February 34, 1870. 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



143 



Wild plants possess an inherent tendency to sport or vary, 

 which increases when they are brought under cultivation ; the 

 parts of flowers naturally enlarge, increase in substance, vary 

 in colour; the fruits naturally increase in size, and vary in 

 form and flavour. And how wonderfully is the power, wisdom, 

 and beneficence of the Creator displayed in this fact. Herein 

 is man's promised recompense for toil. Msn does not improve 

 Nature in the sense of creating or originating ; he is merely an 

 instrument in the Creator's hands for developing H ; 

 The work is man's, the glory is God's. — William Paul, Paul's 

 Nurseries, Waltham Cross, N. 



WINTER-FLOWERING ORCHIDS.— X 



AXSELLIA. 



Resuming my remarks upon these plants, which have been 

 ao gay, and rendered the plant houses so cheerful, during the 

 bitter dreary days of the past week, I must hasten to record 

 the beauties of this old and undeservedly neglected genus. 

 There are several varieties of the species here mentioned ; all, 

 however, succeed under the same treatment. During the sum- 

 mer, when the growths are in course of devebpment, the tem- 

 perature should range from 70° to 80°, but after the stem-like 

 pseudo-bulbs are completed, the plants may be removed to a 

 much cooler and drier atmosphere. These pseudo-bulbs pro- 

 dnce from their summits, during December and January, large 

 panicles of very attractive flowers, which are admirably adapted 

 for cutting for bouquets. 



A. africana. — This plant is very abundant about Fernando 

 Po, and, indeed, the western coast of Africa generally. It is a 

 tall-growing plant, forming dense tufts of stem-like pseudo- 

 bulbs some i or 5 fee'; in height, terete, sheathed with the base3 

 of the leaves, which are somewhat ribbed. The leaves are 

 produced toward-! tha top of the stem, and are from 12 to 

 18 inches in length, by about 1J in breadth, strap-shaped and 

 lanceolate, leathery in texture, and deep green. The panicles 

 of flower are terminal, much branched, and nodding ; the 

 sepals and petals oblong-obtuse, yellow or yellowish green, 

 spotted and barred with rich brown ; lip rich bright yellow in 

 front, side lobes streaked with brown. It lasts fully two 

 months in full beauty. 



SOPHROXITIS. 



A genus of small-growing plants, veritable gems in their 

 way, and most easily grown, succeeding best on blocks of wood, 

 or in small baskets with a little peat, sphagnum, and pieces of 

 charcoal ; in this way I have seen them growing and blooming 

 beautifully iu a Wardian case in company with Ferns and 

 other ornamental-leaved plants, so that it will bo quite evident I 

 no great amount of heat is necessary for them. Indeed a 

 temperature and atmosphere such as recommended for Odonto- i 

 glossums are admirably adapted for them, as they are all 

 natives of high mountains in Brazil. 



S. gran'difloiu. — The pseudo-bulbs of this magnificent epi- 

 phyte are somewhat ovate, bearing on their summit a solitary 

 oblong acute leaf, thick in texture, and dark green. The 

 flowers are also produced from the apex, and singly, broad, 

 fully expanded, and some 2 inches or more in diameter, fleshy, 

 and of a uniform bright crimson. It laBts a very longtime in 

 flower, and is one of the first kinds a beginner should invest in. 

 S. pterocarpa. — A very close-growing plant, which succeeds 

 best upon a block af wood, and is well adapted for suspending 

 in a Fern case. The leaves are thick and fleshy, somewhat 

 oblong, and dark green. It produces a terminal corymb of 

 rosy flowers tinged with purple. 



S. cernua. — Leaves ovate-oblong, producing a somewhat 

 few-flowered terminal corymb of bright scarlet flowers, with a 

 small yellow lip. It thrives well on a block of wood in a cool 

 house, and is very desirable in winter on account of its bright- 

 coloured flowers. 



S. violacea. — This is a very distinct plant from all its con- 

 geners, both in growth and colour of flowers. The pseudo- 

 bulbs are small and oval ; the leaves solitary, oval, and very 

 narrow ; the flowers also solitary, small, and rich violet in 

 colour. From the large masses which are imported, this must 

 be a common species in its native habitat. It forms a pretty 

 object in a Wardian cue, or in the company of the cool Odon- 

 toglots. 



LYCASTE. 

 In thi3 genus are found some of the easiest-grown species in 

 the entire order, and all succeed well under cool treatment, 

 potted in fibrous peat and sphagnum ; the drainage should be 



good, as they like an abundance of water at all times, but more 

 especially during the growing season. 



L. Skinneri. — This splendid plant was named in honour of 

 a most enthusiastic lover and collector of these plants, and a 

 most worthy man — the late G. Ure Skinner, Esq. The varieties 

 are ver;- numerous, and some of them very richly coloured, 

 with a beautifully-markod lip, whilst others are paler. The 

 pseudo-bulbs are oblong-ovate, somewhat compressed, and 

 bearing on their summits Ion--, plaited, oblong-lanceolate, dark 

 ?. The flower scapes are produced from the base 

 of the pseudo-bulb, and bear a single large flower, several scapes 

 rising from the same bulb. The sepals are spreading, large, 

 thick, ond fleshy, about 2J inches long, and upwards of an inch 

 wide, oblong, obtusely pointed, sometimes waxy white, at other 

 times delicate rose or deep blush. Petals smaller than the 

 sepals, cncullate, slightly rolled back at the ends, varying from 

 blush to deep crimson. Lip three-lobed, the front lobe recurved, 

 in different varieties varying from white to rosy crimson, at 

 other times mottled. Tha=e flowers retain their beauties for 

 sks, and will grow and bloom profusely even in a 

 sitting-room. This Lycaste is found abundantly in the cool 

 parts of Guatemala. 



L. Deppei. — Though by no means so showy or attractive as 

 the preceding species, it is a very useful plant for winter 

 blooming, In habit of growth it resembles L. Skinneri. The 

 sepals and petals are dull brown, marked with white and 

 orang9 spots, and the lip is rich orange. Treated the same as 

 Odontoglossum it succeeds well, and forms a fine, large plant. 

 Native of Mexico. 



L. abomatica. — An old compact-growing plant, which pro- 

 duces a profusion of small rich yellow flowers, which are very 

 fragrant and useful for bouquets during the dull months. 

 Native of Mexico. 



L. ckuesta. — The flowers of this species are medium-sized; 

 sepals and petals deep orange ; lip a deeper shade of the same 

 colour. Though somewhat despised by high-class Orchid- 

 growers, it is, nevertheless, a showy plant, and easily managed 

 in the cool house. Native of Guatemala. 



L. lanipes, L. Barrixgtoni.e, and L. Schilleriama are free- 

 flowering plants, very useful in winter when flowers of any 

 kind are serviceable, but their paucity of colour causes them 

 to be almost turned out of Orchid collections. — Experto Crede. 



MANURE IN POTATO DRILLS— CUT SETS- 

 PREPARING GROUND. 



"H., a Cumbrian Tyro," and " Novus Amicus," ask questions 

 to which the following replies : — 



I object to placing the sets on raw stable manure, because ma- 

 nure — let it be fibrous straw or otherwise — must be sufficiently 

 soluble before the roots of plants can take it up for sustentation; 

 and as "H." says "the practice is universal to place the ma- 

 nure in the drills in his part of the kingdom," I think in dry 

 seasons he must ha7e often observed that that "good old 

 plan " will, when the Potatoes are dug or ploughed up, repro- 

 duce it in a state of dry thatch-like flakes, which would take a 

 great quantity of moisture to even wet them ; at any rate, it 

 cannot be said to have gone towards producing Potatoes, which 

 it was intended to do. In fact, it has been the means of doing 

 more harm to them than good ; and to make bad worse, it may 

 possibly have been left to become dry on the surface of the 

 land before being even placed in the drills. On the other 

 hand, I consider it cannot be otherwise than bad practice to 

 place a pulpy tuber, which the microscope informs us is of the 

 most delicate orginisatiou, in a mass of corruption, even 

 should the sets escape injury. When in a poor soil dung is 

 used in this way, under the idea of making the most of it, the 

 young plants may grow freely at first through the impulse of 

 the moisture, but as the roots lengthen and strike out in 

 search of provision, they do so into a barren soil, constituting, 

 in fact, an abundance of machinery with a scarcity of material 

 just when the formation of young tubers, and the advancing 

 state of the growth of the plants, require an extra supply of 

 nourishment. The start they received at first from the raw 

 liquid merely secured foliage to become starved and unfruitful 

 for lack of what the plants cannot take up, or because they 

 have not time to wait for the more stubborn materials to dis- 

 solve. No ; twenty bushels of dung per acre, well worked into 

 the body of the soil, 2 feet deep if possible, in October or the 

 beginning of November, and quicklime added as a top-dressing 

 at the rate of seventy bushels per acre (providing the soil is not 



