March 14, iSSS.] 



Garden and Forest. 



29 



cliieHy that of correcting and checking the nonieuclature, and 

 tripping up the veteran German prolessor, Dr. Reiclienljacli, 

 who for a generation past has held tlie monopoly of naming 

 Orcliids. One of our Orchid specialists attached to tlie St. Al- 

 bans establishment has been taking notes in the Orchid collec- 

 tions about New York and has printed them in the Gari/f/u'r's 

 Cliroiiicle, the result being that our growers here do not now 

 think that Americans are sucli infants in Orchid culture as 

 was fancied. Some of yoiu" collections there described 

 would, I imagine, take equal rank with tlie best in England. 



The Royal Horticultural Society held its periodical iiieetiiig 

 of committees on the 14th inst. This will be nearly the last it 

 will hold in the aristocratic quarter of South Kensington. The 

 annual meeting held on that day decided that the society 

 should vacate South Kensington as too costly to maintain, and 

 a more modest home has been found for its offices, library, 

 etc., further eastward. A stranger who could have seen the last 

 meeting would liardly have thought the society in a mori- 

 bund condition. The crowds of horticulturists constituting 

 the committees, the profusion of flowers, choice and ordinary, 

 and the plentiful collection of late apples, all tended to show 

 how active horticulture is in this great centre, and that it is not 

 for lack of interest or sympatliy that the national society 

 is not the largest and most intfuential in Europe. 



The advent of spring was indicated on tfiis occasion by the 

 large gathering of spring tiowers — Chinese Primulas, Cinerarias, 

 Cyclamens, Camellias, forced Narcissus, and, of course, Orchitis. 

 The Orchids new and rare, choiceand common, were plentiful. 

 One of the niost remarkable was a new hybrid Dendrol>ium 

 ip. Chrysodiscus),a. cross between another hvbrid, D.Ains-cUortlii 

 and D. Findleyanum. The distinct features of each parent are 

 plainly seen in the progeny, especially in the large jointed 

 stems, and the shape of the Hower, which is as large as thtise of 

 D. Findleyanum, with sepals and petals white, tipped with rose, 

 and the shallow lip adorned with a broad blotch of yellow and 

 ruddy crimson. Another Dendrobium certificated is consid- 

 ered among the most remarkable of new orchids. It is called 

 D. nobile Cooksoni, being a variety of that old species. The 

 llowers are like those of the type in size and form, except that 

 the two lateral or side petals are shaped and colored like the 

 lip, each having a heavy blotch of the richest maroon-crimson 

 bordered with white. It represents what botanists call an in- 

 stance of " trilabellia," or thrice-lipped flowers. In other re- 

 spects it does not differ from our old favorite. 



A certificate was well bestowed upon an e.xtraordinarily fine 

 Lycaste Skinne?'i, named Lnpe?-ator,ivom Sander of St. Albans. 

 The flower is very large, the sepals broad and thick, faintly 

 tinted with pink, the petals of a glowing crimson, and the lip of 

 an intensely deep ruby-crimson, variegated with pure white. 

 In contrast with this, the same e.xhibitor showed an exception- 

 ally fine form of the white Lycaste Skinneri. 



London, Feb. 25th. IVin. Gold>'ing. 



Palms for House Decoration. 



'X'HE species belonging to the natural order Palmer consti- 

 ■•■ tute a truly royal class of plants, justly entitled to Linnajus' 

 designation, " Princes of the Vegetable Kingdom." They com- 

 prise various types of beauty ; some of the stronger growing 

 kinds (as Latania Borbonica) being of bold and striking outlines, 

 the embodiment of sturdy grace; others having the lightness and 

 elegance of the finer varieties of Ferns, as Cocos IVeddelliana, 

 Geoiioma gracilis, and the like. The latter varieties are of 

 miniature growth, and from their graceful and delicate forms 

 are specially useful for table decoration, and form objects of 

 the greatest beauty when standing alone on pedestals or small 

 tables. The stronger growing a"nd taller kinds may be used 

 to advantage standing on the floors of rooms and in the hall- 

 ways, or grouped in front of mirrors or windows. The in- 

 creasing use of Palms and other pot plants for decorative 

 purposes in this country is an evidence of the growing taste 

 of our people. Beauty of form is of a higher type than beauty 

 of color, and the graceful outlines of a tastefully arranged 

 group of Palms give a higher safisfaction than tlie immense 

 lianks of cut flowers we sometimes see. Cut flowers, used with 

 judgment, are always welcome, but they should not be 

 crushed together, so that the individual forms are lost, and 

 the only effect is a mass of color. There are now over eleven 

 hundred recorded species of Palms. I shall name only a 

 few of those best adapted for house decorafion. 



Latania Borbonica, a Fan Palm, is more largely used than 

 any other, as it grows easily andis a plant of dignified expression. 

 Areca lutescens is one of the most gi-aceful, tall growing species, 



with bright, glossy green foliage and rich golden yellow stems; 

 it is now grown in very large quantities. ' Areca Vcrscha-ffeltii 

 is not so often seen as the last named, Ijut it is very distinct 

 and showy, with dark, shining green foliage with a dark band 

 through the centre of each leaf. 



Kentia Canterburyana, the Umbrella Palm, in its native 

 country attains a height of thirty-five teet, but is slow of growth 

 under cultivation in green-houses, requiring seven or eight 

 years to reach a height of five feet. It is valuable as a house 

 plant on account of its tough and enduring (jualities. There 

 are several varieties, of which A', aiistralis and K. Foster- 

 iana are the best known. All are handsome, and capable of 

 sustaining, without injury, as much neglect as any Palm in 

 cultivation. Phoenix ritpicola is a plant of exquisite grace, the 

 finest of its genus. Pha'nix sylvestris, the Wild Date, is of 

 coarser growth than P. rupicola, but valuable for its distinct 

 character and enduring qualities. Raphis fiabclliformis is a 

 plant of erect gro\\'th, having the stems covered with coarse 

 fibre ; a grand Palm for house cuiture, enduring either heat 

 or cold and much neglect without injury. It is very distinct 

 and handsome. Rapliis hitmilis resembles the last, but is 

 more delicately graceful; one of the very finest Palms in 

 cultivation. 



Ptycosperma Alexandrcr, flie Australian Feather Palm, is a 

 quick, robust grower, inexpensive and useful. Although a 

 native of the tropics, it will grow well in a temperature as low 

 as 50°. Seafortliia elegans somewhat resembles this species; it 

 is tall and graceful. Plants ten feet high and upwards are most 

 effective, as they do not show to the best advantage when 

 smaller. Cocos Weddelliana is the most elegant of the smaller 

 Palms, with finely divided foliage, recurved with excjuisite 

 grace. Small plants are unexcelled for dinner table decoration. 

 Geonoina gracilis is very similar to C. Weddelliana, with 

 somewhat coarser foliage, but of the same graceful habit. It 

 should not be grown in the house for more than a few days, 

 as it requires an atmosphere more moist than can be given it 

 outside of the hot-house. Prichardia grandis is dwarf and of 

 slow growth, a native of the South Sea Islands, with leaves 

 about two feet long and three feet broad. It is rare and beautiful. 

 Maximilliana regia is not very plentiful yet, but is destined 

 to gi"Ow in favor, being quite distinct and striking in appear- 

 ance. It is of easy culture and one of tlie hardiest and thrifti- 

 est Palms under neglect. Oreodoxia regia, the Royal Palm, is a 

 native of the West Indies and tropical America and a prime 

 favorite. Tall, slender and stately, it is most effective when 

 used in a group of lower growing species. 



All the above, except Phcenix ritpicola, Seafortliia elegans, 

 Cocos Weddelliana, Geonoina gracilis, Pri'chardia grandis and 

 Oreodoxia regia may be successfully grown in the house all 

 winter if the following rules are observed : Pot them firmly in 

 soil composed of equal parts of loam, sand and fibrous peat, 

 with a small proportion (say, one-twentieth part of the whole 

 mass) of charcoal. Use pots as small as possible; nothing in- 

 jures Palms more than over-potting. Drain well and water 

 freely as often as the soil gets dry. Palms are often injured 

 by insufficient watering. The surface may be kept wet while 

 tlie lower roots suffer from drought. The leaves should be 

 thoroughly sponged with water of the temperature of 60° or 

 70° twice a week, and to keep away insects the water, every 

 two or three weeks, should contain Fir tree oil in the propor- 

 tion of half a gill to two quarts of water. This is, without 

 doubt, the best insecticide at present known for keeping Palms 

 clean and healthy. Robt. Craig. 



Philadelphia. 



" In the park 1 make it a point to use only native or thoroughly 

 acclimated trees and shrubs, and avoid entirely all foreign de- 

 corative plants. For nature beautified must still preser\-e the 

 character of the country and climate in which the park is sit- 

 uated, so that its beauty may seem to have grown spontane- 

 ously, and without betraying the pains which have been spent 

 upon it. We have growing wild in Germany an abundance 

 of lilooming shrubs, which can be used in a variety of ways, 

 but if we find a Damask Rose or a Chinese Lilac, or a group 

 of such things, planted in the midst of wildness, the result is a 

 painful feeling of incongruity ; unless, indeed, they be set 

 apart and fenced off, as for instance in a hedged garden near 

 a cottage." — Piikler-Muskau, 1834. 



" The simple and uncombined landscape — if wrought out 

 with due attention to the ideal beauty of the features it in- 

 cludes — will always be most beautiful in its appeal to the heart." 



John Riiskin. 



