April 11, 1865. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETIGULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



379 











WEEKLY CALENDAR. 















Dny 



of 

 M'ntli 



Day 



of 

 Week. 



APRIL 11-17, 1S65. 



Average Temperature 

 near London. 



Rain In 



l»8t 



^8 years. 



Sun 

 Rises. 



Sun 

 Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Cloclj 

 before 

 Sun. 



Day of 

 Year. 



11 

 12 

 13 

 14 

 15 

 16 

 17 



Tn 

 W 

 Th 



F 



6 



Sun 



M 



Lime foliates. 



Whitlow Grass flowers. 



Cherry flowers. fBoRN. 1857. 



Good Friday. Princess Bkatrice 



Ked Kattle flowers. 



Eastkr Sunday. 



Easter Monday. 



Day. 

 65.3 



55.6 

 65.4 

 59.0 

 59.8 

 59.2 

 59.5 



Niffht. 

 33.0 

 36.6 

 83.7 

 86.4 

 37.6 

 36.3 

 36.1 



Mean. 

 45.4 

 46.1 

 44.5 

 47.2 

 48.7 

 47.7 

 47.8 



Days. 

 19 

 25 

 15 

 14 

 19 

 10 

 14 



ra. h. 

 15af5 

 13 5 

 10 5 

 8 5 

 4 5 

 6 5 

 2 5 



m. h. 

 47 af 6 

 49 6 



51 



52 6 

 54 6 



56 fi 



57 6 



m. h. 

 27 7 



29 8 

 31 9 



30 10 

 25 11 

 morn. 

 15 



m. h. 



12 S 

 38 5 



8 6 

 43 6 

 24 7 



13 8 



9 9 



O 



16 

 17 

 18 

 19 



20 

 21 



m. 6. 

 1 1 

 45 

 29 

 13 

 Oaf. 2 

 16 

 31 



101 

 102 

 103 

 104 

 105 

 106 

 197 



From ol)3orvfitiona taken near London daring the last thirty-'^ight years, the avoraere day temperature of the iveei^ is 57.7°, and its night 

 temperatnro 36.0'. The greatest heat was 73° oa the 14lh, 1852; and the lowest cold, 20°, on the 14th, 1847 ; and 15th, 1352. The greatest 

 fall of rain was 0.63 loch. 



OECHIDS IN COOL HOUSES. 



jST a speecli recently de- 

 livered by an eminent 

 statesman, tlie folloTving 

 remark occurs: "Beware 

 of extreme men and mea- 

 sures, tliey are not trust- 

 wortby ; as a rnle yon ■svill find the men \ritli sonnd 

 judgments taking the middle course." This excellent 

 advice appears to me to have a very wide application : 

 for instance, if an advocate of the "cool system" of 

 growing Orchids were to advise a temperature of say 40°, 

 and another person opposed to greenhouse treatment 

 were to recommend SC" as a condition to secure success, 

 the probability is that 60° would be the safe course. 



It appears to me that the tendency in Orchid cultivatio.n 

 at the present time, is to go to an extreme. This " cool 

 treatment " about which we hear so much, is, in my 

 humble opinion, a dangerous experiment. I have tried 

 it on the following Orchids, some of which may be 

 termed representative plants, and in my case it has 

 failed — Dendrobium speciosum, D. nobile, D. fimbriatum, 

 J). Paxtoni, Odontoglossum grande, O. citrosmum, On- 

 cidium altissimum, Brassia maculata, Trichopilia tortilis; 

 and Lselia anceps. They have been subjected to a tem- 

 perature of from 4-5° to 50° during the last eighteen 

 months, and their condition is worse now than when I 

 commenced the trial. On the other hand, plants of the 

 same kinds as those which I have named, have been 

 grown in the Orchid-house, ranging from 60" to 70°, and 

 these are in excellent condition. 



That many good plants have been lost in consequence 

 of too much heat having been given, I know, more espe- 

 cially some of the most lovely of the rare Odontoglossums. 

 These, I am certain, together with Lycaste Skinneri, and 

 a few others that might be named, will grow much better 

 in a cool house, but when I see long lists of valua'ile 

 Orchids recommended to be gro^'n in a greenhouse, I 

 confess it somewhat staggers me, as it is quite opposed 

 to my experience and observation. My own iaipression 

 is, that the number of Orchids that will gi'ow in a green- 

 house is extremely limited, and I fear that many persons 

 who are now endeavouring to cultivate such plants as 

 Cattleya Mossis, Lsslia purpurata, and Odontoglossum 

 citrosmum, in cool houses, will at no very distant day feel 

 strongly inclined to treat their advisers coolly. 



It is said by the advocates of the "cool system" in 

 support of their theory, that in their native habitats ice 

 is often found on Orchids that we grow in this country 

 in a hot Orchid-house. Of this fact there is no doubt, 

 but I have yet to learn that an exact imitation of the 

 No. 211.— Vol. YIII, New Semes. 



natural conditions by which plants are surrounded, is the 

 most successful mode of growing them artificially. It is 

 a well-known and remarkable fact, that many of our 

 native plants. Ferns especially, thrive best when sub- 

 jected to the temperature of our stoves and greenhouses. 

 I should be delighted to find that the many Orchids re- 

 commended for greenhouse treatment flourished in their 

 cool quarters ; it would be much more comfortable and 

 economical, consequently would induce many more to 

 grow these beautiful objects. The experience of all 

 acquainted with the subject will be invaluable, and if our 

 object be to edify one another, we shall derive benefit 

 from the discussion of this important subject. — Betjce 

 FlKDLAT, Manchester. 



ON FOEM AND COLOUE. 



Some months ago in a communication entitled " A Plea 

 for a Compromise," I ventured to proffer a few remarks 

 on form and colour, especially with regard to the arrange- 

 ment of plants in flower gardens. The subject, I am. 

 aware, demands che efforts of a much abler pen than 

 mine ; but, if I mistake not, the contributions to The 

 JouRif AL OP HoETicuiTiTBE are taken by your intelligent 

 readers for what they are worth. My purpose is to show 

 with regard to modern flower gardening, that at least one 

 important element of pleasure which exists in nature in 

 endless and exquisite profusion, is entirely ignored, while 

 at the same time the fundamental principles of harmony 

 in colours are constantly violated. 



I do not wish to commence here an indiscriminate 

 attack upon the system of massing colours in large 

 gardens. Its most earnest advocates, however, must 

 admit that it is a system open to grave objections, and 

 fraught with danger to the true interests of horticulture. 

 Of late years the end and aim of popular gardening has 

 been to arrest the eye by violent and unnatural contrasts, 

 effected "Ijy masses and continuous lines of positive colour. 

 The result has been, too often, no harmony, no repose ; 

 the eye pained and wearied with the contemplation turns 

 instinctively to the blue sky or fresh green turf. 



A blind man was asked what was his idea of scarlet. 

 His reply was curiously suggestive. " It is like the blast 

 of a trumpet." Colour has its characteristics, its har- 

 monies and discords, its fortes and pianissimos. its light 

 and shade. The " tantarra " of the horn with its sus- 

 tained and piercing monotone — its streaks of sound, if I 

 may so express it, pleases us chiefly from its agreeable 

 associations — the village postman, "the mad coach, and 

 the cover side — elsewhere it is simply unendurable. A 

 single band or mass of intense scarlet— say Tom Thumb 

 Geranium, is the blast of a trumpet. As Ve look from 

 the window it assails us ; if we' enter the garden it 

 impinges on the retina of the eye like the trumpet blast on 

 the ear, it glares at us through the hot noon of the dog 

 days, and if we gaze on it for a moment, by a well-known 

 optical illusion the impression remains for a time on the 

 eye, and everything is spotted with scarlet. Now edge 

 this belt with yellow Calceolaria — say Aurea floribunda 

 No. 863.— YoL. XXXm., Old Semis, 



