1882.J 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



331 



orchid houses, yet we have several magnificent 

 specimens which yield a splendid lot of flowers 

 every winter. We have cucumber houses and 

 melon pits?, which are set to work early in the 

 year, and with their aid and a greenhouse, we 

 grow the cypripediums as well as could be 

 wished. Our practice is to place the plants in 

 one of the cucumber houses started for an early 

 crop two or three weeks after the flowers have 

 lost their beauty, and at the same time we shift 

 those requiring more space at the roots into pots 

 of larger size. At the same time those becom- 

 ing too large are divided into two or more por- 

 tions, and put each part into a separate pot. In 

 this structure they remain until the end of June, 

 when they are removed to the greenhouse, in 

 which they occupy a place until the end of Sep- 

 tember. About the middle of that month we 

 clear out one of the cucumber houses that has 

 been at work during the summer, and after the 

 woodwork and glass have been cleaned and the 

 walls washed over with hot lime, we fill it with 

 such plants as bouvardias, gesneras, and epiphyl- 

 lums that require more warmth during the win- 

 ter than is afibrded by the ordinary greenhouse. 

 In this structure the cypripediums are placed, 

 and there remain until after the flowering sea- 

 son is over, and they are removed to the early 

 cucumber house. The temperature maintained 

 throughout the winter ranges from 60° to 65° 

 by da}', and averages 55° by night. Some of 

 my friends keep this cypripedium in the 

 greenhouse throughout the year, and succeed 

 in flowering it very well; but. the results 

 are more satisfactory when it can have a 

 little additional warmth both during the winter 

 and when the new growth is in progress. It 

 will thrive in sphagnum-moss and peat, sepa- 

 rate or in mixture ; but peat alone appears to 

 produce the strongest growth. There is no oc- 

 casion to hanker after special varieties, as the 

 flowers of the specific form are exceedingly 

 beautiful. — Gardener's Magazine. 



Pruning Marechal Niel Rose. — Considerable 

 diversity of opinion has been expressed from time 

 to time as to the best method of growing this rose, 

 some asserting that it does best on its own roots, 

 others being equally sanguine that it succeeds 

 most satisfactorily on the seedling brier or some 

 other stock. Leaving these differences out of 

 the question for the present, permit me to allude 

 to another peculiarity in the cultivation of 

 Marechal Niel, and that is the time at which it 

 should be pruned, and also how that operation 



ought to be performed. When in a semi-dormant 

 state this rose dislikes much knife work. Several 

 examples of it planted out here two years ago, 

 and which were unusually strong (one having 

 made a main rod from twenty-five to thirty feet 

 long last year), got infested with green fly, and 

 in fumigating it some of the more tender leaves 

 got injured through the tobacco smoke. This 

 was when the buds were about half developed 

 last spring, and, of course, wherever the leaves 

 were most injured the flowers suffered in pro- 

 portion. After flowering, I decided on heading 

 back some of the plants with a view to strength- 

 ening them when they began to push. I find, 

 however, that the rods that are strongest at the 

 base are the weakest in pushing, and one or two 

 of the plants are so weak that they will have to 

 be replaced; other plants of moderate growth 

 have pushed vigorous shoots from their base. It 

 is hard to get over facts like these, which point 

 directly to the rose doing best on its own roots. 

 Had our plants been worked on the brier or any 

 other stock, the probability is that most of them 

 would have died, whereas every succeeding shoot 

 that is produced from the base is a degree 

 stronger than its predecessor, and tends to in- 

 crease and invigoi'ate the roots. I would recom- 

 mend, therefore, that all pruning, or rather 

 thinning out, necessary in the case of this rose, 

 should be done when the plants are in full 

 growth, and not before they start after flowering. 

 The strongest shoots should be selected, and the 

 weaker ones rubbed off" with the fingers at an 

 early stage of their growth, and if further thin- 

 ning be necessary it should be done before the 

 season of growth is very far advanced. It is so 

 easy to propagate a few fresh plants every sea- 

 son that those who desire to cultivate this rose 

 by the simplest method should be prepared for 

 the loss of an old plant from time to time by 

 having young ones ready to take its place. — 

 W. Hinds in Garden. 



NEW OR RARE PLANTS. 



BiGNONiA MAGNiFiCA. — There are few more 

 beautiful plants than the several greenhouse 

 species of Bignonia or Trumpet vine. Bignonia 

 venusta, for instance, is one of the best known 

 and highly appreciated of all winter-flowering 

 plants. Here is another good addition, intro- 

 duced by Mr. Wm. Bull, of Chelsea, London, 

 who says : 



"A free-growing and extremely floriferous 



