14 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



February 22, 1912. 



ORCHIDS IN EUBOPE. 



Growth of the Orchid Industry. 



Perhaps a few notes on orchids as 

 grown in Europe may be of interest to 

 the trade in America, as they can have 

 little idea of the enormous extent of 

 the orchid industry on this side. We 

 have some gigantic establishments in 

 England that are devoted exclusively to 

 orchid culture in all its branches. Im- 

 ported plants are sold in ever-increasing 

 numbers each year, some of the large 

 firms disposing of 100,000 to 250,000 

 plants each season, of dendrobiums, 

 cattleyas, vandas, etc., with smaller lots 

 of the less known kinds. They make 

 up special boxes of different varieties 

 suitable for small growers and ama- 

 teurs, who have perhaps only one or 

 two small greenhouses to grow the 

 plants in, and who have good success 

 with them, as the old idea of this class 

 of plants being difficult to grow is quite 

 exploded here. 



Activity in Hybridizing. 



It is, however, more especially with 

 the hybridizing and raising of seedlings 

 that the growers are concerned. These 

 are now raised in such quantities as 

 seem almost incredible. I know one 

 firm of Yorkshire orchidists who have 

 50,000 seedling odontoglossums in all 

 stages of growth, from tiny, tiny things 

 up to flowering size, and, as they are 

 the finest crosses obtainable, there are 

 some startling novelties to come. The 

 same firm has also at least as many cat- 

 tleya and laslio-cattleya crosses, brasso- 

 cattleyas, sophro-lselias, etc. The inter- 

 crossing of these genera has been re- 

 duced to a fine art; secondary and fur- 

 ther crosses are now common, and as 

 the home-raised plants seem to acquire 

 a strength and constitution not present 

 in imported plants, as well as an ever- 

 increasing variety of colors, I am of the 

 opinion that the future of orchidology 

 lies in this direction. 



High Standard of Exhibits. 



The fortnightly shows at the Eoyal 

 Horticultural Society's hall, in London, 

 are a revelation, for at every meeting 

 quantities of new hybrids are exhibited 

 and it has to be something special, in- 

 deed, that receives the coveted first- 

 class certificate or award of merit. 

 Many fine varieties that would have 

 obtained these honors a few seasons 

 ago are now passed over with little 

 comment. So high has the standard 

 become that it is useless to submit any- 

 thing to the orchid committee that is 

 not really at the top of its class. The 

 certificated varieties are snapped up 

 at once by the lovers of orchids, and a 



further hybridization is at once com- 

 menced with the best of each class; 

 what the final results may be, therefore, 

 it is impossible to imagine. 



Tubes for Preserving Pollen. 



There are now special tubes in which 

 to keep the pollen until it is wanted. 

 These tubes will keep the pollen alive 

 and active for twelve months, and in 

 this way the pollen of an autumn-bloom- 

 ing variety may be safely kept and 

 utilized upon a flower the following 

 spring or summer. Cypripediums have 

 been improved almost out of recognition, 

 as compared with their original state. 

 Broad, flat banners or dorsal sepals are 

 now an imperative necessity in a new 

 variety. The coloring, also, in some 

 of the newer hybrids is magnificent. 



Eleven Flowers on One dttleya Spike. 



and it is only varieties having these 

 improvements that are in anything like 

 request. Vast quantities of inferior 

 sorts are sent to the auction rooms 

 and sold for cut flower purposes or to 

 the amateurs every week, but anything 

 special that goes to auction always 

 realizes a good price and this is now a 

 recognized method of disposing of 

 duplicate forms from private collec- 

 tions, because the raising of seedling 

 hybrids is not confined to the trade. 

 All or nearly all the private growers 

 are raisers of hybrids; many fine things, 

 indeed, have been raised by these grow- 



ers and are as eagerly sought for by 

 the trade as the trade-raised ones are 

 picked up by private growers. 



Alva J. Hall. 

 Harrogate, England. 



FINE SPIKE OF CATTLEYA. 



The accompanying illustration shows 

 a plant of Cattleya Trianse with one 

 jspike bearing eleven flowers which 

 bloomed during the recent holidays in 

 the collection of J, P. Parker, Santa 

 Cruz, Cal. The plant is still in good 

 health, despite the tax on its strength. 



Some time ago Mr. Parker had a 

 curiosity in the way of a double-flow- 

 ered Cattleya labiata in which every 

 part was doubled, even to the pollen 

 masses. 



POTTING PALMS. 



The season of enforced activity is 

 fast approaching, and any potting or 

 tubbing among the palms should be 

 attended to now, or the probabilities 

 are that in the rush of other duties 

 the work will be laid over for another 

 year. Always give small shifts to 

 palms. When they are overpotted or 

 tubbed the soil usually becomes soured 

 and wormy before the roots can take it 

 up, and good results are impossible 

 when this occurs. As palms do not re- 

 quire shifting as frequently as many 

 other plants, care should be taken that 

 the drainage is good. In regard to com- 

 post, shake out the finer particles of 

 soil and use good fibrous loam, to which 

 may be added some bone meal and soot. 

 No rotted manure should be used unless 

 it is quite old and will crumble up in 

 the hands like leaf-mold, but a good 

 proportion of sharp, gritty sand should 

 always be used. Always pot firmly and 

 water with caution until the roots are 

 actively at work in the new compost. 

 The latanias and phoenix are rather 

 more robust rooting than the kentias 

 and require more frequent shifts. 



Any plants which are not to be 

 repotted can have a top-dressing af- 

 forded them, picking away some of the 

 old compost first. In order to keep 

 the plants clear of scale, spray them 

 occasionally with some insecticide that 

 will loosen up the scales, allowing them 

 to be sponged off clean. If this spray- 

 ing is not first given, scale will be 

 found hard to remove and too much 

 pressure often causes discoloration of 

 the leaves. As the sun increases in power 

 a light shading will be necessary, even 

 on clouded or ground glass. Otherwise 

 the palms will lose their dark green 

 color. 



SCALE ON BUBBEB PLANTS. 



I have some rubber plants about 

 3 years old. They were doing well 

 until this year, when they commenced 

 to get black spots on the leaves, and 

 the leaves commenced to crumble. Can 

 you tell me what the cause of this is 

 and how to remedy itt A. D. 



Without having seen a specimen of 

 the ficus leaves, it is difficult to say just 

 what the trouble may be. There is a 

 strong probability that the black spots 

 referred to are black scales, insects 

 that are not uncommon on ficus. If this 

 surmise is correct, the safest remedy 

 would be to sponge the leaves with a 

 solution of Sulpho-Tobacco soap. This 

 preparation may be purchased from any 

 of the large supply houses. 



W. H. T. 



