JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
592 
[ December 30, 1880. 
square of glass, and this should be slightly elevated to allow of the 
condensed water to escape ; resting on the labels is sufficient. Place 
the pots in a temperature of 55° to 60°, and if plunged in a gentle 
bottom heat the cuttings will strike more readily. This, however, 
is not absolutely necessary, for they will strike freely in the heat 
named, only they take a little longer in making robust plants. 
The best time of the year for striking them is in the early spring 
months, from the first week in February to the end of April, and 
securing a succession of plants at different times prolongs the 
blooming period similarly. As soon as the young plants com¬ 
mence growing remove the glass for a few days and pot them off 
singly in CO-size pots, returning them to the same house until fresh 
roots are formed on the plants, after which they succeed best in a 
cold frame until the nights are warm enough to allow them to be 
arranged out of doors, which is generally from the middle to the 
end of May. On all favourable occasions while sheltering the 
plants in a cold frame draw off the lights to keep the plants as 
robust and short-jointed as possible. 
After the plants have well rooted in their new soil and have 
grown from 8 to 9 inches in height pinch out the point of the 
leading shoot; this will cause three or four breaks, which, as they 
advance in growth, should be secured to neat sticks. This is all 
the training that is required for ordinary purposes. Some varie¬ 
ties are apt to grow lanky, but nevertheless bloom freely, and 
they can be trained to a very large size and kept in good health 
for three or four years. Mr. Blackley of Leyton exhibited a 
plant of La Belle in 1871 trained on a balloon trellis nearly 5 feet 
in height and several feet in circumference, but as a general rule 
it has been found that the finest flowers are produced from the 
younger or one-year-old plants, and the plants mostly bloom in 
the second year more profusely than the first. After they are 
about three years of age they are not so satisfactory as younger 
plants, hence the necessity for annual propagation. The robust 
varieties may be shifted into 8-inch pots, so that they may 
not be allowed to suffer by becoming rootbound. When the 
plants are placed out of doors during the hot summer months a 
good syringing twice a day will be highly beneficial to them in 
keeping red spider in check. By no means must they be allowed 
to suffer at the roots through insufficient supplies of water, or the 
lower leaves will turn yellow and the health of the plant will be 
impaired. Fumigate to keep green fly in check. By constant 
attention to these details a very useful batch of plants may be 
secured. They should be placed in a cool greenhouse early in 
October, giving them plenty of air and keeping the atmosphere 
tolerably dry, and they will flower throughout the winter. The 
following varieties are all good :— 
La Belle (Blackley).—Flowers pure white, perfectly double, 
and delightfully fragrant; very free bloomer. 
Miss Joliffe (Masters).—Pale pmk or flesh colour ; very fragrant 
and fine. 
Sir Garnet Wolseley. —Buff ground, large flowers, striped, and 
edged with bright red ; a very distinct and useful variety. 
Souvenir de Malmaison. —Very large flowers, rosy flesh, and 
very fragrant, but blooming earlier in the season. 
A. Alegatiere (Alegahere). —Bright scarlet medium-size flowers ; 
robust habit, dwarf and free flowering. 
Celestial (Turner).—Bose edge ; very free and distinct. 
King of the Belgians (Turner).—Beautiful deep rose colour ; 
fine large flower, but not as free a grower as some. 
Guelder Bose (Turner).—Pure white, beautifully fringed ; very 
free. 
Bose Perfection (Turner).—Bose; very fine ; bright and smooth. 
Duke of Wellington, Gloire de Lyon, and Scarlet Defiance are a 
trio of fine scarlet varieties. 
There are numerous other varieties in cultivation, of which 
mention may be made of Princess Christian, Princess Beatrice, 
Marchioness of Westminster, Favourite, White Swan, Prosper- 
pine, and Bosy Morn, all raised by Mr. Turner of Slough, and 
may be added to a large collection if required.— A Florist. 
SELECT VEGETABLES. 
The time is again at hand when all who grow vegetables will 
be called upon to select the varieties which they intend cultivating 
in 1881. To those who only know the names in the seed lists it 
may appear that any or all might be ordered and grown with 
equally good results ; but such is not the case, as anyone who 
grows a great variety of vegetables soon ascertains that some 
which may be highly praised in the seed list are comparatively 
worthless, while others that are not so highly recommended are 
excellent. Those with means to grow many vegetables on trial 
will soon prove this to be correct, but others less favourably 
situated may spend much money and time and have inferior 
crops before a proper selection can be made. To avoid this a 
trustworthy selection may be acceptable to many, and the fol¬ 
lowing have been selected after repeated trials. Where only one 
of each kind is wanted the first named should be taken, but the 
list is as short and select as possible, and for convenience I will 
proceed in alphabetical order :— Asparagus. —Giant. Artichokes. 
—Globe, Green, Jerusalem. Broad Beans. — Early Improved 
Longford, Main Crop, Carter’s Leviathan. Dwarf Kidney Beans. 
—Canadian Wonder, Osborn’s Forcing, Carter’s White Advancer. 
Runner Beans. —Suttons’ Giant White. Beet. —Dell’s Crimson. 
Brussels Sprouts. —Suttons’ Matchless, Dalkeith Improved. Broc¬ 
coli. —First, Veitch’s Self-protecting Autumn; second, Osborn’s 
Winter White; third, Cooling’s Matchless; Fourth, Carter’s 
Summer; fifth, Suttons’ Queen. Cucumber (house and frame).— 
Telegraph (ridge), King of the Bidge. Cauliflower. —Carter’s 
Extra Early, Veitch’s Autumn Giant, Suttons’ King of the Cauli¬ 
flowers. Cabbage. —Carter’s Early Heartwell Marrow, Main Crop, 
Dickson’s Bed Braes, Late Bosette Colewort. Celery. —Major 
Clarke’s Bed, Sandringham White. Carrot. —Early Short Horn, 
Main Crop, James’ Intermediate. Endive. —Green Curled. Leek. 
—Musselburgh. Lettuce. —Wheeler’s Tom Thumb, Giant White, 
All the Year Bound. Onion. —Improved Beading, Naseby Mam¬ 
moth, Webb’s Banbury, Trebons. Parsnip. —The Student. Par¬ 
sley. —Myatt’s Garnishing, Carter’s Fern-leaved. Peas. —Wil¬ 
liam I., Carter’s Stratagem, Carter’s Telephone, Culverwell’s 
Telegraph, Laxton’s Omega, Ne Plus Ultra. Bhubarb. —Albert, 
St. Martin’s. Badish. —French Breakfast, Scarlet Turnip, Chinese 
Bose. Spinach. —Bound and Prickly. Tomato. —Carter’s Green 
Gage, Vick’s Criterion, The Conqueror. Turnip. —Carter’s New 
Jersey Lily, Snowball, White Stone, Chirk Castle. Vegetable 
Marrow, —Custard, Moore’s Cream.— J. Muir, Margam. 
ZYGOPETALUMS. 
Orchids might be appropriately and popularly classified in 
three sections that would better indicate their respective value to 
growers than do the more exact botanical system in use. The 
first and most important section would include all the numerous 
useful Orchids—namely, those that are easily grown and have 
handsome flowers borne freely ; the second would contain such 
species as have beautiful but rarely produced flowers, and are 
difficult of culture ; the third I should appropriate to the Orchids 
remarkable for structural or other peculiarities. Where only a 
few of the abundant forms in cultivation can be grown the 
selection is generally made from the useful section, but where the 
proprietor’s means and enthusiasm are greater the others will be 
also deservedly represented. Fortunately really useful Orchids 
are now by no means scarce, and a collection of moderate size 
may be formed containing species and varieties that will maintain 
a succession of charming flowers through a large portion of the 
year. During winter flowers of all kinds are particularly accept¬ 
able ; and in consequence, with Orchids as with other plants, those 
which flower at that time and possess some attractions are in¬ 
variably greatly admired—more, perhaps, than they would be at 
any other period, for when the blooms are abundant the beauty 
of all except the most showy species is necessarily somewhat 
paled. Among the useful Orchids that are further recommended 
by their habit of flowering in the dull season the genus Zygo- 
petalum is especially noteworthy, as it includes several species 
which, though not entitled to rank with the most brilliant of 
the order, yet possess a distinctive beauty that is scarcely sur¬ 
passed. They are also marked by their freedom of growth and 
the durability of the flowers ; and though the forms are not 
equally attractive they are all worth growing, particularly those 
which bloom about the present time. Such being their recom¬ 
mendation to notice, a few remarks regarding their culture, history, 
and characteristics may be serviceable to anyone who has not 
grown them, or only one or two of the best known forms. 
Zygopetalum is a genus of terrestrial and epiphytal Orchids in¬ 
habiting tropical South America, Brazil being the head quarters, one 
species only extending the range to Africa. Nearly twenty species 
and varieties have been enumerated in cultivation, but some are 
rare and others not very attractive, though a dozen admirable forms 
can be selected. The genus was founded by Sir William Hooker, 
who gave the first technical description, the name being derived 
from two Greeks words, and refers to the union of the petals below 
—one of the distinctive characters. It is included in the tribe 
Vandese. The cultivation, as already indicated, is easy, all of the 
forms succeeding under culture in pots in an ordinary warm 
Orchid house. Similar temperature to that afforded Cattleyas suits 
them admirably, with a soil of peat, sphagnum moss, and charcoal 
broken finely, the drainage being very carefully attended to. 
During growth they need abundance of water, but when matured 
