432 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ June 1, 1893. 
Oncidium LONGIPES. 
This is a pretty little species of neat growth. The short flower 
spike is produced from the top of the advancing growth, and bears 
three or four flowers. The sepals and petals are brown tipped with 
yellow, the crest and labellum very prominent, bright yellow with 
occasionally a dark blotch, It should be grown in shallow pots or 
pans, and kept Avell up to the light in the Cattleya house. 
Odontogi.ossum Reichenheimi. 
This species appears to be getting more common in collections, and 
is very easily grown. In habit it resembles Oncidium tigrinum. The 
flower spike is erect, branching, and bears a profusion of flowers, 
which last a long while in perfection. The sepals and petals are 
recurved, keeled, dark brown, spotted and barred with yellow or 
greenish white, and sometimes tipped with pure white. The 
labellum is bright rose, fading to nearly white at the edge. It 
requires plenty of water while growing and should be kept in the 
coolest house. 
Dendrobiums. 
There are few Orchids which give greater pleasure in return 
for the trouble bestowed on their culture than Dendrobiums, and 
as the most beautiful species in the genus are also cheap, it is no 
wonder they are so popular. The colours range from pure white 
through many shades of yellow, pink, and purple, and the size and 
shape of the flowers show considerable variation. Dendrobiums 
may be divided into three sections—viz, 1, Deciduous, or those 
which flower on the bare well-ripened bulbs of the previous year’s 
growth ; 2, Evergreen, which retain their foliage year by year and 
flower in the same manner as the deciduous species ; and 3, a 
number of species, such as D. bigibbum, D. Cambridgeanum, 
D chrysanthum, which flower on the current year’s growth, 
generally in the autumn months. 
Nearly all Dendrobiums require a strong heat with plenty of 
sunlight and atmospheric moisture while growing, the object 
being to get the growths finished while there is plenty of sun to 
ripen them. Strong growing species, such as D. thyrsiflorum 
and D. speciosum among the evergreen kinds, and D. Wardianum, 
D. Pierardi, and D. macrophyllum among those that are deci¬ 
duous, are greatly benefited by a fortnight’s exposure to the open air 
in August if the growths are “fully made up,” this treatment 
thoroughly hardening and ripening the pseudo-bulbs and laying 
the foundation for a splendid show of bloom in spring. The 
deciduous species require little or no water after the leaves have 
fallen until they show signs of activity in the spring, and a 
minimum temperature of 40° to 45° is quite high enough for them 
daring the winter months. The evergreen species should, how¬ 
ever, be carefully watered all through the winter, and the bulbs 
must not be allowed to shrivel. The temperature for these 
ought never to fall below 50°, and if kept a few degrees higher so 
much the better, but anything approaching excitement must be 
avoided. 
The roots of different species require consideration as to the 
description of compost best suited to their requirements. Those 
that are small and seem inclined to grow in a mass should have a 
little pot, and the compost used in a comparatively fine condition, 
while those with larger roots which seem more inclined to ramble 
will be better in slightly larger pots, the compost also being made 
rougher. Good peat fibre and sphagnum should form the basis of the 
compost, and the larger the roots the greater the proportion of moss. 
Good drainage is essential in all cases, and this is secured by 
filling the pots two-thirds full of crocks and keeping the plants well 
above the rims. The best time to pot the spring blooming kinds is 
directly the flowers are over, and the autumn flowering species 
when they commence to grow.— H. Ricii.\rds. 
SHOW PANSIES AND THEIR EARLY HISTORY. 
In the Journal of the 25th inst. Mr. Alexander Sweet in his interest¬ 
ing communica'ion is unintentionally misleading, and I think he cannot 
have seen Mr. James Simkins’s book on “ The Pansy and How to Grow 
It,” published in 1889, in which are coloured illustrations of our Show 
Pans-.es of sixty years ago, and also the early history of the Show and 
Fancy Pansy written by me at Mr. Simkins’s request. I should be sorry 
to take from Scotland the honour, claimed by Mr. Sweet, of its being a 
Scotchman viho raised the first varieties from the old Viola tricolor, 
but I am able to say with certainty who was the father (if I may so 
term it) of the Pansy, and to name the date of its first being taken in 
hand. 
The following extract is from Mr. Simkins’s book : “I have (writes 
an old florist under the signature of ‘ Dahl ’) bten an amateur for more 
than fifty years, and can well remember the introduction of the 
Heartsease, which, though a native of Britain, was never cultivated in 
order to render it a florists’ flower until taken in hard by Mr. Thompson, 
of Iver, Bucks, and by him brought into cultivation, and from his 
original stock have all the beautiful varieties of this flower been pro¬ 
duced.” He wrote this in 1863. 
Mr. Thompson was gardener to the late Lord Gambler, who resided 
at Iver, near Uxbridge, and in 1813 or 1814 Lord Gambler brought him 
a few plants collected in the fields near his mansion. They were the 
yellow and white wild variety, and Lord Gambier requested him to 
cultivate these plants. Having done so it was soon discovered that a 
great improvement was effected. In three or four years many seedlings 
had been raised, and one which took Lord Gambler’s fancy was named 
Lady Gambier, another George the IV., and a third was named Ajax. 
The first seedling which showed improved form was named Thompson’s 
King, at that time the only marking about the eye of the improved forms 
were a few dark lines. 
In Hairison’s “ Floricultural Cabinet,” published about 1830 or so, 
for I have not the volume at hand to refer to, the names of about seventy- 
five varieties are given, all raised in England, and in a later catalogue 
of the year 1844 103 vaiitties are named, raised by the then famous 
growers, Widnal of Cambridge, Brown of Slough, Thompson, and others, 
all of English origin excepting three varieties raised by the late Mr. 
Hsndasjde of Musselburgh, and these seem to be the first varieties sent 
out from Scotland. I knew Mr. Thompson and Mr. Handasyde also, 
and about this period (1840 and onwards) Messrs. Mountjoy of Ealing, 
Bragg of Slough, Hale of Uxbridge, and others were raising fine improved 
forms. I must refer those who wish for farther information to my 
paper on the Early History of the Pansy in Mr. Simkins’s book. I was 
anxious that my knowledge as one of the oldest Pansy growers still 
living should be recorded for the rising generation, and such a record 
had not been hitherto written. 
The late Mr. Charles Turner of Slough was for many years a most 
successful exhibitor and grower, and sent oat many of the very fine 
varieties raised by Hall and others, and very old Pansy men still have 
pleasant memories of the superb batches sent out by Mr. Turner in 1854 
and 1856. consisting of Admiral Napier, Constellation, Crimson Perfec¬ 
tion, Perfection, Sir Walter Scott, Monarch, Emperor, and that grand 
variety “ Charles Turner.” What an impetus these varieties gave to 
the Pansy! I was at that period travelling for the late Mr. Charles 
Turner, and my orders in Scotland for them were very heavy. About 
the year 1854 the firm of Messrs. Syme & Middlemas of Glasgow sent 
out a beautiful refined dark self named Rebecca, and Messrs. Dowmie 
and Laird sent out Duchess of Wellington. Amongst the foremost trade 
growers of these flowers in those days were Messrs. Downie & Laird, 
Dicksons & Co., Handasyde, Dicksons and Sons, Austin «fc McAslan, 
Paton & Small, White & Sinclair, Paul of Paisley, and many others 
whom I knew, and the Pansy was then so well taken in hand by the 
amateurs as well as trade growers as to make it the national flower of 
Scotland. 
Our Scottish friends have a more congenial climate for the Pansy 
than the Southrons, and the late Mr. C. Turner had to give up the Pansy 
because it gave him up. The southern heat and dryness tells terribly 
upon these plants, and it is in consequence of this and not from any lack 
of interest in the Pansy that so few fine varieties are sent out from the 
South, and the cultivation of the Show section is indeed small. 
What an interesting history of the veterans who have passed away 
could have been written such as that penned by Mr. Sweet in your last 
issue, and would be most welcome reading to our younger florists. At 
our recent Midland Counties Pansy Society’s Exhibition at Tamworth 
there was a hearty shaking of hands with old Scottish friends. Lister, 
Campbell, Irvin, and Smelling, who brought many superb blooms. 
Other older growers were there and a host of younger men who have 
their ’nearts in their work. Truly the Pansy and its lovely sister 
the bedding Violas are now in the ascendant, and may they long con¬ 
tinue so. To some of us the days of further enjoyment of them are 
short, and we leave as a legacy to them a continuation of our work and 
our hearty good wishes.— William Dean, S])arhhill, Birmingham, 
FLOWERING TREES AND SHRUBS. 
Are the c’aims of flowering trees and shrubs to recognition sufficiently 
admitted by owners of gardens and pleasure grounds ? Are the different 
kinds so well known and so generally planted as is desirable ? It is 
doubtful if affirmative answers can be given to these questions ; yet it 
will be difficult for anyone to deny that at no time are pleasure grounds 
more beautiful than when the following and other k'nds of trees and 
shrubs are flowering in them. 
Exochorda graxdiflora.—How seldom do we find this hardy 
deciduous flowering shrub in private gardens, and yet it is one of the 
most handsome of all that belongs to this s clion of spring blooming 
plants. By some it is called Spirrni grand.flora, or Pearl Bush. It is a 
native of North China. Its cultu e is very easy, growing freely in any 
ordinary garden soil, and in that which is retentive it specially revels. 
