Jnly 22, 1886. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
71 
precise kind of soil the Box dislikes, but we may say that where Sorrel is 
found very abundantly it is often a proof that the Box will not be at home 
there ; while we have seen it thrive on a sandy soil that would almost 
drift before the wind, and it thrives equally on a retentive loam. 
Though it cannot be planted at this season, yet it may be successfully 
trimmed into order, which is a point equally necessary to its general 
appearance. For this purpose damp, dull weather is the most suitable 
time. Its mutilated leaves are not then subjected to the scorching influ¬ 
ence of the sun until a partial recovery takes place ; and the same may be 
said of those interior leaves which, having been long concealed, are not 
able to bear exposure to hot sunshine with impunity. By cutting Box at 
this season a part of its summer’s growth also will be retained, which will 
look well the remainder of the year. 
As we have before said, every walk ought to have some visible edging, 
or margin, whereby its outline is distinguished from the ground which 
things, all employed for that purpose ; but, excepting the last, it is 
seldom that any good is derived from them.—G ardener. 
GROWING CALANTHES IN MOSS. 
Your excellent engraving on page 47, and notes of culture of 
Calanthes on page 46, recalls to my mind how excellently Colonel R. 
Trevor Clarke, the veteran horticulturist, Welton Place, Daveotry, grows 
Calanthes vestita vars., C. Veitchi, &c., in common hedgebank or wood 
moss. The pseudo-bulbs are placed aside after flowering until they push 
fresh growth and roots in spring, when they are potted in the moss freshly 
gathered, the bulbs being placed on the moss, which is also rammed 
firmly at the sides to keep them erect, and low down, so as to allow space 
for watering, the surface of the moss being at least a couple of inches 
below the rim of the pots. No other material is used besides the moss. 
Fig. 11— Masdevallia rosea. 
adjoins it. Even the back paths, or thoroughfares, ought to have boundary 
marks to denote how far they ought legitimately to extend; these, how¬ 
ever, had better be either brick, or stone of some sort 6unk in the ground. 
Common bricks make a very good edging, laid either edge or endways up, 
where traffic is supposed to pass over them ; but they look best when laid 
angle-ways up, like the ridge of a hou«e, and. if done carefully, they look 
remarkably neat. Rough stones or flints will do in certain situations 
where there is not much traffic to displace them ; but in a wilderness or 
other romantic situation they are the most proper ; while in the precincts 
of the mansion, or dressed grounds, a prepared kerb-stone, or something 
that represents it in the terra cotta or plaster way, will doubtless be 
preferred; the increasing uses to which the last of these has adapted 
itself will most likely lead to many pleasant forms of edging and other 
ornamental work, so that we have no doubt but the o'hers will be even¬ 
tually driven out of the market. Slate may be used in some places, and 
so, likewise, may cast iron; but the first is too thin to look well, and the 
last liable to many objections—not the least being its expense, where 
perhaps a mile of it be wanted. 
We are aware that in a kitchen garden many live edgings are turned 
to profit, or intended to be so, but their disorderly appearance more than 
counterbalances any good likely to be derived from them. We have seen 
Thyme, Hyssop, Pennyroyal, Strawberries, Parsley, and many other 
and as this decays it is forced down around the sides of the pots, and fresh 
moss added at the surface. In this the Calanthes make enormous pseudo¬ 
bulbs, and the spikes of bloom are correspondingly fine. The decom¬ 
position of the moss must be a source of food to the Calanthes, and that 
is wbat we seek by mixing sphagnum with the material used in potting 
Orchids and Aroids. The gentleman named proves wood moss superior 
to sphagnum, he having a dislike to the latter for mixing with the com¬ 
post, and only uses it, and that sparingly, for surfacing. Orchids grow 
with him like weeds. He has scores of Phalmnopses growing on bare 
board or a piece of stick not thicker than the thumb, as many roots in 
the air as on the wood. The plants were suspended over a tank, and in 
front of a wall covered with Ficus repens kept constantly damp. The 
Phalcenopses are in the best possible condition, very strong and 
healthy. 
On a painted roof support was a Dendrobium sp., the roots running 
riot on the painted surface, they being quite fixed on the painted (white 
lead) surface without any moisture-holding substance, and this, not for an 
isolated root or two, but upon a length of between 2 and 3 yards of plant, 
or plants, it being a remarkable specimen. These matters I thought 
would be interesting to your readers, especially “ L. C .” who may be in¬ 
terested to know that the Colonel uses chemicals largely. Is that the 
secret of his success ? I saw the many different varieties of Cotton by 
