Jliy 4 18'J3. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
861 
if the atmosphere is dry enough to hold dust ; this is when the 
flower is fully expanded and somewhat past its prime. The flower 
is tapped lightly with a lead pencil, and the light yellow powder 
falls out freely.” 
Mr. C. J. Pennock, a Cornell graduate, considers pollination of 
the flowers, in the case of winter Tomatoes, very necessary, and 
goes over the whole of his plants daily while they are in flower. 
He has devised a tool for himself in the shape of a light piece of 
wood about 16 inches long and one-half inch square, at one end of 
which there is a saucer-like depression. This stick is held in the 
left hand with the depression under the flower to be pollinated, 
while another light stick is used for tapping the 
blossom to shake out the pollen, the end of the pistil 
or stigma being pressed at the same time into the 
pollen accumulated in the depression. Since he has 
adopted this simple and by no means a slow or tedious 
method of pollinating the flowers, a good set of fruit 
has always resulted, or much better than had hitherto 
been effected by using a brush or jarring the stems. 
In Mr. Bailey’s report or “Bulletin” the effects of 
complete and faulty pollination are shown by means 
of illustrations of fruit whole and cut cleanly across, 
those most perfectly fertilised having all the cells 
furnished with seeds and properly developed, others 
not pollinated (I like this term best) or only partially 
so swelling very irregularly owing to some of the 
cells being seedless and solid, flhe experiments need 
not be described, but were exhaustive and conclusive. 
A wide-spread dissemination of this serviceable 
information would perhaps have been more to the 
purpose in the autumn or winter months ; but I hold 
that it is unwise to leave anything to chance even 
during the most favourable weather for pollinating 
Tomatoes. For ordinary purposes all that is necessary 
during the late spring and summer months, in the 
case of plants under glass, is to keep up a circulation 
of warm dry air, and when the pollen is quite dry, or 
say towards midday, to smartly jar the stems, tapping 
them with a padded stick in preference to anything 
that would bruise them. This disperses the pollen in 
clouds, and enough of it settles on the moist stigmas 
to effect a good set. When, however, the desire is to 
have extra fine yet perfectly formed fruit, then it 
pays to take a little more trouble in selecting the 
flowers and pollinating them. Any with fasciated 
pistils, notably the extra strong central flower on each 
strong bunch, should be early pinched off, removing this and 
thinning out the rest greatly strengthening or enlarging those 
reserved. Fine fruit never follow small flowers, nor will they be 
had if the pollination is not perfect. 
In addition to the fruit most perfectly furnished with seeds 
attaining the largest size, I hold that they are also the best in point 
of quality, the pulp that surrounds seeds being of far better flavour 
than the core or solid matter in the cells where no seeds are 
formed. There is, therefore, much to be said in favour of trying 
either the one or the other of the American methods of pollina¬ 
tion, and they certainly promise to surpass the older methods 
practised in this country during the autumn and winter months. 
It has been found that an abundance of pollen applied over the 
entire surface of the stigmas by increasing the number of seeds 
increases the size of the fruit, and once this fact is better 
known artificial pollination will also become more general.— 
W. Iggulden. 
CyPRIPEDIUM GRAXPfE. 
yellowish with green veins ; lip greenish yellow toned with brown, 
paler beneath, the infolded lobes ivory white spotted with deep 
rose. The flower scapes frequently exceed a yard in length, and 
the flowers measure 7 to 8 inches across the sepals from the top. 
It has strong handsome foliage and is a very striking plant.—W. D. 
L^lio-Cattleya Ascania. 
One of the most beautiful Orchids shown at the Drill Hall 
on Tuesday, April 25th, was Laelio-Cattleya Ascania, a bloom of 
which is depicted in the accompanying illustration (fig. 65). It 
is a bigeneric hybrid, the result of a cross between Laelia xanthina 
FIG. 65.—L^LIO-CATTLEYA ASCANIA. 
and Cattleya Trianae. The flowers are marked with the charac¬ 
teristics of both parents. The sepals and petals are pale sulphur 
yellow, the lip being of a richer shade, with a rich purplish 
crimson lobe. This interesting hybrid was exhibited by Messrs. 
J. Veitch & Sons, and a first-class certificate was awarded for it. 
Odontoglossum crispum nobilius. 
Those who have not seen this splendid Orchid can scarcely 
form an adequate idea as to its beauty. There are many fine forms 
of Odontoglossum crispum, but in my opinion this is the best of 
them all. The flowers are very large, being quite 3 or 4 inches 
across when fully developed. The sepals and petals are white, 
heavily blotched with rich chestnut red. The labellum is also 
white, with a brownish red and yellow crest. I believe a first- 
class certificate was awarded for this grand variety last year.—C. 
A Manual of Orchidaceous Plants. 
Part ix. of this admirable work has been issued by Messrs. 
J. Veitch & Sons, Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, and, like its 
predecessors, it bears the stamp of careful preparation. The 
instalment before us comprises 194 pages, and the genera dealt with 
include Cymbidium, Zygopetalum, Lycaste, Acineta, Stanhopea, 
Trichopilia, Cycnoches, Maxillaria, Mormodes, and Anguloas. 
Detailed and accurate descriptions of the species and varieties of 
the above and other genera are given, and in many cases accom¬ 
panied by admirably executed illustrations. We may again have- 
occasion to refer to this excellent publication. 
A good specimen of this handsome Lady’s Slipper is now in 
bloom in the Edgbaston Botanical Gardens, Birmingham. It was 
raised by Mr. Seden, at Messrs. Veitch & Sons’ Nurseries, and is 
the largest of the Selenipedium hybrids, a cross between C. 
longifolium Hartwegi and C. caudatum. having the appearance of 
the latter. It is described in Mr. Veitch’s Orchid book as having 
the staminode pale yellow fringed with blackish hairs at the back, 
the upper sepal yellowish white with yellow-green veins, the lower 
sepal similar but with paler veins ; petals 12 to 15 or more inches 
long, rcse pink, except the broader basiliar portion which is 
Sale of Orchids at Aymestrey Court, Woolton. 
On Friday last the excellent collection of Orchids owned by' 
Col. H. J. Robinson, and which have been so successfully 
cultivated by Mr. C. Osborne, were sold by auction by Mr. John 
Cowan. There was not a large number of persons present, 
consequently prices did not rule so high as might have been 
expected. The following were some of the higher prices realised :— 
Cypripedium caudatum, a fine specimen in a 9-inch pot, nine very 
strong growths and eleven flowers, 9 guineas ; Odontoglossum 
vexillarium, twenty-one growths, thirty-five flower spikes, very fine 
