-SO 



JODENAL OF HOEXICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ February 4, 1869. 



fit to go to table wbole, straight and good as oould be, and 

 J grown without the slighteat bottom heat during any age or 

 r stage of growth. Now, if there is anything novel in perfect 

 I sncoeas without bottom heat, and with a very low temperature 

 e(rangiQg from 55° to 75" during sunny days), my experience 

 may be worth recording. My opinion is that the constitution 

 of Carter's Champion Cucumber, for cultivation in a low 

 temperature with no bottom heat, and in a dark dull winter, 

 combined with the excellent quality of the fruit, entitles it to 

 be better known. I have grown it nearly 2 feet long in sum- 

 mer. It will be my main frame variety this summer, being 

 quite long enough for regular use, and of a flavour that cannot 

 be surpassed.— Lee Eogers, Gardener to Rowland Hunt, Esq., 

 J/^ibmrth UaU, Leicester. 

 ■) 8!ii; iii.y:- 



'£MANLEY HALL, STRETFORD, MANCHESTER. 



THE RESIDENCE OP 3AM MENDBI,, ESQ. 



\i , {Continued from page 7.) 



Tub Orchid houses, which are under the management of 

 Mr. W. Milford, are very well adapted for the cultivation of 

 these beautiful plants, and here, as well as in Mr. Fetch's de- 

 partment, great changes for the better have taken place. The 

 general impression has hitherto been, that when once Orchids 

 are in a sickly state it takes a long time to bring them again 

 into a healthy condition. Many of the plants when I saw them 

 two years ago were in a wretched state, but they are now in 

 perfect health and growing vigorously. 



The East India house, the first I entered, is span-roofed, 

 ■b65 feet long by '20 wide, with the ends due north and south, and 

 ris in two divisions. It has a 'J-feet wide central stage on which 

 the largest specimens are placed, those of less size being ar- 

 ranged on the side shelves ; these are 24 feet wide, and formed 

 of slate slabs covered with white Derbyshire spar, and the 

 ground beneath the stages is also covered with the same 

 material. The walk round the house is 3 feet wide. The 

 house had originally a double roof, but here, as at several 

 other places, this has been found unnecessary. The first re- 

 markable plant that met my view was Dendrobium Falooneri, 

 suspended over the path. The plant is growing in a shallow 

 basket not more than <j or 8 inches square, and about 2 inches 

 deep, and has five shoots, which are trained over the path in 

 front of the door ; the longest is about 4 feet G inches in 

 length, and, like the others, is clothed with eighteen lateral 

 branches, all of which are very strong. The plant is nearly 

 9 feet across from point to point, and will, no doubt, produce a 

 large number of flowers. Opposite the door is a group of 

 Nepenthes, the most conspicuous of which, a specimen of 

 N. Eafflesiaua, had sixteen pitchers in various stages of develop- 

 ment, and some of these would hold more than a pint of water. 

 The leaves from which the beautifully mottled pitchers are 

 suspended are more than 2 feet long. On the centre stage 

 there is a luxuriant collection of Aerides, and among them the 

 following: — A. Lobbi ; a splendid A. Farmeri, 18 inches high 

 and having fourteen fine leaves, a rare and beautiful variety ; 

 A. Mendeli, very much like A. LarpentiP, the only plant of the 

 kind in the country ; and A. Huttoni, a beautiful species sent 

 home by Mr. Button, and lately distributed by Messrs. Veitch 

 and Sons. It was bearing a pretty spike of lilac and mauve 

 flowers, which Mr. Milford informed me had been open for 

 upwards of two months. There were many fine Calanthes, 

 such as C. vestita Tarneri, C. 'Veitchii snperba, and C. vestita 

 lutea, of which the yellow-eyed variety had seventeen spikes of 

 bloom, some of them 5 feet long and with very large flowers. 



Of Oypripediums there is a very fine collection. On a plant 



of 0. Lowii I noticed fourteen flower spikes, and it had seven 



'4eading growths. Others consisted of G. Stonei, C. Hookeroe, 



'■■'0. Peareei, 0. Sehlimii, 0. cordatum with about twelve leading 



growths, C. cordatum giganteum, and 0. lievigatnm, found 



growing by Mr. J. G. Veitch by the side of Vanda Batemanni. 



I also noticed the pretty 0. concolor, one plant of which had 



eight spikes. Its yellow and spotted flowers contrast well with 



the beautiful foliage, which is nearly as handsome as the most 



cibeautiful of the Anaectochili. 



•■' One of the most promising of the fine collection of Dendro- 

 biums was a fine plant not quite so large as that before alluded 

 to, and to all appearance a different variety, as it is much 

 more sturdy in its growth, and more like D. nodatum. Of 

 D. formosum, one of the best of the numerous family of Den- 

 drobes, there were two flue specimens having eight or ten lead- 

 ing growths, also a fine plant in full flower. 'Where there is 



a stock of this charming Orchid, by ripening-oll plants at 

 different times a succession of its beautiful fiowers may be 

 maintained at different periods of the year. Of other species 

 I noticed D. primulinum, D. chrysotoxum, and D. albo-san- 

 gnineum ; and among Oncidiums fine plants of O. ampliatum 

 majus, 0. Barkerii, 0. crispum, 0. Lanceanum, 0. papilio, and 

 0. phalffinopsis. 



Of the beautiful Phalajnopses there were some of the finest 

 specimens to be seen in the country, one being a very fine 

 variety of P. amabilis, with five spikes of flowers, in which 

 the various shades of yellow, crimson, and pink on the inside, 

 surrounded by the snow-white petals, were exceedingly beau- 

 tiful. There were also fine plants of the P. Lowii, P. grandi- 

 flora, and P. Liiddemanniana, the last with two spikes, each 

 nearly 4 feet long. The most remarkable, however, of this 

 family were two or three plants of P. Schilleriana, with flower 

 spikes upwards of 4 feet long, and having nine lateral branches, 

 and some of the leaves measured 15 inches by 54 . 



Of Saccolabiums, Mr. Mendel has an excellent collection, the 

 moat notable being S. ampuUaceum, the varieties of S. gutta- 

 tum, S. procmorsum, S. Holfordii, S. ourvifolium, S. violaceum, 

 and S. giganteum. The Vandas were also well grown and in 

 great variety ; amongst these were V. Batemanni, V. gigautea, 

 V. Lowii, and a good plant of the true V. insignis, lately intro- 

 duced by Mr. Veitch. 



The Cattleya family is well represented ; these are princi- 

 pally grown in the southern division of the house, which is 

 kept a little cooler than the other portion, and comprise large 

 masses of C. superbii, C. orispa, both the summer and winter- 

 flowering varieties of C. labiata, C. Aclandias, and a fine plant 

 of C. crispa superba, which Mr. Milford considers equal in 

 beauty to Mr. Dominy'a fine new hybrid, C. exoniensis. He 

 thinks that C. crispa superba is one of the parents of exoni- 

 ensis, Lalia purpurata not having the delightful scent of 

 C. crispa superba. The latter has a seed pod on it nearly ripe, 

 from which Mr. Milford hopes to raise some fine and highly- 

 scented varieties. Of the beautiful and scarce Cattleya Dowi- 

 ana there are several plants, as well as of C. Eldorado, one of 

 the finest varieties ; also a large stock of the summer-flowering 

 variety of C. labiata, from the late Mr. Turner's collection. 



Of "the beautiful and useful Cojlogyne criatata there are 

 several fine specimens, two of which, from the celebrated 

 collection of Mr. B. S. 'jates, measure 4 feet across, and are 

 in perfect health. 



Amongst cool Orchids I noticed fine specimens of Cycnoches 

 barbatum, a very rare plant ; Dendrochilum glumaceum, An- 

 guloa Clowesii, Barkeria spectabilis, Cymbidium giganteum, 

 with fine spikes of bloom on it ; 0. eburneum, one of the finest 

 of cool Orchids ; Disa graudiflora ; and several of the beautiful 

 Pleionea covered with flowers. On one plant of Pleione ma- 

 crantha I counted twenty-four flowers, and P. maculata was 

 equally fine. There were, too, several plants of P. lagenaria ; 

 in one pot of this there were twenty-four bulbs, on which I 

 counted sixty-four blooms. Pleione WaUichiana is a very dis- 

 tinct and beautiful species; some of its late-flowering bulbs 

 measured 7 inches in circumference, and were the finest I have 

 ever seen. In a group several plants of each species were com- 

 pletely covered with bloom, and looked extremely beautiful. 

 There were also large plants of many varieties of the beautiful 

 Lycastes and Miltouias; and the Odontoglossums are nume- 

 rously represented, comprising 0. Uro-Skinneri with three 

 flowering spikes nearly 4 feet in length, 0. Insleayii with four 

 good spikes, 0. grande, 0. hastilabium, 0. luteum, 0. macn- 

 latnm showing eight spikes, O. nebulosum, 0. Pescatorei, 

 0. Roasii, and 0. phalasnopaia, the last-named having several 

 fine spikes of flowers, and about twenty young growths. In 

 the same house were fine plants of Masdevallia Veitchiana, 

 Warscewiozella discolor, with its pretty Iris-like flowers ; Tri- 

 chopilia suavia, T. tortilis, T. superba, T. crispa, and others. 



In the East Indian division I noticed several kinds of the 

 pretty Anfeotochilus, and more particularly the A. Dawsonianns, 

 lately introduced by the Messrs. Low, which I consider the best 

 of all, being of much stronger growth, more easily propagated, 

 not requiring ao much care in ita cultivation, and having all 

 the beautiful markings of the more delicate species and varieties. 



The next house I entered was filled with a fine collection of 

 cool and temperate Orchids. This house is 55 feet long by 

 10 feet wide, and in its arrangement is similar to that previously 

 described. Opposite the door is a beautiful mass of foliage and 

 flowers, formed of the following plants, which were very taste- 

 fully arranged, and which produced a very striking effect : — 

 Gesnera refulgens with its beautiful crimson velvet leaves, 



