C6 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
January 25,1394 
for boutonnieres because of their airy grace and fragrance. The 
specific name of this Oncidium has reference to the peculiar 
appendage to the anthers, which seem to resemble a bird’s beak. 
POLYSTACHA BUCIIANANI. 
This species bears much resemblance to P. luteola, IIoolc., from 
Tropical America, and P. mauritiaua, Sjmng., from the Mascarene 
Islands, and like them has light yellowish-green flowers with a faint 
trace of purple-brown near the margins of the sepals. It has been 
in cultivation for several years, having flowered in the Royal 
Botanic Garden, Glasnevin, in September, 1889, and in succeeding 
years. According to the “Kew Bulletin” it was sent from the 
Upper Zambesi district by Mr. John Buchanan to Mr. James 
O’Brien, Harrow-on-the-Hill, who has now sent it to Kew for 
determination. Among African species it may be compared with 
P. rufinula, RcTih. /., which has cinnamon-brown sepals, longer 
bracts, and larger flowers, though in habit and general character 
the two are nearly allied. 
Cyrtopera papillosa. 
From the same source we learn that this is a very distinct 
Cyrtopera, comparable only with C. foliosa, Lindl. (Hook. Comp. 
Bot. Mag. ii. p. 203) collected by Drege in Kaifraria, between 
Basche and Omtata, which has three keels to the lip, a much 
smaller papillose disc, and various other differences. C. papillosa 
was collected by Sanderson as long ago as 1864, and has recently 
been imported by Mr. James O’Brien of Harrow-on-the-Hill, from 
the same district. It flowered in the collection of Sir Trevor 
Lawrence, Bart., of Burford, Dorking, in August, 1892, and, more 
recently, with the importer. The flowers are yellow, with the 
exception of the side lobes of the lip, which are pur pie-brown. 
The name is given in allusion to the numerous papillae in front of 
the keels. The foot of the column is well developed, but the spur 
excessively short. 
SOBRALIA PUMILA. 
This, the same authority remarks, is an unusually small plant 
for a Sobralia, of which a dried specimen has been sent for deter¬ 
mination by E. S. Rand, Esquire, of Para, Brazil. The plant is 
noted as “ forming small tufts, the pseudo-bulbs seldom exceeding 
3 inches in height. Flowers bright canary yellow, but very 
transient, lasting only a day ; produced in profusion. Foliage very 
dark green.” It is allied to the New Granadan S. fimbriata, Lindl., 
which, however, is more than twice as tall, and has larger flowers 
borne on shorter pedicels. The veins of the lip are crested, 
but it is difficult to make out their exact details, owing to the 
difficulty of dissecting out such excessively membranous flowers 
when once dried. 
MANURING ORNAMENTAL TREES AND 
SHRUBS. 
Trees of any description, so long as they are in a thriving 
condition, are objects of more or less beauty. Old trees even in 
decay may be termed beautiful or picturesque ; but when we 
notice young trees which should each year be increasing in size and 
strength, begin to turn pale in colour or lose their lower branches, 
exhibiting also numerous dead twigs in many of the remaining 
ones, our sense of beauty is violated, and we look upon such as 
unsightly objects. 
Want of thinning at the proper time is often the cause of this 
state of affairs ; but upon that aspect of the subject I do not 
intend to enter now, as it has been recently dealt with in the pages 
of the Journal of Horticulture by several able contributors. There 
is, however, another cause which produces the same effect, and 
which is well worthy of the attention of all who wish to see the 
trees under their charge in a healthy condition. I allude to poverty 
and shallowness of soil. 
Those who have charge of gardens in districts where deep 
rich loams abound can scarcely realise the amount of feeding 
shrubs of many kinds, when growing in sandy or gravelly soils, 
require in order to keep them in really good condition. Much 
can, of course, be done at planting time to ensure future success 
by digging holes 6 feet in diameter and from 3 to 4 feet deep 
for^ all permanent trees. The soil should then be thoroughly 
enriched with manure as it is returned to the holes, and if possible 
a little good loam or leaf soil obtained for placing in immediate 
contact with the roots. Trees planted in stations thus prepared 
are not likely to suffer greatly from want of nourishment for the 
first ten years ; but even in such instances an annual top-dressing 
of fflanuro has a wonderful effect upon the health and vigour of 
their giosvth. ° 
Fr^uently I have to deal with trees which for some reason 
have been planted without much preparation being given to the 
soil beyond digging a hole merely large enough to accommodate 
the roots. When this is done in poor shallow soils the trees so 
planted present a poor appearance after a few years. An excellent 
way to improve them is to dig a trench around the tree at a 
distance of from 4 to 6 feet from the stem, according to the size 
of the tree. This trench may be a couple of feet wide and 3 
deep. Plenty of good manure and burnt refuse should then be 
mixed with the best of the natural soil, and when mixed returned 
to the trench, treading it firmly as the work proceeds. The whole 
surface of the soil from the outer edge of the trench to the bole 
of the tree may then, with advantage, receive a coating of manure 
or leaf mould. 
If time for cutting out trenches cannot be spared much good 
may be done by applying a top-dressing of manure several inches 
in thickness, and by emptying the contents of cesspools upon the 
surrounding soil. In some instances I have found weakly grown 
trees much improved by adopting the following plan, which I 
remember reading about a long time ago in the Journal, and after 
a lapse of twenty years have had an opportunity of testing, and I 
am now pleased to advance it for the benefit of others. Procure 
an iron rod sharpened at the point, and about an inch in diameter, 
drive this into the soil (as far as the branches of the tree extend) 
to a depth of 18 inches or 2 feet, then fill in the holes with a 
mixture of well decayed manure and wood ashes in equal parts, 
each being sifted, finish off by adding a coating of manure to the 
surface. I should have mentioned that the holes may be made 
9 inches asunder. 
Many of the best kinds of Coniferse make but poor, stunted 
growth, and never display their true character, unless they are 
either grown in deep fertile loams or receive special attention in 
the way of manure as above advised. Fortunately, however, such 
stately members of the family as Cedrus Libani, C. Deodara, 
Scotch Firs, and Yews adapt themselves to dry, poor soils much 
better than the majority of Coniferse, and as they frequently 
develop into some of the grandest specimens of arboreal beauty 
which adorn the gardens of many lands those who contemplate 
planting on poor soils should see that these are freely employed. 
—D. W. 
POTTING BEDDING PELARGONIUMS. 
The too frequent practice of employing “waste” potting soil for 
this purpose is not one to be commended. True, it frequently 
answers the purpose well, because the composition of ihe waste soil 
heap varies a good deal, and sometimes a large percentage of sweet 
rich material is incorporated with it ; but I am firmly convinced that 
more failures, or partial failures, than successes may be traced to the 
use of old and poor soil. Even in those instances in which the 
plants appear to thrive fairly well in such uncertain mixture s, they 
will bear no comparison for strength and sturdiness of growth with 
others which are potted in good loam, but which receive precisely the 
same treatment in other respects. 
Scarcity of good soil may be urged as a reason for employing the 
refuse for potting plants. Where such is the case the difficulty may 
be overcome by wheeling the waste soil to the kitchen garden (where 
it is often of great service on seed beds), and using good garden 
soil, with liberal additions of sand and leaf soil, for potting pur¬ 
poses. In those places where maiden loam can be had in abundance 
it is sound policy to use it as the principal ingredient in the compost 
prepared for Pelargoniums. The fibry portions need not necessarily 
be used, but that which is shaken out when preparing turfy loam for 
stove or greenhouse plants, and this, with the addition of one-third 
leaf soil and a little sand and burnt refuse forms an ideal compost 
for bedding Pelargoniums. Potted firmly in this, and kept in a fairly 
good position, no long-jointed growth is made; plants of dwarf com¬ 
pact habit are therefore the result, and all who have a good stock of 
this description may rest contented that they will flower freely when 
planted out. 
In those instances where waste potting soil must perforce be used, 
a regular system of sweetening and enriching it ought to be prac¬ 
tised. The plan I have sometimes adopted with good results is the 
following :—Waste soil of various descriptions is placed in a heap 
throughout the year to be dealt with in the winter, when it is made 
into stacks. Six inches of fresh stable manure with the rough 
portions shaken out is first spread upon the ground, and this is 
covered with a layer of waste soil a foot in thickness. Next follows 
a couple of inches of burnt refuse. The alternate layers are then 
repeated till the whole of the soil is used. The heap is, of course, 
finished off in the form of a ridge to throw off heavy rains. If 
possible, the heap is left undisturbed for a year, by which time 
the manure is sufficiently decayed, and the whole forms a mellow 
compost, in which a host of bedding plants grow well. I would 
strongly advise those who have habitually potted their bedding 
