JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
March 8, 1883. ] 
193 
1. Second or third week in March. Hart’s Selected Ashleaf, Beauty 
of Hebron, *Climax or Early Goodrich. *Early Rose, and *Kentish 
Invicta. Soil.—Light and chalky land. 2. Covent Garden Perfection, 
*Pride of America, *Beauty of Kent, and *Woodstock Kidney. 3. 
*Late Rose, *Magnum Bonum, Reading Hero, and *Adirondac or 
Schoolmaster. Soil.—All of these are good on light and medium 
soils. On bog land Schoolmaster is the best, and I have found it for 
four years quite free from disease ; but it is of no use for general 
field culture, being perhaps the most ill-shaped tuber in cultivation. 
Manures and Application.— Th^re is nothing like good farmyard 
manure kept over a year and turned several times. I have used 
this for the past eight years in growing my show Potatoes for the 
International Exhibition. I have tried some chemicals, the best of 
which I have found has been Amies’. General Culture.—To insure 
a good crop have the land turned up roughly during the winter 
months, and though it may seem an expensive matter, I think that 
we. should find that to dig the ground for Potatoes would be the way 
to insure larger crops. Another great secret is in keeping the soil 
well worked amongst them till the haulm is strong. I usually 
plant the sets 2 feet apart for Ashleafs and early kinds, 2 feet 6 or 
9 inches for strong-growing kinds, but I always have a second crop 
to come on in them, either Savoys, Brussels Sprouts, Kale, or Purple 
Top Mammoth Turnip, and this year I tried a small piece of Swedes, 
but the soil was too poor.— Fred. T. Hart, Fctversham. 
(To be continued.) 
ZYGOPETALUM MACKAYI AND ITS VARIETIES. 
Of what are known as “good all-round ” Orchids the true old 
Zygopetalum Mackayi is certainly not the worst, blooming as it 
generally does during the dull winter months, when flowers are 
scarce and flowers with a summer-like fragrance most valued. 
But what is the true Z. Mackayi? Well, you can look at the 
figures in the “Botanical Register” for 1844, or in Loddiges’ 
“Botanical Cabinet,” 1136, where a form of it is figured as Z. in¬ 
termedium; then in the latter work, t. 1674, is Z. Mackayi, so 
also in Paxton’s “ Magazine of Botany,” vol. iii., t. 97 ; in Lind- 
ley’s “ Sertum Orchidaceum,” t. 7, as in “ Botanical Magazine,” 
t. 2748. Perhaps, having looked at all these portraits, you will 
be “ a bit fuzzy,” as is the description applied by plain Yorkshire 
folk to a man in that state when he can swear to “ two moons at 
once.” At any rate, none of these figures, good as they may be, 
do full justice to the plant dedicated to the memory of J. Towns- 
hend Mackay, LL.D., the first Curator of the Trinity College Bo¬ 
tanical Gardens at Dublin, and figured in this Journal last week, 
page 179. The fact is, in going about pretty frequently from one 
good garden to another oDe becomes convinced that this “ grand 
old man ” amongst Orchids is very variable also, there being in¬ 
deed a sliding scale of these variations from Z. Mackayi minor, a 
pretty little thing with flowers an inch or so in diameter, up 
through the forms known as Z. intermedium or Z. velutinum of 
Loddiges’, until, having ascended a “Jacob’s ladder ” of seven or 
eight steps at tbe least, we find size and beauty and fragrance 
all combined in what we call the true old Z. Mackayi, but which 
is often known as Z. Mackayi giganteum in the few gardens where 
it is o be found. 
We have prepared a few figures of the most distinct of the 
variations which, apart from present interest, will, we hope, be 
valuable for future reference, for among other of our daily expe¬ 
riences we find that, however often anything is settled in the gar¬ 
dening press we represent, the same question is certain to crop 
up again, and in questions of this peculiar kind figures are so much 
Fig. 54.—Zygopetalum intermedium type. 
more eloquent than any amount of merely descriptive matter. 
Fig. 53 represents Z. Mackayi as often seen, but it is a variety 
smaller and paler in colour than the true species. Fig. 54 is Z. in¬ 
termedium, Loddiges’ type ; and fig. 55 (page 195) a distinct variety 
of the same. Most of the controversy relating to newly introduced 
Orchids and other plants might be prevented by a good figure 
being given as soon after its introduction as may be. If an im- — 
porter knows for certain what his plants really are he can readily 
get a good and faithful likeness of it, and if he does not know the 
less “ descriptive matter ” he indulges in the better. This much 
en 2 >assant; but now we must return to our text. If possible 
“ first catch your hare ”—that is, procure a plant of the true old 
Z. Mackayi ; if not that, then secure the best variety you may. 
It is easily grown. Although Brazilian it makes grand growth in 
a cool airy house during summer. The largest growths we ever 
saw were made in a cool, moist, airy, and partially shaded Odon- 
toglossum house. Everyone admired them, but, alas ! they did 
not flower, and one’s employer is apt to fancy “ nothing but 
leaves”—no return for cultural expenses. The Mexican-house 
temperature was next tried : 90° on hot days, no shade, no fire 
heat at night, when the temperature fell to 45° or 50° very often. 
So grown the bulbs were smaller, the leaves shorter, and almost 
yellow rather than green, but the growths were sturdy and vigor¬ 
ous. Some gave two spikes, each spike bearing seven to nine 
flowers. Once in flower the blossoms are deliciously fragrant, and 
endure fresh for five or six weeks. Singularly enough the flowers 
lose the i - odour as night approaches—a curious contrast to those 
of the Angrrecums, Nicotiana affinis, and other plants, which only 
become fragrant as darkness approaches. A compost of fibrous 
peat, sphagnum, and broken crocks is most suitable, and abund¬ 
ance of water when growing should be the rule.— Zygos. 
EARLY and LATE-FLOWERING CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
Seeing inquiries in the Journal about late-flowering Chrys¬ 
anthemums, I beg to state my experience in securing a supply of 
blooms from the middle of November to February 19th from 
about eighty varieties. The first to come into flower were Mrs. 
Dixon, Gluck, Jardin des Plantes, Emily Dale, Mrs. Geo. Rundle, 
White and Golden Beverley, Mrs. Cunningham, Queen of England, 
Mrs. Huffington, Empress of India, and many others in succes¬ 
sion. About Christmas I had a quantity of fine blooms to cut 
from. On Friday, 19th of January, I was requested in particular 
to cut a tray of Chrysanthemum blooms for a ball, the following 
being the varieties :—Cherub, Novelty, Julia Lagravfue, Mr. Astie, 
Golden Cedo Nulli, Peter the Great, St. Michael. General Brain- 
bridge, Aregina, White Cedo Nulli, Lady Slade, Miss Hope, Miss 
Mary Morgan, Faust, Guernsey Nugget, Blonde Beauty, White 
Eve, Lady Hardinge, Eleanor, Mr. Howe (which I consider to be 
one of the best), White Christine, Duke of Edinburgh, and a few 
others. After that 4 received orders from my employers to save 
a few blooms if possible until the middle of February, as they 
