ArRiLf9» l8 ° 8 ' 



'GARDENERS MAGAZINE. 



233 



Work for the Week. 



WARM ORCHIDS. 



c on „nd« that ripen on orchids during the winter months are generally (or 

 fhould be) put in siiaU paper bags and hung up in a warm house for the effects of 

 hTsun to fully ripen them. If. ripe the present is a 



* ateurs, as a rule, are very anxious to raise seedling orchid Seeds well ripened 



sweet 



very 



,c first essential. Select pots ot orchids that are tun or roots aim u.c t uu.post 

 avoiding those overgrown with sphagnum, as seeds would be smothered 

 iWore the year is out. Dendrobiums are the best sown on their own pots in the 

 «rmth, and the same applies to the raising of cattleyas and Ladia-catt eyas. 

 Cvpripediums are best sown on cypripedium pots, this ensuring their always 

 being moist. Great care must be taken after sowing, and the watering 

 cautiously. Always keep a record of dates, &c. 



Imported plants should be examined and well watered before anything else is 

 done to them ; Dendrobium spectabile, of late introduction, will require stove 

 treatment and syringing each morning to start it into growth. Dendrobium- 

 pbatenopsis Schroderianum may now be potted and placed in a warmer house, 

 and given a slight syringing each morning until active growth takes place. Dend- 

 robium formosum giganteum may also be potted and placed in the same house, but 

 not syringed, as this being hirsute retains the water, and so causes the young 

 growths to rot. Epidendrum radicans will now be growing, and will enjoy the 

 syringe on suitable occasions ; this must be placed in the hottest house and raised 

 as near the glass as convenient, in order to bring ont the flower spikes. It also 

 must be fumigated with XL. All occasionally, as a preventive against thrips and 

 red spider. Renanthera coccinea thrives best in the heat, trained under the rhof, 

 close to the glass, and also enjoys the syringe. Vandas of the suavis and tricolor 

 sections will be just showing for flower spikes, and it is of the utmost importance 

 that syringing be done carefully, keeping the water out the axils of the leaves 

 where the flower spikes appear. Aerides Fieldingi will also be showing spikes, 

 this thrives well in pots ; in the East Indian house magic paste must be put down 

 where spikes are showing, and traps set for wood lice, such as potatos cut in halves 

 and hollowed out in the middle ; scale also attacks the spikes and causes malfor- 

 mation, vapourising is a good remedy for this. Laelia purpuratas should have 

 finished their growth, and those that have not must be placed at the warm end of 

 the house. L;ulia tenebrosa can be served likewise. Lelia elegans that is failing 

 to flower, and requires repotting, may be attended to ; baskets are preferable to 

 pots for this, as they can be suspended from the roof where convenient. Cattleya 

 Schilleriana will be forming buds at the base of the sheath, and careful watering 

 will be necessary ; Cattleya dolosa will also be showing flowers, and require more 

 moisture at the roots. Brassovola Digbyana is growing fast ; it thrives well in a 

 few degrees more heat than the cattleya house affords, placed in baskets, and sus- 

 pended from the roofs in a light position. This is a very useful orchid for the 

 hybridiser, owing to ite peculiar labellum. 



Laelia anceps is now rooting fast, so the syringe must be used in the morning ; 

 shading over this species is not required ; they need all the sun possible, a free 

 circulation of air, and plenty of moisture. Miltonia Roezli, after such trying 

 weather, is apt to fall a victim to red spider and thrips, so must be syringed often 

 when the weather is warm, and must be fumigated ; it thrives well in a warm 

 house with plenty of moisture. 



Shading will now require great attention, and also the firing, so as to keep the 

 atmosphere m a right condition in all the houses. Cattleya houses will require 

 SX? m mormn 2 and *S* in in the afternoon. —T. Stafford, Tyntesteld 



THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



hJw LEC , TI0N of annuals and biennials should be made for sowing in the open 

 inVfnr^ T°3 , th l {o }\ 0 ™Z™y with advantage be added to those given 

 flowers W Sf ^ for f^^ng vacant spots on borders they furnish 



Kfiln » 'ndoor decoration. A few of the most serviceable for cutting should 



InduW ~„ P J D the re l erve n g arden ' where the flowers m ay be gathered without 

 "wee ^ ZS n , g ° n i h ! fl ,° Wer borders for the su PP J y- Mother sowing of 

 S KeSl k I b f m • d f to . f ? rm a succession to those sown previously, as unless 

 mLSe from T °f a succession of flowers cannot for long be 



SKSS and ?? T P^ ants ^ but bymaking succession^ sowings good flowers 

 a coSem'tinn ^-/k W frCSh S / e ? S may 156 saved from the ear, y *>™ng if desired 



whicf WtL T™* u C ° ,OUrS ' rather than in a m ixture. Mignonette, of 

 be scaS 7 ° much can be S rown ' should also be sown freely ; if a few seeds 



S^lv S in , t dS and raked in k forms a g'°undwork, and Toe 

 the pt Bll £ nfp Well " bem ?A f th ? T °T l l k6 P l Within b 01 "" 15 and clear of 

 raised from seed? so™ ' ™ ° ^loned 1 tuberous-rooted plant may be easily 



in mixed beddine Tf^Zu ^ Wa - mth ' J h f* *»* be used a * dot plants 

 Previous veTr, 2 k / fi i hng vac ancies in borders. Old roots saved from 



"arted dT^Tl^^? ^ dahHaS ' or if P otted "P ™& and 



•owing on thT 0 Jn T£ T k u t0 g0 out at bedding H time/ For 



a good selection wiK f"' 3** f 7 ? *! durin S the next week or two, 

 Planted SSfe^rfS^J m th * Rowing in addition to those to be trans! 



cho-santhemums biS Si ""T^I Sun flowers of various heights ; annual 

 chrysums, Ba« on i* t g 6 d ° uble » aU ^ Useful > sw eet scabious, heli- 

 Krandiflora, and "his E« Coreo P slS ' kinds> a11 annuals excepting C. 



S Pi- C. XSiS^ ICT ,T^^ ^'S* J Clarkia elegans, C. rosea 

 ^nuurea cy2u7 C 0 A™1 ? U,chel a > C fl - P»-. Collinsia bicolor, 



^itneyi, G^D uc h es C s 0 JrAn S T^' holtzias in variety, Godetia 



p- Duchess of F fe °{ > ,baDy ' G ^ fl A PP le BloS . Som ' G ' L**F Albemarle and 

 ■" Un g in a cut state ' T grandiflorum cocaneum, lavateras, remarkably 



Skndens « a whS s P len dens is a beautiful variety, and L. alba 



> and I le How ^T*' • Tbe sweet sulta ns in three colours, 



poppies 



raised 



# l j — — ^ J i^ViiO XIX 



nasturtiums in several colours, and Whitla 



rom seeds sown in t^?', 1 half - h ardy perennial, may be 



u Old tuberou, Troot, 5 ? % a ° d plaCed u° heat Until gemination has taken 

 M arvel of p eni uSmI ^J*™,? may . be . P° tted U P and treated as advised 



, . • lobelia cardinalis. ,f .h> mrr^e be desired, should be split 



"tended f or b^g* a start m slight warmth. Young fuchsia plants 



• but be g iiS, a^wJ °- be aI1 ° wed l ,° beco . me root-bound and stunted in 

 BeddiniT ZZJZZ m ,Pots a couple of sizes larger, and kept crowinc 



asunder. If made moderately firm the plants will lift with good balls attached for 

 eventually transferring to the flower beds. Where the latter are standing empty 

 these calceolarias may now be planted direct to their summer quarters, and be 

 sheltered temporarily with a few branches or other covering, and in this way 

 become well established before warm or dry weather sets in. Late planting is 

 often the cause of calceolarias dying off suddenly in early summer, as hot weather 

 sets in before they are thoroughly re-established. Violas may be similarly treated, 

 but, being quite hardy, require no protection.— C. Herrin, Dropmort Gardens. 



HARDY FRUITS. 



The recent severe gales make us anxious about the hardy fruits ; with us 

 apricots appear to have set fairly well, but it is full early to note results. For 

 tunately for the peach and nectarine blooms, we have not had much frost after 

 the rain, and it is this that does so much mischief by destroying the pollen. After 

 biting east winds there is an early attack of aphis, and a great deal of this can 

 be disposed of by early disbudding, and a large proportion of the new shoots 

 are best removed at an early date. It is not well to disbud trees all at once, but 

 it often happens the small weakly shoots not needed for next season are those 

 most infested. I am a strong advocate for early disbudding, and some of the 

 earliest trees will be ready to operate upon by the time this is in print. Apricots 

 that have set many fruits will need early attention. Many advise leaving thinning 

 till it can be seen what fruits will take the lead, but there are always a large 

 number of badly-placed fruits that must be removed in any case, leaving the better 

 placed fruits for later attention. It is yet full early to treat on stopping and 

 disbudding, but the work on warm walls in the southern part of the country 

 will soon be in full swing. I am much adverse to disbudding in cold weather, 

 as I have seen the shoots left for next season blister badly, and this must be 

 avoided and the work spread over several weeks. Some excellent growers 

 advocate leaving the trees longer, in fact till the shoots are several inches long. 

 I do not, 'as I have seen evil results from late disbudding. As regards thin- 

 ning of fruits, it will be well to note the variety. Some are much stronger grown 

 than others, and will carry more fruits. Our Hemskirk apricots always carry far too 

 many fruits, also the smaller kinds, such as Breda and Kaisha or Syrian, and 

 though we thin now we never thin sufficiently, as so few fruits drop. 



A few words as to disbuddtng may not be out of place. The fruiting 

 shoots should, whenever possible, have one or two well placed shoots left at their 

 base for next year's fruiting wood, and in due course should be laid in. In train- 

 ing peaches or nectarines this space should always be allowed for, as the new 

 wood to be good must be well developed. If the trees are at all thin, other 

 shoots at from six to nine inches apart may be left on the fruiting wood, and a 

 final shoot at the top. The best placed buds (above, not at a joint) must be 

 left to develop the fruit. Any other shoots with fruit at the base should not be 

 rubbed off, but stopped or pinched to two or three leaves, as this will a ist In 

 building up the fruit at the base. The leading shoots on young trees will need 

 care in selection, and those not needed for furnishing should be rubbed off ; avoid 

 crowding ; select well-placed shoots on each side of the branches, not at foot or 

 back of the branches ; do not select shoots because they are strong, for if at all 

 gross it is better to stop back and so obtain smaller growth ; I fall to see the 

 necessity for the hard cutting back often practised, as once the tree has made 

 sufficient leaders to furnish it then allow it to grow freely, using the knife sparingly, 

 as it far more profitable to cover a space in three years than in six, and strong 

 rank growth is easily checked by pinching. Blister is a serious evil in some 

 gardens, and it is well to remove affected leaves, and in bad cases mildew soon 

 covers the parts injured, so must be dressed with a weak sulphur solution. 

 Another evil is curl, and in many cases blackfly is the cause. Apricots need 

 stopping when at all gross, as these strong shoots take an undue proportion of 

 sap, and though with young trees leaders are needed for extension, select those 

 best placed and of medium growth. The apricot fruits freely from spur growths 

 and the aim should be to encourage this mode of growth, any shoots not needed to 

 lay in being converted into spurs by stopping to the third or fourth leaf from the 

 base. The apricot is so subject to loss of branches that it is advisable whenever 

 possible to lay in shoots here and there in case of sudden collapse during the 

 fruiting season.— G. Wythes, Syon Gardens. 



f 



frames, stood on a firm 



Intense Culture. — At a recent conference held by the Royal Arsenal 

 Co-operative Society the question of co-operative agriculture was discussed 

 by such well-known authorities as Dr. Paton, Professor Bottomley, and Mr. 

 H. Wolff. It was proved beyond question that by intense culture agricultural 

 land could be made more productive and profitable than it is at present. This is a 

 point we have long urged, for we have seen many succeed when they ha^~ 

 11 gardened " their farms instead of starving them. Professor Bottomley, < 

 King's College, drew attention to one of the many small agricultural colonies now 

 succeeding in various parts of the country ; this was at Pembury, near Tunbridge 

 Wells where the villagers, by means of combined credit, and borrowed capital 

 took a farm where the two previous occupiers had been ruined. They all 

 succeeded, however, save the one who took over the hop garden. The co-operators 

 buy in common their seeds, their manures and machinery, and sell m common 

 their produce in Tunbridge Wells, and the land which previously failed to maintain 

 two men and a boy now supports eighteen adult labourers. 



Barlev Wine —The British Consul at Naples, in his last report, refers to 

 the subject of the production of artificial wines from barley, which he mentioned m 

 his report for 1896, and then received some attention in this country He now 

 summarizes the process, and compares the revolution likely to be caused in wine- 

 growing countries by this discovery to that caused by the discovery of beetroot 

 sugar. It seems that a large factory is at work at Wandsbek, near Hamburg, 

 producing the so-called Malten-Weme, which have the characteristics of the wines 

 of Southern Europe, owing to the entirely new process of fermentation to which 

 thev are subjected. The factory is said to produce about a quarter of a million 

 gallons per annum. 



carried it beyond the theoretical point ; and it was left to Mr. Hansen, a Dane, 

 and Dr Sauer, a German bacteriologist, to carry Pasteur's theory into practice. 

 The barley is malted and carried to the point of fermentation, when lactic acid and 

 vinous ferments are introduced, the mass being subjected to sundry variations of 

 temperature. Sherry, port, Tokay, and Malaga have; thus been closely imitated. 

 When fermentation is completed, the liquor is put into huge vats of about 4,500 

 gallons and thence into casks of 1,500 gallons, where it is artificially matured by 

 being raised to a high temperature. The transformation of the substances which 

 give the liquor its taste and bouquet is thus accomplished in a few weeks, instead 

 of requiring as many years, ana, at the same time, all extraneous matter derived 

 from the ferments is sterilised and rendered innocuous. The liquor can then be 

 drawn off into small casks or bottles, and in three or four months it is ready foi 

 consumption. These artificial wines have a large percentage of alcohol, 19 per 

 cent., or even more, being derived wholly from fermentation. 



