JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
236 
[ March 24, 1881. 
representative of a beautiful genus. It has bright green, elliptical, 
broad, thick, flat leaves arranged very closely together in a two- 
ranked manner, so that there appears to be scarcely any stem. 
The inflorescence is a raceme, bearing numerous flowers. The 
sepals and petals are white, the latter larger and more rounded 
than the former ; the lip is tbree-lobed, white, frequently marked 
with a few streaks of crimson, orange, and yellow. The flowers 
are produced during the winter and spring, and last upon the 
plant for months in good condition ; in fact, there are few even 
among Orchids which retain their flowers so long as the Pbalse- 
nopsids. The first plants which were received alive in England 
were those sent from Manilla to Messrs. Itollisson at Tooting by 
Mr. Hugh Cuming, who travelled so much in the Phillipine 
Islands, and made extensive collections both ot plants and the 
beautiful shells to be found there. That was in 1837, and soon 
after the plants flowered and were figured in several works during 
the three or four following years. In 1844 Mr. Robert Fortune 
visited the island of Luzon, and obtained specimens of this Orchid, 
particularly one, which he describes as “ a plant of extraordinary 
size, having ten or twelve branching flowerstalks and upwards of 
a hundred flowers.” This handsome specimen was purchased of 
some natives for the extremely moderate price of a dollar. It 
reached England alive, and was grown in the Royal Horticultural 
Society’s gardens for some time. Since then large numbers have 
been imported, and the species is now well known to all Orchid 
growers. The price is now moderate compared with some Orchids, 
and plants can be purchased for a less number of shillings than 
they could for pounds some years ago. In connection with the 
va.ne of this plant it is related that when the Duke of Devonshire 
first saw a specimen flowering in Messrs. Rollisson’s nursery soon 
after its introduction he admired it so much that he determined 
to obtain it at any price. The possessors were reluctant to part 
with it, but the Duke gave them a blank cheque to fill in as they 
pleased, and they then fixed their price at £100, which might 
almost be considered moderate under the circumstances. 
P. Schiller i ana .—The most beautiful Phalmnopsis yet known, 
for not only are the flowers uncommonly handsome but the foliage 
is also highly attractive, thus rendering the plant pleasing whether 
flowering or not. It can indeed scarcely be surpassed in the whole 
of the great Orchid family—a sufficient indication of its merits to 
those who do not know it, but they are extremely few at least 
among Orchid growers, for although it has only been in cultiva¬ 
tion about twenty years it is now well and widely known. The 
leaves are arranged in a similar manner to P. amabilis, but they 
are much longer and broader, marbled or mottled with light green 
on a rich green ground. The peduncle is frequently a yard in 
length, branched and on very fine specimens has been known to 
bear as many as one hundred flowers. These have rounded petals 
and narrower sepals, all of a fine rosy colour, the intensity of 
which varies considerably in different plants ; the lip is tbree- 
lobed as in P. amabilis, the lateral lobes rose-coloured, the central 
white with yellow protuberances at the base, the colour being 
bluish. English growers cannot claim the honour of having in¬ 
troduced this species, for it was first obtained in 1858 by Consul 
Schiller of Hamburgh from Manilla, where it grows at a slightly 
higher elevation than P. amabilis. The plant flowered two years 
after, and was then described by Professor Eeicbenbach, and 
named in honour of its introducer. Specimens were soon for¬ 
warded to England, and early in 1862 Mr. Robert Warner of 
Broomfield had a plant in flower. Mr. B. S. Williams also flowered 
one about the same time, and great attention was attracted to the 
beauty of the species, leading to the importation of as large 
quantities as could be obtained. 
The woodcut (fig. 55) was prepared from one of the plants in 
Messrs. Yeitch's nursery, Chelsea, which recently made the magni- 
cent display described on page 113. About eighteen hundred 
flow’ers were open at one time, and the effect produced by such 
an immense number will long be remembered by all who saw 
them. They were mostly growing in the small pans as shown in 
the engraving, and though the plants had only been imported about 
a year they were in admirable health, the foliage being beautifully 
mottled. The figure represents the plant very much reduced, but 
the single flower is given full size, thus showing its form and the 
proportionate size of the plant.—L. Castle. 
(To be continued.) 
EARLY ROSES. 
Last November we bought a number of Roses for planting in 
the open air, but potted a dozen of them. For some time after 
that they were in a cold frame, and early in January they were 
placed in gentle heat, which caused them to start into growth, 
and most commenced flowering early in March, bearing fine buds 
and blooms. 
As it is always convenient to know what varieties to grow, I 
give a list in the order of merit—Innocente Pirola, Madame 
Alexandra Bernaix, Belle Lyonnaise, Madame Etienne Levet, 
Madame Willermoz, Madame Falcot, Marechal Niel, Perle des 
Jardins, Souvenir de Paul Neyron, Marie Van Houtte, Duchess 
of Edinburgh, and C61ine Forestier. The first named (InnoceDte 
Pirola), is a new Rose and one of the best for culture in pots. In 
colour it is between Souvenir de Malmaison and Gloire de Dijon. 
The blooms are more pointed than those of the latter, and more 
acceptable, I think, in every way. It is very free in growth, and 
promises to be quite an exception to the majority of new Roses 
in merit. The second (Madame Alexandra Bernaix) is also a 
very fine Rose, the blooms being large and showy pink in colour. 
Marie Van Houtte and Duchess of Edinburgh have not done well; 
and Celine Forestier has been worse still, as it has only made 
some long shoots with no signs of bloom on one of them. We 
had a black maik placed against this Rose before. As planted 
out in a conservatory it has grown vigorously, but the blooms 
have been few, as all last summer we had not half a dozen 
clusters from it. Niphetos is not amongst our twelve, as we did 
not grow it in a pot, but had it been amongst those named above 
it would have been near the top of the list, as it is a grand indoor 
Rose at any season and under all modes of culture.—J. Muir. 
REVIEWS OF BOOKS. 
Practical Gardener. James Carter & Co., 237, High Holborn, 
London. 
Guides to gardening, from “ Loudon’s Encyclopaedia ” and 
“Thompson’s Gardener’s Assistant” to those valuable little 
“ Manuals for the Many ” published at the Journal office, are now 
so numerous and so comprehensive in scope as would seem to 
embrace every possible want of all classes of the gardening com¬ 
munity. In Messrs. Carters’ “ Practical Gardener,” which is 
modestly introduced “ to supply reliable information to the 
amateur in a popular form,” we have a work so thoroughly prac¬ 
tical, so cheap, and so novel, that we greet its advent heartily, and 
commend it to the notice of all gardeners and amateurs, for many 
a pithy hint may be found in its pages on the culture of popular 
fruits, vegetables, and flowers. 
A leading position is given to calendars, the first being devoted 
to vegetables by Mr. G. T. Miles, who gives excellent advice about 
vegetable culture and successional cropping, with a useful enu¬ 
meration of varieties, but his sentences are somewhat involved, 
occasionally so much as to render his meaning obscure and to mar 
the effect of his otherwise valuable teaching. In “ Flower Gardens 
and Pleasure Grounds,” by Mr. T. Comber, we have concise and 
timely instructions for each month’s work, and equally concise 
reasons given for most of it. Very forcible and valuable hints 
are given about watering, a matter to which by far too little 
attention is given. Many a failure might be traced to careless¬ 
ness in this simple matter. Mr. T. Baines introduces his calendar 
of plant culture in the conservatory, greenhouse, &c.. with brief 
notes on soil, potting, water, heat, light, air, and shade as the 
most important factors to success in this department. The Monthly 
Notes, though somewhat lengthy, are all to the purpose, embodying 
clear cultural directions, hints as to ventilation, the destruction of 
insect pests, propagation and culture of young stock for a succes¬ 
sional supply, syringing, the value of fertilisers, and importance of 
cleanliness. “A Year's Work Under Glass,” by Mr. J. Sheppard, 
is principally devoted to fruit culture, and is evidently written by 
an able practical man, some of whose sentences would, however, 
be none the worse for a somewhat more stringent application of 
editorial polish. “ The bruit Garden,” by Mr. A. Bridgman, con¬ 
tains a useful list of sorts ; but I cannot agree with him in 
his recommendation of horizontal training, which is quite 
superseded by the palmette verrier; and I regret to find no 
mention of that most useful of all forms, especially to amateurs— 
the diagonal cordon. Papers of considerable value on special 
subjects have been contributed by some of the best cultivators 
and writers whose names have been published in your advertising 
columns, and at the end of the volume is a useful chapter for 
amateurs on “ Suburban Gardening.” All who possess the book 
will, I think, agree with me that it is an excellent shilling’s 
worth.— Edward Luckhurst. 
On the Art oj Gardening. By Mrs. Francis Foster. London : 
W. Satchell & Co. 
This little work contains some pleasant reading upon the 
history and associations of gardening, with many poetical quo¬ 
tations and classical allusions, but is scarcely calculated to be of 
any great assistance to a gardener either in the theory or practice 
of his art. The volume, however, contains some hints that may 
