114 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 263. 



It is pretty, as are all the concolor hybrids, and it has large 

 flowers colored creamy white, with rosy mavive reticula- 

 tions and small purple dots, the lip a shade darker than the 

 other seg-ments. 



Dendrobium Owenianum, a hybrid between D. Wardi- 

 anum and D. Linawianum, was raised by Mr. Cookson, 

 and shown in flower by Messrs. F. Sander & Co. Its flow- 

 ers are as large as those of a good variety of D. Wardianum, 

 and they are colored like that species, except the lip, which 

 has a reddish brown blotch at the base. The plant looks 

 sturdy and most promising in every way. It obtained a 

 first-class certificate. Other new or rare Dendrobiums 

 shown by Sander & Co. were D. Sanderae (nobile X aureum), 

 D. nobile, var. Amesias, an exceptionally pretty variety, 

 pure white, with a maroon-colored throat, and D. nobile, 

 var. Ballianum. From the same establishment came some 

 choice varieties of Lycaste Skinneri, one named leuco- 

 glossa, with rosy segments and a white lip, being notewor- 

 thy. A new hybrid Lcelia nained Maynardii was another 

 of Sander & Co.'s choice exhibits. It is the result of cross- 

 ing L. pumila Dayana and Cattleya dolosa. Its stature is 

 ' like that of the former parent, while in color the flowers are 

 deep rose, the lip purplish crimson, crisped and spreading 

 as in L. dolosa. 



Cypripedium Winnianum, a hybrid between C. Druryi 

 and C. villosum, is like the former in the shape and color 

 of the flowers, with the shining surface of C. villosum. 

 Cynorchis grandiflora was again shown by its importers, 

 Messrs. Lewis & Co. It is a pretty Orchid, certainly de- 

 serving of a place among garden Orchids if it only proves 

 easy to grow. Masdevallia Hincksiana and M. Schroe- 

 deriana were represented by well-flowered specimens, the 

 former of hybrid origin, the latter a species related to M. 

 acrochordonia," with large flowers, colored rich chocolate, 

 with a blotch of white, and long orange-colored tails. 



Arum Palestinum, which was distributed several years 

 ago under the name of A. sanctum, is a good plant for the 

 greenhouse, its large spathes nine mches by four inches, 

 colored dark maroon-purple, erect black spadices, and 

 apple-like fragrance, being really attractive. It was shown 

 in flower. White Lilacs, grown in pots, and very well- 

 flowered, were shown — bushes about two feet high, clothed 

 with healthy leaves and crowded with clusters of pure white 

 flowers; such as these are valuable in February. The kinds 

 were Marie Legrange and Alba grandiflora. Sparmannia 

 Africana was shown in a new character as a small pot- 

 shrub, the pots only five inches across, and the plants two 

 feet high, well-branched, and each branch bearing a cluster 

 of flowers. These specimens were the result of starving 

 the plants by not repotting them in the spring, keeping 

 them in small pots and cutting them back hard in April. 

 Pandanus inermis, var. variegata (Baptistii), was again 

 shown by Messrs. Veitch. There were also various kinds 

 of late Chrysanthemums, Ericas and other hard-wooded 

 plants from Messrs. Low & Co. and Cutbush & Sons. Mr. 

 Rivers sent a collection of oranges which had been grown 

 under glass, and which were a centre of interest both for 

 their color and size. Orange-blossom, by the way, is an 

 expensive article in England in January and February ; for 

 a guinea one can obtain no more than would fill a small 

 cigar-box. It might pay Floridans to send Orange-blos- 

 som to the English market in the first three months in the 

 year. Of course, it is chiefly in demand for weddings, but 

 these are mostly affairs of early sprine. .,„ „, 



London. "" W. WatSOTl. 



Cultural Department. 



Lily Culture in Pots. 



A CONSIDERABLE number of species and varieties of 

 Lilies are well adapted for pot-culture, and the plants, 

 when well grown and flowered, have an excellent effect in 

 greenhouse or conservatory. Indeed, those who would see 

 the finer species and varieties of Lilies in full beauty should 

 grow them under glass, not that they require the aid of glass 

 through all the periods of their growfli, but they need it when 



in flower, and immediately afterward, to perfectly mature the 

 bulbs. Mr. H. J. Elwes, writing on Lily-culture in his Mono- 

 graph of the Genus Lilium, recommends that Lily bulbs be 

 planted in a prepared bed, in a house specially built for them, 

 and the lights made to draw off, or arranged in some way that 

 the plants could be exposed to the weather if it was thought 

 desirable at any time. Mr. Elwes recommends a bed of pre- 

 pared soil, two feet deep, with over nine or ten inches of drain- 

 age. Part of tlie bed should be formed of a compost from 

 wliich peat is excluded, and the other part of it siiould be half 

 of peat and a quarter of leaf-mold, loam and sand, with the 

 addition of charcoal, being used where needed. A part of the 

 house should also be set aside to contain a bed built of brick, 

 in which to plunge Lilies in pots. " All newly imported bulbs 

 should be planted in small flower-pots," says Mr. Elwes. 

 " However large a bulb may be, and whatever depth of soil it 

 may require when established, it is always good policy to start 

 in a small pot, and either shift it to a large one, or plant it out 

 when well rooted." I do not intend the following remarks on 

 culture for famous cultivators who have had more experience 

 than I have ; but questions are frequently asked about Lilies, 

 and failures are so frequently met with, especially when grown 

 in pots, that as I have found no difficulty with them, my suc- 

 cessful experience may be helpful. 



The most useful of all Lilies for culture in pots is L. auratum, 

 and perhaps the trade would consider this the only profitable 

 Lily. L. auratum is sold cheaply enough now, but I can well 

 remember when small bulbs cost a guinea, and large ones 

 three guineas. From fifty to a hundred bulbs can now be ob- 

 tained for that money. 



Some persons have a fixed belief that L. auratum degen- 

 erates when cultivated year after year in pots. It may do so 

 under bad cultivation, but under other conditions it improves 

 year after year. The first year they must not be overpotted ; 

 this is a grave error. Small bulbs may be planted in pots four 

 or "five inches in diameter (inside measurement), medium- 

 sized bulbs in six-inch, and the larger ones in seven-inch. The 

 soil I use is a good yellow loam, two parts, with an addition of 

 one part fibrous peat. Leaf-mold is not necessary, but it may 

 be used if peat cannot be obtained. Drain the pots well, and 

 plant the bulb in the centre of each, moderately firm, a little 

 clean coarse sand to be placed under and over each bulb. The 

 crown of the bulb should be half an inch at least under the 

 soil, and the pots should not be filled up to the top by about 

 one inch. I find I have omitted to mention that some decayed 

 manure should be added to the compost, and coarse white 

 sand if necessary. When the plants are potted, plunge them 

 in cocoanut-fibre refuse in frames well over the rims ; if the 

 potting-compost was moderately rich at the time of using it, 

 no water will be needed until the plants show through the 

 fibre. If the soil in which they are growing then seems to be 

 very dry, give them a good supply of water. It is before the 

 plants arrive at this stage that much mischief is done by inex- 

 perienced cultivators. Instead of plunging the newly potted 

 plants as I have advised, they are placed on the stage in the 

 greenhouse, where the soil soon gets dry upon the surface, 

 and water is applied freely before any roots are formed. The 

 result is that the bulbs rot at the base more or less, and do not 

 start to grow at all, or but weakly. I have also seen the bulbs 

 after being repotted plunged or placed under the stage of the 

 greenhouse, where some of the poor bulbs become saturated 

 with the constant drip from above, and those not under a drip 

 may even suffer from dryness. The only sure way to success 

 lies in starting the bulbs as I have recommended. The cocoa- 

 nut-fibre retains the moisture in the soil without increasing it, 

 and the bulbs are also maintained in a uniform low tempera- 

 ture, so that the roots are formed before any top-growth is 

 made. This is the way in which all bulbs should be started 

 that are intended for greenhouse-culture. Encourage the 

 roots to make good healthy growth before the flower-stems 

 show from the crowns. 



Another important point is the repotting. The best time to 

 repot bulbs of this kind is just before they begin to make roots. 

 Lilies are different from the bulbs of Hyacinths, Tulips and 

 Crocuses, in that the roots from the base of the bulbs are 

 always in a plump, sound condition ; it is only the roots that 

 issue from the base of the stems that die annually with the 

 stems. Referring again to the bulbs which were starting into 

 growth in the frames, as soon as the stem shows through the 

 fibre, this should be removed with tlie fingers, leaving the 

 rims of the pots exposed. Admit air freely, removing the lights 

 in fine weather, but closing them at night, and when frost ob- 

 tains. When the plants have grown so much that they come 

 into contact with the glass, remove them to a light part of the 

 greenhouse where they may get plenty of air. Abundance of 



