October 2S, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



437 



surrounding- the plants. The best-looking plants are often 

 most infested with this pest, and it is hard to make people un- 

 acquainted with it believe that such plants are useless. They 

 seldom bloom, though holding their leaves well. All old gar- 

 dens, where a multitudeof plants are grown, are likely to have 

 these gall-forming pests in the soil, and they infest vegetables 

 of many sorts. Although this trouble may be perpetuated by 

 dividing plants, it should not be found on runners rooted in 

 sterilized soil. With care in this respect and in selecting a new 

 piece of ground, we were not troubled with nematodes this 

 season, but have had spot badly in place of it. Where Violets 

 are diseased it is hardly necessary to see them to know this is 

 so. An unmistakably unpleasant odor certifies that fact. I 

 have taken in large handsome plants apparently in the best of 

 health which have later become rotten with disease, to put it 

 truthfully. I thought, as conditions were favorable, I would 

 try a change this season. It is a discouraging task to house 

 diseased plants, and I therefore shook all the soil away from 

 the roots, so that, if they started at all, they would start en- 

 tirely afresh. All are now quite recovered, with healthy deep 

 green foliage and abundant new roots. I must confess to 

 being a trifle jealous of a neighbor's tine lot, and after he had 

 housed the best plants I was thankful to take the leavings, 

 which were far larger and healthier-looking than mine. I 

 planted them in the same kind of soil as my own, so that, if 

 that had anything to do with either success or failure, I should 

 know it. I put them in a separate lot of frames, and now am 

 glad I took this precaution, for the greater part ot them are 

 now a mass of decay. I cannot understand what has saved my 

 Violets from disease. The soil they were planted in was wet. 

 If my plants had been better I should have waited for it to dry 

 out enough to handle. I feared failure, and so took all the 

 chances. 

 Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



Orchid Notes. — I. 



THE season for the flowering of Orchids has begun, and the 

 profusion of bloom now is hardly excelled at any time of 

 year. This autumn display would have been impossible five 

 years ago, and even unheard of. The change is due to the 

 introduction of Cattleya labiata and Dendrobium Phalasnopsis. 

 Cattleya labiata is of the easiest possible culture, and produces, 

 perhaps, a smaller percentage of poor forms than any other 

 Cattleya. It stands more exposure to the sun also ; the leaves 

 made in Brazil are of very thick texture, and can only be re- 

 produced under our system of cultivating them by free 

 exposure to sun and air during the growing season. This 

 Cattleya starts to grow very soon after the flowering is past, 

 and root-action begins at once. If it is necessary to repot the 

 plants, this is best done during the month of December. Last 

 year our plants were all repotted before the end of that month, 

 and out of nearly a hundred not one shows signs of retrogres- 

 sion. As soon as the repotting of C. labiata is done, others will 

 need attention. The repotting should always be done when 

 there are signs of fresh root-action. If the plants are growing 

 in pots they should be well soaked in water for a day or two, 

 when the roots will part from the pot easily and with less 

 damage from breaking than if the compost is dry. Cattleyas 

 are often grown in wooden baskets, but we have abolished 

 them, and use pots only, If the plants are large the pots are 

 perforated to help aerate the material in which they are grow- 

 ing and keep it sweet. It often half-kills a Cattleya to take it 

 out of a wooden receptacle, but if the roots are matted round 

 a pot the pot can readily be broken and the roots detached 

 without great injury. Sphagnum-moss should never be used 

 for Cattleyas ; it helps to decompose the Fern-fibre and often 

 holds' too much moisture when it is not desired. When left 

 out it is almost impossible to overwater a Cattleya. 



Dendrobium Phalasnopsis will soon be past flowering, when 

 the stems or pseudo-bulbs will show shrinkage, owing to the 

 strain of producing the long sprays of bloom. This must, if 

 possible, be made good before the plants are at rest, or 

 the start made in spring will be correspondingly weak, 

 and there will also be a loss of foliage that should be 

 avoided, if possible. It has been a question whether this 

 Dendrobium is deciduous or not under normal conditions. 

 It now appears that, if well managed, the plants will retain 

 most of their leaves through the winter with great benefit to 

 the plants. Sick plants will surely lose all the foliage, and the 

 growth will be weaker in consequence the next year. Young 

 plants made from the portions of old stems must be left on 

 until next March, or when the growth commences, and then 

 placed in small pots. They are worth taking care of, for this 

 is one of the most useful Orchids ever introduced to gardens. 



The cool-house plants need attention now, as almost all of 



the Odontoglossums have begun to grow, ami now that the 

 hot weather is past for this year and the temperature can be 

 controlled conveniently, the plants must be encouraged to 

 make all the progress possible. To accomplish this, the roots 

 must first be made comfortable. We use a good portion of 

 moss for cool-house plants, as it is easy to clean away the 

 compost without damage to the roots. As a great quantity of 

 water is needed at all times, and the plants should never suffer 

 for the want of it, there is no better index as to moisture than 

 Sphagnum, which assumes a whitish green as soon as it 

 becomes dry. It is an old saying, with truth in it, that " to be 

 able to grow Odontoglossums it is first necessary to learn how 

 to grow Sphagnum-moss." It is customary to pull the Fern 

 fibre to pieces and blend with it about halt its bulk of moss. 

 We have found that it is much better to leave the fibre in its 

 original condition and merely shake out the loose earth and 

 use the brown portions. This should be cut into triangular 

 pieces as large as need be ; and a tew heads of living moss 

 should be inserted between each piece, and it will soon grow 

 and cover the entire surface. It is a serious mistake to use 

 pots too large for the plants, with the idea of encouraging 

 greater vigor by a larger amount of compost. It is an error 

 often made by beginners and cannot be too strongly con- 

 demned. ■ The smaller the pot, so that it is large enough, the 

 better the plants will thrive. This is especially applicable to 

 Odontoglossum crispum and its allied kinds. O. grande is 

 now in bloom and is a very useful plant for decorative pur- 

 poses at this season. It is of Mexican origin and in winter 

 needs a warmer house than the cool house proper, where it 

 thrives well in summer, and even in a shady place out-of-doors 

 if moisture is abundant. It is well to give water all winter at 

 regular intervals to keep the bulbs plump. O. grande is one 

 of the kinds for many years reputed to be hard to keep in 

 good condition ; with rational treatment we have found that 

 it is not difficult to grow, but the strain of blooming every year 

 is great, and it is economical to let each plant flower but once 

 in two years. They are easily procured at a nominal price. 

 Cypripediums of the Insigne type were all out-of-doors from 

 the end of May until the end of September. The pots were 

 plunged in a spent hot-bed under the shade of Elm-trees. 

 The sashes were taken off and the plants sprinkled overhead 

 on hot days. This method has been practiced for several 

 years with good results. The plants flower freely, have a deep 

 green color, and are not forced to make growth at the expense 

 of flowers, as is often the case when the plants are kept in the 

 greenhouse during the hot months. After the flowering is 

 past the plants are rested in a cool greenhouse for a month or 

 two until March, and renewed root-action takes place, and 

 if repotting is necessary it is then done. Cypripediums of 

 this type do not readily come out of the pots when they are 

 full of roots. It is better to break the pots rather than 

 the roots. If the plants are in large pots and it is not desira- 

 ble to have them larger, they can be maintained in good health 

 for a number of years by giving a little stimulant in the water, 

 such as a very weak solution of sulphate of ammonia or nitrate 

 of soda, or, better still, both at alternate waterings. The inven- 

 tion of the Kenney pump has greatly simplified the applica- 

 tion of all liquid stimulants. A strong solution is made in a 

 convenient vessel, and in the use of the pump the solution is 

 blended with the hose supply at any desired strength by dia- 

 phragms of various sizes. The temperature can be regulated 

 also by mixing the solution with water warm enough to take 

 the chill off the water as it comes from the main. An inven- 

 tion so inexpensive ought to be better known. 



South Lancaster, Mass. E. O. ( Irpct. 



Notes on Irises. 



THIS being the only season when many of the Irises are 

 offered by the dealers, it seems a good time to answer 

 some inquiries as to their collection and culture. As there 

 are nearly 200 known species of Irises, or 250 including the 

 Cape and south African forms, which are classed by the bota- 

 nists as Morsas, with an endless number of varieties, it is 

 scarcely possible to generalize about the family without some 

 eliminations. Dismissing the Mora-as, suitable only for green- 

 house culture, we have a large genus of plants native of the 

 north temperate zone, and with comparatively lew exceptions 

 hardy in this latitude. The exceptions arc mostly among the 

 bulbous Irises, which, like Iris alata, I. juncea, [. Tingitana, 

 etc., naturally making growth in winter, have their foliage so 

 injured if exposed that they cannol recuperate. Yet other 

 bulbous Irises, as the Reticulata section (except I. histrio), thrive 

 under the same conditions, their foliag'e not suffering from 

 frost. The hardiness of the rhizotnat< depends, with 



