34 



THE FLORAL MAGAZINE. 



Odontoglossum vexillariimi ; and in the year 187 1, M. 

 Roezl, on account of M. Linden, arrived there, in order 

 to bring home large quantities of both Orchids, and many 

 other plants. In the year 1872, another supply from 

 my hands reached Brussels ; and finally, jn the year 

 1873, for a third time I directed my steps to Frontino. j 

 It was then for a stay of about eight months, during I 

 which I undertook many rambles in all directions. 



" Another traveller, M. Patin, exploring at the same 

 time the State of Antioquia (to which Frontino belongs), 

 availed himself of my discoveries; consequently, Fron- 

 tino has become, through me, a true cornucopia of 

 Orchid seekers. The place of the true Cattleya gigas is 

 in the immediate vicinity of the little town of Frontino, 

 where it grows in thick forests, and also in the tops of 

 high trees. The elevation above the sea is about four 

 thousand feet ; and the best-flowered plants were found 

 in a shady situation, of course in a rather temperate 

 climate. I believe your temperature statements are too 

 high, and I should propose G5° to 70° in the night, and 

 70° to 80° in the daytime, as being more convenient. 

 The rainy season, properly speaking, is not distinguished 

 in that part of the Cordilleras. Certainly, you will be 

 astonished to learn that I observed twice during my 

 last stay at Frontino a hailstorm, the hailstones being 

 nearly as large as a hazel-nut ; but I don't mean by this 

 observation that it is a severe climate. 



" The extremely long blooming of C. gigas deserves to 

 be mentioned here. I enjoyed the sight of the fine 

 flowers during a period of three weeks. A sketch of a 

 full-flowering spike was sent to Professor Reichenbach, 

 which gives an idea of its great beauty. To draw a 

 conclusion from the differently-situated localities, as well 

 as the differences of elevation which C. gigas is growing 

 in, I should be inclined to suppose that there are some 

 three or four varieties in the large stocks existing in the 

 stoves of Brussels and Chelsea. 



" I was often told, while in Frontino, of a black- 

 flowered Cattleya, as occurring on a certain place there- 

 abouts, and which was visited by me. If there can be 

 any reliance placed on this statement, we might suppose 

 it to be a dark violet-painted — an atropurpurea form." 



IRIS IBERICA IN AMERICA. 



Iris Iberica, as grown and flowered by us, differs con- 

 siderably from the coloured plates that we have access ! 

 to ; and as we grow it, no coloured representation has 

 yet done it justice. The flowers come much larger, and 

 the colour richer and more distinct. It appears to be 

 perfectly hardy in our climate. In the spring of 1873 

 we planted a large bed in the open ground, putting in 

 very small pieces. During the season, they grew very 

 rapidly, many of them making towards fall plants a 



foot in diameter, some of which produced in the follow- 

 ing May as many as from fifteen to twenty flowers each. 

 Some of the flowers, after the drooping petals were 

 raised to the horizontal, measured five and a half inches 

 in diameter. We have now a large bed in the open air 

 of this plant, and as the mercury this winter has been 

 more times below Zero than we have ever known before, 

 its hardiness will be thoroughly tested. 



II. E. Chitty, Bcl/ecue Nursery. 

 Paterson, New Jersey, Feb. 8, 1875. 



TRADE CATALOGUES. 



" Miniature Spring Catalogue and Garden Guide." 

 Sutton and Sons, Reading. — This is an elegant little 

 curiosity, measuring only three and a half inches by 

 four and three quarters, reduced from the larger issue by 

 photography and Dallastype. Every letter and every 

 illustration of the larger edition is here perfectly repro- 

 duced in miniature, so that the great potatoes, onions, 

 peas, beans, &c, of the ordinary issue, appear as dwarf's 

 instead of giants. It would have been well to have 

 altered the printed scales of the five onions, on page 42, 

 for it there says, the fi New Queen" onion is represented 

 of the natural size ; if so, it is but little more than half 

 an inch through, and the "New Giant Rocca" is but an 

 inch and three-eighths. Our great seed merchants are 

 now very obliging in sending order lists, &c. (sometimes 

 stamped), and take great p tins to save all trouble on 

 the part of the reader and purchaser. We suggest, 

 therefore, to Messrs. Sutton and Son the advisability of 

 issuing this beautiful little work in pocket-book fashion, 

 with a lens enclosed, so that middle-aged readers may 

 peruse its contents with ease and pleasure. 



J. C. Wheeler and Son's " Little Book, or Short, 

 Select Seed List." Gloucester, 1875. — This is a hand- 

 some list of seeds, large in size, and furnished with an 

 illuminated cover (semi-mediawal in character), in gold 

 and colour. Bacon tells us that " there is no beauty 

 but hath strangeness in its proportions ;" and Messrs. 

 Wheeler have verified this adage by introducing a large 

 and strange initial " S" in the left-hand bottom corner 

 of the cover. On this are two pastoral figures — a golden- 

 haired " shepherdess," classical and beautiful, receiving 

 a strawberry from a rustic in elegant clothes, but with 

 a grotesque face terrible to look upon. The book con- 

 tains two richly-coloured plates of flowers, printed in 

 colours at Brussels, and sixty-seven pages of well- 

 executed illustrations and descriptions. Being well and 

 clearly printed on good paper, with good gossiping, 

 original descriptions, in which Messrs. Wheeler are ever 

 and anon taking their readers into their confidence, this 

 Catalogue cannot fail to bo received with pleasure 

 wherever it is sent. 



