1879. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



327 



grown. One plant, Stanliopea occulata, had six 

 flowers in its truss. Probably a large number 

 of summer-blooming orchids could be grown in 

 this way. In a recent number of the American 

 Farmer, we And a concise list furnished by Capt. 

 Chas. H. Snow, whose articles on Orchid Cul- 

 ture in our magazine, the readers well remem- 

 ber. This is the list : 



"Dendrobium nobile, blooms from January to 

 May; D. transparens, from January to May, 

 D. Wardianum, from January to May ; D. 

 heterocarpum, December ; D. moniliforme, De- 

 cember; Cattleya Mossite, May and June ; C. 

 labiata, from August to November ; C. Warnerii, 

 May and June ; C. citrina. May, June and July ; 

 C. Trianaei, December; C. Harrisonii, August ; 

 Lselia anceps, December ; L. albida, April ; L, 

 autumnalis, from Iv'ovember to January; L. 

 Perrini, November; L. crispa, July; Lycaste 

 aromatica, early summer; L. Skinnerii, from 

 January to June ; Odontoglussum grande, Octo- 

 ber ; O. Insleyii, from December to January ; 

 Oncidiumcrispum, June; O. Cavendishii, Decem- 

 ber ; O. leucochilum, from May to July; O. 

 divaricatum, Winter; O. Barkerii, October; 

 Ccelogyne cristata, February ; Epidendrum 

 vitellinum, from January to July; E. nemorale, 

 June ; Miltonia Candida, August ; M. Clowesii, 

 August ; Tricopilia suavis, April and May : 

 T. cdccinea, April ; T. tortilis, a Summer 

 and Winter variety. Stanhopeas in variety 

 should be grown in open baskets. Vanda 

 teres, June and Jul)^ ; Zygopetalum, in variety, 

 December and January ; Cypripedium insigne, 

 December and January." 



Following the above, the Captain adds : "This 

 list could be made much longer, but these are 

 all handsome species, not costly, and remain 

 long in bloom, except the Stanhopeas." 



The Victoria Lily. — Those of our readers 

 who can recall the horticultural events of thirty 

 years ago, may remember the intense interest 

 excited by the flowering of the Victoria regia, 

 at Spingbrook, near Philadelphia, hi a house es- 

 pecially built for it by that liberal patron of 

 horticulture, Caleb Cope. Californians are now 

 having the same exciting experience, a plant 

 being in full bloom in the conservatory of the 

 Park at San Francisco. A dozen flowers are re- 

 ported to be open at once, showing the plant 

 to be in magniticent health. 



The Gloxinia.— Attention to these beauti- 



ful Summer blooming greenhouse plants seems 

 to be reviving, and the following from the pen 

 of an experienced cultivator in the Garden will 

 be appropiate : 



" To give a succession of flowers through the 

 Summer a portion of the plants may be started 

 about the middle of February, and a further 

 supply in March ; let the pots be proportionate 

 to the size of the tubers — 7 inches in diameter 

 will be large enough for the second season. In 

 potting just leave the crowns of the tubers on a 

 level with the surface of the soil, and immedi- 

 ately they are potted place them in a tempera- 

 ture of 60° at night, and 5° or 10° warmer by 

 day; if not, put in heat as soon as potted, the 

 roots will rot; the soil ought to be in a slightly 

 moist state when used, and little water should 

 be given until growth has commenced. Treat 

 them throughout the season as recommened for 

 the preceding Summer as to heat, shade, air, 

 light, and moisture. As already pointed out, 

 their satisfactory flowering will depend upon 

 their receiving abundance of light ; a shelf over 

 a path within a few inches of the roof is the 

 best place for them, for in such a situation not 

 only do they get the requisite amount of light, 

 but they also receive more air, both behig so 

 essential to short sturdy growth. This Sum- 

 mer they will bloom well, and increase consid- 

 erably in the size of their roots, yet it is in the 

 third and fourth years after sowing that they 

 will make the finest display. 



When the bulbs get large they may be divided, 

 retainins to each portion some of the buds with 

 which the crown is furnished ; but the most 

 general method of propagation, and by far the 

 most expeditious, is by leaf-cuttings. If the 

 leaves be taken off in the Summer when fully 

 matured with a portion of the leaf-stalks, and 

 this portion inserted in 5-inch pots, drained and 

 filled with half peat, or loam and sand, with 

 i-inch of sand on the top, and kept in a brisk 

 heat, slightly shaded, and the soil moist, they 

 will form healthy bulbs before Autumn ; or, if 

 the variety that is to be increased be scarce, 

 several may be produced from single leaves by 

 cutting through the midrib on the under side in 

 four or five places, and laying ihe leaves flat down 

 on the soil in pots or pans, prepared as above, 

 but sufficiently wide to admit of their being so 

 placed. Over each place, where the midrib has 

 been severed, secure the cut parts on the soil 

 with a pebble about the size of a cockle, at which 

 points bulbs will be formed, which, when the 



