i8g5. 



GARDENING. 



105 



A NEW PUMPKIN FROM MALTA 



particularly fancied some of the smoky 

 purplish colors, because it was the fash- 

 ionable color. Well, while we knew 

 nothing about what was fashionable in 

 colors, our taste differed from theirs, for 

 we preferred the pink, orange, rose and 

 purer tints,we don't like the smoky shades. 



Lily ok the Valley Pips th.\t were 

 Frozen.— A correspondent sent to a flo- 

 rist for some of these pips, and when he 

 received them "they were frozen stiff in 

 the box," and he was very angry and 

 wrote severely to the florist. The latter 

 referred him to us. Samples of the 

 "frozen" pips sent us show Al ,crowns in 

 first rate condition. The frost didn't 

 hurt them in the least, in fact we always 

 see to it that our lily of the valley crowns 

 are pretty well 'frozen" before we bring 

 them into the greenhouse to force them, 

 they start to grow ever so much better 

 for it and show less tendency to become 

 abortive than they would were they kept 

 free from frost. 



Orchids. 



ORCHIDS, YOUNG GROWTHS DAMPING OFF. 



A reader has a flue-heated greenhouse, 

 and among other plants in it are some 

 orchids. These seemed to make nice 

 growth and did well until recently when, 

 notwithstanding the greatest care in 

 watering the young growths and flowers 

 rotted out, and this is particularly notice 

 able in the cypripediuras. 



Mr. \Vm. Mathews, the orchid specialist 

 of Utica, N. Y., answers as follows: 



"It is quite possible to grow orchids in 

 a house heated by a flue provided the flue 

 is properly constructed and does not emit 

 that death dealing gas so often found 

 with this system of heating. Ihavegrown 

 Cypripediiim insigne and C. Lawrence- 

 aniim and have cut thousands of blooms, 

 having had at one time 1000 plants of 

 C. Lawrenceanuin tind I do not remember 

 ever losing a bloom in that way. Law- 

 rencennum produces two crops of flowers 

 each year with me. I grow them in 

 sphagnum alone with plenty of drainage 

 and give them quantities of water, in fact 

 I never attempt to give them rest and I 

 keep them and all the eastern cypripc- 



diums in pretty strong heat. We often 

 get two flowers on a scape. I can give no 

 other reason than that the flue has aleak 

 somewhere, and if this is so it cannot be 

 repaired any too quick. I have grown ex- 

 cellent plants in flue-heated greenhouses, 

 yes, plants much more delicate and 

 harder by far to grow than orchids but 

 those fliies did not leak. As this case 

 presents itself I should certainly recom- 

 mended your correspondent to make a 

 thorough investigation, and ask him to 

 report progress to you, for I should like to 

 hear about it again. 



"We have in bloom some plants of 

 Cattkya labiata that have been retarded 

 and some of C. Triana; that have been 

 coaxed a little, some sprays of Varida 

 coL-ruIea, lots of eypripediums and a 

 goodly quantity oi Lxlia anceps alba and 

 anceps in variety, all doing extra well 

 this year. I would just like you to see 

 our house of cattleyas, it is 185 long by 

 16 feet wide on the benches and we have 

 a lot of fine plants overhead as well." 



Utica, N. v., December 6, 1895. 



ORCHID NOTES. 



Here with us all of Cattkya Mossiw 

 and L.-cIia purpurata have finished their 

 growths. Care must be taken not to 

 wet the last named much overhead, as 

 the growths often damp off in winter. 

 We expect it to bloom next May; if forced 

 it produces a weak second growth. 

 Orchids which are coming into bloom 

 need an increased supply of water. The 

 following kinds are now in bloom on this 

 place: Cattkya Percivalliana, Oncidium 

 varkosum Rogersii, O. tigrinum, An- 

 griecum Leonis, Cytnbidium giganteuw, 

 that fine old reliable orchid Cypripediiim 

 insigne and its variety Maiiki, L.flia 

 autumnalis and L. anceps. This last 

 named does well on blocks, but better in 

 shallow baskets. The white variety, 

 alba, is shyer in blooming. We have a 

 fine display of Vanda coerulea; it is greatly 

 liked for 'bridal wreaths. Dendrobium 

 Phahenopsis Scbtoderianum has been in 

 bloom over two months and shows no 

 sign of stopping. It retiuires the warm- 

 est house and does best while in active 

 growth suspended in shallow baskets 

 and in a moist atmosphere. 



Baronald, N. ]. Wm. 1-itz\vili.i.\.\i. 



The Vegetable Garden. 



fl NEW PUMPKIN FROM MflLTfl. 



While driving one day in February of 

 this year in the island of Malta, my atten- 

 tion was attracted to what I tlien sup- 

 posed to be a squash, on the stand of a 

 roadside vender. Purchasing the seeds I 

 brought them home with me and grew 

 them at my country place at Greenwich, 

 Conn., the past summer, giving them 

 ordinary field culture only. They were 

 planted several weeks later than they 

 should have been, and the season, in con- 

 sequence of the prematurely cold snap we 

 had early in October, proved rather short 

 for them. It turned out to be a remarka- 

 ble pumpkin. The vine is strong and 

 vigorous, with large mottled leaves, and 

 the fruit sets much more thickh' than the 

 ordinary field pumpkin, besides, it aver- 

 ages verv much larger. Its characteristic 

 appearance, both cut and uncut, isshown 

 in the illustration I send you. The two 

 pumpkins at the back, and the one cut, 

 weighed about fifty pounds each, a month 

 after they were taken from the vine, the 

 one in the center slightly less. They are 

 dark yellow in color, often very prettily 

 covered with a green tracery as shown in 

 the upper left hand figure. The meat is 

 solid, unusually thick, and dark orange 

 color; the seed cavity comparativelv 

 small. It makes uncommonly rich pies, 

 and stock appear to eat it greedily. The 

 quantity of seed produced is small for so 

 large a pumpkin; the entireamount taken 

 from the four pumpkins in the illustra- 

 tion, does not quite fill a quart measure. 



It is possible that this pumpkin may 

 prove a decided improvement upon that 

 usually grown throughout the country 

 chiefly for stock purposes, and that its 

 merits may be thoroughly tested, it will 

 give me pleasure to send a few of the seeds 

 to any one requesting them. As I have 

 saved but a limited quantity, parties 

 applying for them, if they do not receive 

 them within a reasonable time, will 

 kindly consider that the supply has 

 been exhausted, without further corres- 

 pondence. Wm. H. S. Wood. 



New- York, December 4, 1S9,5. 



