Jclv 7, 1888.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



11 



white flowers blotched with pale pink. As a new 

 plant C. bellatulum is undoubtedly the plant of 

 the year, as far as the present time. Among the 

 Cypripediums, a houseful of C. Lawrenceanum 

 gives a great show of bloom ; a large quantity of 

 C. Sanderianum exhibits that fine plant ; and C. 

 Argus, C. ciliolare, C. Stonei, C. Lowii, C. Veitchii, 



C. concolor Regnieri, C. Parishii, and several forms 

 of C. barbatum, of C. b. najvium is the best, are also 

 in flower. 



The Cattleyas and Lajlias seem to improve in 

 vigour and condition here every year. So many 

 houses are filled with them, that it is no light matter 

 to go the full round. Luckily for the visitor, the 

 best of those which are in bloom are brought to the 

 ends of the houses. The Mossire-house exhibits 

 some fine forms, distinguished by their broad, open, 

 and richly-coloured labellum. Some handsome 

 forms in the way of C. M. aurantiaca, with orange- 

 coloured throats; and C. M. Reineckiana, with 

 white or pearly-tinted petals, are also very attractive. 

 Cattleya Mendelii also give a grand display ; some 

 plants have pure white petals, with only a rose- 

 coloured mark on the labellum ; some white, with 

 rich carmine lips ; and some have large pale rose 

 flowers, with large and frilled crimson labelltims, 

 like that of C. M. Rothschildiana. The variable 

 Cattleya Gaskelliana, with its fine fragrant flowers, 

 gives in a good importation varieties which re- 

 semble almost all others of the large-flowered 

 Cattleyas. In all importations, however, the bulk 

 of the varieties are pale, which makes the 

 more intense-coloured forms of this section 

 of more value than similar forms of C. Triantc. 

 Messrs. Low have two superb varieties of C. Gas- 

 kelliana which closely resemble fine forms of C. 

 exoniensi x , so richly coloured are their labellums ; 

 another is almost identical with a well-grown 

 autumn-flowering C. Iabiata, and a fourth has large 

 white flowers with the barest suspicion of a pearly 

 tint over them — a very beautiful form. Other 

 varieties appear with the mottled lip of C. Mossiffi, 

 and, indeed, innumerable other odd and pretty 

 variations. 



Many C. gigas, some LaHia purpurata, Cattleya 

 superba, and other showy Brazilian plants, are in 

 bloom in the intermediate-houses ; and the Odonto- 

 glossum-houses have sufficient plants in bloom to 

 show the excellent quality of U. crispum and 0. 

 Pescatorei, which have yielded such fine hybrids. 



Vandas, Aerides, Angracums, Saccolabiums, &c, 

 are grown in great quantities ; among them Vanda 

 Amesiana, which has tall spikes of rosy flowers, 

 almost identical in appearance to those of 1'halsE- 

 nopsis Lowii, may be said to be the best new plant. 

 Vanda teres, Saccolabium Blumei, and others are in 

 bloom ; and among the houses of well-grown Phalav 

 nopsis the new paper-white P. gloriosa stands out 

 very distinctly among good sprays of P. Sanderiana, 

 P. amabilis, P. grandiflora, P. Schilleriana, and P. 

 Luddemanniana superba. 



The Dendrobe-houses have hundreds of well- 

 flowered plants of the charming D. Bensona;, D. 

 Parishii, D. rhodopterygium, D. Dalhousieanum, D. 

 cambridgeanum, D. suavissimum, D. hercoglossum, 



D. triadenium, D. crystallinum, D. transparens, &c. 

 The Masdevallias have a fine show of varieties of 

 M. Harryana, exhibiting very fine forms, especially 

 among the scarlet and crimson colours. With them 

 M. racemosa, M. ionocharis, and other odd species 

 are in bloom, and in other cool houses Lycastes, 

 Oncidiums, Sophronites, &c, have many things in 

 flower. 



Orchids at Messrs. Veitch's, Chelsea. 

 The English raised hybrids become more numerous 

 and interesting year by year, and seldom can one 

 visit the nurseries without finding something to 

 admire or something instructive. One of the most 

 remarkable hybrid Dendrobiums is now in flower, 

 viz., D. porphyrogastrum X . The sepals and petals 

 are pale pink, the lip rose-purple. The flowers are not 

 of a large size, considering it is a cross between D. 

 Huttoni and D. Dalhousieanum. With it was 

 another hybrid raised at Chelsea — D. rhodostoma, X 



D. Huttoni X D. sanguinolentum. It is a very 

 pretty thing, with white sepals and petals, and lip 

 purplish tipped. The pretty Thunia Veitchiana was 

 flowering very freely. It is quite an acquisition, 

 combining, as it does, the characteristics of its 

 parents — T. Marshalliana and T. Bensona;. Cypri- 

 pedium Tautzianum X was in flower. It is a distinct 

 and pretty hybrid. The sepals are flushed with 

 purple on a white ground. The lip is rosy-purple. 

 It originated by crossing C. barbatum and C. niveum. 

 Many good varieties of Cypripedium were in 

 flower, and it was observed that the best of them 

 are hybrids raised in the nursery. C. grande X is the 

 most striking of them. C. Harrisianum superbum is 

 a fine form of this well-known hybrid ; C. super- 

 ciliare ornatum is quite distinct and handsome ; C. 

 conchiferum X is also a vigorous and striking hybrid ; 

 so also is C. selligerum majusx, a much superior 

 form. In the Cattleya-house was found, although 

 so late, a good display, comprising C. Trianie 

 Mendelii, C. Mossiae, C. Gaskelliana, C. gigas, C. 

 Forbesii, and C. Schroderi. The pretty little Angra- 

 cum falcatum was profusely covered with its pure 

 white sweetly scented flowers. Pholidota imbricata 

 is very curious, with its pendulous twisted spikes of 

 brownish-coloured flowers. Burlingtonia fragrans is 

 also very charming, the flowers sweet-scented, and 

 pure white, the crest on the lip being yellow. 

 Broughtonia sanguinea had also flowered freely, and 

 amongst Dendrobiums one of the most lovely was 

 D. Bensona;, plants of which were flowering freely ; 

 its spikes of white flowers, which have a distinct 

 blotch on the lip, are charming. Specimens of D. 

 Jamesianum were very striking ; Cypripedium bella- 

 tulum was observed in quantity and in good variety. 

 For the last week in June we have rarely seen such a 

 good display in these nurseries. 



LIFTING AND STORING DAF- 

 FODILS. 



I would like to say a few words upon this very 

 important subject, at a time when those bulb growers 

 who make Daffodils a specialty will be turning their 

 thoughts in the direction of the subject of this note. 

 It is no small matter — I speak from experience — and 

 is as important as it is considerable. 



Some little time since Mr. J. Walker, of Whitton, 

 gave a very interesting paper on Daffodils generally, 

 and in the course of his observations touched — 

 though far too lightly — on the matter of lifting and 

 storing them. As regards the lifting, I was under 

 the impression, until I read Mr. Walker's remarks 

 on the subject, that there was but one generally 

 accepted opinion respecting them, viz., that they are 

 best left undisturbed for several years. Nurserymen 

 who grow these largely are compelled to set this 

 dictum aside, and in many cases to lift their 

 stocks annually, in order to secure a sufficiency 

 of saleable bulbs. But if I read Mr, Walker's 

 remarks aright I believe I am correct in con- 

 cluding that his observations are intended to 

 be for the well-being of the bulbs themselves, rather 

 than the expense entailed by the operation. I con- 

 fess, however, I cannot quite reconcile the following 

 passages of the paper in question: — "It will be 

 found that some varieties will require to be lifted 

 every year, while others may remain in the same 

 spot for a number of years, and do well ; " and then 

 follow the somewhat conflicting observation — "If 

 it were not for the labour mnd expense it would 

 entail, I would lift all my bulbs every year.'' It is 

 to be regretted, in looking at the first quotation, that 

 Mr. Walker, with his wide experience in these 

 matters, had not named a few each of those kinds 

 which are benefited by annual lifting, and also those 

 that are benefited by being left alone. But taking 

 into careful consideration Mr. Walker's reasons for 

 not lifting annually, it reduces the weight of the 

 first quotation to a minimum. In your issue of 

 April 28, p. 524, Mr. Murphy, of Clonmel, in refer- 

 ence to this subject, asks, " Is the evidence in 

 favour of lifting every year?'' To which I reply, 

 from an all-round point of view, Certainly not ; 



nor can I see that Mr. Walker's statement is 

 sufficient proof that annual lifting is beneficial. 

 The result of annually lifted stock is always different 

 at a glance against those that have remained undis- 

 turbed for two or three years. There is a lack of 

 vigour and natural boldness, and particularly is 

 this noticeable in such things as Ard Righ, spurius 

 varieties, the bicolors generally, Emperor, obvallaris, 

 ornatus, poeticus pi., and many more. The kinds 

 I have named I would never think of disturbing 

 under three or four years at the least, and the last 

 two will go on for some years longer, improving 

 annually. We have had nothing finer this year than 

 our Horstieldii. which has not been disturbed for 

 two seasons, while Emperor and Empress have pro- 

 duced magnificent blooms ; the former still carrying 

 foliage nearly 2£ feet long — a vigour to which 

 annually planted stock is foreign : the same thing 

 affecting in a corresponding degree a great number, 

 if not all of them. Some weeks ago I took out a few 

 "rogues" of nobilis and obvallaris, the former 

 having been in the ground three years, and the latter 

 four ; the blossoms of the first-named were a credit 

 to its title, and the latter I have never seen finer 

 blooms ; the stems, however, will furnish some idea 

 of their great strength when left alone, many of these 

 being upwards of 16 inches from the ground line to 

 the point where the trumpet assumes a horizontal 

 direction : against this our annually lifted stock of 

 N. obvallaris rarely exceeds 10 inches high, the 

 flowers being proportionately smaller. As a whole 

 I think there are few which improve more by letting 

 alone than the double sorts, and the invaluable 

 N. ornatus. Two years since I planted a batch of the 

 former which have not been disturbed since, the first 

 season after planting they produced very few flowers, 

 this year the number of blooms was increased con- 

 siderably, still many went blind in the scape. This 

 blindness will, I think, diminish annually, as I notice 

 a good percentage came from the " breeders, ' and 

 no doubt were from the offsets. I imagine the Con- 

 tinental growers dry this variety much in the sun, 

 by the colour of the skins, and those who plant it 

 largely from imported bulbs can tell how many blooms 

 they get per 1000 bulbs in a very few seconds during 

 the'first two or three years. Albicans, the cernuus forms, 

 Sulphur and Orange Phoenix, I would not hesitate 

 leaving alone four or even five years — more if they had 

 ample room when planted. Some years ago, when in 

 charge of Mr. LatimerClarke's garden at Sydenham — 

 at which place a very extensive collection of hardy 

 bulbs was then to be found — there existed some fine 

 clumps of the best Daffodils, among other things ; 

 these had been planted many years in a prepared 

 bed, and finer flowers I do not remember seeing of 

 such as Emperor, Empress, and bicolors generally ; 

 maximus exceptionally fine, and near by Iris cristata 

 bloomed regularly with remarkable freedom. On the 

 whole, I fail to see what advantage it would be to 

 lift annually, presuming the stock was not required 

 for commercial purposes, while the labour item 

 would be serious indeed. 



In cases where lifting and planting are necessary, 

 I would strongly urge upon all the necessity of early 

 planting, as I feel convinced that the longer they are 

 kept out of the soil the more they deteriorate. Only 

 last week (June 15) we had a flower of Emperor 

 expand from a bulb (one of five) planted in January ; 

 it was barely inches high, the leaves about the 

 same ; surplus stock planted in November reached 

 10 inches high, whilst those left alone have attained 

 a vigour of which this alone can boast. This 

 experience points directly to deterioration as the 

 result of lifting and keeping dry, and where deteriora- 

 tion follows the lifting in any bulbous plant, 

 it certainly cannot add to its benefit. 



Mr. Walker evidently has had experience in dete- 

 rioration judging by his remarks on storing— evidence 

 alone that a certain amount of stamina is lost by 

 exposure to foreign conditions. I can give my fullest 

 support to Mr. Walker's statement on storing, for 

 nothing is more destructive than to place them in 

 bulk and so cause them to sweat and become mil- 

 dewed : no practice is deserving greater condemna- 



