November 28 



s.] 



Garden and Forest. 



475 



diameter, with crimped and fimbriated petals, and are pro- 

 duced in great abundance in terminal bunches. They have 

 a pleasant, faint odor, but can hardly be called fragrant. The 

 plant is easily grown from seed, which may be planted in the 

 open ground in May, though it would certainly be much bet- 

 ter to plant early in April in a hot-bed. Judging from the 

 plants which I have myself raised, as well as from all those 

 which I have seen, it would be very advantageous to pinch in 

 the shoots at an early period of growth, so as to make them 

 more bushy and to cancel the tendency toward a somewhat 

 loose and sprawling habit. Here, in Newport, Cosmos 

 hybridus begins to blooin early in October. My own plants, 

 which were raised from seed grown in the open ground about 

 May 20th, are now, November gth, in full bloom, and yield a 

 daily supply of charming flowers, worthily succeeding Ane- 

 mone Japonica alba and rosea, which the large blossoms 

 somewhat resemble. Though a Me.xican plant, Cosmos 

 hybi-idus resists the early autumn frosts remarkably well. 

 Dahlias were cut down by frost in my garden ten days since. 

 In the absence of any information as to the parentage of this 

 plant, I suggest that, possibly, some fine dark colors could be 

 obtained by hybridization with C. bipinnatus. The great value 

 of the plant as a late autumn bloomer will soon lead to its 

 general culture. W. G. 



Newport, Rhode Island. 



Pancratium speciosiim belongs to a genus which is not 

 grown so extensively as it deserves. The plants are mostly 

 of easy culture, and with little trouble will produce abundant 

 flowers. P. speciosiim is one of the best of the genus, pro- 

 ducing, in early winter, large umbels of pure white and very 

 fragrant flowers, which last a long time in perfection. Even 

 when out of bloom the plant is quite handsome, each bulb 

 having four to six large, ovate, deep green leaves. The new 

 leaves appear with the flower-spikes, and until they are thor- 

 oughly matured the plants require very liberal treatment — 

 strong heat and abundance of water— and if the pots are well 

 filled with roots, liquid manure should be given regularly. 

 During the summer months the plants may be set out-of- 

 doors in a shady spot and kept as dry as practicable without 

 causing loss of leaves, which I think are better retained as 

 long as possible. For potting material a mixture of sandy 

 loam with a little leaf-mould will be found good. Pot firmly, 

 and use large pots, so that repotting will not be necessary for 

 some years. 



Cymbidium Hookerianum is now bearing three racemes of 

 flowers. In habit it much resembles C. gigantettm, though 

 much smaller ; the leaves are a dark green, with streaks of 

 yellow near the base. The semi-pendent racemes spring from 

 the base of the matured bulbs, bearing about a dozen 

 large flowers of a yellowish green, with the straw-colored lip 

 blotched and spotted with crimson. The front lobe is very 

 crisp. This species was introduced in 1866 from the Sikkim 

 Himalaya, and should be grown in the cool house, with liberal 

 waterings during active growth, and should at no time be kept 

 dry. We use a compost — loam, peat and sand in equal parts. 

 The plant grows very freely, but seldom blooms, and the 

 flowers here are probably the first that have been seen in 

 America. F. Goldring. 



Kenwood, N. Y. 



Orchids in New York. 



T^HE fine collection of Mr. Hicks Arnold on Eighty-fourth 

 ■'• Street, in this city, occupies a lofty, span-roofed structure, 

 which formerly was filled with Palms, Ferns, etc. The tem- 

 perature of the house is kept as near as possible from 60° to 

 65° by day, and 10" lower at night. The plants have made good 

 growth during the past summer, and promise abundant flow- 

 ers. Orchids in bloom are rarely seen in quantity at this sea- 

 son, but at a recent visit I observed several worthy of note in 

 flower, and among them a beautiful form of Cat/ley a Dowiana, 

 with rich, well-developed blossoms, the sepals and petals being 

 of a charming buff-yellow, the broad, dark purple lip hand- 

 somely veined with the brightest golden-yellow. A specimen 

 C. Gigas, suspended from the roof, had produced five flowers 

 of great size and of good substance, and the plant still has six 

 newly-made flower-sheaths, which in a few weeks will make a 

 grand display. Other Cattleyas soon to flower were fine plants 

 of C. Skinneri alba. C. TriancE alba, the deep purple-flowered C. 

 Lawrenciana, a strong-growing plant of the pretty yellow C. 

 luteola, and a number of C. Triance and C. Mendelii. Well- 

 grown plants of Lcplia Perrinii, in position near the glass, had 

 a number of sheaths, and several were already in bloom. 

 Lalia purpurata and L. elegans were represented by strong 

 specimens, and a plant of the showy Lcelia Patinii, which had 

 made very stout growths, was well furnished with flowering 



sheaths. In habit tnis Ls;lia resembles Catileya Skinneri, and 

 is a species of easy culture. Quite a fine selection of Cypripe- 

 diums were growing very rapidly on the north side of the 

 house, and among many others was the beautiful C. AlorganicE, 

 a plant of C.granele, with foliage of a remarkably robustcharac- 

 ter; C asnanthiim superbiim, the new Hybrid C. Godseffianuiii, 

 said to be a cross between C. hirsulissimiim and C. Boxalli ; 

 C. 7(7 in bud; C. almiim; strong plants of C. Curtisii; C. Leea- 

 mi in superbiim, show mi^ flower; C. Shlemii album, C. Veitchii, 

 C. prcestans, C. Lawrenceaniim biflorum in bloom, and a fine 

 example of C. albopurpureiim. A number of Dendrobiums 

 were looking at home at the warmest end of the house. Speci- 

 mens of /). Wardianuin \\cx& just completing their new sea- 

 son's growth, having bulbs measuring some four feet in 

 length. A plant of D. nobile Sanderianiiin, said to be the finest 

 of all this section, was doing well in a teak basket, having made 

 a very stout lead, and with it were plants of D. Ainsworthii 

 and D. LeecJiianum, both scarce and very showy. Flower 

 spikes were showing in quantity on well-grown plants; of 

 Phalasnopsis, including P. Sanderiana, P. Schilleriana and P. 

 amabilis, and the lovely P. tetraspis, with its blossoms of the 

 purest white. A beautifully-grown specimen of Angmcum 

 Scottianum had justpassed flowering, havingproduced as many 

 as thirty snow-white blossoms. A large plant of Angrcscum 

 ebiirneum was specially noticeable, with twelve strong spikes 

 front four sturdy growths, and during the months of January 

 and February will make an effective show. Vandas and 

 vErides were hanging in numbers from the roof, and were 

 pushing their roots to the outer surface of the baskets, enjoy- 

 ing the moist and warm atmosphere so beneficial to tliem. A 

 fine example of J'anda ca;rulea had produced a stout spike, 

 and will bloom very shortly. Several well-grown plants of 

 ^■Erides Lawrencice, ^-E. Sanderianum, jE. Houlletiatium and 

 others were exceptionally fine, with foliage of a very deep 

 green. The Odontoglossums that were enjoying this tem- 

 perature were O. Roezlii, O. vexillariitm, and a plant of the 

 chaste and pretty O. Warscewiczii, which was rooting freely 

 in a glazed pan, and suspended near the glass in close prox- 

 imity was a large plant of O. Phalcenopsis in bloom, its white 

 and violet-crimson markings strikingly effective. A lean-to 

 structure of small dimensions contained a group of the cooler 

 species, including some strong plants of the Odo7iioirlosnim 

 crispum type, O. Pescatorei, O. crestatellum, several already 

 being in bud. 



During the past summer a number of plants were subjected 

 to out-door treatment with very satisfactory results. A light, 

 open, frame-work structure, some twenty-five feet long by ten 

 wide, was erected on the lawn, with a stage for the plants three 

 to four feet from the ground, the only covering being a sheet 

 of the thinnest canvas to protect them from the direct ravs of 

 the sun. Above this was fixed another roll of very stout 

 cloth, nearly water-proof, which was immediately let down 

 when cold winds or storms were expected. In this way 

 the following plants, amongst many others, have made rapid 

 and unusually fair growth, viz.: Odon/oglossitm Alexandra-, 

 O. Pescatorei, O. citrosmum, O. grande, O. Rossii, O. Harry a- 

 num ; all the varieties of Lcslia anceps, Oncidiiim ornitho- 

 rhynchiim, O. tigriniim, O. incurvum, O. varicosum, O. Mar- 

 shallianiim, O. sphacelatitm, O. Cavendis/iianitm, Lcelia aii- 

 iiimiialis, L. albida and L. majalis, Ada aurantiaca, Cypripe- 

 diiim insigne and its varieties, Cadogyne cristata, Lycaste Skin- 

 nerii, L.. aromatica and Masdevallias in variety. The plan is 

 very cheap and simple, and is well worthy of a trial, as it 

 will be the means of preserving many of our cool-growing 

 species during the extreme summer heat, which is so detri- 

 mental to the growth of the plants. A. D. 



The Lawn. — Should time and weather permit, lawns should 

 now be raked clean with wooden rakes, so as to remove 

 stones, dead grass, and leaves. This lessens the work in 

 Spring. And in spots where the grass has been choked out 

 by Sorrel, Mouse-ear Chickweed, common duckweed. Creep- 

 ing Speedwell, or Moss, rake off as much of the weeds as pos- 

 sible with a steel bow-rake, then mulch over the places with a 

 heavy dressing of manure or compost. Rotted cow manure is 

 the best for this purpose, as it is full of seeds of pasture 

 grasses, and these come up so thickly in Spring that it matters 

 little whether the bare spaces are resown or not. If lawns are 

 to be top-dressed with manure, this is the proper time to do it, 

 for in frosty weather carts can be driven over them without 

 leaving wheel-prints in the soil. The dressing should by 

 all means be scattered as it is hauled out on the grass, 

 otherwise a stiff frost may come and prevent its being 

 spread at all this season. Let the manure used for dressing- 

 be old and rotted fine. G. C, 



