January 11, 1883. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
23 
such rows and produce are obtained as were seen by many 
competent judges at Riverdale last year the Duke of Albany 
will establish itself, as it promises to do, as a standard Pea 
both for exhibition and culinary purposes.—J. Wright. 
BLACK ALICANTE GRAPES. 
This handsome variety is much grown, and is justly admired 
as being a showy late Grape. Perhaps a few notes on some of its 
peculiarities may be of use to those who may be about to plant 
vineries. 
This Grape when well ripened keeps remarkably well, and 
when not sufficiently ripened it often turns black in the stalk. 
Bottled, it keeps much better than Gros Col man, and almost as 
well as Lady Downe’s. When the laterals grow strongly they are 
extremely difficult to tie down to the wires, having generally to 
be left untied for sometime after other varieties in the same stage 
of growth have been tied down. 
Another peculiarity is that sometimes the bunches are produced 
on the extreme end of the lateral, and are consequently rather 
awkward to deal with ; they are also sometimes found growing 
upwards instead of downwards. 
Thinning the Alicante is no joke, as it sets so thickly and 
has so many small berries among the larger that cannot be 
knocked off by syringing, as in the case of other varieties. Black 
Alicante has a tendency to showsmall bunches, and, indeed, some¬ 
times fails to show any when the rods become old ; and much is 
gained in point of having well-shaped bunches and plenty of them, 
by either planting young Vines, which can be easily done without 
interfering with the rods under crop. In spite of these pecu¬ 
liarities Black Alicante is much in favour with many, and where 
a showy late Grape is wanted intending planters should not let 
its peculiarities exclude it from a place in their lists. 
Many admirers of the Alicante maintain that it has a better 
flavour than Lady Downe’s and Gros Colman. My estimate of it 
would place it before Gros Colman and behind Lady Downe’s for 
flavour. 
The number of stones in each berry is rather against Alicante 
when being eaten, and sometimes when it is not thoroughly 
ripened a tough skin and a mouthful of water and stones are what 
the consumer is rewarded with. 
When in its best condition Alicante is possessed of a certain 
freshness in the mouth, that in some measure compensates for the 
tough skin and numerous stones. No variety can equal Alicante 
for bloom, and when seen in its best form it is really a handsome 
Grape. It will bear heavy cropping with greater impunity than 
any other variety, hence it is a great favourite with many market 
growers, some of whom do not hesitate to take two bunches off 
most of the shoots, and have the bunches so close together that 
very little roof space is left uncovered. This extremely heavy 
cropping tends, however, to weaken even such a sturdy Vine as 
the Alicante, and frequent renewals are required. Gros Colman 
has in some measure taken the place of Alicante in many of the 
market places round London ; still large quantities of the Alicante 
are grown.—A Market Grower. 
ONCIDIUMS. 
(Continued from page 587, last vol .) 
Amongst the strange modifications of Orchid flowers the 
similarity which some assume to insects or birds is very remark¬ 
able, and in some well-known instances the resemblance is so 
striking that it has given rise to the specific names. Several 
examples of this occur amongst the British terrestrial Orchids, 
particularly in the genus Ophrys, in which are species named 
O. aranifera, O. fuscifera, 0. muscifera, O. tabanifera, O. apifera, 
and 0. tenthredinifera, from their resemblance to spiders, drones, 
flies, dunflies, bees, and sawflies. Instances of this character are, 
however, not so common in the tropical Orchids as might be ex¬ 
pected, considering the extraordinary forms assumed by so many, 
and which are so obviously adapted to insure cross-fertilisation. 
Of the tropical imitative species perhaps none is more singular 
and beautiful than the Butterfly Orchid—O. Papilio—which is so 
distinct from all its relatives, if we except 0. Kramerianum, 
apparently merely a variety of the former, that it has been con¬ 
sidered by some as constituting a different genus. This plant, 
moreover, is one of the few that has handsome foliage, and even 
the pseudo-bulbs are attractive in no ordinary degree, both that 
and the former being mottled with dark green and brown. The 
flowers are borne singly at the extremity of a long peduncle, and 
bear a fantastic resemblance to the general conformation of a 
butterfly, one of the chief characters that give rise to this simi¬ 
larity being the three sepals, which are long, narrow, and directed 
upwards, forcibly reminding us of the proboscis and antenna? of 
the Lepidoptera. The petals are much broader, not so long, the 
margin undulated, and yellow with orange, brown, or chocolate 
transverse irregular bars. The lip is rounded, narrowed at the 
base, and indented at the outer margin, bright yellow in the 
centre, and broadly margined with reddish or orange-brown. 
There are several varieties diliering greatly in the size and 
colouring, and some are comparatively worthless, such, for in¬ 
stance, as was figured in vol. xi. of the “Botanical Register.” 
The best varieties are, however, extremely fine, and the long 
period the flowers remain in perfection is an additional recom¬ 
mendation of great value. Indeed, the plant is in flower at all 
times of the year ; but the bloom or spike should never be cut, as 
fresh flowers are produced at the top after the old one has faded, 
the spike thus continuing on the plant for a great length of time. 
It is not difficult of cultivation, and may be grown either in a pot 
or on a block, preferably in a warm house with the other heat- 
loving Orchids, though it also succeeds well in an intermediate or 
cool house, and if placed in such a structure when the plant is in 
flower it lasts even longer than usual in a higher temperature. A 
compost of peat, sphagnum, and small potsherds or pieces of 
charcoal suit it when in a pot, and the same compost is the best 
that can be employed for all Oncids under culture in pots. The 
species was introduced by Sir Ralph Woodford, Governor of 
Trinidad, in 1825, so that it is quite an old friend now ; but its 
ally, a variety, 0. Kramerianum, which differs chiefly in the 
deeper colour of the flowers, is of much later introduction, and 
has now only been in cultivation about ten years. It is very 
handsome, and a great favourite with orchidists. Several other 
species of Oncidiums are supposed to resemble insects, animals, or 
birds in their flowers, such as 0. raniferum, which has small 
purple and yellow flowers somewhat like a frog, while the column 
of 0. pelicanum has been considered like a “ pelican pecking its 
breast,” and by a little stretch of the imagination the similarity 
may be perceived. Both these are comparatively rare, and by no 
means so attractive as the showy Butterfly Oncid. 
0. macranthum. —The woodcut (fig. 6) represents a flower of 
average size of this very distinct and beautiful Oncid, for the 
better varieties now well merit the designation “ beautiful,” as 
with other Orchids, in this genus the eailier forms are not equal 
to some of these subsequently obtained by introduction or selec¬ 
tion. The species is a native of New Granada and Peru, and it 
