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NOTEHBEB 9, 1905. 



ThcWcckly Florists' Review. 



1413 



Odootoglossum Wilckeanum Albens. 



POLLINATING CUCUMBERS. 



I am having trouble with my cucum- 

 bers. I have a house of as fine plants 

 as were ever seen and they are set very 

 full of fruit but they do not mature 

 as they should; what few develop do not 

 have any seeds to speak of. I have al- 

 ways kept bees in the house and never 

 had any trouble but the swarm all died. 

 Please tell me how to pollinate the flow- 

 ers. G. N. 



I have no doubt whatever that your 

 trouble is caused by insufficient pollina- 

 tion. Keeping bees is by far the easiest 

 way and it might pay you to renew your 

 stock. In the meantime the method of 

 hand pollination is quite simple; merely 

 take the staminate, or pollen-bearing 

 flower when ready, strip back the petals 

 to leave the pollen-bearing part free, 

 and transfer the pollen to the pistillate 

 flower by touching one with the other. 

 The sticky substance on the pistil will 

 retain the pollen as soon as it comes in 

 contact with it. One staminate flower 

 is sufficient to pollinate several, ais very 

 little pollen will do the work. The pollen 

 is usually ready just after the flower is 

 fully open. It is necessary to run over 

 the flowers every day, or at least every 

 bright day, when the flowers expand 

 very quickly. This takes quite a little 

 time but it ia time well spent, as it is 

 the only certain way to insure a full 

 crop where the natural agencies, such as 

 bees, are not present in sufficient number 

 to insure the doing of the work thor- 

 oughly, W. S, C roydon, 



IN BELGIUM. 



The way in which the raising of 

 grapes in Belgium has become a large 

 industrj', involving many thousand 

 greenhouses in a single district, is well 

 illustrated by the eayjerienoe of the 

 Brussels district. 



Writing from that city, Consul-Gen- 

 eral Eoosevelt tells of the development 

 of this industry and the extension of 

 greenhouse cultivation to other fruits 



and vegetables. He says that about 

 forty years ago the cultivation of 

 grapes under glass was practiced on a 

 small scale at Hoeylaert, a village near 

 Brussels, more as an experimental ven- 

 ture than as a business enterprise. From 

 the beginning the experiment was ac- 

 companied by success, and from its 

 small origin this method of cultivation 

 rapidly developed until it now ranks as 

 one of the most flourishing and lucra- 

 tive industries in this district. Today 

 there are no less than 10,000 hothouses 

 in the immediate vicinity of Brussels. 



The greenhouses are usually from 

 sixty-five to eighty-two feet in length, 

 and about twenty-six feet in width. 

 Heat is distributed through clay pipes. 



The principal varieties of grapes are: 

 Frankenthal, a blue, medium-size grape 

 of fine flavor and very juicy; Gros Col- 

 mar, an immense purple grape of at- 

 tractive appearance, somewhat too 

 solid and lacking in juice, and the 

 Black Alicante and Queen Victoria, 

 both acceptable as to quality and fla- 

 vor. These grapes are sold on the Bel- 

 gian retail markets all the year around, 

 at prices varying with the seasons, from 

 about 15 cents to $1 per pound. In the 

 last few years the cultivation of 

 peaches, in connection with grapes, has 

 also become quite profitable, and, al- 

 though still practiced on a limited scale, 

 has produced excellent results, the yield 

 being first-cla.^tf in every respect. 



The cultivation of strawberries, toma- 

 toes, spinach, lettuce, asparagus, and 

 chicory under glass is also carried on 

 in this dii|^ict by syndicates, which 

 regulate production as well as prices. 

 Grapes grown in this consular district 

 arc exported largely to England, Ger- 

 many, Russia and Denmark, and, occa- 

 sionally, in small quantities, to the 

 United States. 



Hartford City. Ind. — John Leach is 

 planning to build another house 36x100 

 and will install a new boiler of seventy- 

 five-horse power for heating purposes. 



ODONTOGLOSSUM. 



For some years the demand in Europe 

 for the more highly spotted odontoglos- 

 sums has been remarkable and phenome- 

 nal prices for them have been obtained, 

 both at auctions and at private sale, far 

 exceeding the amounts ever given for 

 any other orchids. The most valuable of 

 all the cool-house orchids is Odontoglos- 

 sum crispum and it has given a host of 

 highly spotted forms. It is unfortunate 

 that our hot summers make the culture of 

 this queen of orchids difficult, but culti- 

 vators are now succeeding better with 

 them than was the case a decade ago. 

 The old plan was to keep them in a north 

 house the year around. Now the best 

 growers give them a sunny house from 

 November until April and a north house 

 the balance of the year. 



Opinions vary widely in regard to com- 

 post. In Europe leaf-mold is the most 

 popular material. In America some 

 growers are using a somewhat similar 

 compost, in the majority of cases, with 

 the addition of about equal portions of 

 chopped fern fiber and sphagnum moss. 

 We have, however, yet to see as good 

 plants produced in this mixture as in 

 one of pure osmunda fern fiber. The 

 last named has the advantage of being 

 more wearing and will never sour, as 

 the former does unless very carefully 

 watered. 



There are now some very interesting 

 hybrid odontoglossums. Great progress 

 in their hybridization is being made in 

 Great Britain and Belgium and a few 

 have recently been raised in America. 

 The accompanying illustration shows a 

 spike of O. Wilckeanum albens, a cross 

 between O. luteo-purpureum and 0. cris- 

 pum. The flower is exactly intermediate 

 in form and coloring and the heavy dark 

 chocolate blotches add to its beauty. Un- 

 fortunately the spike was somewhat 

 twisted and the camera unable to do it 

 justice. W. N. C. 



