Janaary 23, 1866. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



63 



ORCHID CULTURE IN COOL TEMPERATURES. 



I AJt extremely obliged to Mr. Ke,ine for his reply to my 

 note on the above subject. I have had the pleasure of visiting 

 the establishments referred to, and have long been convinced 

 " that some kinds delight in a low temperature." I am also 

 convinced that their number is very limited, I mean the num- 

 ber of genera. This being the case, would it not be well to 

 state the kinds that require cool treatment, as I need hardly 

 remark tliat the word Orchid is one of very wide import ? 



An apology is due from me to Mr. Keaue for having made 

 any remarks on the subject in the columns of The Jouhxal of 

 HoRTicuLTCRE, but I have done so for the following reasons : — 

 First, I have tested the experiment and have failed ; secondly, 

 I know others who have done likewise and have lost their 

 plants ; thirdly, I know others who have small collections, and, 

 probably, small means, who are strongly inclined to adopt the 

 cool system in consequence of the saving in fuel — now, many 

 of these collections have been slowly acquired, and are, perhaps, 

 the only hobby of the owners ; therefore, it woiild be a great 

 pity if they were lost to them ; and fourthly, because I think 

 that to keep an Orchid-house containing Vandas, Aerides, 

 Saccolabiums, &c., at a temperature of 5.5' during winter, as 

 recommended, is dangerous and calculated to lead to unsatis- 

 factory if not fatal results. — B. Fixdlay, Botanical Gardem, 

 Mancliesler. 



[The enclosed list of Orchids was obtained principally from 

 Mr. Pilcher, who has the management of Mr. Rucker's cele- 

 brated collection. He has them separated into three collections 

 — namely, those requiring high, intennediate, and cool tem- 

 peratures. Those requiring cool temperatures he has no ob- 

 jection to see at 4.5° at night, and in severe weather as low as 

 40', with a rise in the day by sun heat to 60' or 70'. 



At Knypersley Hall, near Congleton, the seat of J. Bateman, 

 Esq., even more than twenty years ago was a large gi'een- 

 honse which contained a plant of Dendrobium Wallichianum, 

 also C^Ttopodium sijeciosissimum and Calanthe discolor, all 

 in a fine healthy condition, and which were stated to be 

 grown there during the winter ; the temperature of the housi:' 

 was about 4.5°. Also, a vinery nearly filled with Orchidaceous 

 plants — such as L.nelia superbieus, very strongly grown ; fine 

 plants of Dendrobium pulchellum and Barkeria Lindleyana, 

 Stanhopea aurea, Oncidium bicallosum, Odontoglossum pulchel- 

 lum, and a remarkably strong and healthy mass of O. grande, 

 which was constantly kept there and bloomed annually. There 

 were many other smaller plants equally healthy. The temper- 

 ature of this house was 50' in the daytime. 



In another house were South American Orchids. Here the 

 temperature was about 65', and the atmosphere abounded in 

 moisture. In a large span-roofed house with double glazmg 

 were the Indian Orchids. This erection was filled chiefly with 

 Stanhopeas, Aerides, Vandas, and Saccolabiums. The tempera- 

 ture of this house ranged from 75' to 80'. The visit was made 

 in April, 1844.— W. Ke.ine. 



ORCHIDS EEQCIRING A COOL TEMPEK.VTURB. 



Ccbloiryne fulifrinosa. 



Wallicliian,i. 



maculata. 

 Eria aurantia. 

 Dendrobium nobile. 



Wallichiauum. 



pulchellum. 



monilifurme. 



tetrafjonnm. 

 Epidendrum vitellinum. 

 L:eli.i majalis. 



autumualis. 



sr.perbiens. 



albida. 



f;irfur.icea. 



anceps. 

 Cattlpy;'. MossL-e. 



Skinneri. 

 S'»brilia macrantha. 

 M ii>l .'vallia Candida. 

 Oii'iiliam flfiuosum. 



bicallosum. 



Oncidium leucochilam. 



cirthaginense. 

 Odontoglossum Eossii. 



pulchellum. 



prande. 



Insle.ijii. 



bictonense. 

 vnr. Brazil. 

 Lycaste Sldnneri. 



macrophylla. 

 Barkeria Lindleyana. 

 StanJiopea aurea. 

 Calanthe discolor. 

 Cypripedimu parviflorum. 



pubescens. 



spectabUe. 



calceolus. 



liamile. 



Tenustam. 



purpuratum. 



barbatum. 



insiyne.] 



CHAUMONTEL PEARS IX JERSEY, 

 I WAS informed the other day by one who had just returned 



from Jersey, that the famous Pears of that island are grown 



upon espaliers at 1 foot distance from the walls. May I ask 



the reason of this custom ? — Wyeside. 

 [The Chaumontel Pear is grown on walls in the Channel 



Islands. Sonth-west is probably the best aspect. Jersey has 



a superior fruit-climate, as it slopes to the south, whOe Guern- 

 sey slopes to the north ; but in both islands walls are considered 

 necessary to bring this Pear to perfection. Size is obtained by 

 summer-mulchings of seaweed, and repeated waterings ; shape, 

 by removing all but the centre blossom. This is thought to 

 produce long-shaped Pears — by far the most saleable. Pound 

 Pears are sold at £5 the himdi-ed, while half-pound Pears rarely 

 bring one quarter of that sum. To obtain the largest Pears 

 verv' few must be left on the tree. Espaliers removed from the 

 wall are not considered first-rate.] 



INTERNATIONAL HORTICULTURAL 



EXHIBITION AND CONGRESS OF 186G. 

 ^YK are much gi-atified by being able to announce, that at a 

 meeting of the Corporation of the City of London, held on 

 Thursday last, it was unanimously resolved to grant the use of 

 the Guildhall for a banquet to be given to the foreign visitors 

 to the International Horticultural Exhibition and Botanical 

 Congress, to be held in London on the 22nd of May next. We 

 believe this is the first occasion on which the Guildhall of the 

 City of London has been granted for a banquet which has not 

 been connected with the Corporation. 



MUSHROOMS OUT OF DOORS, AND FORCING 

 IN POTS. 



Some Asparagus-beds, made in the autumn of 1864 in the 

 ordinary way, produced during last August, September, and 

 October, a good supply of Mushrooms ; and in the beginning 

 of November, thinking all was over, the beds were cleared, and 

 a top-dressing of well-rotted manure given. To my surprise, 

 from that time to the present I have frequently gathered a dish 

 of fine Mushrooms, and twice since Christmas-day — viz., on 

 the 2Sth ef December and 4th of January, which is quite a 

 novelty to me, and at the same time very acceptable, as a bed 

 under cover has not come on so rapidly as it might. 



The soU is of a sharp peaty nature, resting on gravel, which 

 I have no doubt had something to do with such an unusual 

 production in this wet season. — S. Rogers, Hants. 



P.S. — I have filled some 15-inch pots with rather fresh horse- 

 droppings, spawned, soiled, and placed them in a heat of about 

 60°, with an inverted pot over them. Now, to save time, I 

 should be glad if you could recommend me any other way with 

 pots. 



[No doubt your dry gravelly subsoil and the mildness of t'le 

 season had something to do with the production of Mushrooms 

 on an Asparagus-bed in the beginning of 1866, the bed being 

 made in the autumn of 1864. Most likely the spawn had con- 

 tinued to run in the dung that had been used in making the 

 Asparagus-bed, and must have withstood the frost of last winter, 

 or been deep enough then to be beyond its reach. It was stated 

 some time ago in " Doings of the Last Week," that a Mush- 

 room-bed that had produced in an open shed in the summer 

 of 1864, and which it was considered had done bearing, was left 

 accidentally all the winter, protected from nothing but wet, 

 and in the spring of 1865 it began producing again ; and when 

 it was watered and a little hay put over it, it produced heavily 

 again. This bed, altogether, was not more than 10 inches deep, 

 and the dryness of the surface was the only circumstance that 

 would prevent the bed being well frosted. In fact, we do not 

 know the amount of frost that the spawn will stand with im- 

 punity ; but the frost can never penetrate below a covering of 

 grass pasture to an3rthing like the depth it would do in exposed 

 soil. Most likely the Asparagus-bed, too, had some dressing 

 last winter. The fact, at any rate, is worth recording, though 

 we have had several letters about Mu-shrooms being found in 

 pastures up to Christmas this season. One other important 

 point we should like to know about afterwards, and that is the 

 result of the Mushrooms appearing amongst the Asparagus. 

 We should not be surprised if the spawn injured the Asparagus. 

 Some funguses make sad havoc with other crops ; anil there- 

 fore, however useful the Mushrooms may have proved, they 

 may eventually prove quite the contrary. All such facts are 

 very usefiU, as they often lead to fresh experiments and results. 



We presume that you have managed the pots all right. They 

 must be watched for spawning the same as a bed, only a pot 

 if filled with fresh droppings soon comes to the right heat. 

 Keep the heat rather below 60° than above it. Beware that 



