October 13, 186S. ] 



JOIIENAL OF HOSTICtrLTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



289 



the btJb in wliicli most reliance may be placed is the eaxly 

 Tulip, and -we greatly wonder that it has not received more 

 attention. The beautiful dwarf Van Thols, the gorgeous 

 Duchesse de Parma, Vermilion Brilliant, Gai-ibaldi, &c., make 

 an appearance which when once seen will be ever afterwards 

 appreciated. And let it not be thought that this involves 

 a vast erpenditure ; an assortment of both expensive and 

 cheap varieties is always to be found, so that according to 

 the wishes of the amateurs they can be supplied. 



The centre of the parten-e should be devoted to the taller- 

 growing vai-ieties of Tulips, shaded-off according to their 

 colour', and arranged as to theii' height, the Van Thols 

 being the lowest-growing. The aiTangement must so much 

 depend on the form of the beds, the extent of the groiind, and 

 the taste of the owner, that no detailed directions can well 

 be given. Where there is a shrubbery in the backgi'ound 

 I would suggest a row of Dielytra spectabilis as forming a 

 most beautiful finish ; while, in order to give a more length- 

 ened period of bloom to the beds, plants of the common 

 Forget-me-not and SUene may be planted in them ; and 

 when the bulb-bloom is over, as of Hyacinths and Van Thol 

 Tulips, the stems may be cut down neai-ly to the ground, 

 and all may be cleared away together in the middle of June. 

 In fact, the combinations are endless, and the hints that I 

 have thrown out will, I hope, be sufficient to induce amateui's 

 to be no longer contented with empty beds in spring. In 

 the gardens of the Champs Elysees and Pare de Monceaux, 

 where, let it be remembered, the winters are as cold as 

 ours, if not colder, I saw in May many beds of annuals in 

 full bloom. The attempt at the same effect in the Eoyal 

 Horticultural Society's Gardens was not a very happy one ; 

 but when once put into the right track I have no doubt that 

 the good taste and zeal of our gi-eat army of amateur horti- 

 cnltui'ists will mate the spring garden as much a point of 

 interest as the siimmer one. — D., Deal. 



"WHAT CONSTITUTES HIGH CULTUEE IN 

 EPIPHYTAL OECHIDS:-'' 



[To the above somewhat vague query sent by a corre- 

 spondent signing his letter " Okchidophilus," Mr. Appleby 

 has sent us the following reply.] 



To describe the dimensions of any plant or tree so as to 

 give the reader a coiTect idea of its size, is not an easy task 

 withovit drawings. An instance occurs to my mind : We are 

 told that the Wellingtonia gigantea, a tree found in Cali- 

 fornia, grows to the enormous height of 300 feet, and is 

 27 feet in diameter. Now, to any one unaccustomed to mea- 

 suring timber, siTch numbers give no definite idea of the 

 immense magnitude of such a truly magnificent tree ; but 

 by comparison or some other mode we can give to the most 

 ignorant person a tolerable idea of its gi-eat size. I will try 

 one way of doing this. The diameter is 27 feet. — Now, sup- 

 pose there are four men 6 feet high each ; place one on the 

 ground and another on the top of the first, a thii-d on the 

 second, and a fourth on the third, the four wQl then reach to 

 an altitude of 24 feet. Then place a boy 3 feet high on the 

 head of the last, and then the diameter of the tree would 

 be eqiialled. Next measure a hundred yards in a straight 

 line, and set vcp a state at each end — that would show the 

 length the tree would reach if it were felled. Fiu-ther : Sup- 

 posing it were necessaiy to cover such a felled tree, it would 

 require a building 100 yards in length and d yai-ds in height 

 to contain it. 



" Orchidophilits " desires to know the dimensions of the 

 largest pseudo-biilbs of Calanthe vestita gi'own by my fi-iend 

 Mr. A. North, at the Lodge, Ashton-upon-Mersey. In order 

 to be able to give the correct size, I was at the pains to go 

 there to measure them. It happened to be at the time when 

 they were at rest, consequently they could be more easily 

 measured. I took a piece of tape and passed it round one 

 of the bulbs. It measured exactly 14 inches. That was 

 lengthwise. I then piit the tape around the bulb in the 

 thickest part, and found that to be 9 inches. Now, let " Or- 

 CHiDOPHiLtrs " or any other grower take one of their pseudo- 

 biilbs of this fine Orchid, and compare by measurement the 

 ■size of that bidb and note the diJfference. They were at 

 least one-third larger than those "OBCHiDOPHiLtrs " alludes 

 to which I mentioned in my " Manual of Orchid Culture," a 



book which I am glad that he has found useful, and I trust 

 he will eventually succeed in obtaining pseudo-bulbs quite 

 as lai'ge as described above. 



His next inquiry is, "What constitutes high cultni-e in 

 epiphj-tal OrchideEe ? " 



As example is better than precept, I woiJd advise him 

 and other young growers of these singular and most in- 

 teresting plants, to visit the most celebrated collections at 

 several seasons of the year, and observe the state and per- 

 fection to which, by high culture they have been brought. 

 I would particidarly recommend .in inspection and stndy 

 in a cidtural point of view of the large coUeotion at Messrs. 

 Veitch's Eoyal Exotic Nursery, at Chelsea. There may be 

 seen plants of Orchids grown as they shoxild be, and in 

 such numbers of even the rarest species as would astonish 

 a small grower, though at such places it is hardly fair to 

 expect to see the finest specimens or examples, because 

 Messrs. Veitch and other nui'serymen grow their plants 

 for sale, and whoever will give the price for the finest speci- 

 mens can have them ; but one thing is certain, that every 

 grower for sale exerts his utmost skill to bring them to 

 the highest state of cultural perfection. Useful lessons in 

 culture may be obtained at other nurseries, such, for in- 

 stance, as Mr. Williams's, at Holloway ; Messrs. EoUisson's, 

 at Tooting; Mr. Maule's, at Bristol; Mr. WooUey's, at 

 Cheshunt; and others. 



It is, however, in private collections that eramples of 

 what constitutes high culture may be best observed. I am 

 glad to notice that these examples are increasing, and I 

 hope " Orchidophilus " himself will be one of the number. 

 I will mention only the following — namely, Mr. Eucker, at 

 Wandsworth ; the Bishop of Winchester, at Farnham ; Mr. 

 AspiuwaU Turner, near Manchestei'; the Duke of Devon- 

 shire, at Chatsworth; Mr. Horatio NichoUs, near Bowden, 

 Cheshu-e ; and Mr. Eeed, near Bridgwater. At these and, 

 no doubt, many other places, fine examples of the high 

 cultiu'e of Orchideffi may be studied with great advantage 

 by new beginners of Orchid-gTowing. I may, however, 

 mention, that weU-gi-own plants of tliis tribe should be per- 

 fectly healthy, and every succeeding pseudo-bulb should be 

 annually larger, with leaves of increased size, tiU the maxi- 

 mum is reached. The Indian species, such as .Srides, Sac- 

 colabium, and Vandas, should be strong and robust in 

 health, with leaves of a full green colour -without spot or 

 blemish ; and each plant, where it is the habit to be so, 

 should have many shoots all equally strong and healthy. 

 Plants so grown would be in a state of high culture. 



Oui' correspondent next states that he has seen a col- 

 lection of Orcliids that had been neglected, shovring a regular 

 degeneration, and he wishes to know the cause and the 

 remedy. As to the cause, it must necessarily be in a great 

 measure guess work. 



Plants in such a state as he describes must either have 

 been grossly neglected or managed by a person almost totally 

 unacquainted with then- cultui-e, or, perhaps, possessing in- 

 adeqviate means to grow them — with such, for instance, as 

 insufficient heat and moistm-e in the air, improper soils, or 

 an indifferent house to grow them in ; or, lastly, his time 

 may have been taken up with other departments of garden- 

 ing, so that he covild not devote sufficient attention "^o this 

 class of plants. 



To bring such plants back to a state of normal luxu- 

 riance would require the reverse of the treatment they have 

 been subjected to. The first point to attend to would be to 

 improve or rebuild the house or houses they are to grow in. 

 See that there are plenty of pipes to heat the atmosphere, 

 and means devised to give out moistiu-e during the growing 

 season. Air must be given when needed, and that aii' should 

 pass over the pipes, so as to be heated before it reaches 

 the plants. Then procure the necessary requisites of nbi-y 

 peat, sphagnum moss, charcoal, cocoa-nut fibre, fibry loam, 

 leaf mould, and caky dung. All these are necessai-y where 

 a tolerable coUeetion is to be gi-own or brought into renewed 

 health. Also have clean pots, good sound logs and baskets, 

 and plenty of broken pots of at least three sizes. jUI these 

 being obtained, take the deteriorated plants, shake them 

 out of the old soil, wash them thoroughly in tepid water 

 so as not to leave one insect, and then cut away all dead or 

 decayed roots and dead pseudo-bulbs. Do this at a time 

 I when the plants are not ga-owing. Then repot, rebaskflt, 



