December 26, 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



517 



tained also Fig trees in pots, -which here, unlike many places, 

 are well managed, besides Cinerarias, Chinese Primulas, and 

 at this season the omnipresent bedding plants. In the earliest 

 vinery (which will not be so nest year), the Vines had been 

 cut down to obtain new wood, Mr. Vair having found the ad- 

 vantage of a similar practice in the other houses in previous 

 years. It must be added that the shelves in these and other 

 houses were fully occupied with Strawberries, sometimes varied 

 with flowering plants. 



We now come to one of the great features of the place, the 

 magnificent collection of Orchids, one of the finest in the 

 country both in the number of the species and the size of the 

 specimens. In the East India house, which is 22J feet square, 

 are several grand specimens of Vandas, especially Tanda tri- 

 color insignis and V. suavis, Aerides, and Saccolabiurns of all 

 the best kinds in splendid condition, and many of them of a 

 size rarely met with, together with Phalamopsids, Angrsecurns, 

 and members of other genera too numerous to particularise. 



Angrmeum eburneum was showing flower, and so, too, was 

 A. sesquipedale, the latter having two spikes, on one of which 

 there were four flowers. Some of the Vandas and Phalamopsis 

 grandiflora were also in flower, and the brilliant flower-heads 

 of Poinsettia puleherrima, plants of which were dotted about 

 among the Orchids, combined to give the house a gaiety of 

 appearance not seen in many places at this season. On the 

 back wall are plants of Vanilla lutescens and planifolia — the 

 former pods the more freely, and is preferred to the latter — 

 also a fine specimen of Platycerium grande 5 feet in diameter. 

 At the end of this house is another small house, forming a 

 kind of lobby, which it was thought desirable to construct in 

 consequence of the wind sweeping round a corner and robbing 

 the East India house of its heat. A Lemon tree is trained at 

 the back, and Orange trees at the side. 



The cool Orchid house comes next ; in this we noted Odon- 

 toglossum cariniferum, Lindleyanum, triumphans, grande, 

 Bluntii, Dendrobium speciosum, and numerous Lycastes. The 



Dangstein. — Gardener's Residence and Plant Huuses. 



plants here are nearly all grown in pots with troughed rims to 

 receive a bell-glass, and when the trough is filled with water 

 it serves as a barrier to the passage of many insects, and in 

 summer for the evaporation of moisture. There is in this 

 house a very fine collection of Sarracenias, comprising Drum- 

 mondi, Drummondi alba, flava, psittacina, variolaris, and pur- 

 purea ; also many other curious plants, such as Darlingtonia 

 californica, of which there vvere some three hundred seedling 

 plants on a top shelf, Cephalotus f ollicularis, Drosera dichotoma, 

 the rare Drosophyllum lusitanicum, and Venus's Fly-trap 

 (Dionaa muscipula) . Ornamental-leaved Begonias were ranged 

 on each side of the central pathway, and a covering of Lycopod 

 on the end wall had an excellent effect. 



The principal Orchid house, however, is situated in the 

 main range, and is a span-roofed structure 50 feet by 2L. 

 Here were Cypripedium insigne with thirty-six flowers, C. longi-' 

 folium which is nearly always in bloom, C. Dayanum; Lowii, 

 Stohei, caudatum, and others of the same genus. Calanthe 

 Veitehii was producing long spikes of Jits lovely blossoms ; and 

 though the plant had been divided, it was still very fine. 

 C. vestita was also well represented in several varieties. Peris- 

 teria elata had formed an immense bulb and thrown up two 

 spikes, each with three branches. One spike had been cut off 



after flowering, but the other was still bearing several of those 

 singular-shaped flowers which, from their resemblance to a 

 dove, have given rise to the plant's scientific and popular 

 names. The Pleiones, such as "Wallichi and maculata, which 

 have been aptly called the autumn Crocuses of the Orchids, 

 ha 1 been very fine, and the Dendrobiums had made excellent 

 growths ; of these the species cultivated are too numerous to 

 mention. Lyeaste Skinneri in several varieties was in great 

 force. We also noticed an importation from Ceylon, among 

 which it is expected some novelties will be found. Altogether 

 this house presented a striking appearance ; the Cypripediurns, 

 Calanthes, Dendrobes, &c, furnishing an ample supply of 

 bloom even without the Poinsettias, which had been introduced 

 to give liveliness to the whole. 



Passing back to another range, consisting of four low span- 

 roofed houses, 103 feet long and 13J wide, we find in the first 

 of these a varied collection of fine-foliaged plants, including 

 Crotons, Jdarantas, Dracaenas. Alocasias, Ac, of the best kinds, 

 and flowering Begonias. The second division contains more 

 fine-foliaged plants on one side, Ferns on the other. Among 

 the latter were Cionidium Moorei, nice plants of Drynaria 

 musaafolia, and fine specimens of Davallia Mooreana. Anthu- 

 rium Scherzerianum (one of the most useful of stove plants in- 



