April 14, 1863. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



271 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 







"Weather near London in 1S62. 





1 









Day Day 

 of of 



APRIL 14— 20, 1863. 





Sun 



Moon 

 Sun < Rises 



Moon's 



Clock 











Rain in 

 Inches. 



Day ol 

 Year. 



M'nth -Week. 





Barometer. 



Thennora. 



Wind. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



and Sets 



Age. 



Sun. 











degrees. 







m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 





m. s. 





14 



Tn 



Princess Beatrice born, 1S57. 



30.177-29.872 



48—25 



N.W. 



— 



9af8 



52af6 



IS 3 



26 



21 



let 



15 



W 



Least Stitehwort flowers. 



30.C 89-29.900 



50—20 



N.E. 



— 



7 5 



53 6 



40 3 



27 



5 



105 



16 



Th 



Gromwell flowers. 



30.141-29.820 



52—42 



S.W. 



.02 



5 5 



55 6 



1 4 



28 



Oaf 9 



)0S 



17 



F 



Royal Hort. Soc. ineor. 18' 9. 



29.824-29.795 



59—35 



w. 



— 



3 5 



57 6 



24 4 



29 



24 



107 



18 



S 



Dr. Darwin died, 1S02. B. 



29.869-2D.7S5 



5/ — 45 



S.W. 



.01 



1 5 



53 6 



sets 



• 



3S 



IIS 



19 



Scn 



2 Sunday after Easter. 



29.810-29.790 



59—48 



S.W. 



— 



IV. 



VII. 



58 8 



1 



51 



109 



20 



H 



Oxlip flowers. 



29.953-29 917 



61-38 



S.W. 



— 



57 4 



2 7 



2 10 



2 



1 4 



110 



Meteorology of the Week.— At Chiswick, from observations during the last thirty-rsix years, the averag 



9 highest and lowest 



temperatures of these davsare 57.7° and 36 1° 



respectively. The greatest heat, 7*", occurred 



on the 19th, in 1851 ; and the lowest cold, 



20", 



on the 10th, in 1S47, and 19th in 1S52. During the period 154 days were fine, and on 98 rain 



felL 









TVINTER-ELOTVERING OKCHIDS. 



ITHIN the last two or three 

 years I have been repeatedly- 

 told that there was a fine 

 well-grown collection of my 

 favourite tribe of plants cul- 

 tivated at Pendlebury House, 

 near Manchester, the resi- 

 dence of J. A. Turner, Esq., 

 M.F. ; and as I was desirous 

 to inform new beginners 

 what species bloom at a 

 season of the year when 

 Flora's gifts are few and far 

 between, I made up my 

 mind to see the collection 

 referred to above, surmising that I should find seme still 

 in flower. Accordingly on the 27th of last month I took 

 advantage of an omnibus to Pendleton, which is two miles 

 from the centre of Manchester, and Pendlebury is nearly 

 two miles further on the road to Bolton. 



The country thereabouts is undulating but gradually 

 rising. I found the house pleasantly situated on an 

 eminence, embosomed amongst fine trees, chiefly Beech, 

 showing that the smoke of Manchester, and the tall 

 chimneys of its factories, had not destroyed all the trees 

 in that district. In fact, many gentlemen's seats I ob- 

 served were surrounded by apparently healthy, large 

 forest trees j whilst on the side (south-east) where I live, 

 the trees are mostly scraggy starved specimens, owing 

 to the subsoil being a strong, wet clay, and the top soil 

 thin and poor. Indeed, any observing person may judge 

 of the soil and subsoil of any district of country he passes 

 through, by noting the state of the hedges and trees 

 there growing. 



A mere list of the Orchids at Pendlebury House would 

 not occupy much space, and would not convey much in- 

 formation ; so I will add a brief description of each, espe- 

 cially such as are not common, and consequently are not 

 generally known. 



Ansellia africana is not rare, but here is a truly noble 

 specimen with strong pseudo-bulbs 5 feet high, and so 

 many that the plant measured as much through. 



Brassavola glauea. — This was growing on a large round 

 block. There were two varieties, one much larger and 

 handsomer than the old variety. The flowers of both 

 are large and striking. 



Cattleya Warozeiciczii. — Pare. A delicate flower; large 

 and beautiful rosy purple sepals ; lip a deep yellow, 

 large spot in the centre margined with blush. 



Ccelogyne ocellata. — Medium size ; inside distinctly 

 edged dark, spotted with light colour. 



Cypripedium Fairrieanum. — A beautiful dwarf species, 

 with pure white sepals, and petals richly striped -with 

 dark maroon ; lip or slipper greenish-yellow, veined with 

 dark-coloured lines. This a real gem among Lady's 

 Slippers. 



Cyrtochilum maculatum. — A good old species, free- 

 flowering and very handsome. 



No. 107.— Vol. IV., New Series. 



Dendvohhan nobile. — Too well known to need describ- 

 ing. A splendid specimen 4 feet by -1. Very densely 

 flowered. 



Calantlie vestita iardiflora.- — Pure white sepals and 

 lip, the centre of the latter has a spot of dark maroon. 

 The flowers are more densely placed on the flower-stem, 

 and are of a more compact form. It flowers at least two 

 months later than the species, and so far is a desirable 

 variety. 



DendroeJiilum glumaceum. — Small flowers, of a straw 

 colour. They are numerously and densely set on a 

 drooping panicle. There were twelve spikes on the plant. 

 Though not a showy species, it is very desirable on 

 account of its elegant habit. 



Epidendrum aurantiacum. — A species with golden 

 flowers. Not rare. 



Epidendrum verrucosum major. — A fine variety, with 

 dark flowers spotted with white. 



lonopsis panieulata. — A pretty little white-flowered 

 species. Well worth growing. 



Oncidium Cavendishianum.— One of the large-leaved 

 section of Oncids, with large bright orange flowers on 

 a lofty branching flower-stem. Handsome and showy, 

 and easily cultivated. 



Oncidiumleucochilum. — Ahandsome well-known species, 

 flowering almost all the year round. 



Odontoglossum bictoniense. — A handsome species. Use- 

 ful a^ a winter-flowerer. 



Phalanopsis qrandiflora. — This is a beautiful well- 

 known species, with large moth-shaped flowers, blooming 

 when strong nine months out of the twelve. 



Phal&nopsis Scliilleriana. — A new and rare species, 

 with medium-sized flowers of a delicate rose colour. The 

 flowers are handsome, and, in addition, the leaves are 

 beautifully variegated. There were two plants here : 

 one had made a new leaf nearly 9 inches long. I valued 

 the two plants at fifty guineas, but was informed that 

 a nurseryman had thirty-five guineas for the larger 

 plant. 



Vanda cristata. — A noble plant.with large, rich, crested 

 flowers. 



Zygopetalum Jiirsutum. — This is a pretty dwarf species, 

 with a large hairy lip of a purplish colour. 



The above list proves that an Orchid-house may be 

 gay with flowers even in the dead of winter, though in 

 this district very little of what we understand by winter 

 weather has been experienced ; as a proof of which, I 

 saw the other day a Pear tree and also a Plum and an 

 Apricot tree with fully expanded blossoms. 



This collection of Orchids is extremely well grown. 

 The gardener, Mr. Tate, is an Exeter man, and fully 

 understands his business. He has adopted cocoa-nut 

 fibre dust as one material to mix among the usual com- 

 post. He pointed out to me how the Cattleyas were 

 rooting amongst it. In all my experience I never saw 

 such a quantity of young, healthy, strong roots pushing 

 freely out and around every pseudo-bulb. I said if my 

 friend Beaton saw them he would be in ecstacies. No 

 man has done nearly so much as he has to bring Ibis 

 No. 759.— Vol. XXIX., Old Series. 



