June 8, 1893. 3 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
453 
a little later on. In that case planting 18 inches asunder between 
alternate rows, and then lifting every other plant with a spade 
and planting to form intermediate rows (as soon as the Potatoes 
have been lifted) is the method I prefer. By so doing the Potato 
haulm may be kept comparatively clear of the young plants ; 
but it must be admitted that even this advantage is obtained 
at the expense of the Potato crop. All things considered I am 
convinced it is sound practice to keep Brussels Sprouts, as far 
as possible, clear of Potatoes or any other crop, excepting one 
which is likely to be cleared shortly after the plants are inserted. 
When a good breadth of early Spinach is grown, when it does not 
occupy a narrow border, an excellent position is obtained for 
Brussels Sprouts, as the Spinach will be ready for clearing away 
by the time they are growing freely.—H. D. 
s 
Cattleya MossiAi; Howardian a—Wood Wool for Packing. 
Will you kindly give me your opinion as to the quality of 
the enclosed flowers of C. Mossim Howardiana ? I believe it was 
named two years ago. I am afraid the flowers will not reach you in 
good condition as I can see signs of damping in the petals. I should 
also value your opinion as to the suitability of wood wool for packing 
flowers. I have sent a great number of Orchid blooms to East¬ 
bourne and London this season, and am told they travelled per¬ 
fectly. I am now sending to Malvern (eighteen hours’ journey), 
which will be a severe test.—0. R. F. 
[The flowers are of excellent quality, petals and sepals broad, 
smooth and clear, and the lip chastely coloured. They arrived 
quite fresh in the wood wool, of which we have not seen a softer, 
sweeter, or better sample. Some shavings we have received are 
too harsh for flowers, and so strong in the peculiar wood aroma as 
to impair the flavour of ripe fruit packed in the material.] 
Culture of Ccelogyne cristata. 
There are few more easily grown or profitable Orchids than 
Coelogyne cristata and its varieties. The flowers are produced in 
droopiug racemes during the first three months of the year, and 
being pure white, with the exception of a splash of golden yellow 
in the lip, are in great request for making bouquets, sprays, and 
wreaths, for which purposes the flowers are admirably adapted, as 
they wire well, are fragrant, and keep fresh in water for several 
days after being cut, 
As a decorative plant this evergreen Orchid has few equals. 
Plants grown in pans from 4 to 6 inches in diameter are very useful 
for standing in small vases in rooms and for grouping or standing 
on edges of staging. The drooping spikes, consisting of fiom 
five to seven flowers, are very effective when contrasted with 
the groundwork of green shiny oblong pseudo-bulbs, from the base 
of which they spring, and the green arching leaves. Deep pans, 
about 12 inches in diameter at the top and 3 inches less in the 
bottom, well filled with pseudo-bulbs in full flower, show to great 
advantage stood on top of pedestals about 5 feet high in the 
boudoir and other rooms. 
Potting should be done immediately the plants have finished 
flowering. Perfect drainage being essential to the well-being of 
this plant, from 2 to 4 inches deep of potsherds and small charcoal, 
according to the size of pan used, should be placed in the bottom 
of each, putting large pieces over the holes, and finishing off with 
small ones on the top, so as to secure a free passage for the water 
applied at the roots. A compost consisting of peat and sphagnum 
moss is generally given Coelogynes as a rooting medium, and they 
do very well in this ; but they do better in an admixture of equal 
parts good peat and loam, every particle of fine being shaken out, a 
little sphagnum moss and fine charcoal and potsherds added. In 
potting keep the mixture and pseudo-bulbs well above the rim of 
the pans, and make the compost firm. 
The temperature of an ordinary plant stove will be congenial 
to the requirements of the plant, giving it a position near the 
roof glass and plenty of water at the roots during the summer 
and early autumn months. We grow our plants in the Cattleya 
house, which suits them admirably. Applications of weak liquid 
manure given at the roots twice a week during the period indicated 
will prove beneficial to the plants. 
The largest plant I have seen of Coelogyne cristata was at 
Melchet Court, near Salisbury ; it measured 5 feet across, and 
bore over 500 large flowers. 
Late - flowering plants which have not already been repotted 
should be seen to at once, shading them from sunshine during 
the heat of the day. Coelogyne cristata was introduced into this 
country from Northern India in 1837.—H. W. Ward, Longford 
Castle Gardens. 
Oncidium Papilio. 
This is the well-known Butterfly Orchid, a remarkable and free- 
flowering species. The flower spike rises from the base of the 
bulb, and bears a succession of single flowers, each one an almost 
exact representation of a butterfly. It produces flowers for years 
from the same stalk ; and if by accident it may be broken off at or 
near the top it begins to grow at once from the next joint below^, 
and soon yields blossoms again. 
This Oncidium is best grown on blocks, surfaced with fresh 
green sphagnum, in the spring, which should be kept growing all 
the summer, and in the winter the greater part of it ought to be 
removed, as too much moisture at the base of the bulbs is apt to 
cause them to decay. It should be grown in the hottest house, 
with abundance of sunlight and atmospheric moisture. 
PlIAIUS X amabilis. 
This is a new and distinct hybrid, the result of a cross between 
P. tuberculosus and P. grandiflorus. It was exhibited at the Drill 
Hall in February last by Messrs. J. Yeitch & Sons, Royal E.xotie 
Nursery, Chelsea, and a first-class certificate was awarded for it. 
The lip is comparatively short, brownish red, shaded with purple, 
this extending into the throat. The sepals and petals are blush, 
FIG. 82. —PHAIUS X AMABILIS. 
veined with light brown. The plant is dwarf in habit, and ig 
apparently a free bloomer. Fig. 82 represents the flower. 
Epidendrum bicornutum. 
Few Orchids have puzzled cultivators more than this beautiful 
Epidendrum. No one seems to have found a way to improve 
on imported plants of this species in the way that we can on 
some others. Possibly the best way to grow it is in pots or 
baskets filled with nothliig but clear potsherds and charcoal and 
a litcle live moss when it is growing in summer, but whatever is 
used for potting the material should be of a very lasting character, 
as this Orchid cannot endure being disturbed at the roots. 
If a newly imported plant once takes with a will to anything 
in the way of compost it will thrive and flower for a few years 
fairly well, but if disturbed it seldom takes well to its 1 ew home. 
This Orchid should be grown in the warm house and suspended 
near the glass to receive the full benefit of air and sun, and ought 
to be repeatedly syringed in the summer, also freely watered at 
the roots.—H. Richards. 
