February 8, 1894. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
103 
pots. As the days lengthen and become brighter a daily syringing 
will be found beneficial, excspt in dull or wet weather. 
Artificial manures should be used with great caution, as I know 
of no plants which show the ill effects of an overdose so quickly. 
As a stimulant I believe nothing equals weak soot water, given 
whenever the plants require watering, after roots have become 
plentiful. The frequent stirring of the surface soil, to keep it in a 
sweet condition and admit the food of the atmosphere, is also an 
important factor in the successful culture of these charming 
flowers.—H. Dunkin. 
Cypripedium Adrastus. 
When this beautiful Cypripedium was exhibited at the Drill 
Hall, Westminster, on January IGth by Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, 
Royal Exotic Nurseries, Chelsea, it attracted more than ordinary 
attention on account of its distinctiveness. It is the result of a 
cross between C. Leeanum and C. villosum Boxalli, the latter 
being the pollen-bearing parent. The upper sepal is principally 
white, green towards the base, the whole being heavily spotted 
purplish-brown. The petals are shiny rich red-brown on a 
yellowish-green, the lip being short, of a glazed purple hue, 
mottled yellow. The illustration (fig. 16) represents a flower 
borne by the plant exhibited by Messrs. Veitch & Sons, and for 
which a first-class certificate was awarded. 
Pleurothallis unistriata. 
According to the “ Kew Bulletin ” this is a very small species, 
belonging to the section Apodse caespitosEe, which has flowered in 
the Kew collection on several occasions. It is very near the 
Guatemalan P. marginata, Lindl., which, however, has rather larger, 
more distant flowers, and the lateral sepals united to their middle. 
The flowers are semi-pellucid white ; the petals each with a purple 
mid-nerve, and some similar colour on the lip. As the flowers 
become old the colour diffuses itself through the petals and lip. 
Scaphosepalum microdactylum. 
A singular little species, which flowered at Kew during 1890, 
and again in October of the last year. It is very distinct 
from every other, though perhaps nearest S. ochthodes, Pfitzer. 
The flowers, it is stated in the “ Kew Bulletin,” are light greenish 
yellow except the upper half of the dorsal sepal, which is suffused 
with light purple brown. It is characterised by the very short tail 
of the lateral sepals, scarcely half a line in length, in allusion to 
which the name is given. 
Paphinia grandiflora. 
Paphinia grandifiora, generally known as P. grandis, is the 
largest flowered and handsomest of a small genus of Orchids, 
closely allied to Lycaste ; indeed, it is included in that genus by 
Bentham and Hooker. Although introduced from Brazil and 
flowered in England ten years ago, this species has remained rare 
until recently. Its flowers, says the American “ Garden and 
Forest,” are 6 inches in diameter, the segments being ovate-lanceo¬ 
late and coloured yellow, with blotches and bands of deep brown 
purple ; the lip is narrow, fleshy, and crowned with a tuft of 
whitish shaggy hairs. The size of the flower is out of all propor¬ 
tion to the size of the plant, which is scarcely a foot high and has 
egg-shaped pseudo-bulbs, bearing each one or two thin lanceolate 
green leaves. Paphinias are as refractory as PhaJaenopsis, and are, 
therefore, plants only for the patient and watchful cultivator 
possessed of a moist house. They require a decided dry rest after 
growth. 
SOWING SEEDS. 
Seed time has ever been a period of hope and interest in all 
countries throughout the civilised world. Poets of ancient and 
modern times have described in some of their choicest language 
the power of hope and the hopefulness of seed time. Illustrious 
divines have, when delivering some weighty oration to their 
wavering flocks, exhorted them to copy the firm faith and sanguine 
hope of the pious husbandman. This instinctive feeling of hope¬ 
fulness which reigns within our breasts at seed time, unless accom¬ 
panied by good work as well, may prove a delusion and a snare, 
for although loose methods of sowing seeds may sometimes be 
followed by good results, they are more often the precursor of 
disastrous failure. It is only when we have done all that we can 
do by following the best methods of seed-sowing and subsequent 
culture that we are likely to realise fully the sanguine hopes which 
come with the time of sowing seeds. 
Although it is necessary to exercise great care in preparing the 
soil, and in sowing seeds of all descriptions, those which are sown 
under glass perhaps show the ill effects of wrong practice or 
neglect to a greater extent than others, because many of them are 
so exceedingly small as to resemble dust; and, moreover, light, 
heat, air, and water, the primary elements necessary to ensure 
good progress, as so thoroughly under our control that attention or 
neglect speedily show their inevitable results. I will therefore 
confine my remarks in this article to the practice I have found most 
successful in seed-sowing under glass. So many failures result 
from sowing seeds in soil infested with minute insects that I have 
for some years followed the plan of thoroughly drying in a stoke¬ 
hole all that is used for that purpose. Maiden loam, leaf soil, and 
peat are easily subjected to the same process ; and after being 
Fig. 16.— cypripedium adrastus. 
thoroughly dried, so that no animal life can be present, these 
materials are slightly moistened, turned over, and left for a day 
before being used. 
When preparing the compost I begin by sifting equal parts of 
loam and leaf soil or peat through the half-inch sieve. A good 
amount of finely crushed charcoal is next passed through the 
quarter-inch one, plenty of sharp sand is added, and the whole 
thoroughly mixed together. Half of this is then sifted through 
the quarter-inch sieve, and a small portion again passed through 
one with still finer meshes. In this way soils of three different 
degrees of fineness are prepared, and collectively they supply 
materials in which almost any seeds, from those of the dust-like 
Begonia to the giant Sunflower, maybe inserted with good prospect 
of success. 
Pans or shallow boxes are perhaps the most suitable receptacles- 
for sowing the seeds in ; the former I prefer for any small or 
choice ones, and the latter for the more easily grown half-hardy 
annuals, of which considerable numbers are usually required. In 
all instances good drainage is absolutely necessary. Three sizes 
of crocks should be used, finishing off with the smallest on the 
surface, which ought not to be larger than peas. Soil an inch in 
depth is ample for small seeds, and an extra half inch for larger 
ones ; there is then but little danger of its becoming sour before 
the young seedlings are pricked out. Over the crocks I place a 
thin layer of moss, through which the water percolates evenly. 
After experimenting with many substances I consider moss the 
most suitable for the purpose ; a layer from the coarsest heap of 
prepared soil being placed over this, and pressed moderately firm, 
should be followed by another layer, which has been passed 
