196 



HORTICULTURE 



August 15, 1908 



Vandas. 



VANDA I'KICiii.iik. 



The genus Vanda is amongst the most fascinating in 

 the orchid family, nearly all the species having strik- 

 ingly showy, fragrant flowers and handsome evergreen 

 foliage. Vandas, with the exception of V. ccerulea, V. 

 kinilialliana and V. Amesiana, which should be grown 

 cool, may be grown in any kind of a warm greenhouse, 

 one devoted to palms and ferns being very suitable, pro- 

 viding the shade is not too dense. 



While Vandas will accommodate themselves to vari- 

 ous modes of treatment, and will live and flower for 

 many years under most unfavorable conditions, a moist 

 atmosphere is essential to their well-being. They should 

 also be given plenty of light, as in a dark, damp atmos- 

 phere there is danger from blai k -pot. An excessively 

 drj atmosphere causes the plants to lose their lower 

 leaves and is also conducive to the rapid breeding of a 

 spei ies of small scale which quickly disfigures the 

 foliage, and is very difficult to eradicate. 



All the species do best in pots, in a mixture of broken 

 crock and charcoal, surfaced with sphagnum moss. "When 

 the plants get too tall the top may he taken below a few 

 aerial roots and potted. Spring or early summer just 

 when new roots are making their appearance is the best 

 time to perform the operation. The old stumps will 

 invariably break. Sometimes the finest plants are ob-' 

 tained in this way. The removal of the lead causes the 

 plain to break in many places. 



i subject of our illustration is a line variety of V. 

 tricolor, which flowered for the lirsi lime in the once 



fa - Corning collection, Albany. X. Y.. under the 



«aiv of Mr. Grey. The color of the flowers is bright 

 yellow, spotted with dark crimson, the lip is a rich, 

 deep blue. 



Vanda coerulea is rapidly becoming a commercial 

 orchid, it* intensely blue flowers being much sought 

 after i tal use in fall and early winter. As pre- 



viously stated, it should be grown somewhat cool, in a 

 situation with a very light shade in summer, 

 and full sunshine in winter. 



Pittsburg, Pa. 



New Roses at Paris. 



Many inquiries having reached me as to the judging 

 of the new roses at Paris and some reports having been 

 published which need restating, in order to put the 



mailer correctly before Americans interested, I deem it 

 lie-t to briefly state I lie case: — 



The City <>f Paris, France, is anxious to do every- 

 thing possible to make the city attractive to visitors; 

 with this in view and in order to give an additional 

 attraction, the Municipality, at the instigation of M. 

 Jules Gravereaus has established in the great park 

 known as the Bois de Boulogne the Garden Bagatelle, 

 which i- given over to roses, the garden being under 

 the able management of M. Forestier. 



The eall was issued Inst autumn and winter asking 

 the originators of new roses to send four plants of each 

 of their new varieties for planting in the Garden 

 Bagatelle; these m-e plants were set out in beds, each 

 variety being grouped together. There were 87 rose 

 novelties submitted and planted, making a total of 34.8. 



The prizes were — The Grand Prize of Bagatelle, a 

 large gold medal given by the City of Paris; two Pre- 

 mier Prizes, 1st given by the Minister of Agriculture, 

 the 2nd by the National Horticulture Society of 

 France; two Second Prizes, 1st by the Rose Section of 

 the National Horticulture Society, 2nd by the French 

 National Eose Society 



The competition was most interesting and unique in 

 character. 



The jury was composed of: M. A. Chenoux, Presi- 

 dent of the Municipal Council of Paris who is chair- 

 man : Arthur Paul, of England ; Peter Lambert, Ger- 

 many: Constant Soupert, Luxembourg; E. G. Hill, 

 United States; Jules Gravereaux, Pernet, Leveque, and 

 Chatenay, representing the National Horticultural and 

 the National Eose Societies of France. 



The jury forming themselves into a committee de- 

 cided that a second judging of these roses should take 

 place in September next when the final awards will be 

 made. The committee was led to this conclusion by 

 the fact that a few of the roses were past their best 

 estate so far as bloom was concerned, a number not 

 being in bloom at all. It was thought best in the in- 

 terest of all who had submitted and sent their roses to 

 lie judged that strict equity demanded a second judg- 

 ment. 



All the judges agreed to return at the call of M. 

 Gravereaus at such time in September as he deemed 

 best, excepting of course the representative from the 

 United States. . 



The awards so far made, and which are subject to 

 :n, tease, were as follows, Id points being the maximum: 

 — Lyon-Rose from its unique color seemed to take the 

 lead and was voted the maximum number of points. 

 All the varieties scoring from 5 points up certainly pos- 

 sessed qualities that should make them permanent ad- 

 ditions to our list of good roses. I was sorry that Mr. 

 John Cook's rose "My Maryland'' did not have a flower 

 or bud showing; I look for this variety and others to 

 make their mark at the second judging. In the event 

 of a number of varieties receiving the maximum num- 

 ber of ten points, the judges will vote as to their re- 

 spective positions and the prizes will he awarded ac- 

 cordingly. 



Ai the conclusion of the judging one of the most 

 elegant dinners was served that it has been my pleasure 

 to enjoy ; we were further shown every nice attention 

 imaginable. The exhibit as planned and carried out 

 at the Garden Bagatelle is an innovation on all pre- 

 vious methods employed for arriving at the good quali- 

 ties of new roses and the experiment is certainly worthy 

 of careful study and thought. My own opinion is this: 

 — the roses submitted should be established the previous 



