February 1, 1894. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
87 
a fair line, and is, of course, useful, but should be of a select strain. 
The compact-growing Pansies of the Blue King type make an 
excellent line, and during the greater part of the year are very 
showy. Strawberries are used for the purpose by some, and, where 
economy of space has to be considered, may answer fairly well. 
But all the above-mentioned are more or less open to objection on 
the score of the labour entailed in keeping them in good condition, 
and they cannot by any means be termed permanent edgings. 
Not in all localities can good gravel be procured, but where it 
can be had at a moderate cost no excuse for having bad walks can 
exist. Broken stones, clinkers, and brickbats for giving the 
requisite thickness and drainage to roads and walks can in most 
places be extensively supplied ; and a finer material, gravel prefer¬ 
ably, can usually be found for solidifying the whole and smoothing 
the surface, which can be kept hard and firm by the frequent appli¬ 
cation of the garden roller, and free from weeds and moss by the 
occasional application of an approved “ weed killer,” of which there 
are many reliable kinds in the market. Weeding or hoeing garden 
walks is, or ought to be, a thing of the past. No better provision 
for the retention and germination of every seed wafted about can 
be imagined than the carefully raked loose surface presented by 
some garden walks, which is unpleasantly dusty ini dry weather, and 
very dirty in wet. 
In all large kitchen gardens a great saving of labour can be 
effected by having the walks sufficiently wide to allow manure and 
soil to be carted to the different quarters. During frosty weather no 
harm can be done, nor can there be during dry days at any 
season of the year, if the walks are well made and kept firm. I 
think it is a mistake to place, as many do, pots of Strawberries, 
Chrysanthemums, and other plants on the sides of walks during the 
summer and autumn months. However suitable the position may 
be for these important plants, the walks are not at all improved in 
condition by the pots remaining upon them for any length of time, 
and which is only too apparent when, on the approach of winter, the 
plants are being housed. A space or plot of ground, as close to 
the water supply as possible, can in most places be given up to 
such plants in pots, where their wants and cultivation can be 
attended to equally as well, and probably better than when placed 
on the sides of paths and walks. In fact, whatever attention and 
care that can be bestowed upon these indispensable parts of a 
garden are given will be amply compensated for in the generally 
enhanced appearance of the place, and the increased ease and 
expedition with which all operations connected with it can be 
performed.—W. N., Badminton. 
A New Okchid Book. 
A NEW work on Orchids is expected ready during this month 
from the pen of Mr. H. A. Burberry, grower to the Right Hon. 
Joseph Chamberlain, M.P., entitled “ The Amateur Orchid 
Grower’s Guide Book.” 
Saccolabium cgeleste. 
This charming Saccolabium was introduced a few years ago, but 
as far as my experience goes it is not so generally cultivated as it 
ought to be. It is, I find, ratber slow in growth, which perhaps 
may account for its exclusion from many collections. Neverthe¬ 
less it is an attractive Orchid, as may be readily imagined by the 
following description, which appeared some time since in the 
“ Orchid Album.” The author there says :— 
“ Saccolabium coeleste is a lovely species, evergreen, and com¬ 
pact in growth, with foliage 6 inches long. The plant attains to a 
foot or more in height, and is slow in growing to this size. The 
inflorescence proceeds from the axils of the leaves on either side of 
the stem, and the spike is erect, some 6 or 9 inches in height, the 
raceme being dense. The blunt cuneate-oblong sepals and petals 
are tipped with sky-blue, and the compressed blunt recurved spur 
has a blue tint on both sides of the centre ; the interior part is also 
sky-blue, while two falcate, subulate bodies rise from tbe apex 
inside the spur. The blooming season is July and August, and the 
plant continues in full beauty between three and four weeks, if 
kept in a fairly warm house and the flowers shielded from the 
effects of damp. 
“ This plant requires the temperature of the East India house 
to maintain it in proper condition, and should be grown in sphagnum 
moss, with ample drainage. When strong it produces lateral 
growths, which, as they increase in size, tend to make the plant 
compact and dense, whilst as its young shoots produce flowers in 
abundance, it cannot be ranked as a shy bloomer. From the 
natural habitat of the plant it probably will occur to growers in 
this country that it requires strong heat, an abundance of atmo¬ 
spheric moisture, plenty of sun as well as light and air ; yet it will 
be found advantageous to shade it from the hottest sun in this 
FIG. 13. —SACCOLABIUM CCELESTE. 
country, as being beneath glass the foliage is apt to become yellow, 
or burnt, which would not occur in the open air.’ — Specialist,. 
[The illustration (fig. 13) represents the beautiful Saccolabium 
coeleste, to which our correspondent refers.] 
Oncidium Grayesianum. 
This plant is one of the latest additions to the already long list 
of Oncidiums known to cultivators, many of which, however, have 
proved very short-lived under artificial conditions ; this species, 
however, appears to have no weakness of this sort, and increases 
every year. It is a native of Pernimbuco, and was discovered and 
imported with Cattleya labiata by Messrs. F. Sander & Co. There 
is, says the “ Garden and Forest,” a very strong resemblance in the 
flowers to those of 0. crispum, and a variety of this now in bloom 
is almost identical in colour with O. Gravesianum. The resemblance 
ends with the flowers, the growth being very distinct. The whole 
flower is a rich dark bronze, the inner half of the lip being bright 
yellow ; there are over twenty flowers on each of the three panicles 
borne on the plant, and they appear to list a long time in good 
condition, 0. Gravesianum thris'es well at the cool end of the 
