288 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 2,18C0. 
us is the most abundant cropper of all among our plants outdoors, 
Daniel’s Crimson Queen and Ham Green showing secondary 
favours. 
It would be most interesting if other readers would give their ex¬ 
perience of the season with regard to the outdoor crop of these 
popular fruits. Reports, so far as I have noticed, have not been 
favourable this year, but there are possibly some districts in which 
Potatoes are not so badly or so early disease-stricken where good 
crops are the rule, at any rate it is to be hoped that it is so. It 
would be considered a boon if good returns were general among 
poor as well as the more wealthy, for they are undoubtedly be¬ 
coming a luxury. Failure of the outdoor fruits and consequent 
higher prices charged, will prevent many from investing in 
them.—W. S. 
Dendrobium Schneiderianum. 
Part 103 of Messrs. B. S. Williams & Son’s valuable “ Orchid 
Album ” gives good coloured illustrations of Vanda teres Candida, 
Zygopetalum crinitum coeruleum, Miltonia Bleuana splendens 
(which has been described and figured in this Journal, but un¬ 
acknowledged in the references accompanying the description), and 
Dendrobium Schneiderianum. Concerning the last we extract 
the following interesting particulars :— 
“ The genus Dendrobium is now a very large one, and the 
number of species and varieties which adorn our stoves are both 
numerous and beautiful. The one whose portrait is here produced 
is most chaste and elegant, arguing well for the rich combinations 
which v e may hope to see when the many seedlings which now are 
in their infancy have arrived at a flowering stage. Natural hybrids 
amongst the species of this genus would not appear to be common, 
but some examples have from time to time appeared to w'hich a 
hybrid origin has been ascribed. These, however, have been 
collected in sufficient quantities to cast a doubt upon this supposi¬ 
tion ; and they have, moreover, been collected in wide and distant 
localities. Our specialists at home have produced a few very beau¬ 
tiful kinds, but it must be confessed that this genus has not received 
the attention at their hands which the Lady’s-slipper family has 
done. The first hybrid Dendrobium was obtained by an old and 
respected friend of ours, Mr. Dominy, when engaged in the nursery 
of the Messrs. Veitch at Exeter, and it very deservedly bears the 
name of Dominianum. It is a very bright and cheerful flower, 
raised between D. nobile and D. Linawlanum, the latter being then 
known under the erroneous name of D. moniliforme. Since then 
we have had D. Ainswortlii and D. Ainsworthi roseum, raised by 
Mr. Mitchell, the last-named variety being figured in these pages, 
t. 20. The same forms were also obtained by Mr. Osborne when 
gardener to II. J. Buchan, Esq., at Southampton. Grander forms 
of the same cross have also been obtained by Mr. Seden at Messrs. 
Veitch’s, in D. splendidissimum and D. splendidissimum grandi- 
florum. D. Leechianum is also a superb form, raised by Mr. Swan 
when at Fallowfield, Manchester. This also is from the same 
parents as the above. Sir Trevor Lawrence has also been a suc¬ 
cessful hybridiser of Dendrobiums, and we have seen some ex¬ 
quisite flowers in his garden at Burford Lodge, Dorking, which 
we hope to be able to figure, and lay before our readers in the early 
future. 
“ The plant, however, whose portrait we here lay before our 
subscribers, is the result of a cross between Dendrobium Find- 
layanum and D. aureum, and is at once beautifully chaste and very 
distinct. The plant was fertilised in the collection of Oscar 
Schneider, Esq., of Fallowfield, Manchester, and the seedlings were 
raised by Mr. Holmes, gardener to C. Moseley, Esq., at Grange- 
thorpe, Rusholme, Manchester, and it is through the kindness of 
Baron Schrceder, The Dell, Staines, that we have been afforded the 
opportunity of laying its beauties before our readers. 
“ Dendrobium Schneiderianum is a plant having much the 
character and appearance of its first-named parent, D. Find- 
layanum, in habit of growth, and its flowers are large and 
showy, mostly produced in pairs on long pedicels. The sepals and 
petals are sub-equal, having the ground colour creamy white, 
tipped with rosy purple. The lip is half rounded at the base with 
an acumimte point, which is also rosy purple, behind which is a 
white zone. The base of the lip is downy, rich orange yellow, 
bearing numerous veins and streaks of orange or purple. The 
plant is deciduous in habit, losing all its leaves before flowering ; 
but so freely are the blooms produced that one does not appear 
to notice the deficiency. The plant appears to be somewhat strong 
in constitution, and will doubtless become stronger as it increases 
in age. It should be planted in good peat fibre and sphagnum 
moss, using some moderate-sized nodules of charcoal to keep the 
whole open and free. This soil requires to be made firm, and 
the drainage must be perfect. We have found it to thrive best 
when treated as a basket plant, and hung up near the glass. 
During the growing season it requires an ample supply of water 
to its roots, and moisture in the atmosphere, but after the pseudo¬ 
bulbs are mature and the leaves begin to fall less heat and less 
water will be necessary ; indeed very little water should be given 
during winter. At the latter part of winter or early in spring 
the plants should be watched for the pushing out of the flowers,, 
and upon these becoming visible gentle waterings should be given,, 
and the temperature in which the plant was wintered may be 
raised a few degrees.” 
GROWING AND SELLING FRUIT. 
C Continued from page 267.') 
Black Currants. 
As regards profit, this is the next fruit on the list, and will 
grow in any situation, although it is not advisable to plant it in a 
poor dry soil. It does best in a rich deep loam which is moist, but 
not too stiff and heavy. 
Planting. —This should be done in the autumn, as for other- 
fruits. The plants should have been grown two years in the 
nursery from the cuttings, and will then yield a nice lot of fruit 
the second season after planting. They are easily raised from 
young shoots about 9 inches long, put in the ground firmly any 
time between September and March, in rows 1^ foot apart, and* 
4 inches between the cuttings. After severe frosts they will 
require pushing into the ground tightly again to make them quite 
firm, or they will not make roots. In the following autumn they 
should be transplanted to 2 feet between the rows and 1 foot from 
plant to plant. The next autumn they should again be lifted, and 
planted 3 feet between the rows and 18 inches apart, and after 
another season’s growth they will be ready for their permanent 
quarters ; but as a rule, bush fruit trees may be bought in quantity 
from 10s. to 15s. per 100, and it is often the cheapest in the end 
to buy plants large enough for planting at once, instead of waiting 
to grow them from cuttings. They should be planted out when 
large enough in rows 5 feet apart each way, or if the ground is 
rich 6 feet apart will be the best. The plants should be “ angled ” 
—that is, the plants in one row should form the point of a triangle 
with the two plants in the next row. By planting them opposite 
the centre of the space, instead of opposite the other trees, they 
may be planted among standard Apples or other fruits, and wili- 
give good crops, although not so much as when they have a plot- 
of ground to themselves. The cost of plants and planting will 
be about £12 per acre. 
Pruning. — In this operation it must always be borne iu 
mind that the Black Currant fruits best on wood made the pre¬ 
ceding summer ; it is therefore best to encourage a free growth 
by cutting out the old wood after it has borne for two or three 
seasons, and training young branches up in its place. To secure 
this end it is not advisable to grow Black Currants on short 
stems, as is often done with Red Currants, as they are all the 
better if they throw up strcng young shoots from the roots 
occasionally. In pruning young plants raised from cuttings 
they should be cut back until five or six good strong shoots are 
obtained to form a tree. These should then be left full length,, 
and any small shoots cut back to one bud. After this all shoots 
that cross others may be cut out yearly, and the weakest shoots 
cut close so as to obtain a nice even shaped tree, with an open 
centre like a teacup. All branches that droop down lower than 1$ 
inches from the ground should be cut off, as fruit that gets 
splashed with dirt is of no use in the market, and only fit for wine¬ 
making. All old wood that is becoming weak should be cut out,, 
and if a plantation begins to fail from old age it may be cut down 
to the ground and given a heavy dressing of manure. One year’s 
crop will thus be quite lost and part of another, but the fruit will 
be much larger afterwards on the young shoots which spring up- 
abundantly from the old roots. After pruning is over the ground 
between Black Currants should always be forked over, putting 
manure on first if the ground is poor. Black Currants are some¬ 
times pruned as “great or piecework,” at about Is. per hundred 
trees. 
Marketing the Fruit. —In districts where large quantities 
of this fruit are grown they are generally gathered by women at 
4d. to 8d. per half sieve (about half a bushel), according to the 
crop. They should not be allowed to get soft before gathering, or 
