ajECEMBEK 25, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



619 



•Hovvers sliglitly variegated with purplish red, was collected in 

 1883 on a moimtain in Lower California, but has not since 

 been seen. Another equally beautiful species {Gilia bella) was 

 •discovered on the high table lands of northern Lower Califor-. 

 nia among the Pinyon Pines, and I ha\'e since seen it abun- 

 ■dantly on the .moimtains bordering- the Colorado Desert. It 

 has the same characteristics as the last, but more brilliant and 

 darker Hovvers of smaller size. 



San Diqso, Cal. C R. Orcutt. 



Large Glass in Green-houses. 



jV/T Y first green-house was a small one, twelve by thirty-three 

 ■'■'-*- feet in dimensions, with benches against the sides and 

 ;a path down the centre. It was covered with a span-roof 

 made of hot-bed sash of three by six feet dimensions, which 

 "were set with six by eight inch glass ; it had a ridge made of 

 l:)oards two feet wide, which cast a shadow alwavs, and the 



growth was most marked. In the new house the Lettuce 

 grew steadily and rapidly in the almost unobstructed sunlight, 

 and made good heads for market, much better than had been 

 obtained from the old house. The plants were free from the 

 green fly and were grown without fumigation or artificial heat 

 from September to December, while that in the span-roof 

 house — a few plants put in as an experiment to test the com- 

 parative merits of the two houses— was as poor as usual. 

 Although the house has been occasionally fumigated and 

 su])plied with some artificial heat, the Lettuce is still too small 

 for market and is also troubled with the green fly. 



This is an object lesson that is very convincing to all who 

 have seen the contrast in growth and \-igor in the tree 

 houses. The chances were all in favor of the Lettuce in the 

 old house, if care and attention could avail, but when simply 

 left alone to grow in the free sunlight, that m the new 

 house was altogether superior. 



lilt- i'ctil-'l I itinua ill \ 



wood of the sash-bars antl heav_\' rafters caused more 

 shade still. Standing north and south, the shade, as the smi 

 passed across the sky, was shifted from west to east, and in 

 dark days and cloudy weather, with the sun low in the sky, 

 the house was still more in the shade than in the fuller sun- 

 light of the spring months, when the sun was higher. 



This house is novv used for growing Geraniums, Fuchsias, 

 Verbenas, Pet unias, Pansies, Cal las, imd other vigorous flowering 

 plants ; also for Dandelion, Radish, Cress and the like, among 

 vegetables. I knew the lack of sunlight affected the growth 

 and vigor of the plants to a considerable extent, but did not 

 ■realize how much till the past season. 



Last September I completed a structure, thirteen by twenty- 

 five feet in dimensions, the south front covered with glass, 

 and the back kept dark for storing things that did not need 

 light, like Celery, Endive, Spinach and Salsify. 



The front, five by twenty-five feet on the south side, was 

 ■covered with double thick glass, sixteen by twenty-four inches 

 in size, on slender rafters six feet long. I never had success with 

 Lettuce in the span-roof house, but the other things men- 

 tioned always did well. In September last I set Lettuce in the 

 new house, directly under the glass, and the contrast in 



:^.ullee. — See paiJ;e 614. 



Lettuce has always been consitlered to be specially difficult 

 to grow under glass, from its tendency to damp off and rot. 

 Slow growth and the green fly have also been great hin- 

 drances, but in the light of this experience, sunliglit seems 

 more essential than any special care. 



Houses twenty-two by two hiuidred feet, covered with si.x- 

 teen by twenty-four-inch glass, on rafters three by four inches, 

 facing the south or south-west, ten feet high on the back and 

 three on the front, with sunken paths, and arranged to be aired 

 across the beds, make the best houses so far devised for 

 Lettuce-growing ; and the same principles applied to a 

 smaller house sliould produce similar results. 



West Springfield, ^[ass. \V. H. Bull. 



Orchid Notes, 

 Vanda coerula. — Taking a survey of the hundreds of Orchids 

 known, one cannot fail to be struck with the remarkable 

 scarcity of blue flowers among them. Such colors as 

 red, orange, scarlet, yellow and their intermediate shades 

 are well represented ; various hues of crimson antl purple 

 (which, artificially, cannot be obtained without the assistance 

 of blue) are frequently met with ; and white — although artists 



