September 4, 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
209 
nail or penknife, and this process must go on with systematic 
regularity until the corn is worked down to the root, and the 
root comes away clear; then that corn is done away with, and 
^sy sensible boots or shoes must hereafter be the rule of wear. 
The boots and shoes must be made to fit the feet, not the head, 
as 18 too often the case when we are young, and smooth and com- 
^rtable hose, either cotton or wo >1, must be worn in addition. 
The secret of cure is regular applications of the vinegar, and 
easy well-fitting boots afterwards. 
The other tormentors are strictly professional ones, and they 
are moles. Moles in a garden are a nuisance and a torment 
in .any portion of it. They are specially a source of worry and 
annoyance to the gardener when they get into a seed bed, but 
this spring I found them the greatest trouble and vexation in 
my tennis ground. This ground abuts on to the park, there 
being only an iron fence between them, and the moles appear to 
delight in coming my way, and have often teased me by their 
persistent attempts to come on to the tennis ground. This 
spring one or two attempts were made, and so perseveringly 
made, too, that I got desperate, and, failing to entice them into 
tiaps, I was almost at my wit’s end. Having, however, read 
somewhere that petroleum poured into their runs would drive 
them away, I did so, and gave a good dressing to every run, with 
the result that not another mole movement have I had on the 
ground since. Here, then, are two remedies for two garden 
torments. ^ I give them for what they are worth. They are not 
original discoveries of mine; I never found out anything but 
1 learnt afterwards that somebody had known it for ages. 1 
have tried and proved both these, and can therefore recommend 
them.—H., Notts. 
ORCHID NOTES. 
Shading Dendrobitjms. —It is only by experience and 
observation that it can be determined what shading should be 
applied to some Orchids. To subject the whole to the same 
treatment as regards shade is sure to end in disappointment. It 
IS clearly evident that some need what may be termed dense 
shade while making their growth if their pseudo-bulbs are to 
lengthen out as is natural, while others require more light. The 
beautiful and now popular D. Wardianum requires what may be 
termed dense shade until its growth is completed. The con¬ 
ditions of a vinery filled with Black Hamburgh Grapes, where 
the foliage covers the roof completely, as is necessary to colour 
the fruit of that variety, will afford the shade necessary for this 
Dendrobium. When the roof is well covered strong light is neces¬ 
sarily excluded, and similar conditions should be given whether 
grown in the stove. Orchid house, or any other structure. The 
rays of the sun bring the growth of this variety to a standstill 
prematurely. The foliage, instead of being deep green, assumes 
a yellow sickly appearance ; the points of the leaves commence 
£ijid half the foliage is gone by the time a short stunted 
growth is completed. The pseudo-bulbs of plants grown in the 
light ai’e short and poor in comparison to those grown in a more 
shaded position, and they fail to produce so many fine flowers, 
simply because .the pseudo-bulbs are considerably less. The 
whole of the foliage should be retained by the plant in a healthy 
condition until growth is completed, when the plants should be 
gradually exposed to more light and air to properly ripen and 
mature them. The plants must by no means be exposed all at 
once to the sun, for this operation requires to be carefully jier- 
formed, or they will ripen prematurely instead of slowly and 
surely. 
D. primulinum also requires a very shady place in which to 
make its growth; in fact, it will do well in a similar position to 
D. Wardianum. Up to this year we had grown our plants in 
the darkest end of the stove. This position suited them 
admirably until the small terminal leaf made its appearance, 
when they were gradually exposed to more light and air. This 
year we thought of having finer and larger pseudo-bulbs, and in 
consequence gave the plants a much lighter position, and the 
result has been sickly foliage all the season, and growths of 
about half the size of previous ones. They will be returned to 
their old position to make their growth another year, and we 
doubt not with more satisfactory results than have been attained 
by giving them too much light. 
Dendrobium crassinode and D. heterocarpum have improved 
wonderfully since they have been exposed to every ray of light 
possible. The joints of the former are closer together and very 
much stouter, while they are equally as long; in fact, in every 
way display a marked improvement on the growths made during 
previous years. The pseudo-bulbs of the latter, although not so 
long, are more than twice as thick as when grown in the shade, 
and are evidently in the best possible condition for flowering 
well. We have generally observed that firm, sturdy, stout 
pseudo-bulbs of this species always flower with greater profusion 
than those of slender growth and greater length. To produce 
thick sturdy growth abundance of light is needed, in order to 
cultivate a number of Dendrobiums well it is clear that the con¬ 
ditions suitable for each must be considered and provided for as 
far as possible. 
Pruning Dendrobiums. —From time to time much has been 
written on this subject both for and against the system. I have 
now tried it, and find that plants of Dendrobium crassinode do 
as well when cut over after fiowering the same as an herbaceous 
Phlox as what they do when a number of exhausted and half¬ 
dead stems are allowed to remain upon the plant The system 
of pruning so long condemned, generally by those who have 
never practised it, should commend itself to all growers of Den¬ 
drobiums who love to have their plants neat in appearance, for 
those pruned are much neater than those that are not. When 
the growths made are as fine, if not superior, to those on un¬ 
pruned plants —to say nothing of the neatness of the one com¬ 
pared with the other—prejudice must give place to facts, and 
the system before long will find favour with the majority and 
become popular. Experiments have not been conducted with 
this variety only, for D. Wardianum and D heterocarpum have 
been subjected to the same treatment, the only difference being 
that the last-named has two sets of pseudo-bulbs-those made 
this year and the last season’s growths from which flowers will 
be produced. At one time 1 disbelieved in the pruning of Den- 
dr-.)biums, but my ideas wmre based entirely upon theory; but 
practical experience has convinced me, since 1 have had an 
opportunity of testing the matter, that these plants may with 
advantage be annually pruned. 
Calanthes. —These plants are now very popular and find a 
place in the majority of gardens, and in many are wonderfully 
well grown. It has not, I think, been pointed out that when fine 
pseudo bulbs are required, in preference to increasing the stock 
that they may be disbudded; strong pseudo-bulbs produce two 
growths, and neither of them at the end of the season ds quite 
so large as the parent from which they have sprung. If the 
wmakest, if there is any diffei*ence, is removed and only one left, 
it will attain a much larger size than if the two be allowed to 
remain ; in fact, it will develope to a larger size than the pseudo¬ 
bulb that supported it in its early stages. — Scientia. 
THOUGHTS ON CURRENT TOPICS. 
When “An Old Gardener” wrote a few weeks ago on over¬ 
crowding, and suggested a number of wrongs, I was emboldened to 
think somewhat freely in respect of his communication, which, how¬ 
ever, was a useful one. I do not feel competent to take any similar 
liberties with his article last week. The subject on which he writes 
is a serious one—namely, the prospective scarcity of staple crops, 
and the inconvenience and discomfort that may follow b}'’ possible 
forgetfulness of the cause of the breakdown if it occurs next spring 
in the vegetable supply._ 
Cultivators will not be likely to forget the impediments of the 
present season, nor the anxiety they experienced as they waited day 
after day for the rain that did not come, but which was absolutely 
essential for enabling them to ensure an abundant successional supply 
of garden produce ; but though gardeners will not forget that they 
could neither sow nor plant at the proper time, will the owners of 
gardens remember the obstacles encountered when cooks complain 
of the scarcity of certain articles, which it is only reasonable to 
suppose will be felt sooner or later ? That is a question of no small 
moment, affecting, as it must do so intimately, the position of men 
who have struggled through a memorable and trying season in 
endeavouring to meet to the utmost extent of their power prospective 
wants. 
I thought when I read your correspondent’s remarks on this 
aspect of the question that he had experienced something that he 
feared might be in store for others—namely, censure undeserved by 
want of the necessary thought to enable the whole particulars of a 
difficulty to be fully comprehended ; and as half the misunderstand¬ 
ings that occur arise from the circumstances that lead to them being 
inadequately understood, I also thought he did well to register the 
events of the present that are calculated to have such a direct 
influence on contingent failures in the future, and of which it is not 
always easy to offer a satisfactory explanation at the time they occur. 
I DO not think either that anyone else should think that such 
reminders should be regarded in any way as an apology in advance 
for a temporary collapse that the experienced cultivator foresees, 
