102 
JOURNiL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February r, I8?l. 
Amongst the curiosities which are always to be found at The 
Grange, a diminutive Orchid named Pleurothallis Colibri was found 
after a careful search, for the plant itself is small ; the leaves an 
inch long, and quarter of an inch broad, but the flowers are amongst 
the smallest I have seen ; they are scarcely three-eighths of an inch 
in diameter, with purple dots, and strange little white pendulous 
filaments from the points of the sepals. Another small Orchid but 
larger than the preceding is Epidendrum polybulbon, which has 
neat little flowers, the sepals and petals linear, brownish in the 
centre, tipped and edged with yellow, the lip relatively large, white 
with a yellowish centre. The charming white crystalline Angrmcum 
hyaloides in a basket 3 inches square, had six short racemes of 
flowers clustering round the stem, a striking contrast with the 
giant A. sesquipedale bearing two fine flowers near it. Amongst 
other Orchids in flower were the coral-red Ornithidium coccineum, 
the yellow Maxillaria variabilis, several Coelogynes, Leelias, 
Calanthes, and Dendrobiums, the graceful Vanda Amesiana. 
These give no indication of having passed through a severe ordeal, 
but are flourishing as satisfactorily as could be desired. 
QUALITY VERSUS SIZE IN FRUITS. 
With some varieties of fruits, and especially as regards Pears 
and Grapes, size appears to take precedence of quality, or why do 
we see such large coarse varieties of Pears with a poor insipid 
flavour placed before varieties of superior quality, although only 
of medium size when placed upon the exhibition table ? By medium 
size I refer to such varieties as General Todtleben, Doyenne Bous- 
soch, Beurre Bachelier, Brockworth Park, Beurre Clairgeau, and 
Duchesse d’Angouleme. To those people with little experience, 
and especially as regards ladies and gentlemen who visit fruit 
exhibitions to glean information, these large fruits are attractive, 
consequently the names are taken as desirable varieties to grow, 
but when trees are planted, and ultimately produce fruit, dis¬ 
appointment is the result. Good fruits of Winter Nelis, Josephine 
de Malines, or even Beurre d’Aremberg, although not of large size 
as compared with the others above named, are superior to them in 
quality. Where, however, quality is combined with size most 
decidedly give these the preference, as Doyenne du Comice, when 
well grown, will produce fruit of the largest size. The way to 
discourage these large worthless varieties is to expunge them from 
exhibitions. With well tried varieties of great merit each variety, 
whatever its ordinary size, should be encouraged to grow to its 
utmost limit as far as high culture is concerned. 
I think the reminder of Mr. Geo. Bunyard to the framers of 
schedules of fruit exhibitions very opportune, as when orchard 
house-grown Apples or Pears are allowed to enter into competition 
with hona-fide outdoor grown fruits it is very misleading to the 
public. Apples growing against walls should be placed in the 
same category, as, if the general public has yet to be educated to 
British grown fruit from the open air, let it be done with hona- 
fide examples. 
A well-grown Peach or Nectarine is always of high quality if 
the variety is worth cultivating at all, and whatever its variety 
they should be thinned and fed sufficiently to fully develop 
each fruit. Well-grown Peaches or Nectarines are sure to give 
satisfaction, both for home consumption or even for sending to 
market, as they always fetch a high price whatever the season. 
The reason generally given for the want of flavour in market 
Peaches is that they are gathered before they are ripe. I do not 
think this is correct, as Peaches and Nectarines are always of 
better flavour when gathered a day or two before being fit for 
table, and placed in a cool fruit room. I have sent Peaches to 
Covent Garden from a distance of 150 miles, with a previous 
twelve miles jolting over a country road, and they have reached 
their destination without blemish, and the flavour not impaired in 
the least. For fruit from an outside wall the salesman’s returns 
have been 15s. to 18s. per dozen, and have cleared £5 from a 
single tree growing against a wall in the open air. 
For high quality in Grapes what can be better than well-grown 
examples of either the Black Hamburgh, Madresfield Court, 
Muscat of Alexandria, Lady Downe’s, or even Buckland Sweet¬ 
water or Duke of Buccleuch? as whatever the size quality is always 
present. I have often seen it stated that the Black Hamburgh is 
one of the easiest of Grapes to cultivate, and so it may be, but to 
secure size of bunch and berry, combined with high finish, requires 
superior cultivation, more so indeed than either Gros Colman, 
Gros Maroc, Alnwick Seedling, or Alicante. 
A large Queen Pine Apple, or indeed any other variety, besides 
showing high culture, also represents good quality ; and so we 
could go on and mention other fruits, excepting perhaps Straw¬ 
berries. Everyone’s taste is certainly not the same, size in several 
instances being their only qualification for being cultivated at all. 
and how Helena Gloede can be described as of an excellent flavour 
is beyond my comprehension.— A. Young. 
TUBEROSES. 
It is evident from the largely increased sale of this useful bulb 
during the last few years that both market and private growep 
have become fully conscious of its value as a decorative plant in 
the cut state. With very little skill a supply of its fragrant flowers 
may be maintained all the year through. 
We start our Tuberoses in large GO-sized pots in a compost of 
loam, leaf soil, and sand in equal parts, river or roadside sand being 
good enough for the purpose. The pots are placed in a corner of 
the plant stove, where they remain until growth has commenced 
and the pots filled, or nearly filled, with roots. No time is lost in 
placing them into their flowering quarters. With first size bulbs 
32’s should be used. The potting compost should be rich ; three 
parts loam, two of dry cow or deer dung, one leaf soil, and one of 
coarse sand. A few handfuls of bone dust, if free from ivory 
filings, can be added with advantage. 
When in good condition Tuberoses will fiU their pots with 
roots some time before growth is completed, then feeding with 
liquid or chemical manure may be resorted to with advantage. 
Throughout their growing period it is well to keep them in a warm 
moist house, where they are well syringed two or three times a 
day. This has the effect of checking red spider, to which, should 
the atmosphere be at all dry, they are much subject. Dusting 
with flowers of sulphur should be resorted to if this pest becomes 
troublesome. 
Deep potting is an error too frequently committed with these 
plants. A glance at the bulbs will show how deep they have been 
embedded in their native soil, which is often, if not always, less 
than half their length. This should, therefore, be observed as a 
guide when potting, deep potting being often attended with inju¬ 
rious, and in some cases fatal, consequence to the bulbs. 
Taking the varieties as they come to hand, we start with the 
African, which arrives in the market early in October, and con¬ 
tinues to arrive in quantity until the American varieties arrive on 
the scene in December. The American Pearl, owing to its dwarf 
compact habit, has become a general favourite, and commands a 
slightly higher price in the market. Grown in heat they flower 
within about three months from the time of starting, the October 
and November plantings being a tew days longer. To keep up a 
supply twelve or thirteen plantings should be made, the strongest 
Pearl or other American kinds being selected for the August and 
September plantings. 
As an outdoor flowering plant the Tuberose is more frequently 
than not a failure. To ensure a good supply of bloom out of 
doors the bulbs should be started in gentle heat in May in boxes 
of leaf soil, or, better still, singly in pots, and planted out as early 
in June as the weather will permit. 
With this simple treatment they rarely fail, and I hope when 
the time comes to again grow a quantity in the same manner.— 
W. R. Williams, Great Marloiv. 
HOW THE PARISIAN MARKET GARDENERS 
FORCE LETTUCES. 
The kind of Lettuce most grown for forcing by the French 
market gardeners is the black-seeded crisped small early, which has 
the peculiarity of being able to grow with little air. The seed is 
usually sown from the 5th to the 15th of October in a sheltered 
spot, under bell-glasses placed on a raised bed sloping to the south, 
from east to west. The bed is made up in raising the back 
6 inches above the surface of the ground, with the soil taken from 
the front, thus giving it a slope of about 1 foot towards the south, 
with a width of 4 feet, which is sufficient to hold three rows of 
bell-glasses set in cross lines. The seed usually germinates at that 
time in about five days, and a week or ten days later the seedlings 
may be pricked out on a similar sloping bed, putting this time 
only two dozen plants under each bell-glass. 
With good treatment the Lettuces ought to have formed a 
rosette from 1^ to 2 inches in diameter by the month of December, 
and be strong enough to be transferred to their final position On a 
hotbed, the heating material of which is from 20 to 25 inches deep. 
When the latter bed is of the proper sweetened condition, the 
compost and frame are placed over it, taking care that the compost 
be only about 4 inches from the glass ; the young plants are taken up 
with a small ball and pricked out into the bed, which will hold 
from fifty to sixty-five plants to each frame light. The last row 
of Lettuces ought to be set at about G inches from the wood, to 
prevent a spindly growth through the shade of the frame. 
Thus planted, the beds ought to be examined every week to 
