26 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ January 8, 1891. 
guide. But I consider it inadvisable to imitate too closely in some in¬ 
stances, if it is not in harmony with the others. 
I find by experience that the Hlasdevallia will grow best if the 
thermometer does not fall below 50° at night, and not rise above 60° by 
day, this to be maintained with a circulation of air, unless it is very 
cold and much fire heat is wanted ; then with the house closed it may 
fall a few degrees lower for once in a way. This is the winter tempera¬ 
ture. In the summer the difficulty often arises in not keeping the house 
cold enough, from 55° to 60° by night and 60° to 65° by day, without 
sun. Of course, in hot weather the thermometer will rise higher than 
this. It cannot be avoided and it does no harm, always provided you 
have air and moisture, and keeping it as low as possible ; and to do this 
it will be found necessary to damp the house at least three times a day, 
and by having the open stages it is well nigh impossible to damp too 
often. There is a better and quicker circulation of air playing 
around the plants, and if they are to be grown well they must dry 
quickly. 
To secure a buoyant, even, and genial atmosphere when it is very 
cold and frosty out of doors I cannot too strongly recommend the use of 
some kind of covering for the glass roof, and I have also used it in very 
bad weather for the greater part of the day, preferring to rob the plants 
of a little light rather than to have too much fire heat. The best cover¬ 
ing is a mat which is manufactured for this special purpose, and very 
largely used by gardeners in some places. They are made of a kind of 
leed tied together with string, and fitted to the roof from top to bottom 
in lengths of about 6 feet. They rest upon the roof at intervals, and are 
simply rolled up or down as required. I have known this make fully 10° 
difference, and this is a consideration not only for the plants but for 
economy also, for it is a decided saving of fuel. 
We must not keep a Masdevallia dry at the roots at any season, for 
it is a plant that will persist in growing if the right treatment is given 
all the year round ; yet it is possible to give too much water, the results 
of which are serious in the dark days of winter. This will cause the 
same disease to occur as insufficient ventilation or exposure to cold. 
A plant that has just been repotted should be watered very carefully 
and kept just moist till it has fairly recovered and is rooting well, then 
it may be treated as usual. I made it a practice never to w'ater till the 
compost in which it is potted begins to show white or dry on the surface, 
then I give a thorough soaking, and no more till it is dry again. Some 
writers are most misleading in this respect, and would have us believe 
that we have simply to give water in abundance and all will go on 
merrily ; but I find from experience that this is not correct. 
The Chimmra section and other allied forms, together with M. tovar- 
ensis and M. trochilus, are best during the winter if placed at the 
warmest end of the house or taken to the intermediate house. 
I have tried various manures on the Masdevallia, but can only 
recommend one—that is liquid manure from the farmyard, and much 
diluted for plants only which have their pots w'ell filled with roots. 
The best shading I know, and which I can highly recommend for Orchid 
houses, and for cool Orchids in particular, is made of wood—simply 
quarter-inch boards cut down in strips 1 inch wide, and the same 
length as the roof ; these are tied together with string, leaving a space 
of from a quarter to three-quarters of an inch between the strip, and 
made in lengths of about 6 feet. Three stronger strips of wood are run 
lengthways a'ong the roof, and raised about 6 inches from the glass ; on 
this the rol's of lattice-like shading are laid at intervals, and simply 
unrolled and rolled back as required. This forms at once a cheap, 
simple, and effective shading, and will last a number of years if stored 
dry when not in use. I know' of no other shading so beneficial to the 
plants, admitting, as it does, light and air, and giving a most natural 
shade. 
Of the insects which attack the Masdevallia green fly and thrips are 
the worst, and the latter is a most destructive enemy if not kept m 
check : it soon disfigures the foliage by causing it to become crippled, 
and also causes brown marks to appear on the leaves. Both thrips and 
green fly are easily kept down by the free use of the sponge and fumi¬ 
gating ; if with tobacco it must not be very strong. I find the Lethorion 
vapour cones or Campbell’s fumigating insecticide are the safest and at 
the same time most effective. 
(To be continued.) 
WANDERINGS. 
I FIND the Christmas word-puzzles I set to our young friends who 
enjoy a little mental diversion have caused some amusement amongst 
them. I am sorry to say more than one seems to think, as an incre¬ 
dulous youngster says, that I have been “ having a game with them in 
just putting the letters together anyhow, and then pretending they make 
real words with sense in them.” Another observes :—“ It is all very 
well to tell us that English can be made out of Dutch ; but that wo’n’t 
do, as there is not a word in the English dictionary that ends wdth “ j.” 
I was not aware of that, so it seems I have learned something in trying 
to teach, as many a better man has done before me. But serious 
attempts have been made to win the offered prize, yet without success. 
One translator, however, I think deserves something for his ingenuity in 
dealing with at least one of the two words. The first, “ Indeniewe- 
pellicaan,” he renders as “ Indian Pelican.’' He is just half right. The 
word represents the sign of a tavern, the “ New Pelican,” and the passer¬ 
by is invited to go in, hence In-the-new-pelican, but all in one word as 
above printed. It is delightfully simple after all. It is the next word, 
however, for which the young linguist ought to have a prize, because- 
the result is rather comical, yet, phonetically considered, perhaps 
excusable. “ Gebreveteerdesuikerbakkerij ” must have something to do 
with tobacco, was the bright idea which seems to have occurred, and- 
therefore as he could make nothing else out of the word he sent as his- 
solution “ Get here a bit of tobacco !” Yes, the young man must have 
something. A patent sugar plum would perhaps be as appropriate as 
anything seeing the last half of the word refers to the business of a 
sugar bakery, and the first half informs us that the process adopted is- 
patented, or, as represented by the continental equivalent. Breveted, 
hence Breveted Sugarbakery, so we have really a similarity between 
Dutch and English when the words are “looked at a few times.” The 
terminal “ ij ” in Dutch simply means “y” in English, and if the 
“ Dictionary” young man will write that word and put two dots over 
the last letter he will find how easily the transformation is effected, for 
he will have ij in two ticks. I intend sending the “ Tobacco ” youth a 
present, which I hope he will appreciate, and continue to grapple with 
the difficulties he may meet with during his path in life. His name 
will not be published against his wish, as it might possibly lead to his- 
being too familiarly known by another. Let me, however, impress on all 
young gardeners that they will never be the worse if they confine the 
use of tobacco to the prevention of insects on the plants they cultivate, 
for the prevention of an evil is better than its destruction always. 
We will now w’ander over other ground. I had not been in Belgium 
many days before I found signs that the summer had been warmer 
than with us, though it appears to have been duller and wetter all over 
the Continent than usual. Still the wood of the trees was riper and 
the leaves more changed early in September than they were in England 
at the end of the month. In Belgian gardens Scarlet Eunners were 
ripening, and the leaves quite yellow, while at home the plants were 
in active growth and bearing for more than a month afterwards. In 
the fields it was rare to find any Potatoes still growing, and for miles 
the stems were leafless and the crops ripe. The varieties grown may be 
earlier than ours, yet Magnum Bonums—for this variety has found its 
way there—w'ere withering, while in England they were in luxuriant 
growth in October. Some cobs of Maize were firm in Mr. Everaert’s- 
garden, while scarcely any were formed at the same time on plants 
from seed sown in the open in the vicinity of London. Many fields, 
or rather scores of plots in them, were not only cleared of corn in the- 
Belgian campagne, but the ground had been turned over and sown with 
Turnips, acres of which were large enough for thinning, and some were 
being thinned. The crops removed I was told were of Barley, a variety 
being grown that is sown in the autumn, or at the same time that 
Wheat and Eye are so^n in England. I have wandered into the fields 
for evidence, showing that last summer was warmer on the eastern than 
on the western side of the North Sea, for a visitor might be misled on 
this point by the appearance of the trees in Antwerp. 
The site of the old fortifications which enclosed the ancient city as 
in a horseshoe, resting on the Scheldt, is now marked by broad and 
beautiful boulevards. The trees are chiefly Planes and Elms, and the 
former were casting their leaves freely at least six weeks before the 
trees do in London ; but a closer examination of the Belgian Planes 
disclosed the fact of their being in very far from a healthy state. The 
leaves were small, pale, and blistered, and had been so all the season.. 
It would be little short of a calamity if these trees, which have been 
planted about twenty-five years, should quickly collapse. Their 
unsatisfactory condition is a matter of concern in the city, and perhaps- 
not the less so since the cause is not determined. By some authorities 
it is attributed to a severe frost occurring when the trees had made a 
little growth, and the consequent rupturing of the sap vessels in the 
then tender shoots. If the whole of the trees were alike enfeebled that 
explanation would be more conclusive. The great majority of those 
first planted are unquestionably in a bad state ; but a few of them were- 
fairly vigorous, while every young tree that had been put in the place 
of an old one that had been removed was apparently in the best of 
health. Now if, as we may suppose, new soil was introduced for 
planting the new trees in, may not this account for their comparative 
vigour 1 Should that be so, does it not suggest that the older trees have 
impoverished the soil, and that the roots can no longer find what is- 
requisite for their support ? Plane trees appear to need very much 
water. Can the site of the old ramparts be dry ? In most cities very 
little of the rain that falls passes into the earth in a natural manner, 
but is conducted a-way by drains, and pouring water round the stems 
of large trees only does a small measure of good. When I have stopped 
to admire exceptionally large Plane trees in England I have observed 
that a plentiful supply of water was within reach of their roots. The- 
grandest specimen I can call to mind is on the estate of Mr. Smee at 
I Hackbrldge, Surrey, in a field which contains a few acres of Watercress 
beds. It is a veritable giant in luxuriant growth, and I suspect half o£ 
