722 



HORTICULTURE 



May 30, 1908 



Hantsvillo, Ala.; I'ctcr Youngers, Geneva. 

 Neb.; F. A. Weber, Nuiseiy, Mo. 



Kepoit of Comiulltee on Final Ucsolu 

 tions. 



The following list of questions has hicn 

 prepared and will be taken up as the dis- 

 position of the program throughout the 

 three days permits: 



QUESTION BOX. 

 l^'ui; and free discnssitm in\ite'l. 



Question No. 1. Would it be iid\i.sable 

 to ha\'t' a law for tlie pateutin;; or tratle 

 marling for various varieties of frnits? 



Question No. 2. Does not the average 

 nur:>eryniau inipoi't nursery stock that can 

 be grown at home'/ If so, why? 



Question No. 3. lias any uurserymau 

 sueeeeded in preventing apple crown gall 

 and hairy root? 



Question No. 4. Is there enough co- 

 operation among nurserynieu? 



Qustion No. .">. Is the demand for orua- 

 mentals inereasing? 



Question No. 6. What class of nursery- 

 men are able to manage a business and 

 make a profit uuder present conditions'; 



Question No. 7. How should pecans be 

 graded'; 



Question No. 8. Are the large orcliard- 

 ists still getting the beueflt of wholesale 

 prices ? 



Question No. 9. Are foreign houses care- 

 ful enough in grading and sorting seed- 

 lings'; 



Question No. 10. The need of a better 

 class of labor and how can we get it'; 



Question No. 11. Why should growing 

 nurser.v stock be taxed as personal proper- 

 ty any nu>re than wheat, corn, etc.'; 



Question No. IL!. Could not the a]>ple 

 or<'hard interests be Improved by more 

 strinireiit hiws regarding the labelling of 

 pure apple cider vinegar? 



<}nesiiou No. 13. Is the Kiefer pear 

 rcsixuisiblc for the limited sale of pear 

 trees at the present time? 



Members are requested to avail tliem- 

 selves of gaining information by lianrting 

 questions to the seeretar.v at any time 

 during the meeting. 



In order to give members opportunity for 

 ample social and business intercourse, the 

 above program provides for one session 

 daily. It is hoped that this arrangement 

 will result in the attendauce of every 

 mtunl'er at each of the three sessions. 



Badges will be deliveriil to members by 

 the si'cretary on registration at the <on- 

 vention. 



Ladies in attendance will be supplied 

 with badges on ai)plication to the secre- 

 tary. 



Announcement will be made <lnriug tlie 

 Hrst session of the time and pla<c fnr 

 meetings of the v.-irious Protective .Asso- 

 ciations — if inform:ition is placed in the 

 hands of the secretary. 



Prospectus and all other information 

 may be had by addressing the Secre- 

 tary ot the Association, Geo. C. Sea- 

 ger, Rochester, N. Y. 



.«. CORRECTION. 



Editor HORTICt'LTrRE: 



Dear Sir,— Tn a report of Mr. Thos. 

 White of some remarJts made by me 

 at a meeting of the Xew Bedford Hor- 

 ticultural Society in a recent issue oi 

 HORTICt'LTURE it is stated that I 

 recommended the broad-petaled I.,iliuni 

 canadense for forcing. L. candidum 

 was the variety referred to, and for 

 outdoor culture I stated that it should 

 lie planted five inches deep. L. cana- 

 dense and other varieties were better 

 planted P to 5 2 inches deep and the 

 first-named sort did well in rhododen- 

 dron beds where it could have the ad- 

 vantage of some shade and a good 

 mulching of leaves. No doubt the 

 similarity of the names candidum and 

 canadense was the cause ot the trifling 

 eiTor. W. X. CRAIG. 



Langwatev Gardens, 

 North Easton, Mass. 



E. G. Hill left Richmond, Ind., on 

 May- 20, to attend the Paris interna- 

 tional rose show, .June 1 to 15. where 

 he has been invited to officiate as a 

 judge. 



THE IVIOST USEFUL OF THE CAT- 



TLEYAS. 



\ paper read before the Buffalo Florists' 

 Club by George E. McClure, Jr. 



When the lay mind contemplates an 

 orchid, a cattleya is what comes be- 

 fore his mental vision. In fact, we 

 might say that the cattleya Is the type 

 of an orchid, not in a botanical sense, 

 but as far as the public is concerned. 

 Fully nine-tenths of the orchids sold 

 in this country are cattleyas, and the 

 genus cattleya will always hold first 

 place as the most showy and useful of 

 the family. 



Among the 10,000 representatives of 

 the natural order, Orchldaceae, there 

 are few to surpass the cattleyas in 

 beauty. The genus Laelia comes near- 

 est to the cattleyas in point of beauty 

 and usefulness; in fact, the uninitiated 

 cannot discern between the two. The 

 chief difference is an obscure botanical 

 one. The cattleya has four tiny pol- 

 len masses, while the laelia has eight 

 This may be said to be the sole differ- 

 ence. 



Two Classes of Cattleyas. 



Cattleyas are divided into two fairly 

 distinct classes, and although these 

 classes are being bridged by incest-iant 

 hybridization, yet in the majority of 

 oases they are fairly distinct. The 

 first is the monophyllous, or one-leaved 

 class, which is restricted solely to what 

 is known as the labiate, or large- 

 lipped section, of which C. labiata is 

 the type. Until quite recently this 

 species was considered to be the sole 

 representative of this group, and the 

 other large-lipped forms as varieties 

 and sub-varieties. Now all of these 

 vai icties are considered to be good 

 species, which mal<es the labiate or. 

 more properly speaking, monophyllous 

 section quite formidable in point of 

 numbers. 



The other is the diphyllous, or two- 

 loaved class, which includes a large 

 number of species, which are chiefly 

 characterized by smaller, more numer- 

 ous and in some cases more fleshy 

 flowers. The diphyllous cattleyas are 

 not nearly as well known to the pub- 

 lic as are the monophyllous or large 

 flowered forms, because they are not 

 as showy and attractive, but some of 

 the gems of the genus are to be found 

 in the two-leaved class. The cattleya 

 is an American orchid found growing 

 from Mexico to South Brazil. Nearly 

 all of the monophyllous cattleyas are 

 nati\es of northern South -America, 

 while the diphyllous catleyas are 

 chiefly from South Brazil. 



Culture of the Cattleya. 



The idea generally prevails that cat- 

 tleyas, and in fact all orchids, are difli- 

 cult to cultivate. This idea is entirely 

 withotit foundation. While it would 

 be a mistake to say that the culture of 

 a great many varieties in the same 

 greenhouse would be easily accom- 

 plished, yet a little study and observa- 

 tion would enable any enthusiastic 

 amateur to secure excellent results. 

 Greenhouses specially built for cattley- 

 as are not necessary; any light 

 greenhouse, which Is not too high, will 

 prove suitable. The plants need not 

 occupy valuable space on the benches, 

 but may be suspended from the roofs 



of greenhouses devoted to a mixed col- 

 lection of plants, w'hen a temperature 

 of from 60 to 6.5 degrees Fahrenheit 

 is maintained, and in this way will 

 prove an acceptable by-producL 



Location In the House. 



The plants should never be more 

 than four feet from the glass, and less 

 than that is better. The only objec- 

 tion to the system of suspending cat- 

 tleyas lies in the fact that they are 

 often neglected and become too dry or 

 too wet, at least when suspended high 

 enough to be out of easy reach. When- 

 ever bench room can be afforded it is 

 well to raise the plants in this man- 

 ner, as better oversight can be had 

 over them. When the bench system 

 is pursued, there should be a raised, or 

 secondary bench placed upon the regu- 

 lar greenhouse bench. This bench 

 should be made of wooden slats, from 

 one and one-half to two inches wide, 

 and from one-half to three-fourths 

 Inches thick. These slats should be 

 made into frames four to six feet 

 long, so as to be easily removed for 

 the purpose of cleaning the lower 

 bench. The upper, or slat bench 

 should be raised about eight inches 

 above the lower, on wooden or iron 

 uprights. The uprights should stand 

 in shallow pans ot water to pre\eut 

 snails or woodlice 'from reaching the 

 plants. A layer of moss or fine gravel 

 should be spread over the lower bench, 

 which should ne kept damp to insure 

 a moist atmosphere, which is abso- 

 lutely essential to the health of the 

 plants. 



Cattleyas cannot be sticcessfully cul- 

 tivated as window plants, no matter 

 how bright the window may be, as the 

 atmosphere in the living room is too 

 dry. If the window is encased, after 

 the fashion of a wardian case, and if 

 sufficient light is aftorded, a fair de- 

 gi ee of success may be attained. This 

 is a common practice in England, for 

 the raising of cool orchids, and it 

 would be worthy of a fair trial in this 

 country, for the culture of cattleyas, 

 as our summers are hot enough to 

 grow them without artificial heat. Any 

 little greenhouse, heated by steam or 

 hot water, could be utilized for cattley- 

 as. A greenhouse heated by a flue 

 would be of no value, because of the 

 decimated atmosphere which is the in- 

 evitable result of this system of heat- 

 ing. 



The Cattleya House. 

 If a greenhouse is to be built for 

 the express puri)ose of raising cattley- 

 as, it should be designed to be as low 

 as possible, and if the greenhouse is 

 narrow and built to accommodate two 

 stages, the direction at which it is 

 built is of no consetjuence, but if the 

 house be high, with three stages and 

 two walks, it should, if possible, run 

 north and south, so that both sides 

 have the benefit of equal light in the 

 winter, which is very essential. The 

 central bench in a threebench house 

 is usually broad and should be raised 

 In the middle for economy of spaca 

 The raising of the plants in the centre 

 stage would shade one-half of the 

 plants in the winter, it the house ran 

 east and west. 



About Shading. 

 The matter of shading is an import- 

 ant cne. With a small collection, in 

 a small greenhouse, lath frames could 



