October, 1916.] 



THI-: ORCHID WORLD. 



245 



ORCHIDS AT JARVISBROOK, 

 SUSSEX. 



THE past summer has been very bene- 

 ficial to the immense collection of 

 Orchids at Jarvisbrook, Sussex, 

 where Messrs. Stuart Low and Co. cultivate 

 these plants with remarkable success. Some 

 of the finest results are to be seen in the 

 Cattleyas, which occupy several spacious 

 houses, the largest entirely filled with species, 

 while a greater number of slightly smaller 

 houses contain the hybrids. Among several 

 batches of seedlings that have recently 

 reached the flowering stage is a promising 

 cross between Cattleya Maggie Raphael alba 

 and C. Hardyana alba; also Cattleya Baron 

 Delbeke (Pittiana x aurea), with varying 

 bronze and purple tints, the influence of 

 granulosa, derived through the former parent, 

 being plainly visible. Another hybrid of 

 considerable merit is Cattleya Princess Royal, 

 resulting from the crossing of Fabia and 

 Hardyana. It is of interest to note that 

 while most types of C. Fabia have been 

 produced by the use of aurea, there is here 

 to be seen a batch of plants raised from 

 Dowiana and labiata ; although they do not 

 grow quite so vigorously the flowers are of a 

 much richer colour. Several pretty varieties 

 of Cattleya Gladys (Atalanta x Dowiana) 

 exhibit the rich purple lip of the former 

 parent, which is Leopoldii x Warscewiczii. 



One end of a span-roofed house is utilised 

 for the accommodation of old and exhausted 

 plants, for no matter how perfect a collection 

 may be there are always to be found some 

 plants that have carried a large number of 

 flowers during several weeks and have been 

 finally used for exhibition purposes. Others 

 on this particular piece of staging are fine 

 varieties of various Cattleyas that have been 

 procured at the dispersal of celebrated collec- 

 tions, and in which they had been neglected 

 and allowed to lose their accustomed vigour. 

 There are also many back bulbs that have 

 been taken from the finest varieties yet seen. 

 All these plants are potted in a mixture of 

 English leaf-soil, covered with a layer of 

 sphagnum moss, and it is surprising to see 



how quickly they form new roots and growths 

 of a vigorous nature. A word of caution is 

 here needed, for if the cultivator applies too 

 much water the compost becomes a mass of 

 so'ur material and brings about the speedy 

 death of the plant. All plants in a leaf-soil 

 mixture require less water than those growing 

 in a porous fibre, although care must be taken 

 that the water is not withheld to such a degree 

 as to produce actual dryness, for in the treat- 

 ment of these plants of delicate constitution 

 no extremes must be encountered. Aftef a 

 season or so of such treatment the majority of 

 these plants recover their former vitality and 

 are then replaced in the usual fibrous compost. 

 Although plants make rapid headway in a 

 leaf-soil compost their flowers are never so 

 fine, either in substance or colour, as those 

 grown in a harder material, such as is 

 generally to be found in osmunda or Ai fibre. 



Cattleya guttata, the true form, with the 

 small and stalked median lobe of the hp, is 

 now quite a rarity, and produces many flower- 

 spikes during the month of September ; it is 

 distinct from C. Leopoldii, which bears 

 slightly larger flowers and has a differently 

 formed lip. Several strong plants of both 

 were in flower during the same period, and 

 formed excellent material for comparisons to 

 be made. 



Many of the fine old species of yErides are 

 cultivated in quantity, and are always of 

 interest on account of their elegance and past 

 associations. At the time of a recent visit, 

 the pretty A. quinquevulnerum was in flower. 

 The specific name of this species refers to the 

 " five wounds," or amethyst-purple spots on 

 the three sepals and two petals ; the middle 

 lobe of the labellum is similarly marked m 

 colour, but this, which might be taken for a 

 sixth " wound," was evidently not considered 

 when the species was originally named. It is 

 a native of the Philippine Islands, where it 

 was discovered by Cuming and sent to Messrs. 

 Loddiges, in whose nursery at Hackney it 

 flowered in August, 1837. 



brides affine, with its brightly-coloured 

 flowers of amethyst-purple tints, is a well- 

 known plant that is closely related to A. 

 rnultiflorum, and authorities seem to differ as 



VOL. VL 



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