1444 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



BiAZ 4. 1905. 



beauty. Almost any fairly light aud 

 rich soil will suit this sazif raga. 



Propagation is performed in the siir- 

 plest manner ; on established plants there 

 will be a wealth of young stock already 

 rooted, and these soon become estab- 

 lished if removed and inserted close 

 to the side of small pots filled with 

 light, sandy soil. When the pots be- 

 come well-filled with roots, transfer the 

 plants to baskets, which should be lined 

 with fresh moss. On the moss place 

 some soil, aud put a few siurUl plants 

 round the sides, with their tops protrud- 



ing through the moss; add more soil, 

 aud then put three or four of the strong- 

 est plants on the top. A good watering 

 through a rose should then be given, 

 and the baskets hung up in a structure 

 in which a genial temperature is main- 

 tained, until the plants are established, 

 when they may be removed to a cold 

 house or to rooms. 



Red spider and thrips sometimes at- 

 tack Saxifraga sarmentosa, aud t'lese 

 may be kept in check by frequent syring- 

 ings with clear or soapy water, but this 

 must not be neglected. 



STYLE OF BENCH. 



Tlie question whether solid or table 

 benches are the most profitable seems 

 still to be undecided, some experts favor- 

 ing one kind and others as strenuously 

 advocating another. A great deal de- 

 pends on the quality of the soil and 

 still more on the ability of the man, and, 

 where solid benches are in use, on the 

 kind of subsoil, whether it is suitable 

 for a good natural drainage or whether 

 the drainage has to be made. 



The old style of solid bench, which was 

 simply building walls around the space 

 to be occupied by the bench and filling in 

 the compost, is still employed success- 

 fully in many places and is admirably 

 suited for summer work and where, a» 

 in many cases, the bushes are carried 

 over for more than one or two seasons, 

 they also do well. 



Where there is a good shale bottom 

 this class of bench produces wonderful 

 vrops of high grade flowers, especially 

 under the care of an expert, but I have 

 seen a larger per cent of failures with 

 this class of bench than with any of the 

 forms of table benches used. 



The newer styles of solid benches, 

 which are really not entitled to be 

 classed as such, are mostly built with a 

 view to using artificial drainage, either 

 in the form of ashes, rubble, or tile bot- 

 tr»ms. and have none of the advantages 

 of either the old solid bench or the 

 more modern style of table bench. 



Table benches are also of various 

 kinds, from the plain deal bench, with 

 spaces left between the bottom slats for 

 drainage, to the more elaborate trussed 

 iron bench with tile bottoms and stone 

 edgings. Tliis latter bench in my opin- 

 ion more nearly approaches the ideal 

 than any other form extant, as it pos- 

 sesses the qualities which most growers 

 have been striving for, viz., is easily 



erected, nearly indestructible, neat and 

 at about the same cost as the most 

 ordinary deal bench. The drainage also 

 is nearly perfect. 



My preference for table benches is 

 based upon the' fact that having the 

 advantage of air bejow and around them, 

 they dry out much more rapidly than 

 any form of solid bench can and are con- 

 sequently safer where there is a chance 

 of having to put them in the care of 

 careless or incompetent help. During the 

 long dark days we have also better con- 

 trol of the temperature of the soil and 

 there is no danger of the roots digging 

 into unsuitable food. 



Under expert care the results from 



some of the forms of solid benches are 

 very satisfactory and, although all my 

 benches are of the solid pattern, with 

 tile bottoms, I am of the opinion that 

 varietieis such as Meteor, Ivory and 

 Golden Gaie would have given better 

 results during the winter if they had 

 been on table benches. 



For summer work any of the forms of 

 the solid bench are vnthout doubt pref- 

 erable to the table bench, as the roots 

 can be kept at a more uniform temper- 

 ature and the soil does not dry out so 

 rapidly, but the question is, which are 

 the most profitable benches for the sea- 

 son's work? 



Having had a few inquiries recently 

 on this subject I will discuss it further 

 in a future article. Ribes. 



LAELIA JONGHEANA. 



Some five or six years ago this Iselia 

 was imported in considerable quanti- 

 ties and is now comparatively cheap. 

 As one of the winter blooming soecies, 

 which comes in season when Lselia an- 

 ceps is over and Cattleya Trianffi is on 

 the wane, it is of special value. The 

 flowers are deep pink in shade, deepen- 

 ing almost to purple, with a golden yel- 

 low lip. Wbile ordinary flowers will 

 not measure over five inches across, we 

 had some this season eight inches in 

 diameter. 



We grow our plants in baskets hung 

 near the roof in the odontoglossum 

 house in summer, removing them to the 

 cool end of the cattleya house in win- 

 ter, using a compost of pure fern fibre. 

 A cattleya temperature is too high for 

 the best success with this orchid in 

 summer. Prom April to October a 

 north house seems to suit it better. 



W. N. Cbaio. 



WiLLiAMSPORT, Pa. — Daniel E. Gor- 

 man will grow grafted roses next season. 



Laelia Jongheana. 



