July 31, 1890. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
89 
The soil should be kept moderately dry at the time the flower 
spikes begin to develop, and by the time these are half grown 
water must be entirely withheld from the roots. This will cause 
all the foliage to fall off, but that does not matter ; indeed, it is 
the right process, and from then onwards no more water should be 
given to the roots. Sometimes when some of our pseudo-bulbs 
chanced to become wet from a drip from the roof after the foliage 
was gone the spikes have not developed so well as the totally dry 
ones. As soon as the flowers are over, which may be in January, 
the plant must be kept dry still, either by laying the pots down on 
their side in a dry place or shaking the plant from the soil alto¬ 
gether. In both cases keep the pseudo-bulbs in a temperature 
from 50° to 60°, but towards the end of February or early in 
March attend to them for another year. 
I have then tried various ways, but will only state the plan that 
answers best. This was to place a layer of sphag¬ 
num moss in the bottom of a cutting box, place the 
pseudo-bulbs upright and about 2 inches apart from 
each other on the top of this, and then pack more 
moss firmly between them, but not more than half¬ 
way up the pseudo-bulb. They are then slightly 
watered and placed in a temperature of about 70°. 
The moss is merely kept moist, not saturated. In a 
short time the roots are emitted, and they soon push 
into the moss. The young growths which spring 
-from the base soon appear after this, and when 
these are about 3 inches high the plants are taken 
from the moss and potted. I have tried them in 
3-inch pots, and then transferred when ready to 
6-inch or 7-inch pots. I have also potted them 
from the moss into the latter size, and of the two 
ways I prefer the last-named. One good pseudo¬ 
bulb is sufficient for a 6-inch pot, but a number 
may be placed into an 8-inch or 9-inch pot if 
desired, one-quarter filled with drainage. The pot¬ 
ting material should consist of peat, loam, and 
charcoal, with a little horse droppings, the small 
material sifted and removed from this as much as 
possible, as the fleshy roots delight to penetrate a 
rough mixture. They will not thrive in a close, 
adhesive soil, and this accounts for many cases of 
failure amongst Calanthes. The material should 
be pressed firmly into the pots, and the pseudo¬ 
bulb must not be deeper than is sufficient to keep 
it quite firm. After potting, place them where 
the temperature is from 65° to 70°, and do not 
give any water until the roots are penetrating the 
soil. This is one of the main secrets in securing 
a free and luxuriant first growth. I have known 
■fine promising bulbs to be ruined by being watered 
too soon after potting. They may, however, be 
slightly syringed, but not sufficiently to saturate 
the soil. When once growth has begun freely 
they will be benefited by the most copious supplies 
of water, and in July, August, and September 
liquid manure may be given them twice weekly 
with advantage. They will succeed in any warm pit in summer, 
and they should not be heavily shaded at any time.—J. M. 
Cypripedium Germinyanum. 
A hybrid between C. hirsutissimum and C. villosum, very 
■distinct amongst the numerous hybrid Cypripediums raised during 
recent years. The flowers are of good and excellent shape, the 
petals somewhat resembling C. hirsutissimum in colouring ; the 
dorsal sepal is, however, green, with bold deep brownish stripes. 
The lip is like that of C. villosum in colour. The plant was 
shown by Mr. H. M. Pollett and Messrs. J. Yeitch & Sons at the 
meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society on January 11th, when 
certificates were awarded by the Orchid Committee. 
OUTDOOR FIGS. 
“ The fresh fruit of the Fig is very agreeable,” states Dr. 
Hogg in his “Vegetable Kingdom,” page 676, “ and many varieties 
are cultivated in this country for that purpose. In some parts of 
the coast of Sussex they grow freely and bear abundant crops 
as standards in the open air, but they are generally grown against 
walls and in fruit houses.” We find this tree is about as generally 
grown as Vine?., or rather Grapes, against walls in this country. 
There is mostly a tree or two in gardens against walls, showing 
what they are capable of in leaf production, but the fruit is not 
given to many to eat through the scantiness or uncertainty of its crops. 
There seems something wrong in our management of the Fig. Grow 
it does splendidly, but it seems not to produce its fruit in nine 
seasons of ten in a full and satisfactory crop. True there are 
instances of its succeeding with little or no attention, whilst in 
others it makes a grand display of leaves and somewhat profuse 
array of fruit that do not remain long enough to become fleshy. 
Indeed many that have or had Fig trees are little acquainted with 
its fruit in a fresh state as “ a wholesome and agreeable” one, not 
to mention the nutritive value, which from forming “great part of 
the food of certain peoples of Africa, and even the peasantry of 
some parts of Italy and Spain,” must be considerable. This paucity 
of a most desirable fruit in a generality of desserts is much to 
be regretted, as pectoral ailments are a peculiarity of the British 
climate, especially of the feebler sex, and demulcent as well as 
emollient properties give this fruit a peculiar fitness as a dietary in 
Fig. 12.—Cypripedium Germinyanum. 
highly civilised communities Apart from these considerations 
dishes of Figs, fresh, ripe, and bursting their skins with lusciousness, 
are most welcome, if for nothing less than affording variety at 
dessert. As they, however, are generally grown, this seems ex¬ 
tremely uncertain of accomplishment for taking the trees, as they 
obtain not as many dishes of fruit (and it only takes six fruits of 
the larger kinds to make a full sized one) are forthcoming in a 
season as trees. This is mostly attributed to the climate, which 
seems to be invariably at fault whenever an excuse has to be made 
! or a difficulty arises in giving a satisfactory explanation of crop 
failures. Climate is no doubt an important factor—indeed the first 
consideration in the cultivation of exotic fruits, particularly those 
from “ sunnier climes,” but it is not everything, and it is difficult to 
account for a tree proving sterile in one soil whilst fruitful m 
another. 
The Fig is a fruit of undeniable wholesomeness. Ripe fresh 
Figs are always dear, and that is admittance of appreciation as 
well as a proof of scarcity. This must arise from cost or difficulty 
of production but in what particular respect is conjectural, as with 
a fair amount of means and care in culture the Fig can be pro¬ 
duced as certainly and as profitably as any other fruit. I he Fig as 
a hardy fruit may never become so popular and common as Apples, 
but there is no reason why it should not be available in a 
fresh state. We read that it is a native of the East—the oldest 
historical tree—and so conclude it is tender, much tenderer than it 
really is, and not only that, but set to cultivating it on precon¬ 
ceived notions of its roasting heat requirements and unsuitability 
consequently to our dull, cold, moisture-laden, murky climate. It 
