April 28, 1892. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
311 
moist about the roots during active growth—that is to say, during 
the montns of May, June, July, and August. If Peas become 
unduly dry at the roots in summer they will become a prey to 
mildew, and their yield of produce will be poor in quality and 
short in duration. Cauliflower plants from the same cause will 
become “ button hearted,” which means the production of worth¬ 
less heads or “ flowers ; ” and Lettuces, instead of developing into 
large solid heads of crisp and tender leaves, form thin loose heads 
of leathery leaves. Scarlet Runners, Dwarf Kidney and Broad 
Beans, also Spinach, are other crops which suffer materially if not 
kept moist at the roots during dry summer months. 
The best time to water all kinds of plants, both in the kitchen 
and flower gardens, is late in the afternoon or in the cool of the 
evening, because then there is no powerful sun heat to dry up the 
water almost as soon as it touches the earth, as is generally the 
case when watering is done between the hours of ten in the morn¬ 
ing and four o’clock in the afternoon during the summer months. 
It is better, however, to give a good watering once or twice a week, 
according as the soil is heavy or light, and to the character of the 
weather, so as to thoroughly moisten the soil, than to give it in 
dribblets every evening—that is to say, giving only sufficient to 
inoisten the surface of the ground without touching the roots, a 
kind of allaying the dust watering. 
The notion entertained by many people, to the effect that if 
plants out of doors are watered overhead in the heat of a summer’s 
day the leaves get scorched by the action of the sun on them while 
damp, is a wrong one. Nature herself affords ample proof of the 
correctness of this assertion every summer, when the sun frequently 
shines forth with full power on the wet leaves of plants imme¬ 
diately after a smart shower of rain without in any way injuring 
them.—H. W. Ward, Longford Castle, Salishiiry. 
This little grown but beautiful Orchid has been well exhibited 
of late, and deserves to become better known than it is at present. 
It blooms with great freedom, and the flowers are exceedingly 
pleasing in appearance, being clear ivory-white with very few 
specks of colour. They are, moreover, highly perfumed. The 
species is a native of Mexico, and does well either in pots or 
baskets with abundance of warmth and moisture. This might be 
classed with several other kinds as worthy of general culture, but 
it is likely enough to remain neglected, for Orchid growing has run 
to a great extent into a few grooves.—T. H. G-. 
New Hunting Grounds for Orchids. 
The introduction of the magnificent Cypripedium Chamber- 
lainianum from New Guinea will turn the eyes of Orchid hunters 
towards that as yet only half-explored land, and the proceedings of 
those who are gradually opening it up will be followed with a new 
interest. An eastern Cypripedium so free in bloom as dried speci¬ 
mens show the new species to be is a rara avis indeed, and Orchid 
lovers may not unreasonably hope that those who follow in the 
footsteps of the explorers will supplement it with other distinct 
and noble forms.—T. H. G. 
AnGRAECUM FASTUOSUil. 
The engraving, fig. 53, represents a comparatively new species 
of a genus of Orchids not very widely known, yet possessing many 
charms. The Angiaecums differ somewhat widely in general ap¬ 
pearance, and those who are familiar with them will recognise the 
distinctness of A. fastuosum. The racemes of flowers are freely 
borne, and the beautiful ivory-like appearance of the latter, with 
the delicious fragrance they possess, render the species eminently 
pleasing and attractive. The illustration clearly indicates the 
roundish oblong foliage, and the flowers with their slender spurs. 
With the exception of a few species the Angrmcurns cannot be 
ranked among the really useful Orchids which everyone may grow 
not from any great difficulties attending their culture, or from 
deficiency of interest, but because where the object is to provide a 
brilliant display in the Orchid house there are many others better 
suited for the purpose easily procurable, and requiring less heat 
than the majority of species constituting the genus under considera¬ 
tion. A marked uniformity of colour prevails in them ; from pure 
white to creamy yellow is the extreme range of tints, and the 
charming elegance of some species with delicate flowers, long 
slender spurs, and gracefully arching racemes, or the stateliness of 
the strong-growing forms with large flowers, can scarcely compen¬ 
sate for what appears to some as a defect. Possibly this is the 
reason we seldom find a good collection of the species in one garden, 
though a large number of forms are included in the genus, and 
many have been introduced to cultivation. In some of the largest 
collections there are not a dozen species, though the nurserymen of 
this country offer about twenty, and probably nearly thirty are now 
represented, some being extremely rare. It is seldom, however, 
that a collection of Orchids, even of moderate size, is without at 
least one or two representatives of the genus, and many more might 
be advantageously grown wherever there is sufficient accommoda¬ 
tion for them. 
■The genus Angrsecum was established in 1822 by Aubert du 
Petit Thouars, to include certain species of epiphytal Orchids found 
Fig. 53.—Ange.<ecum fastuosum. 
in East and West Tropical Africa, Madagascar, and the adjacent 
islands, and in a work published by that botanist several of the 
species now in cultivation were described. It was then believed 
that the geographical range of the genus was very limited, but 
species have since been found in Japan and the West Indies. Their 
headquarters are Western Tropical Africa, from Sierra Leone to 
the River Gaboon the opposite side of the great continent about 
Zanzibar, in Madagascar, the Comoro Islands, Bourbon, ai_d 
Mauritius. They are essentially heat and moisture-loving Orchids, 
and with the exception of the Japanese Angrgecum falcatum they 
need the warmest compartment of the structure devoted to such 
plants. Being epiphytal in habit the majority require to be grown 
in baskets or on blocks of wood ; but those of vigorous habit, such 
as A. eburneum and A. sesquipedale, are usually grown in pots with 
abundance of potsherds as drainage, good fibrous peat and sphagnum, 
or the latter alone, that moss also b^eing employed when the small 
forms are grown in baskets or on blocks. As with all Orchids of 
similar habit and from similar climates, abundance of water is 
required during growth, and a less amount when at rest; in other 
respects they may be treated like most of their allies. 
Fertilisation of Swan’s Neck Orchids. 
Mr. R. A. Rolfe writes that the economy of fertilisation in 
the Swan’s Neck Orchids (Cycnoches) is very interesting, and 
only from this standpoint can we hope to understand the great 
diversity between the sexes in the majority of the species. In 
both the lip is uppermost, and forms a kind of landing-stage on 
