408 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 24.1894. 
Odontoglossum crispum Sander.e. 
Amongst the many beautiful forms of O. crispum now in 
cultivation the one illustrated on page 401 (fig. 65) is undoubtedly 
one of the best. When exhibited some time ago by Messrs. 
F. Sander & Co., St. Albans, a first-class certificate was awarded 
for this distinct form, of which honour it was worthy. The flower 
needs no minute description, for its value lies in the remarkably 
heavy blotching, and it need only be said that the sepals, petals, and 
lip are nearly covered with brown blotches and spots to indicate the 
distinctive character of the variety. It is one of the most richly 
coloured forms of O. crispum yet met with, and must be classed as 
one of the finest varieties of that popular ty^e. 
Orchids at the Manchester Show. 
XoTWiTiiSTANDiNG the great number of Orchids which are ever 
being imported into this country, they appear to have as firm a hold 
upon the public taste, judging from the high prices obtained at the 
two days’ sale at Timperley Lodge a fortnight ago, and the great 
interest centred in the charming display at the Manchester Whitsun¬ 
tide Show. The charming Cypripedium Winifred Hollington, 
which WcvS certificated both in London and Manchester, and which 
was shown by Messrs. Lewis & Co., Southgate, found a purchaser 
in the person of W. R. Lee, Esq., Audenshaw, Manchester, who 
paid a very high figure for it. The beautiful Odontoglossum 
apiculatum, certificated at the same time as the above, and which 
was brought to Manchester, was sold, realising all Messrs. Charles- 
worth, Shuttleworth, & Co. expected it to do.—R. P. R. 
Orchids at Barford Hill, Warwick. 
In the Orchid houses at Barford Hill, which have only recently 
been built, good forms in the various sections were in flower, one 
plant of Dendrobium Devonianura, imported a year ago, and 
growing in a basket about 4 inches square, was carrying four 
beautiful spikes, averaging twenty-three flowers to a spike. 
Cattleya citrina and Cymbidium Lowianum were also in good 
form. Among a number of imported plants Mr. Jones has been 
fortunate enough to secure a pure white variety of Cattleya 
Trianae. This will evidently be taken great care of. Plants of 
Vanda teres were bristling with flower spikes. No difficulty is 
experienced in flowering this variety regularly at Barford Hill, 
Mr. Jones’ practice being to expose the plants to full sunshine and 
syringe freely. A casual visitor might wonder to what use such a 
host of flowering plants were put, but the demand for them is ever 
increasing, and every available plant was required for the decoration 
of the mansion and ballroom on the occasion of a ball recently 
given by Mr. and Mrs. Smith-Ryland. To meet the increasing 
demand a new range of houses is now being completed.— Bellis. 
Warscewiczellas. 
The few species which constitute this genus are dwarf growing 
and very interesting Orchids. They are not grown as much as 
they deserve, for some of them are probably unique in colouring 
and all are beautiful. They are rather difficult to keep in health, 
having no pseudo-bulbs or underground tubers to sustain them 
during the resting season. 
To grow these Orchids successfully a warm moist house is 
necessary. The temperature required is about the same as for 
Cattleyas, but with a little more moisture in the atmosphere in 
winter. Warscewiczellas must not be often disturbed at the roots, 
and if grown in pots good lasting material should be used in a rough 
and open condition. Good results can be obtained with crocks and 
sphagnum alone, and with these it is well to be content. If much 
peat is used, even if this is of the best quality obtainable, it 
eventually becomes sour, and forms a close mass of soil in which 
the fleshy roots of these Orchids soon decay. Fully two-thirds of 
the depth of the pots must be filled with drainage. 
They may also be established on Tree Fern stems in the way 
Zygopetalum rostratum is sometimes managed. No matter how 
the plants are grown they require abundance of water at the roots 
while growing. During their period of inactivity they must not b^ 
allowed to get very dry, enough water being at all times afforded 
to keep the leaves in good condition. W. discolor has white sepals 
and petals, lip funnel shaped, purple, with white margin and disc. 
AV. marginata is similar in shape, white, with purple margin to the 
lip. W Wenlandi is the largest flowered of all, white and purple ; 
the variety discolor has yellowish sepals and petals, lip broad, 
wavy, and of a beautiful rich violet shade. All the kinds grow 
about 8 inches high.—H. R. R. 
An Amateur Orchid Grower’s Dream. 
It is needless to expatiate on the pleasure derived from 
receiving and unpacking one of those rotund plant hampers. Wer 
of the craft well know the joys, hopes, and fears enclosed in the 
tight-laced package, bearing the impress of smartness and probably 
the name of some firm of high repute. Reasoning from what we 
know it is easier to understand and make due allo>vance for those 
feelings at their highest tension when Orchids, Flora’s aristocracy, 
are the plants in question. The amateur Orchid grower depicted 
(fig. 66) appears to have passed from the pleasures of unpacking 
to that stage of reaction a period of excitement entails. Hiving, 
introduced the gentleman and his surroundings, he may now be 
allowed to speak for himself and explain what may be—perhaps 
is—a stretch of imagination. Yet oft-times “ truth is stranger than 
fiction.” He says: “ As a lover of Orchids, while allowing that 
natural laws must be our initiatory guide in the culture of these 
beautiful plants, I believe and hope to prove that science and art 
can develop results hitherto considered as impossible. Nature haS' 
in mimicry already given to the family birds, bees, and butterflies. 
In the triumph of mind over matter I hope ere long to give to the 
world a Rhinocerifolia, an Alligatiflora, and other trophies of t’ne 
hybridist’s art. To this end I had received from the tropics a box 
(see picture) of the choicest and most curious specimens that 
could be gathered. After unpacking, and duly noting with 
pleasure the varieties sent to me, weary I sat down to ponder over 
the question of ways and means to carry out the object in view. 
Neither expense nor trouble should qualify my labour of love, yet 
here the possibility of unforeseen difficulties crossed my mind, 
alas ! to be realised, as the sequel will show. 
“ From the first troubles came upon me, although I took 
extreme measures to avoid them. My choice brands of Manilla 
cheroots were devoted as burnt offerings to the butterflies from the 
Phillipines when fumigation was necessary, being the nearest I 
could approach Nature in this direction. Vexed with Vexillariums, 
maddened with Masdevallias, I observed with others traits of 
character never before revealed to mortal eyes, then 1 completely 
fell under the spell of their witchery. Soliloquising one day 
amongst these unruly children of Nature I thus apost ophised 
them : ‘ Have I not, mes enfants, studied the whims and fancies of 
each and all of you ? ’ Prepared as I was for anything it did not 
surprise me to hear an emphatic chorus of ‘ No! ’ piped from the 
upturned striped and spotted throats. ‘ Speak up, you Masdevalliau 
reptiles, with your Mephistophelian legs akimbo,’ quoth I, ‘ and 
you, ye Cypripedious vagabonds, and thou, gentle Lselia, with 
sardonic grin and pouting lip, ill becoming thy beauteous face.’ 
“ Flattering myself that I was getting the whip hand of the 
rebellious crew, I forthwith addressed a member of the Aurantiaca 
family : ‘ Tell me, my pretty Ada !-’ ‘ Ada ! ’ shrieked a voice 
in my ear. ‘ Ob, you wretch, I knew it. Wfere is this Ada ? 
Who is she ? No better than she ought to be, I’ll be bound.’ It 
was the voice of my wife, who further informed me she would go 
home to her mother, and I should see what I should see. Now, 
there was nothing I wanted to see unless it was some of that wealth 
expectant from my mother-in-law, who had on sundry occasions 
tantalised me by the threat of leaving her money to an asylum for 
Orchidiots. The result of this connubial contretemps was that my 
wife carried off a substantial cheque with which I had intended to 
secure a coveted major in the Orchid army, and she appeared on 
the following Sunday in the family pew resplendent in glittering 
raiment and gorgeous headgear. But- ‘ Come ! Come, dear, 
are you going to sleep there all night ? ’ ‘ What! only a dream ? ’ 
‘Yes,’ said my wife, ‘dreaming about those Orchids, I suppose.’ 
All’s well that ends well, thought I, with a sigh of relief. 
“ Still, I fear there is trouble yet in store, for my hopeful son and 
heir had taken a snap shot of me in my dream with a new thought¬ 
reading camera, invented by a friend who turns his inventive 
faculties to other account than Orchids, and he tells me that he has 
swopped the picture for two live rabbits and a guinea pig with the 
office boy attached to one of those horticultural journa's in 
Fleet Street.” 
THE NUTRITION OF ROOTS. 
Mr. Raillem (page 388) has opened up for discussion a very 
interesting subject, which is of course more physiological than 
cultural, yet is one that concerns practice in gardening emphiti- 
cally. When I read that roots can absorb moisture in the soil only 
in the form of vapour I cannot but remember that cut flowers 
placed in water do absorb water in its pure state, for in no other 
