January 10, 1895. 
JOURNAL OF HORTIGULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
25 
loam, one part old lime scraps, half a part of burnt garden refuse, 
incorporating 1 lb. of bonemeal to 2 bushels of the compost. 
Always make the soil firm when potting or planting Tomatoes. 
There are thousands of plants ruined every year through planting 
in loose rich soil. Leaf soil is almost ruin to Tomato plants. In such 
a medium they make rampant growth at the expense of fruit, while 
an invasion of fungoid enemies is invited. When potting provide 
ample drainage ; 2 inches in depth for a 12-inch pot will not be 
too much, to be covered with rough turf or moss. In potting or 
planting out in houses only fill two-thirds of the space with soil, 
leaving the remaining third for top-dressings. After the plants 
have set a good crop of fruit, rich top-dressings enable these to 
swell to maturity in less time than without such aid. Plants in 
beds ought to have a root run of about 18 inches, 12 inches only 
being provided at the time of planting, and made firm, with good 
drainage below. Train to single stems 15 to 18 inches apart. 
Watering and Stimulants. —Watering requires to be care¬ 
fully done. An over-supply to newly planted Tomatoes is ruinous, 
while too little causes the leaves to curl and turn a spotty brown 
colour. I am no advocate for pruning off the main leaves from the 
stems of Tomatoes. Tomatoes will not set a full crop of fruit 
when short of water. I have found nitrate of soda of great 
assistance in setting (when leaf soil is not used), 2 ozs. of the 
nitrate to 3 gallons of water, given twice a week for a fortnight or 
three weeks, or as long as the plants appear to require extra 
assistance by a stimulant. The Tomato cannot long remain in 
good health in a close damp atmosphere, than which nothing is 
more favourable to the dreaded Peronospora infestans, which 
causes the fruit to turn black as well as the leaves. We know what 
conditions of the atmosphere are favourable to the Peronospora, 
therefore those conditions we ought to endeavour to avoid at any 
cost. This is done by judicious ventilation and maintaining a 
somewhat dry atmosphere, keeping the plants at the same time 
regularly supplied with water. When full crops of fruit are 
swelling some good fertiliser will be of great assistance. A little, 
and often, is the safe practice to carry us on to a successful 
termination in growing a crop of Tomatoes. 
Formula for Top-dressing 
t^itrate of soda ... 
. 4 lb?. 
Superphosphate ... 
... . 10 lbs. 
Muriate of potash 
. ... 4 lbs. 
Bonemeal. 
. 7 lbs. 
Iron sulphate 
. 1 lb. 
Burnt garden refuse 
. 28 lbs. 
Mix all the ingredients ; give a dressing of loam, half inch thick, 
over the roots, then apply the manure at the rate of 2 ozs. to the 
square yard and water thoroughly once a fortnight; give a dessert 
spoonful once a fortnight to the plants in large pots. 
Open Air Culture. 
For raising Tomatoes to plant outside about the first week in 
June, also for growing a summer crop under glass, sow the seed 
and treat the young plants the same manner as for early fruiting. 
The first week in March is early enough for those to make a first 
sowing who have not the convenience for early fruiting. The 
plants require growing as near the glass as possible, also to be 
established in 6-inch pots without loss of time to enable them to 
have a bunch or two of fruit set and swelling before they are 
planted outside. Prior to this the plants will require hardening 
three weeks or a month in cold frames. 
It is a good plan to plant above the ground level, as the roots 
will then be warmer. They may be planted against bare south 
walls, or grown against trellises similar to Raspberries across south 
borders, the rows 4 feet apart, 18 inches plant to plant. When 
they have set a crop of fruit they will require a stimulant, the 
same that is recommended for indoor plants being suitable, also the 
same kind of soil as that recommended. 
Varieties of Tomatoes. —These are legion, growers generally 
preferring their own selection. I fine Eccles Champion one of the 
best ; Glenhurst Favourite, Challenger, Conference, Ham Green 
Favourite, Golden Queen, The Conqueror, Hathaway’s Excelsior, 
Vick’s Criterion, and a host of Perfections all have their 
admirers. 
One of the greatest pests to Tomato growers in this neighbour¬ 
hood is the white fly (Aleyrodes vaporariorum). I only know 
one antidote that will keep the pest in check in houses, and that 
is fortnightly fumigations with tobacco paper until they are cleared 
out. 
Summary. —There are two or three cardinal points which must 
not be overlooked to be successful in Tomato growing. First, do 
not keep a close moist atmosphere ; second, do not use animal 
manure, or only in very small quantities, but chemical instead ; 
bird, do not plant in li[,ht rich soil, enrich the soil when 
you have secured a good crop of fruit by top-dressings—a little 
and often is the rule to follow ; fourth, do not let the plants suffer 
by want of water; fifth, keep a dry warm airy atmosphere if 
possible. 
I am sorry to say that the ealworm attacks the roots of Tomato 
plants. I do not think there is any cure, but we may mitigate the 
effects a little by giving small doses of nitrate of soda weekly, 1 oz. 
to the gallon of water.—G. Picker, Gardener to F. B. Pease, Esq. 
—(^Read at a meeting of the Hessle Gardeners' Imjprovement Society.) 
Catasetum imperiale. 
I HAVE the pleasure of sending you a flower of the new 
Catasetum imperiale, Lind, et Cogn., of which we have a plant 
in bloom with a fine spike of fourteen flowers. I regret very 
much not having had the opportunity to exhibit this magnificent 
form at a meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society. It may 
interest the readers of the Journal of Horticulture. I certainly 
believe it to be the grandest Catasetum yet introduced. It was 
flowered from a recent importation of Catasetum Bungerothi.— 
J. Linden. 
[The woodcut (fig. 5) represents the flower sent to us, the 
colour of which is ivory white, the lip being very bold in appear^ 
FIG. 5.—CATASETUM IMPERIALE. 
ance and heavily stained with brownish red, while the upper sepals- 
are spotted with the same dark colour.] 
Lanium Berkeleyi. 
The third species of this curious little group, which Lindley 
considered as a section of Epidendrum, though Bentham after¬ 
wards elevated it to the rank of a distinct genus. It was found in 
a clump of Cattleya guttata by Major-General E. S. Berkeley 
Spetchley, Bitterne Park, Southampton, with whom it flowered in 
January, 1891 ; and now Messrs. F. Sander & Co., St. Albans, 
have also flowered it among their Brazilian importations. It is 
easily distinguished from L. Avicula, Benth., the other Brazilian 
species, by its much longer and narrower pseudo-bulbs and leaves, 
and less branched raceme. The flowers are light green with 
numerous minute red brown dots on the sepals, petals, and base of 
the column.—(“ Kew Bulletin.”) 
Cypripedium niveum. 
Cypripedium niveum is one of the most delightful of all 
Cypripediums when it is happy and in full flower, its elegant 
white flowers, sometimes speckled all over with tiny purple dots, 
being without equal in the genus. But it is a bad plant to manage 
in most collections, being more liable to the dreaded Orchid disease 
