442 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ June 5, 1 
tl e pollen grains. Properly applied, and as properly removed by efficient 
ventilation, it leaves the embryo fruit is a clean fresh condition. 
Mr. Waiting evidently has not had much experience with thinning 
such sorts as Lady Downe’s and Alicante, or if he has he would have 
found it very beneficial to give them a gentle syringing with perfectly 
clean tepid water to remove the refuse that accumulates in the bunches 
of these close-berried sorts to prevent rusting.—C., Dorset. 
GROWING PLANTS IN TURF. 
Where pots are not easy to be obtained, which is often the case 
either from being a long distance from a pottery or to the garden ex¬ 
penses being limited, some other method must be adopted. We have 
a method in practice here which answers admirably for Pelargoniums 
or almost any other bedding plant. We strike our cuttings in boxes 
2 feet long by 15 inches wide, and about 2 inches in depth, where 
they remain till the middle of February. In the meantime a number 
of turves are taken off about 3 inches in thickness, 16 inches square, 
which are each cut into sixteen small squares of 4 inches. A kind 
of basin is made in the centre of each piece with a knife or the point 
of a small trowel. The plants when ready are shaken out from the 
boxes and inserted in the basins and made up with suitable soil. 
They are then placed in a shallow pit, which has a flow and return 
pipe round the front, and being on a cold base they require but little 
water for some trme. In about a month from the time of being 
placed in the pit the plants will be rooted through. From this they 
are moved and turned about once a fortnight and watered freely, 
although they never suffer so much from drought as when in pots, 
especially when small pots are used. In the turf they receive no 
check at all when planted. There is no further trouble than to place 
them on the hand-barrows, take them where they may be wanted, 
and plant them out; besides, there is no collection of pots afterwards, 
which is an object also when many thousands of plants are bedded 
out.—J. H. 
“ YEITCH’S ORCHIDS.” 
“ Have you seen Veitch’s Orchids ?” This for years has been one of 
the most familiar of interrogatives alike by those who have seen them 
and been satisfied, also by persons interested in these gorgeous flowers 
who have not seen the collection in question, and hence like to have the 
opinions of others who have had the privilege of an inspection. There is 
something to see that is worth seeing in the famous Chelsea establishment 
at all times, but never before was such a sight to he seen as now. 
A short time ago reference was made in these columns to a new 
Cattleya house that was then in course of erection by Messrs. Weeks—a 
span-roofed structure, 135 feet long by 22 feet wide, proportionately lofty, 
and with a lantern roof. This splendid house is not only completed hut 
occupied, and in such a manner as to strikingly display the resources of 
the nursery, and to present a spectacle that may fairly be described as 
unequalled. 
Except a gorgeous mass of Odontoglossum vexillarium in one corner, 
the whole of the space is occupied by Cattleyas and Laslias; the 
central stage rising tier above tier, and the side stages all round 
the house, are filled with these plants. How many hundreds or 
thousands there are he would be a hold man to guess, and still less could 
he hope to convey any adequate idea of the effect of the countless flowers 
as they were seen a few days ago, with countless buds in various stages 
of development. It can only he stated that the house was, and still is, 
full of flowers, and each reader must endeavour to realise for himself the 
richness of the extraordinary display. 
As might he expected at the present time, the varieties of C. Mossise 
are hy far the most numerous, and these alone are gorgeous, the dis¬ 
similarity in the forms affording gratification for individual tastes, the 
richer colours and chaste and delicate tints being abundantly represented 
in plants of different sizes, but the majority handy portable examples, 
flowering freely in 5 and 6-inch pots. But in addition to these, grand 
examples and charming varieties of C. Mendeli attract, as they ever must 
do, attention and evoke admiration, These are relieved by several forms 
of C. intermedia and the more imposing C. gigas. One specimen of this 
will soon have nearly thirty flowers expanded, as buds are bursting from 
the sheaths in all directions, and suspended from the roof a magnificent 
variety of C. Acklandise is remarkable by its large flowers and richly 
barred sepals. 
Lmlias contribute effectively to the beauty of the structure, many 
examples of the deservedly popular pui-purata being covered with flowers 
of great purity of limb and richness of lip. There are many forms of this 
good Orchid, exhibiting variations both in the size and colours of the 
flowers, but not one, it may safely be said, that is not worthy of the place 
it occupies; and, growing on a block, L. majalis, with its large and 
charmingly pencilled lip, was one of the gems of the house. 
But apart f om the beauty of the flowers, the clean and healthy condi¬ 
tion of the plants cannot be overlooked. “ The house suits them,” 
remarked the skilful grower modestly. The house is no doubt going to 
answer admirably the purpose for which it was erected, but the attention 
the plants receive evidently suits them too. As was remarked by a visitor, 
a keen-eyed critical Orchid grower, who knows what he is about, and is 
the reverse of effusive, “ A finer lot of plants I never saw; in fact, I cannot 
see how they could be better.” They are in truth about all that the most 
exacting could wish, and more than would be expected by many, for 
numbers of the plants established so firmly, growing so strongly, and 
flowering so freely, only arrived as imported pieces, rootless and shrivelled, 
ten months ago. 
Another circumstance in connection with this remarkable collection of 
Cattleyas worth notice is that the whole of the plants have been “ thinned 
out ” of the other houses in the nursery without leaving any apparent 
blanks on the stages. All the other structures are still full—quite, full 
enough—and the specimens must be alL the better for the additional 
breathing space afforded; at least, they have room for sturdy development. 
In passing from house to house and. seeing them all furnished, it is a 
matter of surprise that they have been capable of holding so many more, 
and the fact suggests that Orchids are elastic in their nature, yet it is con¬ 
ceivable that the most expert packer would find some difficulty in restoring 
the plants that now are so imposingly arranged in the great house above 
noticed to their original places again. 
It has been said that all the original houses remain full, and it must be 
added that there is something to attract in each, not by the splendid condi¬ 
tion of these plants alone, but by the beauty of the flowers. There has 
been no attempt to gather all the flowering specimens together and arrange 
them in one house, in fact there is no house large enough for this ; but 
the several houses in connection with the agreeable “ break” of an artistic 
fernery form one long promenade of Orchids that astonishes by its extent, 
diversity, and beauty. 
The Odontoglossums are an exhibition in themselves, and a most 
charming one. It is quite impossible to give any idea of the number of 
spikes which arch over long stages, forming an avenue of elegance such 
as no other plants could produce. The varieties of 0. Alexandras, too, 
will bear close individual inspection, for the flowers are as fine as can be 
imagined, and the tints as varied as can be conceived. Numerous other 
species are also represented. Then there are Dendrobiums yet lingering 
with Saccolabiums and Cypripediums. Something, in fact, to arrest 
attention at every step and turn, the whole showing how great is the 
demand for Orchids since such a supply as this has to be maintained. 
Orchid-growing is spreading as the simple requirements of the plants 
are becoming better understood, and as large and ever-arriving importa¬ 
tions enable the popular kinds to he distributed at prices that are the 
reverse of prohibitive. Many persons fail, no doubt, in establishing a 
collection by attempting what they cannot achieve. “ Cheap batches ” at 
sales are often dear in the end to the inexperienced. These should be 
left to fanciers and experts, of which there are so many who possess the 
skill and the means of bringing apparently dead plants to life, and who 
are willing to watch anxiously and wait patiently for the expansion of 
some hoped-for novelty, those that are inferior being returned from 
whence they came. The great majority of persons who desire to grow 
Orchids will act wisely, and in the long run economically, by procuring 
thrifty established plants of proved varieties to begin with, as these are 
easy to manage, and beyond question the most likely to give satisfaction. 
So tractable are these plants that, intelligently managed, splendid 
specimens of the grandest varieties may be grown in a vinery; in fact, it 
is questionable if finer examples of culture have ever been seen than some 
that were grown in tubs in a vinery near Leeds, and exhibited by the 
cultivator, Mr. Temple, a few years ago, and described at the time in this 
Journal by Mr. John Wills, who ought to know, and does know, good 
Orchids when he sees them. Those in the great collection under notice 
are eminently worthy of a vi-it now by all who are interested in the 
aristocrats of the floral world.— Inspector. 
APPLE TREES FOR ORNAMENTAL PURPOSES. 
This subject seems to have engaged the attention of planters lately, 
and certainly some varieties of Apples are very beautiful when in flower, 
and deserve to be used more than they have been for ornamenting land¬ 
scapes. They flower a considerable time before the trees generally used 
for that purpose, and there is besides a chance of obtaining a quantity of 
fruit from them. 
The most beautiful variety I know of when in flower is the Costard, 
also called Catshead by some, but a very different Apple from the Cats- 
head of the “ Fruit Manual.” This has flowers of a beautiful deep rose 
colour, and being a large-flowered variety it has a telling effect at a good 
distance. It appears to be vigorous-growing when young, and forms a 
large spreading top. A tree in the gardens here has a top 40 feet in 
diameter, and in 1881 bore 9 cwt. of fruit, most of which sold for 10s. 
per cwt. Other varieties useful for their cropping qualities, and also 
very pretty when in flower, are Golden Noble, Sugarloaf Pippin, Manx 
Codlin, Wellington, Penny Loaf, Siberian Crab, &c. ; also Bess Pool 
and Court Pendfl Plat are very useful, and as these two flower much 
later than most varieties they have a better chance of escaping the late 
frosts. The former is fully a fortnight later here this year than most other 
kinds, and on May 24th was not fully open.—W. H. Divers, Burghley. 
CORNISH HORTICULTURE. 
Having given on pages 384 and 425 of the Journal a brief resume of 
exotic plants in connection with Cornish horticulture, it will not, perhaps, 
be inopportune to make a few statements concerning the important item 
of vegetable culture as adopted in this county. The abstract principles 
of gardening probably do not materially differ in one part of the kingdom 
from another ; but various and important elements render certain means 
most essential to secure particular or special ends. In Cornwall the most 
important element is unquestionably a climatal one. The south side of 
