retrnary 19, isoi. ] 
145 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
calyx splitters. If a “ Malmaison ” is examined it 
will be seen that the calyx is split at each natural division, and 
consequently acts as a support to the entire circle of petals. In 
Madame A. Warocquc the same arrangement is found. In the 
ordinary split-calyx sorts, however, only one division is split open, 
and the petals sprawl in the manner so annoying in the ordinary 
large-flowered types. 
It is uncommon to find long-calyxed flowers produced of a 
large size without a split occurring. Comtesse de Paris, already 
referred to, sometimes transgresses. Germania, which expands to 
quite 3 inches, does not ; therefore, I think, if large flowers are to 
continue to be in demand as at present, the successful raiser 
of new sorts will be he who takes the calyx of the “ Malmaison ” 
as a type, and works on these lir.es.—B. 
HOW THE PARISIAN MARKET GARDENERS 
FORCE LETTUCES. 
^Continued from page 103.') 
Should the Tennisball Lettuce not be headed when there is no 
more risk of any frost, it would be good to remove the frames 
entirely and leave the plants to develope in the open air. These 
Lettuces, when planted in January, are ready for sale towards the 
end of March. The Tennisball Lettuce may also be planted on the 
same beds under bell-glasses set in three cross lines instead of the 
frames, and in that case we plant three Lettuces under each bell- 
glass, protecting them against cold as advised for the plants on the 
sloping beds, and giving air whenever weather permits. Thus 
treated the Tennisball, planted in February, heads in the beginning 
of April. 
Listly, that variety may also be planted in the open ground 
under bell-glasses. For that culture we stir and pulverise the 
soil well, and after having raked it in the usual manner, we spread 
over it a little more than 1 inch of compost, which is levelled with 
a- garden rake and then pressed or patted down well. This done, 
we place over it three rows of bell-glasses, under each of which 
are pricked out three Lettuces, admitting air when necessary after 
they are well rooted. Planted out in February these Lettuces 
are fit for use towards the 15th April. 
The Cos Lettuce most grown for forcing around Paris is the 
Green Cos, which is treated in about the same way on sloping beds 
under bell-glasses as the Crisped Small Early ; but that variety 
(Green Cos) being fond of air, the bell-glasses are tilted at the 
back with pieces of wood in the middle of the day during November 
whenever weather permits, and the lights (bell-glasses) are closed 
again in the evening. During severe frosts the plants are handled 
in the same way as the crisped small black seed Lettuce, and w'hen 
there is no more danger the litter is removed, first from the top of 
the bell-glasses, then gradually all around, and air is admitted 
whenever weather allows. In January or February the finest of 
these Cos Lettuces are selected to be planted on hotbeds under 
bell-glasses, one Cos Lettuce being placed in the centre of four 
black-seeded crisped small varieties to each glass. These Cos Let¬ 
tuces are the first which come to che market in the beginning of 
March. 
The remaining plants on the sloping borders must be protected 
agairist cold if necessary, and all fine days be taken advantage of to 
provide a little ventilation by tilting the bell-glass first H, then 
2, 3, 4, G inches, according to the temperature ; and when all risk of 
severe weather seems to be over the bell-glasses are removed entirely 
to induce a sturdy growth before the plants can be transferred to 
their final position either on a hotbed or in the open ground. At 
the end of January or during the first fortnight of February, if the 
ground is not frozen, all our market gardeners plant the green Cos 
Lettuce on beds sloping southwards. Where beds are formed 
in the usual manner, some seed of French Horn Carrot, Parsnip, 
or Leek, is thinly sown at the same time. The bed is then 
harrowed to cover these seeds, the rake passed over about an inch 
of compost extended over it, and the drills or lines traced with the 
feet, then planting the finest of the Cos Lettuces with a good ball 
and all their roots at a distance of about one foot. 
When the beds are large and well situated the gardeners use 
two or three of the fourteen or fifteen drills composing the bed for 
half-hardy Cauliflowers set out at the same time as the Lettuces. 
Although the green Cos Lettuce is self-folding, it is better to bind 
it at about three-quarters its height with raffia bast or a wet 
haulm. Should a long spell of dry winds be experienced during 
March or April the plantation on the sloping borders must be 
watered. The Lettuces thus planted in the beginning of February 
are usually saleable towards the middle of May, and the Cauli¬ 
flowers planted along with them are fit for sale towards the first 
week of June. 
For Lettuce forcing the temperature ought not, as far as 
practicable, to exceed 15". Cent, (about 59° Fahr.). There are 
some other useful forcing Lettuces, as the Georges, red-edged 
Victoria, white and grey Cos Lettuces, with which those interested 
in the matter may make a trial.—Eua. Sciiaettel, Paris. 
A FRIENDLY reader says that he “ likes” the Orchid jottings I 
have from time to time contributed, and “ would be pleased to see 
more of them some generous critics persuade me that this is a 
general opinion, and so I wdll try to provide a few notes under 
this heading more frequently. At the same time let me remind all 
those who are interested in Orchids that items of news and personal 
experience are most welcome to other readers, and it is by mutual 
help in this way that the best service can be rendered to the 
conductors of the Journal, who are ever striving to render their 
pages instructive in all departments of gardening. 
For example, in one of my notes last week I called attention 
to the injury caused by city fogs to Orchids, both in flower and 
growth. Now, the damage is by no means uniform, and it would 
be important to ascertain the experience of several cultivators on 
the point. If a list could be prepared of the Orchids least affected 
or uninjured by fogs it would be a material help to Orchid growers 
in towns, and would be the means of avoiding much after disap¬ 
pointment. The President of the Royal Horticultural Society 
recently referred to the fact that friends of his had been compelled 
to discontinue the culture of certain Orchids owing to the evil 
results of the pestilential fogs. In any wholesale condemnation 
like this there is sure to be some injustice, for there are Orchids 
which unquestionably stand the trying atmospheric conditions 
without any perceptible injury. Lot our amateur and professional 
friends come forward, then, and tell us their experience, and I 
will add to this the result of my observations extending over a 
period of twenty years. _ 
No better indication of the popularity of Orchids could be 
afforded than by the fact that they are becoming “ market 
plants.” Not many years ago it was comparatively rare that 
Orchid flowers were seen in Covent Garden, now probably on no 
day throughout the year would the florists’ shops in the central row 
be found without some representatives of that varied family. At 
times, too, there is quite an abundance of these flowers, and they 
also take their place in the ordinary wholesale market with the 
Stephanotes, Eucharis, Gardenias, and other choice flowers, which 
cultivators who have to study their returns very closely have found 
it worth their while to grow. What, for instance, can surpass the 
graceful Coelogyne cristata for sprays, wreaths, and wedding 
bouquets ? Then for richness of colouring Cattleya Trianm and 
its successors of the C. labiata type are unsurpassed. Such 
Dendrobiums as nobile, Wardianum, and crassinode are invaluable 
as buttonhole flowers, because they stand exposure so well. For 
striking characters of form and peculiar tints the Cypripediums^ 
are unrivalled, while the delicacy of Odontoglossums crispum 
and Pescatorei, and the fine yellow tints of many Oncidiums 
afford a wide range to select from. 
Time will not admit of farther notes this week, for I am about 
to start on a little continental tour, concerning which I hope to tell 
Journal readers something in an early issue. Bat I cannot con¬ 
clude these remarks without a word respecting the death of my old 
friend Mr. John Dominy ; it is the talk of the Orchid world this 
week, and many besides myself will sincerely regret to see the news 
announced on another page. Mr. Dominy had worked well in the 
Orchid cause for half a century, and his success redounded to the 
credit of the great firm which has treated him so generously in his 
old age. We have good and clever orchidists still with us, but let 
us not omit to do honour to one who had been a leader in his day 
and generation.—L. C. 
Angr^ecum fragrans. 
So few Orchids possess any economic value that those which 
have any special characters in that way are of more than common 
interest. In the “ Botanical Magazine ” lor the current month an 
