October 6, 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
307 
Amaryllis Belladonna. —However trying this past summer 
may have been for herbaceous plants and many Lilies, it has 
unquestionably suited this autumn flowering member of the group. 
My own bulbs, planted in the front of a greenhouse facing south, 
are flowering more freely than I ever had them before ; 1, how¬ 
ever, saw the other day in a friend’s garden near here some grand 
clumps in full flower, reminding me somewhat of a long border in 
a garden at Bray, in Ireland, which at this time of the 
year used to be one mass of bloom. Like some other of the family, 
it requires a warm sheltered border, and also prefers to be let 
alone. Any ordinary garden soil seems to suit it. 
Zephyranthes CANDIDA. —The dry summer also seems to have 
suited this delightful little bulbous plant, which is not so often 
seen in gardens as it ought to be. Its habit is dwarf, the foliage 
small, and the pure white flowers freely produced. Light and rich 
soil seems to suit it.—D., Deal. 
Cypripedium Charlesworthi. 
One of the most distinct Cypripediums of recent introduction 
was exhibited under the above name at the last meeting of the 
Royal Horticultural Society by Messrs. Charlesworth, Shuttle worth 
and Co., Heaton, Bradford, and a first-class certificate was awarded 
for it. C. Charlesworthi (fig. 43) is a new and beautiful species 
introduced by the above mentioned firm from the East Indies. It 
is very dwarf, with long narrow leaves. The flower stem is only 
3 to 4 inches long. The lip is short, green, heavily suffused with 
bronzy brown, and the dorsal sepal is very noteworthy. It is broad 
and rounded, and the colouring is a beautiful soft rose, delicately 
veined. The staminode is pure white. A feature of the leafage 
are the rows of dots on the reverse side. The species is a great 
acquisition, and will become popular with Oichid growers. 
Repotting and Surfacing Cool House Orchids. 
The present is perhaps the most suitable month in the year for 
a thorough overhauling, cleaning and repotting, or surfacing as the 
case demands, of the plants in the cool house. There is a time 
when all healthy Orchids put forth a flush of young roots, and in 
the case of Odontoglossums and kindred plants it is usually at this 
season when the growths are approaching completion. This is the 
time that Orchid growers should give fresh sweet compost for the 
new roots to take to at once. It will give the plants a hold on 
their pots that will stand them in good stead during a long dull 
winter, and will also assist them materially in swelling up fine 
healthy pseudo-bulbs. 
Masdevallias of the Harryana, amabilis, and Veitchi types, 
though many prefer to repot in the spring, would often be more 
easily wintered if given new compost early in the autumn. The 
soil is frequently in such a fine and close condition after the 
repeated and copious waterings necessary to their well-being in the 
summer months, that unless watering is judiciously performed the 
plants lose the greater portion of their roots in the winter. This 
is a serious check to the plants, and can only be avoided by keeping 
the compost in a sweet and open condition, and providing good 
drainage. 
The mode of potting these useful Orchids has often been 
referred to in the Journal of Horticulture, so that it is only 
necessary to say that clean pots of as small size as possible should 
be used, in no case allowing for more than about an inch of 
compost around the old material. Fill two-thirds of the depth with 
drainage, use some clean moss as a film, and plenty of finely broken 
potsherds mixed with the compost. Plants that have the drainage 
in thorough order and do not require larger pots should have a 
little of the surface soil removed and fresh compost dibbled in 
where necessary. After the plants have been thoroughly cleaned, 
and before they are returned to the house, the stages, glass, and 
walls should be well cleansed as advised by “ Specialist ” on 
page 215.—H. R. R. 
OUT OF TOWN. 
Worksop in the summer is made lively by ever arriving excur¬ 
sionists. They come from all parts of the coun'ry, but the 
manufacturing districts chiefly, for a visit to the Dukeries. Convey¬ 
ances of all kinds are crowded, and choral parties sing happily on 
the way. Glad enough are Sheffield and Manchester workers to get 
out of town, and they are out of it very decidedly in the glades of 
historic Sherwood. The freedom that is granted is a boon to the 
thousands who avail themselves of the privilege afforded. There 
are only two Dukes in the district now, but there once were four— 
the Duke of Norfolk, Worksop Manor, now belonging to John 
Rohinson, Esq. ; the Duke of Kingston, Thoresby, now the seat of 
Earl Manvers, with the Duke of Newcastle, Clumber ; and the Duke 
of Portland, Welbeck. Of the two latter estates the ducal owners 
are still young, kindly disposed to all and more than popular ; yet 
not more respected than is our guide, and surely no better guide 
there could be, for Mr. Machin can go anywhere and is everywhere 
welcomed in the district. 
We have a “ long day” before us, for Welbeck, Thoresby, and 
Rufford have to be visited, and then there is a drive of several miles 
to Southwell. The squire brought a good horse and comfortable 
wagonette, with something in it, and away we sped on our journey. 
We skirted the ancient manor of Worksop, embowered in trees, the 
estate being richly wooded, and in the course of half an hour drove 
right into the kitchen garden at Welbeck, for the garden “walks” 
are carriage drives, in fact everything, seems great about it. The 
kitchen garden certainly is, for enclosed are thirty acres, and the 
glass structures are in keeping ; then if we look beyond to the huge 
stone buildings, riding school, and others, with dozens of detached 
villa-like residences, we have to feel that Welbeck is not as other 
places are. It is distinct from all above ground and still more so 
beneath it, and though it cannot be said to be beautiful it must be 
regarded as wonderful. But we cannot explore, and only a quick 
rush through some of the houses is practicable while the wagonette 
is waiting. Mr. Horton was luckily at hand, and we were at ease 
wi h him in a moment. He has been nineteen years in the gardens, 
and has a clear firm grip of his great charge. The demands of the 
establishment are enormous, and a cart is always at work taking 
produce from the gardens to the Abbey, but very unlike an Abbey is 
the huge square pile which stands out bleak and bare with never a 
tree on the wide expanse of lawn in front of it. 
We race through a large vegetable house, onwards through 
figgeries, peacheries, vineries, and planteries, tropical and otherwise ; 
now we are under a rich canopy of Bougainvilleas and Allamandas, 
with beautiful decorative plants all around, and anon in one house or 
another amongst apparently all kinds of fruit grown in this country, 
but not in all places so well as at Welbeck. Glass ranges 100 yards 
long appear to be plentiful, and, large as they are, look small when 
we enter others twice or nearly' thrice that length, and all well and 
profitably occupied, while cleanliness and good order are prevalent 
everywhere. The pink “ Malmaison ” is the favourite flower of the 
Duchess, and great provision is made to meet the daily demand all 
the year. We entered not the famous underground tunnels, but were 
content to peep into one above ground, an arcade of Apples and 
Pears, probably nearly 300 yards long, and then after keeping our 
