July 19, 1864. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



4a 







WEEKLY CALENDAR. 







Day 

 of 



M'nth 



Day 



of 



Week. 



JUL? 19—25, 1864. 



Average Temperature 

 near Loudon. 



Rain in 



last 

 37 years. 



Sun 

 Rises. 



Sun 

 Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock 



before 



Sun. 



Day of 

 Tear. 



19 



20 

 21 

 22 

 23 

 24 

 25 



Tu 



w 



Th 

 F 

 S 



. Son 

 M 



Cotton Thistle flowers. 



Spear Thistle flowers. 



Sun's declination 20° 24' N. 



Crested Dog's Tail Grass ripe. 



Burdock flowers. 



9 Sunday after Trinity. [1797. 



St. James. Duchess Camb. Born, 



Day. 



72.8 

 72.5 

 73.1 

 73.4 

 740 

 72,5 

 73.9 



Night. 

 51.0 

 51.1 

 50.6 

 51.8 

 52.7 

 52.2 

 49.7 



Mean. 

 619 

 61.8 

 1 619 

 62 6 

 62.3 

 62 4 

 61.3 



Days. 

 21 

 22 

 16 

 21 

 19 

 13 

 10 



m. h. 

 8af4 

 9 4 



10 4 



12 4 



13 4 

 U 4 

 16 4 



m. h. 

 5ar8 

 3 8 

 2 8 

 1 8 

 8 

 58 7 

 57 7 



m. h. 

 51 7 

 24 8 

 53 8 

 19 9 

 45 9 

 12 10 

 41 10 



m. h. 

 27 4 

 48 5 

 11 7 

 34 8 

 55 9 

 13 11 

 after. 



O 

 16 

 17 

 18 

 19 

 20 



C 



m. s, 

 

 6 3 

 6 6 

 6 9 

 i 6 10 

 6 12 

 6 12 



201 

 202 

 203 

 204 

 205 

 206 

 207 



From observations taken near London during the last thirtv-seven years, the average day temperature of the -week is 73.2°, and its night 

 temperature 51.3°. The greatest heat was 92° on the 25th, 1S44 ; and the lowest cold, 36°, on the 2lBt, 1S62. The greatest fall of rain was 

 1.37 inch. 



THE AJST^CTOCHLLlTSES. 



HESE deserve more atten- 

 tion than is bestowed upon 

 thern ; for well do they merit 

 the title of gems of the vege- 

 table kingdom, from the con- 

 * trasts in the colour and ex- 

 quisite markings of their leaves. 

 As exotic Orchids they require at 

 least a stove temperature, in which 

 with proper treatment they thrive 

 well, though there is a general 

 impression that they are very dif- 

 ficult of culture. To this cause 

 alone can I attribute the want of 

 specimens of this genus in almost 

 all stoves ; certainly it is not in 

 the prices charged for them that 

 the cause is to be found ; and I 

 think that with a greater acquaint- 

 ance with their real habits, and a 

 certain, and by no means difficult, 

 mode of treatment they may yet be brought into more 

 general cultivation. 



Perhaps the only plants under cultivation which have 

 to submit to an unvaried treatment the whole year 

 through, save, it may be, an increase iu the minimum 

 temperature during the summer, are those of the genus 

 Ansectochilus. Instead of potting these plants as occa- 

 sion suits, and then placing them under bell-glasses, there 

 to remain an indefinite period, I advise a certain routine 

 of treatment to be observed annually, the heads of which 

 are here given, having myself had proof of the attendant 

 success. 



Time of Potting. — All the plants, both large and small, 

 should be fresh potted each spring, as, whether they 

 require pot-room or not, and even when they are ap- 

 parently doing well, it will at all times, in consequence of 

 the moist state in which they are kept, be well to put 

 fresh and sweet material in the room of that in which 

 they have remained all the winter, and which must have 

 become more or less soured. They will thus be assisted 

 in making a good growth during the summer. The time 

 of potting them must depend entirely upon that at which 

 the house, whether a stove or Orchid-house, in which 

 they are grown begins to receive its summer treatment ; 

 at no time would I pot them until a temperature of at 

 least 75° is attained. This, perhaps, would be about the 

 beginning of March. 



Compost and Mode of Potting. — The material in 

 which I have found them thrive best has been a mixture 

 of two parts of sphagnum, two of silver sand, and one of 

 broken potsherds. The sphagnum, being finely-grown 

 pieces separated from the more minute and dusty rem- 

 nants, should be well chopped into small pieces ; but pre- 

 viously to this, it, as well as the sand, and even the pot- 

 sherds, should be well washed with clean water. This to 

 some may not appear necessary, but I hold it to be an 

 No. 173.— Vol. VII., New Skeies. 



essential to success. These materials should be well in- 

 corporated together. 



I prefer a shallow pan to a pot for growing them, and 

 when possible it should correspond with the size of the 

 plant ; or if a specimen-pan is required this should be of 

 the size to which it is desired to grow the specimen, 

 taking care that it match the bell-glass which is to be 

 placed over it. The glass must at all times be kept over 

 the plants. This I prefer to a mode often practised — that 

 of plunging the pan into another, upon which the glass is 

 then placed. The drainage should be abundant, taking 

 care to place a thin layer of sphagnum upon its surface 

 to prevent the sand from passing down. 



The compost having been then placed very firmly in a 

 conical form in the pan, the plants should be planted 

 carefully over the surface. 



Where the creeping rhizomes have rooted pretty freely 

 they can be firmly embedded in the compost, otherwise 

 a stem without roots should be firmly pegged upon the 

 surface only. Give the whole a liberal watering with a 

 light rose, slightly shaking the heavier drops of moisture 

 from the leaves before the bell-glass is placed over them., 

 A shady warm corner will be the best place for them for- 

 a fortnight, taking care if the weather be very bright the 

 first day or two after potting to place over them, in addi- 

 tion to the customary shading, a thin sheet of paper. 



Propagation. — The most ready way of propagating 

 them and that generally practised is by division of the 

 creeping stems when of sufficient length, which will be 

 about midsummer; this period, about the middle of 

 their growth, being the best time. The stem may be 

 severed by a sharp knife into as many pieces as will 

 insure to each piece so severed two distinct roots, each 

 having more or less hold of the soil below the surface. 

 The plants so divided should be encouraged by a con- 

 tinuation of the summer treatment recommended below 

 until the following spring. 



Summer Treatment. — When the plants have become 

 more or less established under the bell-glasses after the 

 shift, a frame should be procured sufficiently large to 

 admit the whole without undue crowding. It should 

 be high enough at the back to allow of the pans being 

 elevated upon pots. Three small 60-pots to each will be 

 best, as thus the outer air will be more readily admitted 

 through the apertures at the bottom of the pans amongst 

 the crocks. The air will prove very beneficial to the 

 plants, especially when the roots have struck well down 

 amongst the crocks. No better position could be found 

 for the frame than upon a side stage over the pipes and 

 not too far from the upper glass. The plants will be 

 better of being kept close for a day or two, after 

 which the system of treatment I advocate during the 

 summer, and which seems so beneficial to them, may be 

 commenced. 



This consists in taking the glazed light away from the 

 frame about ten o'clock every morning, and giving the 

 whole a moderate watering overhead with clear tepid 

 water ; just brush away from the axils of the leaves any 

 heavy drops, leaving them then fully exposed to the 

 No. 825. -Vol. XXXII., Old Sekies. 



