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JOUENAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ Apr 8, 1875 



pare with them, and we do not hesitate to say that they ought 

 to be grown as forced plants in every garden where a Bpring 

 display of flowers is coveted. The flowera last a long time in 

 beanty, and the plants are admirably adapted for room-decora- 

 tion, for which no plants are more effective. 



To their nnijuestionable beanty it is pleasant to add that 

 they are of the easiest culture, and with ordinary care the 

 cultivator cannot fail to succeed in having a display of a most 

 satisfying kind. 



In preparing for next season's flowering small plants which 

 have bloomed this season should be placed in any sheltered 

 position for a few weeks' rest. They should then be pruned — 

 that is, have the old flowering wood cut away, and be repotted 

 in light, rich, fibrous loam, taking care to have the pots clean 

 and well drained. They should be plunged in the open ground, 

 and to ensure good growth mulch the pots with cow manure, 

 and keep the plants well watered during the summer. Choose 

 a good position exposed to the full sun in order that the wood 

 may be well ripened. During the month of October the plants 

 must be removed under shelter to protect them from heavy 

 rains. They can be trained into any desired form by a few 

 stakes or wires ; this may be done any time before forcing com- 

 mences. No plants are more easy and certain to force. 



They will be blooming in six to eight weeks after being placed 

 in heat. They require a light house and an ordinary tempera- 

 ture of 50° at night, and 70" to 80" by day according to circum- 

 stances, but a few degrees of heat more or less is of no conse- 

 quence, the plants being anything but miffy and tender. 



A vinery just being started would suit them well, as the 

 plants would be in bloom before the roof became covered with 

 foliage. Thus those who have not a regular forcing house 

 need not deny themselves these beautiful plants. When they 

 are in full growth a little liquid manure should be given them, 

 which will increase the size and texture of the blooms. 



The double varieties do not flower so freely as the single, 

 but their individual blooms are massive and fine. C. Jack- 

 manni and its allied dark varieties wUl force, but will not bloom 

 quite so early as the following, which have proved to be the 

 best forcing varieties at present in cultivation, and should be 

 included in all collections. 



Albert Victor. — Deep lavender or light mauve colour ; a very 

 free bloomer and good. 



Fair Rosamond. — Blush white, with slight red bar down the 

 centre of each petal. 



Lady Londeshurotii/h. — Silver-grey, with white filaments 

 bearing chocolate-purple anthers ; a free bloomer and ex- 

 cellent. 



Lord Londeshorough. — Eich mauve, with a maroon stripe 

 down the centre of each petal. 



Miss i3a(t'mart.— White, with a cream-coloured stripe down 

 each petal, the stamens being of a pretty chocolate red with 

 white filaments ; an excellent variety. 



Mrs. S. C. Baker. — Delicate pink, changing to French white, 

 with a claret band down each petal ; very free and good. 



Lucie Lemoinc (double). — White, fine ; far superior to For- 

 tnnei or any other white variety. 



John Gould Veitch. — Beautiful soft lavender-blue, with pale- 

 coloured stamens. 



There are many other varieties, but this short list embraces 

 the best for early blooming whether small or large plants. 

 Not one of them can disappoint the most exacting critic of 

 floral beauty amongst forced flowers in March and April. — W. 



THE ORCHID-HUNTER IN BURMAH.— No. 2. 



Befoee closing the observations on the different varieties of 

 Dendrobium formosum, it may not be out of place to note that 

 there is an unusually magnificent variety of this plant common 

 in the Andaman Islands, where it grows on the trees in the 

 Mangrove swamps. These islands lie in the Bay of Bengal, 

 almost in a line with Moulmein, and having much the same 

 climate as that place, abound in Orchids and plants almost 

 identical with Moulmein species. 



One of the most curious of all the Dendrobiums — Den- 

 drobium revolutum — is generally found growing on the same 

 trees and under the same circumstances as Dendrobium for- 

 mosum, and therefore claims attention in this place. This 

 plant has the stem clothed with evergreen leaves, which grow 

 remarkably closely together up the stem on either side. 

 Though not allied to the nigro-hirsute Dendrobiums in some 

 respects, it should no doubt form one of this division. It 

 differs from them in generally bearing its flowers on the sides 



of the stems after the manner of the deciduous Dendrobiums. 

 It has a very remarkable mode of growth, totally unUke that 

 of any allied species. This peculiar manner of growth may 

 not have been noticed ; it is this, that the old stem continues 

 at its extremity to grow for years, and it is this fact that causes 

 imported plants to present such a straggling and ugly habit. 

 The flower of this plant also being small, it is one little 

 esteemed by Orchid growers. If, however, having a knowledge 

 of the peculiar habit of this plant, the horticulturist steps in 

 and prevents the prolonged growth of the old stem by cutting 

 the old stems back judiciously so as to encourage new growths, 

 he very shortly changes the plant into one of the prettiest and 

 most noticeable evergreen Orchids in the house. Under this 

 treatment also the plant flowers more freely ; and although 

 some may still be found to object to the dullish-white colour 

 of the flower, most people will be attracted by the great 

 peculiarity and distinctness of its form. 



The next species of nigro-hirsute Dendrobiums, and as far as 

 the climate and circumstances under which they grow being 

 alike, the nearest allied to those already noticed is Den- 

 drobium hedyosmum. To see this charming Orchid growing 

 in masses on the trees in the country near Pegu is to see a 

 sight not easily forgot. Pegu herself has not yet recovered 

 from the effects of war ; her town and pagoda are still in a 

 state of ruin. In the midst of all this desolation Nature has 

 treasured up some of her richest gems, for this district not 

 only abounds in Orchids, some of which will be noticed here- 

 after, but it contains forests of Butea frondosa, next to the 

 Amherstia the most gorgeous of flowering trees, making the 

 whole district a blaze of flower in the spring months, and the 

 Butea is the special abode of that splendid JFern Platycerium 

 grande, which completely covers the stems of some of these 

 trees. As regards Dendrobium hedyosmum it is pretty widely 

 spread throughout this district, and also in the districts lying 

 some sixty miles from Moulmein in the interior. The plant 

 has a very compact habit, it produces its flowers in pairs from 

 the top of the last growth, and in very flourishing plants 

 throws out several flowers from the sides, towards the top of 

 the plant also. It bears pure alabaster white flowers of waxy 

 substance, having the labellum tinged with green and yellow, 

 and marked in the throat with very bright orange stripes. In 

 consequence of the great substance of the flower it keeps in 

 blossom a very long time — over two months, which makes it an 

 especially desirable plant. It is very easy to cultivate, and 

 there is no Dendrobium equal to it for sweetness of scent, the 

 perfume being very like that of Wallflowers. 



Dendrobium Jamesianum is the next of the nigro-hirsute 

 Dendrobiums worthy of observation. It is more conspicuously 

 marked with black hairs than any of the same species, with 

 perhaps the exception of Dendrobium infandibulum. It is 

 commonly said to come from Moulmein. Whether it grew 

 there formerly, and now escapes observation, or whether Moul- 

 mein enjoys the credit of its coming from the interior it is 

 difficult to say, at any rate it cannot in the present day be fouad 

 anywhere near Moulmein. In the interior, Tonghoo, Thaye- 

 tinyo, Siam, and Bhamo in Western China it is frequently 

 found. It is scarcely to be excelled by any other Orchid of this 

 class. It lasts almost as long in flower as Dendrobium 

 hedyosmum, it has more substance than Dendrobium formo- 

 sum, with flowers very nearly as large, and the brilliancy of 

 the colour of the lower portion of the lip is very striking, and 

 as a whole it will always be among the most favoured of its 

 tribe. The flower is pure white, the labellum being marked 

 with the brightest brick red, the edge of the lip is very much 

 fringed, and there is a rough texture in the throat. 



This plant is not well cultivated by all Orchid growers, the 

 cause probably being that the plant in its native districts is 

 accustomed during the winter to very cold nights, with the 

 thermometer as low as 10' in the early morning, and is accus- 

 tomed to heavy dews. The plants of this Orchid in our stoves 

 are very apt to acquire a shrivelled appearance unless carefully 

 attended to, and it is probable that they require more moisture 

 at the roots during the resting season than the other sorts o£ 

 the nigro-hirsute race of Dendrobiums. — E. S. B. 



Violets. — I beg leave to publicly thank your old and worthy 

 correspondent Mr. Smith, late of Extou, and now at Ment- 

 more, for not only teaching me how to grow these sweetly 

 pretty harbingers of spring, but also with supplying me with 

 a stock of plants. For a month past we have been gathering 

 them by the basketful, and still they come in great profusion. 



