, and in this way 

 there is a chance of getting some ex- 

 ceptional varieties. After the plants 

 have once flowered with the dealer, he 

 is able to select the finest forms to 

 sell at high prices to those who are 

 eager to secure the best that the mar- 

 ket can afford, and for this reason 

 the unestablished plants are most ue- 

 sirable. The heavy shipments of cat- 

 tleyas from the tropics, during the 

 past few years and the limitation of 

 the natural supply, will soon cause the 

 prices to advance and as the demand 

 for cattleyas is increasing greatly each 

 year we may expect the price to ad- 

 vance at almost any time. However, 

 there need be no very great concern 

 for the cattleya supply of the future. 

 Cattleyas are being raised from seed 

 extensively in Europe and in this coun- 

 try. The high prices now obtained 

 for hybrids will soon be a thing of 

 the past. They will soon be within 

 the reach of those with a moderate 

 purse. The chief advantage in having 

 a collection of hybrids is that they 

 have no decided period of rest. They 

 bloom more than once each year, and 

 for this reason are cultivated with 

 greater ease. 



WINTER-FLOWERING SWEET 



PEAS. 



Read before the Gardeners' and Florists' 

 Club oi Boston by Win. Sim. i ■ 



ni Installment of toils paper 



was published In our issue of 

 May 9. 



Cultivation. 



To grow the sweet pea to perfec- 

 lion under glass you must have a 

 greenhouse suitable for the purpose. 

 It should be at least eight feet high 

 on the sides, four and a half feet 

 being glass. Mine are seven feet and 

 I find the side rows strike the glass 

 when the vines are about half grown, 

 thereby giving me half a crop. My 

 centre rows are about right, being 

 twelve to fifteen feet high. The 

 higher they grow the more and better 

 flowers you get. We plant the rows 

 five feet apart and in a line with the 

 supports of the greenhouse. The up- 

 rights are twelve feet apart, so in 

 supporting we run twine from one 

 support to the other on each side of 

 the row. This I have found the best 

 method of supporting. I have tried 

 wire netting. This is only a nuisance 

 as the vines do not cling to the wire, 

 which causes just as much tying as if 

 it were not there. It also causes fre- 

 quent injury to the vines as a sweet 

 pea stretches many times more than 

 a foot in developing and if held back 

 by anything in growing the growth 

 looks like a spiral spring, and the 

 picking of the blooms is made very 

 difficult. The side rows are planted 

 five feet from the sides of the house, 

 and all the heating pipes are on the 

 sides. Sweet peas are very susceptible 

 to red spider, and as they will not 

 stand syringing, the further you can 

 afford economically to have them from 

 the pipes the better. 



We have not changed the soil in the 

 houses since they were built four or 

 five years ago, and we find the vines 

 are getting more vigorous each year. 

 In the same soil a crop of tomatoes 

 and violets are harvested each year. 

 The soil was originally eighteen 

 inches deep, but by the application of 

 manure each year the depth is now 

 two and a half feel. The tomato crop 

 is on the wane by middle of August. 

 When these are cleaned out we trench 

 ihe house over as deep as the soil, 

 bringing the bottom soil to the sur- 

 face. In the bottom of the trench we 

 lint three inches of decomposed cow 

 manure, one foot from the surface we 

 put on three inches more of the same 

 material. The house is allowed to re- 

 main in this stale until nearly time 

 for sowing the seed. The soil is then 

 usually very dry so we dampen it 

 down 'enough to cling together while 

 the house gets another forking over. 

 This time we go down one foot and 

 mix the top layer of manure with the 

 surface soil. We then make the sur- 

 face as nearly level as possible and 

 thoroughly water the soil, giving 

 enough to penetrate the entire mass 

 with a strong dose of liquid horse 

 manure. In about three days, de- 

 pending on the weather, the house will 

 be ready to plant. We sow the seeds 

 about one and a half inches apart. 

 We make the drills one inch deep and 

 do not allow more than one inch of 

 soil over them. We do not pull any 

 soil towards the root as is 

 recommended, but let it remain 

 If more soil is pulled around 



