Notes and Gleaiiiiigs. "^^^^^ 



Calanthe vestita. — Among the many beautiful flowering-plants grown 

 for decorative purposes at the present clay, there are few, if any, that rank higher 

 as being really useful and effective for late autumn and winter decoration, whether 

 as pot-plants or as cut-flowers, than Calaiitlie vestita and its varieties, I refer 

 to the deciduous kinds of calanthe only, including C. Veitchii, a beautiful mule 

 raised at the Messrs. Veitch's establishment. Their flowering season is from 

 the beginning of November to tlic end of January, and may be made of much 

 longer duration. There is only one fault that can I)c urged against them; that 

 is, they lose their foliage about the time they commence to unfold their singularly 

 elegant and showy flowers. As cut-flowers, they are unrivalled. Take, for in- 

 stance, a spike of each of the varieties enumerated below, put them in a flower- 

 glass in water with fern-fronds, and you have a bouquet at once graceful and 

 beautiful ; while each individual flower will be as fresh and perfect in four weeks' 

 time as on the day when it was cut from the plant. 



CalaittJic vestita is a terrestrial orchid, and is found in the mountain regions 

 of Moulmein, Java, and Burmah. It is of the easiest possible culture; and is, 

 moreover, very free in producing its long, gracefully-pendent flower-spikes, usu- 

 ally two and three from each pseudo-bulb. These flower-spikes are thrown up 

 from the base of the bulbs some weeks before they lose their foliage. Let no 

 amateur despair of cultivating and flowering these plants simply because they 

 belong to the family of orchids, — -a reason I have heard assigned for not attempt- 

 ing their culture. Any one having a couple of vineries or a moderately-heated 

 plant-stove has the first essential for growing calanthes successfully. These 

 deciduous calanthes require both a diurnal and an annual rest : during the latter 

 rest, they require to be kept dry. About the beginning of March, or later, ac- 

 cording to the length of time they have been at rest, they commence to grow 

 from the base of the bulb ; and this is the time to commence their cultivation by 

 repotting them. I grow them in different-sized pots to suit the various purposes 

 for which they are required ; putting one bulb in a si.x-inch pot, three in an eight- 

 inch, five in a nine-inch, and fifteen in a twelve-inch, and so on. In doing this, 

 sufficient space must be left between the bulbs to allow room for the young 

 growths, which can at tliis time be seen, as well as the direction they are taking. 

 Generally, each bulb makes two growths, — one on each side. Their roots are 

 annual : therefore any old ones that may be left adhering to the bulbs must be 

 cut away. 



The compost I find to suit these calanthes is one-half turfy loam cut from 

 an old pasture two inches deep, and used before the fibre is destroyed by long- 

 keeping (it is well to half char this to destroy all vegetable as well as insect life 

 merely), one-fourth old dry cow-dung, and one-fourth good fibry peat, addiag a few 

 handfuls of charcoal of the size of walnuts. These ingredients should be mixed 

 well together, and be used in a moderately dry state. In potting, reject the finer 

 portions. Let the pots be perfectly clean and dry, as well as the crocks. Make 

 the drainage as perfect as possible by first laying a hollow crock over the hole, 

 the hollow side downwards, and placing smaller crocks over this to the depth 

 of two inches for the smaller, and three inches or more for the larger pots. 

 Upon this drainage lay a little moss, — a very thin layer, or it will defeat the end 



