November 3, 1881. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 403 
bitions are to be held—Kingston-on-Thames, Westminster Aqua¬ 
rium, and Brixton. At Kingston the competition for the twenty- 
five-guinea champion challenge cup will undoubtedly attract 
much attention. The winners in the two preceding years were 
Mr. G. Harding, gardener to T. Golburn, Esq., Putney Heath ; 
and Mr. W. Tunnington, gardener to Chas. Maclver, Esq., Liver¬ 
pool. Should either of these win it this year it will become his 
property, but if another competitor should succeed in obtaining 
it the competition next year will be confined to those three. 
- A WRITER in an usually very practical journal, who 
appears to know all about the subject, is good enough to inform 
us that the article on trees near towns that recently appeared 
in a daily paper, and on which we commented on page 314, was 
not a burlesque. We did not assert that it was ; but let that pass, 
although the disclaimer is no compliment to the author of the 
remarkable effusion. Special articles in the daily papers are 
usually contributed by those who have special knowledge on 
the subjects on which they write, and this is undoubtedly a 
prudent course, seeing the great influence the leading journals 
exert ; but when a writer, as our friendly critic admits, “ dis¬ 
plays a want of practical knowledge on the subject,” he simply 
states the incompetency of the writer as a sound instructor ; and 
when the writer draws “upon his fancy and admiration,” and 
denounces the Plane as a suburban tree, and extols the Elm, the 
late stor m may be left to supply the answer as to the soundness 
or the danger that attaches to such teaching. The defence of 
nonsense is not a pleasant task, and those practical individuals 
whose good nature prompts them to undertake it merit sympathy. 
- Under the title of “Fruit Farming for Profit,” a 
very instructive manual has been sent to us. The author is 
• Mr. George Bunyard of Maidstone, who has produced an un¬ 
assuming work of considerable practical value. Having spent 
a lifetime in the study of hardy fruits, and had the advantage 
of gathering information in the orchards and fruit gardens of 
Kent, Mr. Bunyard has enjoyed special facilities for acquiring 
sound knowledge on the subject, and this he has placed before 
his readers in a plain manner, easy of being understood. After 
alluding to the uncertainty, as a profitable pursuit, of market 
gardening by farmers, and the superiority of English fruit over 
foreign produce, the author has prepared useful chapters on soil, 
situation, and shelter for fruit trees, planting, and pruning ; then 
follow separate chapters on Apples, Plums, Pears, Cherries, and 
bush fruits of all kinds, with carefully selected and descriptive 
lists of varieties. Serviceable hints are given on the purchase 
and propagation of fruit trees, and packing fruit for sale. 
There Are articles also on the probable profits of fruit culture, 
including the cost of planting and maintenance, also on the 
enemies and diseases of fruit trees, and approved methods of 
dealing with them. The work concludes with an appendix in 
the form of a report of a meeting of the Rochester Farmers’ 
Club, at which fruit culture was discussed by members who 
have had much experience on the subject. In the preparation 
of this pamphlet of seventy-nine pages Mr. Bunyard acknow¬ 
ledges his indebtedness to Mr. Whitehead’s work on “ Fruit- 
Growing in Kent,” (Effingham Wilson) ; and “ Small Farms— 
How They Can be Made to Answer by Means of Fruit Culture,” 
by Rev. Canon Lea, published at our office, and these works 
he recommends. We recommend them too, together with the 
manual under notice, to all interested in the important subject 
of profitable fruit culture. The manual to which we have 
directed attention is published by Messrs. Frederick Bunyard 
of Maidstone, and Edward Stanford, Charing Cross, London. 
Bulbs versus Mice. —As I have lost all my Tulips and part of my 
Crocuses the last two winters with mice I should be glad to know 
how I can prevent their doing the same damage this winter. I have 
thought of trying paraffin as with Peas, but I am afraid it may 
destroy the bulbs. Perhaps some of the readers of the Journal 
will kindly give me advice, founded on experience, on the matter. 
Any information that will enable me to save the bulbs will be 
valued.—S. B. 
DENDROBIUMS. 
Plants of Dendrobium nobile that finished their growth early 
and had them well ripened are now showing signs of flower. The 
little buds that were scarcely perceptible a week or two ago are 
pushing from nearly all the joints, and the plants can be removed 
to a warmer house in order to hasten them into flower. I find it 
a good plan now to give the growths occasionally a slight dewing 
with the syringe in order to soften their buds, care, of course, 
being taken not to allow the roots to become too wet, as they are 
very liable to start into growth prematurely. Anyone who has a 
few plants of Dendrobium nobile, and, in fact, any other species 
of that section, may, with a little care, have a display of flowers 
for a long season. It is, perhaps, the best plan to have only 
medium-sized plants for decorative purposes and cutting, but if 
for exhibition plants of a larger size will be desirable. After one 
or two plants have been introduced to warmer quarters, the others, 
or later plants, should be kept dry and cool till such time as they 
are required to flower. There are several very distinct varieties 
of D. nobile, and one variety, called D. nobile pendulum, has 
perhaps one of the largest and brightest coloured flowers. The 
growths are more erect and also thicker than in the true species. 
D. nobile var. cmrulescens is a desirable form ; the latter can be 
retarded so as to flower as late as April and May. I think it a 
great pity that this grand old Orchid is not more extensively 
cultivated than it is. If plants in the first place had to be pur¬ 
chased they can be bought very reasonable, particularly imported 
plants ; and when once a plant has attained a medium size there 
is always a possibility of propagating it by taking off the young 
plants that are produced from the upper portion of the old pseudo¬ 
bulbs. These young plants should be potted, or, what is better, 
they should be placed in baskets, placing four or five of them 
together in a small basket, and hang them up near the glass in 
the stove. It is surprising how soon they become healthy little 
plants if properly attended to. 
A very good and cheap plan of growing Dendrobiums came 
under my notice two or three years ago, and I think it worth 
relating. It was at an establishment where D. nobile was grown 
in quantity to yield flowers for buttonhole bouquets. The gar¬ 
dener only started with two or three large plants, and when I 
saw them he had about a dozen and a half fine baskets. His 
plan of making baskets was a very cheap and simple one. There 
were several large Elder bushes in the shrubberies and plantations, 
and jfrom these the wood was cut for his baskets. The wood 
selected being about an inch in thickness, it was cut into suitable 
lengths according to the size of baskets required, and made in the 
usual way. It was surprising how the roots clung to the sides of 
the baskets. Whether it was the rough surface which the roots 
so much liked I do not know, but evidently they enjoyed the 
treatment they received. Elder wood is not nearly so durable as 
Teak, but still baskets made from Elder should with care last 
at least three or four years. The roots of the Orchid in a great 
measure keep them together. 
One of the earliest of the Dendrobes to flower is D. formosum: 
this is certainly a showy and desirable plant, lasting a long time 
in perfection. The next to succeed the last-named species is D. 
aureum, and the new and rare variety D. aureum var. philip- 
pinense. The earliest plants of D. aureum will in many cases be 
showing their flower buds, and may be removed to a warmer house 
provided they have been kept dry and in a cool house for some time 
past. This is one of the most beautiful and useful of the genus. 
The flowers are not so showy, perhaps, as some of the others, but 
what they lack in colour is more than balanced by the delicious 
perfume they possess, suggestive of Cowslips. D. crassinode and 
D. Wardianum are a little later and are still growing. Every 
attention should be given them in order to have their growths 
completed as soon as possible. D. Wardianum ranks amongst the 
leading species of the genus, but is not always the best to grow. 
When a good plant with several long pseudo-bulbs is in flower it 
is very handsome, the colours are so pleasing; and another point 
in its favour is, the flowers last in perfection for a long time 
provided the plants are removed to a drier and cooler atmosphere. 
D. Pierardii is one of the oldest species in cultivation, having 
been introduced from the East Indies so far back as 1815, and 
well deserves to be grown in every collection. It is of free habit, 
and flowers profusely from every joint when the wood is well 
ripened. The above-named species can be grown in baskets, and 
