January 22, 1898. 



49 



Notes on Orchids. 



OnONTOGLOSSUM ASl'ERSUM. 



This orchid is considered by some to be a natural hybrid between O. maculatum 

 and O Rossi. It will now be in flower in most collections, taking a high position 

 among the smaller growing odontoglossums. The flowers are decidedly attractive 

 and distinct. The pseudo-bulbs are as a rule flatter than those of O. Rossi, but 

 about the same size. It may be grown in pans suspended from the roof in a cool 

 and moist temperature, and an ordinary description of compost suffices if placed 

 over good drainage. This odontoglot is apt to be badly attacked with a soft 

 whitish scale which increases very rapidly and soon disfigures the foliage, but if 

 the plants are washed or sprayed with XL All liquid insecticide whenever any 

 traces of the insects are seen, it will be found to destroy them without injury to the 

 plants.— G. Shill, New Hall Hey. 



Calanthe Harrisi. 



One of the most beautiful and at the same time most rare of calanthes is C. 

 Harrisi. It has pure white sepals and petals, and a rounded labellum that has a 

 shortened base, thus rendering the flower more compact than in most species and 

 hybrids. The lip is pure white, save for the very faintest touch of yellow along 

 the disk ; it is also very large, measuring an inch and a half or an inch and three- 

 quarters in width. The history of this fine caianthe is somewhat obscured, though 

 it appears to have been raised by crossing C. vestita Turneri with C. Veitchi. The 

 late Dr. Harris was the raiser, and the specimens were, we believe, bought up, 

 wich other orchids, and in an accidental manner, by Messrs. J. Veitch and Sons, 

 Chelsea. It flowered at Chelsea a few years ago, and subsequently a specimen 

 passed into the hands of J. T. Bennett-Poe, Esq., Holm wood, Cheshunt, who is 

 a remarkably successful cultivator, and soon persuaded Calanthe Harrisi to show 

 its capabilities. This plant was exhibited on December 14 last, when it bore a 



occasionally, and it will then be conveyed to the spiranthes in such a way as to 

 prevent damping or excessive drought and shrivelling. The foliage of this species 

 is deep green, broadly lanceolate, and fleshy ; the spikes are several inches long, 

 and borne on a stout peduncle from four to six inches in height. The flowers are 

 small in breadth, but about three- quarters of an inch long, and scarlet in colour ; 

 the bracts are long and very showy, scarlet tipped, shading to pink. Though not 

 so showy as some orchids, Spiranthes colorans never fails to attract attention when 

 flowering, and as spikes may be produced during the early months of the year, it 

 is an orchid worthy of cultivation. The species was introduced about 1790. — C. 



Root-grafting the Apple. 



Mr. C. H. Andrews, of the Minnesota School of Agriculture, U.S.A., gives 

 the following directions for root-grafting the apple : 



The object of root-grafting the apple is to propagate varieties true to name, 

 and to get the union of the scion and the stock under the ground, where it will be 

 somewhat protected. The stocks used for root-grafting are seedlings, either one 

 or two years old, the age depending on the size required for the scions. The seed- 

 lings for this purpose are best grown on a rich, moist, sandy soil, so as to ensure a 

 straight, vigorous growth. In autumn the seedlings are dug and packed in saw- 

 dust in a cold cellar, where they remain until wanted for grafting. The scions 

 must be wood of the previous season's growth, and should be cut late in autumn 

 when the temperature is above freezing, and, after being labelled, packed in saw- 

 dust in a cool place. . 



Grafting may be done any time during the winter. A scion five or six inches 

 long is cut off at one end in an oblique direction, making the cut surface about an 

 inch or so long, then a tongue is made by splitting down across the face of the 



Calanthe Harrisi. (Flowers pure white.) 



spike of five flowers, as shown in the accompanying illustration. Calanthe Harrisi 

 is the finest white calanthe yet raised, hut it will not very soon he generally grown, 

 as there are probably not more than three or four plants in cultivation. 



Oncidium Batbmanmanum. 



This is a species not frequently seen in gardens, but it is nevertheless very bright 

 and attractive when in flower. It frequently blooms during the winter, and is then 

 especially welcome. It has a very tall and stiff inflorescence, bearing a sparsely 

 branched panicle of medium-sized flowers. The latter have yellow sepals and 

 peiais, but these are heavily blotched and barred with dull reddish brown. The 



ore* ° -tw CaS1 "f- Shade of bri 8 ht >' elIow » and has a very complicated toothed 

 Brurffl oncidium is also known as O. ramosum and O. spilopterum ; it is a 

 r^zuian orchid, and its flowers show some amount of variability. In the case of 

 title y c,es ' P ric ! nt y of name has not been considered, for O. ramosum was the 

 SDeciesTJo t> Lindle y m l8 37 ; but later, when revising the genus, he gave the 

 It is m,,;!;' ^ atemani "anum, the name given by Knowles and Westcott in 1840. 

 is much to be desired that this oncidium should become more plentiful.— K. P. 



^ Spiranthes colorans. . . 



West India.! 16 na ^, of Stenorhyncus speciosus and Neottia speciosa this curious 

 lareelv ™n «f i- • long been known to cultiv ation. Unfortunately it went 

 under nnL cu,tlva tion some years ago, but has recently been again brought 



terrestrkf S\-f eCl r ally bv Messrs - F - Sander and Co > Sfc Albans. It is a 

 Rated An ' ? * °i- en With tuberous r00ts > frora which it can be easily propa- 

 well in a IS m ° r 9tove tem P erature wiH suit and for compost it does 



Good drainapI U - re ' lbr ° US loam ' P eat « sand ' and a ,ittle ch °pped sphagnum, 

 iod of free 15 esse " tIa1 ' « moisture has to be plentifully supplied during the 

 e «^ g r °wth and of flowering. During the period of rest very little 



pen 



water is 



the si ne £w r> ' ar ^ a g °° d P lan is to P lunge the P ot in a lar S er one > fillin g U P 



ween Wlth soil ; water can then be given to the plunging material 



cut about one-third of its length, beginning at a point about that far from the end 

 of the scion. A piece of root four or five inches long is treated the same way as 

 the scion was, and the two are then united, cire being taken that the inner or 

 cambium layer of the bark of the scion and the root coincides on at least one side 

 of the union. The graft is now wrapped with waxed twine, or wax may bespread 

 upon cloth or paper, which is then cut into strips and firmly wrapped around the 

 union, also above and below it, so as to exclude all air. The latter method keeps 

 the graft from drying out and does not cut into the bark after the plant grows. 

 The grafts are packed in bDxes in a mixture of sand and sawdust, and are kept 

 -until planting time in a cold cellar to callous over and grow together. 



The land where they are to be set should be finely pulverised and rolled or 

 planked to level the surface. As soon as there is no danger of a severe frost, the 

 grafts may be planted. They are usually put six or eight inches apart in rows 

 three or three and one-half feet apart, running the rows north and south. All 

 shoots that may have started from the root should be rubbed off. In planting, 

 the earth must be packed very firmly around the graft, which ought to be set deep 

 enough so that only one or two buds will show after the ground has settled. 



Cultivation should be frequent in order to kill the weeds and to keep a dust 

 blanket on the soil, but it should not be continued later than the tenth or the 

 middle of July, as it is likely to induce a late autumn growth that cannot be ripened 

 up. The grafts require no pruning the first year. Early in the spring of the 

 second season they are cut back to one or two buds, and a straight shoot is sent up, 

 which is pruned later to make it head properly. The third season the pruning 

 done is merely enough to keep the tree in proper shape. The growth the trees 

 make depends a good deal on the soil, the season and the variety. Yearlings run 

 from one foot or less co two feet in height ; two-year-olds, from three to five feet ; 

 and three-year-old trees, from five to six feet. These trees after the first year 

 develop some roots of their own, and they are thus better able than they otherwise 

 would be to withstand a rigorous climate. 



