AcousT 9, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



699 



Odontioda Vuylstekeae. 



organization was: "A rose for every 

 home, a bush for every garden. ' ' 



The sense of the committee is that the 

 society should be broadened to make it 

 as comprehensive as its name — that 

 "American" represents no section, but 

 takes in the entire bound of the zone 

 where roses grow. 



Benjamin Hammond, Sec'y. 



ODONTIODA VUYLSTEKEAE. 



Not until the last few years have 

 hybridists done much with that most 

 beautiful of all orchids, the odontoglos- 

 sum, but in Europe great strides re- 

 cently have been made in this direction; 

 British, French and Belgian growers are 

 all now busy turning out new crosses, 

 quite a number of which have received 

 awards from the Eoyal Horticultural So- 

 ciety of London, and from other socie- 

 ties. One of the foremost of these 

 hybridists is M. Ch. Vuylsteke, of 

 Ghent, who has won many high awards 

 for unique forms of Odontoglossum 

 crispum, as well as for odontoglossum 

 hybrids. 



The most remarkable novelty that has 

 been raised by this skilful Belgian 

 hybridist is Odontioda Vuylstekea;, the 

 result of crossing the popular and well- 

 known Odontoglossum Pescatj;)rei with 

 the brilliant orange-scarlet Cochlioda 

 Noetzliana, a cross considered an im- 

 possibility a few years ago. An in- 

 florescence carrying six flowers — the 

 plant was not shown on account of its 

 value — was exhibited at the celebrated 

 Temple show in London, on May 31, 

 1904, and created a sensation among the 

 large number of orchid fanciers present. 

 A new orchid must be remarkably good 

 to score a first-class certificate in Lon- 

 don, but this novelty received not only 

 that award, but a silver-gilt Lindley 

 medal also. 



The flowers are shaped like those of 

 odontoglossums, but the color is largely 

 that of the cochlioda. The blooms are 

 two and a half to three inches in diame- 

 ter. The ground-color is light cream yel- 

 low, largely obliterated except on the lip 

 and around the large blotches on the 

 sepals and petals. The blotches on the 

 lip, sepals and petals are deep salmon 

 red in color, and the crest is deep yel- 

 low. The teeth are described as being 



more developed than in Odontoglossum 

 Pescatorei; the bulbs and foliage closely 

 resemble the latter plant. 



The cross was made both ways, and 

 it is not known lor certain which plant 

 was the seed bearer. It was feared at 

 first that the seeds would not germinate. 

 "We have not seen it stated how much 

 time elapsed from seed sowing to flow- 

 ering; many growers would no doubt 

 like to know this. 



The production of this striking cross, 

 apart from any value it may have either 

 as a botanical or a decorative orchid, 

 shows admirable skill on the part of Mr. 

 Vuylsteke, and we do not doubt but that 

 he values this odontioda far above any 

 of the other valuable orchids which he 

 possesses. We understand that the plant 

 shows remarkable vigor, and that it car- 

 ried thirty-two flowers as an inflorescence 

 this season. W. N. Craig. 



THE USE OF CYANIDE. 



Beferring to the discussion in the 

 Eeview recently as to the precautions 

 necessarj' in using hydrocyanic acid gas, 

 I may say that the difference of opinion 

 on the subject is probably due to 

 the fact that, the gas being so very 

 poisonous, those who best know its na- 

 ture are inclined to be very conservative 

 in their recommendations. 



One fact should be clearly kept in 

 mind. No person should attempt to en- 

 ter a house or stay in it after the gas is 

 liberated. A few seconds' exposure to 

 the gas would cause painful results, 

 even if it did not produce death. The 

 gas acts quickly upon the nerves and 

 would likely produce a more or less per- 

 manent paralysis if too much of it were 

 inhaled, even though it might not cause 

 instantaneous death. A few whiffs of 

 the gas, such as would be obtained in 

 glancing in a greenhouse door, might not 

 be particularly dangerous, but then peo- 

 ple are affected in different ways. Per- 

 sonally, I can stand a considerable quan- 

 tity of this gas for a few seconds, but I 

 know other people who are painfully af- 

 fected by an exposure which does not 

 harm me in the least. The same is true 

 of insects. Some are quickly killed by 

 small amounts; others are resistant, de- 

 pending largely upon the secretions of 

 the mucous membranes. If the nerves 



are close to the surface and easily 

 reached by the gas, and the gas is quick- 

 ly absorbed by tne mucous membranes, 

 tlie effect is quicker and more powerful. 



It is not necessary to lower the cyanide 

 into the acid by use of a string unless 

 the jars are located so that the operator 

 cannot get out of the house quickly. In 

 our houses, Avhen we have five or six jars 

 to set off in two or three different paths, 

 a man starts at the back of each path, 

 a small manila paper sack containing the 

 proper dose for each jar having been set 

 beside the jar previously. Then the men 

 walk together, dropping the sacks in at 

 the same time, the man nearest the door 

 waiting before setting off the last jar 

 until the men farthest from the door drop 

 their sacks, so that all can get out to- 

 gether. It takes from twenty to forty 

 seconds for the acid to eat through the 

 thin sacks. Then after the steam begins 

 to come up from the jars it will be sev- 

 eral minutes before the gas is distributed 

 through the house. There is usually 

 plenty of time to get out and close the 

 doors without difficulty. Occasionally 

 if a sack happens to have a tear in it or 

 a break, the gas will come off rapidly. 



If this system is followed, however, 

 there will be no danger in dropping the 

 sacKs as suggested. In fact, one could 

 hold liis breath even in case of an acci- 

 dent — that is, if he knew enough to do 

 so, and most people would. Those who 

 did not would probably suffer the conse- 

 quences. If one •does breathe some of 

 the gas, the saliva which forms in the 

 mouth should not be swallowed, but 

 should be expectorated for several min- 

 utes, and the mouth should be thoroughly 

 rinsed out before anything is swallowea. 



Where a house is not tight, it is pos- 

 sible that the recommendations as given 

 by Mr. Scott, that is, using a small dose 

 and leaving it in over night, might be 

 safe, especially for more or less resistant 

 plants with perfectly dry foliage. On 

 the other hand, in tight houses and with 

 such tender plants as the young growth 

 on roses and lettuce, such a procedure 

 would result in great injury. There are 

 certain insects also which it is practically 

 useless to attempt to kill with cyanide. 

 One of these is the ordinary thrips and 

 another is the red spider. While the 

 adult thrips and the adult spiders will be 

 killed, the young appear to be much 

 more resistant. 



The subject of the use of cyanide for 

 fumigating various crops under varying 

 conditions is well worthy of careful study 

 and experimentation, and it is especially 

 important that practical men using it 

 should give exact statements as to the 

 time of fumigation, the temperature of 

 the houses, the plants to be treated, 

 whether the foliage is wot or dry, wheth- 

 er in active growth or dormant, whether 

 the houses are tight or not, the amount 

 of cyanide used and the length of ex- 

 posure. If attention is given to these 

 details, the work can be reproduced accu- 

 rately by others. A. F. Woods. 



BORONIAS. 



The hard-wooded boronias have by 

 sheer merit forced their way into pop- 

 ular favor, and I can call to mind no 

 plants possessed of such delicate and 

 exquisite fragrance as Boronia megas- 

 tigma, says a writer in the Gardeners' 

 Magazine. The flowers, individually or 

 collectively, are anything but showy, but 

 this questionable defect is more than 

 compensated for by the fact that a small 

 plant will fill a large room with delicious 



