April 29, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



201 



permit of its exposure, and placed under cover until spring, 

 when the pots may be plunged in a dry sunny position, such 

 as is found in the elevated portions of a rock garden. Remove 

 it to the greenhouse, or other place of security, again before 

 frost, and propagate by separating the bulbs after the comple- 

 tion of growth. , 



Cambridge, Mass. M. Barker. 



Palms. 



THIS is a good time for repotting most Palms, except where 

 a shift was given late in the fall, and even in such case 

 the plants would be benefited by the removal of some of the 

 surface soil and the application of a top-dressing of fresh 

 compost. Some judgment is required even in the simple 

 operation of potting. For instance, if the rapid growth of 

 young plants is desired, the compost should be made rather 

 light and rich by the liberal use of peat and old manure, a very 

 satisfactory fertilizer, and one in good condition for potting, 

 being the spent manure from an old hot-bed. When such 

 manure is used it may be added to the potting-soil in the 

 proportion of one-fourth of the whole .mass. For plants 

 almost large enough for their quarters the soil may be 

 heavier and poorer, the deficiency of plant-food being made 

 up with an occasional dose of liquid manure, which will serve 

 to keep up the color of the foliage. 



Light-rooting Palms, such as Cocos Weddeliana, Latania 

 aurea, L. glaucophylla and some others, grow best in a soil 

 largely composed of peat and sand, but, for a majority of the 

 strong-growing kinds, a good loam, well enriched, will be 

 sufficient. The drainage of the pots should always allow the 

 free escape of surplus water, but, to secure this, a few crocks, 

 properly placed, concave side down, will do more good than 

 a handful that are thrown into the pot indiscriminately. The 

 question whether firm or light potting is better for plants of this 

 class can hardly be answered directly, for much depends on 

 the character of the soil used, but moderately firm potting is 

 usually good practice, although it must be borne in mind that 

 the coarser the roots the more loose should be the soil, within 

 a reasonable degree. 



Some attention should now be paid to shading the houses, 

 else some of the tender species will suffer, and as the growing 

 season for most of the vegetable world comes on, new vigor 

 seems to possess the various insect pests to which Palms are 

 subject. The worst among these are the numerous varieties 

 of scale, all of which are troublesome and are best dealt with 

 by careful washing. Red Spider may be eradicated by 

 thorough syringing, and Thrips by sponging with tobacco 

 solution or by fumigation. Mealy Bug may be more easily dis- 

 posed of than some of the varieties of scale, and in the same 

 manner. 



Most Palms enjoy thorough watering, and as more active 

 growth takes place, a copious supply will be required by all 

 well-rooted specimens. In case some particular specimen 

 does not make satisfactory progress, owing to an unhealthy 

 condition of the roots, it may be improved by washing out the 

 roots and then repotting in as small a pot as possible. This 

 treatment is, however, only recommended for plants of espe- 

 cial value, as the various species that are in common use are 

 so readily and cheaply obtained that it does not pay to nurse 

 unhealthy ones. 



The species to which reference has been made above are 

 notably handsome ones, Cocos Weddeliana being'the most use- 

 ful dwarf Palm that has been introduced to our gardens. 



W. H. Taplin. 



Holmesburg, Pa. 



Orchid Notes. 



Arpophyllum giganteum. — Flowers are the attraction of 

 most Orchids, but in the subject of this note these are supple- 

 mented by foliage of pleasing form and color. The massive 

 spikes develop flowers profusely, and they keep in good con- 

 dition about two weeks if the plant is kept in a cool, shaded 

 house during the flowering period. It is a native of Guatemala 

 and Mexico, and has been grown in England as an exhibition 

 plant for many years past. The slender pseudo-bulbs, from 

 eight to twelve inches high, bear at the top a single coriaceous 

 leaf, from eighteen to twenty-four inches long by two inches 

 wide, pointed, dark green, and elegantly arched. The spike is 

 boldly erect, and emerges from a brown sheath, from four to 

 six inches long, and beyond it the spike is some twelve inches 

 long. The flowers are half an inch long by one-fourth of an 

 inch wide, and closely packed on the portion of the scape 

 above the sheath, as many as 150 having been counted on a 

 space measuring five inches. They are not particularly inter- 

 esting individually, but in the aggregate they form an attractive 



cluster, in which a reddish purple color, deepest in the lip, 

 prevails. This plant is found growing on trees at a consider- 

 able elevation, and on this account it will not require a great 

 amount of heat, a maximum temperature of eighty degrees 

 during the growing season, with one of sixty degrees when the 

 plant is at rest, proving sufficiently high. It requires plenty of 

 light, a position close to the glass, and when in an active state 

 a plentiful supply of water. The new growths appear simul- 

 taneously with the spikes any time between March and May, 

 and they are often seriously injured by keeping the plants drv 

 at that time in order to accelerate the development of flowers. 

 The plant succeeds well in a basket, and it should not be 

 allowed to shrivel with dryness, even after the completion of 

 growth. 



Cattleya amethystoglossa. — The last flowers of this 

 gorgeous Cattleya faded with the month of March, after having 

 preserved their richness of color about four weeks. The plant 

 is of striking appearance, and attains a height of some three 

 feet. The erect scape protrudes from a greenish white sheath 

 at the summit of the pseudo-bulb ; it is scarcely more than 

 twelve inches high, arid two-thirds of its length is enveloped 

 in the sheath, the flowers — twelve to fourteen in number, and 

 each from three to five inches across — -being arranged around 

 the exposed portion. The oblong and pointed sepals are lilac- 

 tinged, white, profusely spotted with rose ; the petals are 

 broader, rounded at the tip, and, with larger blotches of rose, 

 similar to the sepals in color. The lip is deep purple, with 

 numerous lines of a still darker shade. A number of these 

 dense clusters give the plant a grand appearance, and they 

 develop freely under easy treatment. The heavy head of the 

 plant, as compared with its base, at once suggests a pot as the 

 most convenient receptacle for its roots. Its side and bottom 

 should be well perforated. The plant might also be grown in 

 a basket, but unless this were exceptionally deep, and afford- 

 ing much surface for the clinging roots, the gain would be 

 more than counterbalanced by the plant's liability to topple 

 unless supported. A mixture consisting of fibrous peat, char- 

 coal and crocks, with a good coating of sphagnum, suits this 

 plant very well. A stove temperature and a moist condition 

 about the roots and in the atmosphere are needed during 

 growth ; heat and moisture should be somewhat reduced 

 when growth has been' completed. The plant should be kept 

 as near the light as possible at all seasons, but sunshine should 

 be excluded during the growing period. 



Cambridge, Mass. M. Barker. 



Transplanting Hardy Ferns. — Spring is, no doubt, the best 

 season for transplanting hardy Ferns, especially when the 

 work is done in early spring. It too often happens that the 

 transplanting is put off until the young and tender fronds have 

 well started or are half-grown, and then itisnext to impossible 

 to handle them without injury. After this stage of growth has 

 been reached the transplanting had better be deferred until 

 the fronds mature, and then cut them back one-half or one-third 

 before removal. Some species, like the Climbing Fern (Ly- 

 godium palmatum), do not transplant well in autumn, and seem 

 to require spring planting. The growing points or buds of 

 the Maiden-hair Fern {Adiantum pe datum) are "extremely 

 tender and brittle at any time in spring, and when they are 

 packed for shipping great care is needed, or the plants will 

 fail. Few plants pay more richly for the labor spent on them 

 than the hardy Ferns, for, unlike most flowering plants which 

 are attractive only in their flowering season, Ferns are a 

 delight the whole season through. And then they can be put 

 away in the shade, where other plants would not live. Many 

 a dark, not to say an untidy, corner about American homes 

 might be made attractive, and even beautiful, if planted with 

 hardy Ferns and other shade-loving plants. 



St. Louis. H, 



Decay Spots upon Leaves. — Plants with large leaves are often 

 much disfigured by blotches that appear at any place upon the 

 foliage. The cause of these spots is sometimes not easy to 

 determine. An otherwise perfectly healthy Calla-leaf may 

 have a brown spot an inch long and a half-inch wide near its 

 centre, and with no apparent reason for its existence. The 

 probabilities are, however, that some days before a withered 

 blossom of a plant above it fell upon the leaf, and, remaining 

 there for a time, began to decay. Soon after, the force of the 

 water from the hose drove the blossom off, but not until it 

 had left the seeds of decay in the leaf. In other words, the 

 fungus, usually a species of Botrytis, while flourishing upon 

 the rich succulent substance of the blossom, sent its threads 

 into the leaf below and began the decay that finally ruined the 

 leaf. The Botrytis fungus is not usually accused of making 



