204 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ March 13, 1884. 
are not injured by their three months’cool treatment; on the 
contrary, they are benefited and enjoy the season of rest. They 
are never allowed to suffer from an insufficient supply of water. 
To show the progress made of a plant under this treatment, it 
was six years ago a small piece in a thumb pot, and is now in a 
9-inch pot carrying eight or nine flowers. The growths are 
strong, and are this year expected to make double breaks.— 
W. B. 
Phal^enopsis Schilleriana. —I send you the terminal 
inflorescence of a large panicle of Phalaenopsis Schilleriana, 
which has borne fifty flowers. It has been in full bloom since 
February 11th, but having been a week in the drawing-room it 
has not lasted quite so long as it might have done. The plant 
has five leaves, varying from 12 to 17 inches in length, and 
broad and thick in proportion. Taking it all in all it was the 
finest spike of P. Schilleriana I have ever seen.—J. U. S. 
[The portion of the panicle received is sufficient to indicate 
that the inflorescence has been an extremely handsome one, for 
we rarely see so many flowers on one plant, but in this case it 
is evidently a strong one. Unfortunately Phalsenopsids are 
very apt to suffer greatly from excessive flowering. We recently 
saw a collection which has been removed from a smoky town 
garden to an open situation in the suburbs, and though the 
quality and number of the flowers had much improved, the plants 
were not so strong, and did not make such vigorous foliage as 
they had done in their apparently less favourable quarters. 
This was apparently due to the fact that the fogs and smoke 
caused most of the flowers to fall before they had fully expanded 
when the plants were in the town garden, whereas in their 
present more favourable situation the flowers were retained and 
developed. Beautiful indeed as the flowers appear on the 
plants, it is a decided advantage if they are cut after they have 
been open a few days, and in the case of weakly plants it is 
advisable to remove the spikes as they show.] 
Cutting down Dendrobiums. —I enclose two growths of 
Dendrobium nobile taken from a plant in a small pot; one 
growth has thirty-one blooms expanded, and the other twenty- 
eight. On the same plant are several more pseudo-bulbs with 
blooms varying from twenty to thirty on each, in all about 
blooms. As all our flowers have to be cut and sent 
155 miles by rail I find it best to cut off the growths close to 
the pot, when the young growths start from the bottom. In 
this way I get from a dozen and a half to two dozen growths 
on each plant, varying from 18 inches to 3 feet in length, 
bloomed like those enclosed, which make a grand display and 
are useful for cutting.—B 
[Finer examples of this gi'and old Dendrobium we have 
never seen. One of the pseudo-bulbs has twenty-eight flowers 
in a space of 8 inches, three or four being produced from a 
node. The flowers, too, are of good size and excellent colour. 
We shall be glad to receive notes or specimens of good Orchids 
from any of our correspondents.] 
Present and Past Methods of Culture. —Orchid growers 
will perceive with pleasure that space is now set apart in the 
pages of the Journal for notes and gleanings about Orchids. To 
record successes and failures and discuss methods of cultivation 
assist very largely towards the discovery of the best and easiest 
method, and in that department of horticulture which is devoted 
to the great Orchid family this' is especially the case. Many of 
us remember what Orchid-growing meant before the nature and 
habits of the plants were properly understood; most of us are 
aware now that by far. the larger proportion of Orchids are 
amo'ng the least difficult of plants to manage. Instead of speci¬ 
ally constructed houses, specially trained and specially paid men 
being necessary to success in Orchid management, we have learnt 
that success, is achievable without wandering far beyond the 
lines of ordinary gardening routine. Dendrobiums as strong 
and healthy as Bamboos are now grown in vineries; Ccelogynes, 
Cypripediums, and a host of other kinds are cultivated in stoves 
with the mixed stove plants. Odontoglossums are grown by 
thousands in frames and pits, where they are treated to the hose 
or rose-pot in a way that would horrify an Orchid grower of the 
old school. These are a few instances of what is done in the 
management of Orchids, but they are sufficient to show what 
perseverance and experiment have done towards simplifying the 
cultivation of Orchids. Much has been done, but much still 
remains to be learnt before we can feel satisfied with all our 
Orchid pets, and so it is that we are always on the look-out for 
information which shall help us in the management of those 
plants whose requirements are at present but imperfectly under¬ 
stood. For my own part I hope to glean much from our Orchid 
column, and I also hope that by recording whatever is note¬ 
worthy I shall be able to assist others over little difficulties 
which are ever arising when we are dealing with new or delicate 
plants. 
Watering Orchids.— Speaking of the use of the hose for 
watering Odontoglossums recalls the practice of Messis. Sander 
and Co. in their treatment of Cattleyas. In the new houses at 
St. Albans may be seen thousands of these plants arranged in 
such a way as to suggest a long street, and in the summer these 
plants are watered, not by means of a small pot through which 
water is carefully dribbled, but a hose pipe is used, and a 
thorough sousing overhead, a saturating one might say, is given 
almost daily. Of course in the winter less water is given, though 
the plants are never allowed to become as parched as one sees 
Cattleyas treated now and then. That Messrs. Sander & Co.’s 
plants thrive upon this daily ablution may be seen by visiting 
their houses. I took the hint, and since then have watered and 
syringed our Cattleyas in a way that would have made me wince 
once, and I am so satisfied with the result that I intend for the 
future to water all our Cattleyas as freely as Crotons. Given a 
healthy plant, proper drainage and good soil, or rather peat 
fibre, there is no reason why Cattleyas should not receive abun¬ 
dance of water when growing and be kept moist all through the 
winter. If the ventilating .and shading are right—and almost 
everything depends upon these—there can be no fear of immature 
growth or damping of flower sheaths. 
Liquid Manure for Orchids. —Last year our plants of 
Odontoglossum vexillarium and O. Phalanopsis were watered 
very heavily, and they are now better than we could grow them 
when water was sparingly supplied. I know a gardener who 
f rows these two Odontoglossums and O. Roezlii"* > in a green 
ouse along with Bouvardias and similar plants. They are 
potted in pure sphagnum and placed on a shelf about 2 feet 
from the glass, where they are shaded from bright sunshine, and 
where they have plenty of fresh air without experiencing any 
cold draughts. All through the summer the watering pot is used 
freely, and once a fortnight a weak solution of cow manure is 
applied to the roots. To prevent the great enemy of these 
plants—thrips—from gaining a footing, my friend dips his 
Odontoglossums in soapsuds as often as he supplies them with 
the liquid manure. Now these plants are like sedges, healthy, 
dark oj-een, spotless, and as ripe and plump as acorns, and when 
they flower they are pictures of health and beauty. That idea 
of using soapsuds and cow manure was culled from a paper note 
At an Orchid sale recently 1 saw a plant of O. Phalsenopsis in an 
8 -inch pot with ninety pseudo-bulbs, and leaves without a spot. 
I failed to discover the grower of this plant, but I wondered 
whether soapsuds and cow manure had anything to do with 
it. Orchids are most of them capable of adapting themselves to 
conditions slightly altered from what they thrive naturally under, 
and they are also capable of being successfully managed under 
artificial treatment varying somewhat in its details, so that when 
once we have the key to the secret of their health we may be 
able to produce equally good results from slightly different 
methods. I say this because I know others who grow these 
plants well without having recourse to the specifics of my 
gardening friend.—W. W. 
FLOWER SHOW SCHEDULES. 
Ix the Journal of February 21st, page 144, you publish under the above 
heading some remarks on the “ suicidal course ” and “ selfishness ” of the 
Eastbourne Gardeners’ and Cottagers’ Society in not throwing their society 
open. I believe 1 can put the matter in a very different light, and show 
that the “selfishness” is on the side of the writer, Mr. J. Gore. This 
Society was formed about four years ago “ for the general diffusion of 
knowledge amongst its members relating to the cultivation of fruits, 
flowers, vegetables, &c.” Monthly meetings are held, at which papers on 
horticultural subjects are read and discussed. Mr. Gore, although aware 
of the existence of the Society, had no wish to become a member until he 
saw the schedule of the summer Show last year, and as the members were 
satisfied that he had no idea of benefiting the Society by attending the 
monthly meetings the resolution to which he refers was passed. 
His remarks as to the entrance fees and members’ classes are, to say 
the least, misleading. There was one entrance fee of 5s. in Class 1, where 
£18 was offered. Altogether £140 was offered in prizes. Of this amount 
£95 was open to Mr. Gore ; £19 only was reserved for professional 
members. The remainder was for amateurs and cottagers, and I fancy 
even your correspondent would hardly expect to compete with them. The 
amount reserved for members is surely no more than they are entitled to, 
as they give a great amount of time and trouble to further the objects for 
which the Society was formed, and also, owing to the climate and soil 
here, they cannot compete equally with gardeners further inland. 
I forward by this post schedule of Show and copy of rules. You will 
see by the first rule the objects of the Society, and that shows are only a 
