556 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 20, 1883* 
may, under certain circumstances by its power of absorption, help 
to maintain humidity in the soil, fix the ammonia, and assist the 
solution of calcic carbonate ; but Liebig, Ville, and other great 
authorities agree that it contains no nutritive elements which can 
be assimilated by the plant, therefore it is very improbable that 
those manures which make humus are the best for fruit trees.— 
Edmund Tonics, PacJewood, Knowle. 
ODONTOGLOSSUM EUGENES. 
In a recent issue of the “ Orchid Album ” illustrations are 
given of Cattleya Gaskelliana alba, Calanthe masuca, Disa racemosa, 
and the Odontoglossum named above, which is a particularly beau¬ 
tiful addition to the numerous hybrids. Mr. Williams thus writes 
concerning it:— 
“ Odontoglossum has become both an extensive and a very 
important genus of the Orchidaceie. The European travellers and 
plant collectors are continually sending home fresh stock, the 
result of their labours in various parts of the mountain regions of 
South America, and as it is now so well understood by growers of 
Orchids at home that these Odontoglots are purely mountain plants, 
the treatment they receive on their arrival in this country is so 
thoroughly congenial that we have succeeded in enlarging the genus 
to a very great extent with hybrid forms, which have added con¬ 
siderably to the embellishment of every Orchid house in the 
country. These natural hybrids have been brought about through 
insect agency, and the great majority of them are welcome addi¬ 
tions to our collections. Such is the case with the plant whose 
portrait is here given, which was introduced by Messrs. Yeitch and 
Sons of Chelsea, and flowered for the first time in this country in 
the garden of His Grace the Duke of Sutherland at Trentham. It 
is a very handsome hybrid, and its parents are supposed to have 
been Odontoglossum Pescatorei and 0. triumphans. In general 
habit of growth it most resembles the first-named plant, but its 
flowers partake more of the character of 0. triumphans. We are 
heartily glad to find so many natural hybrids are being discovered 
in their native wilds, for notwithstanding the skill and energy of 
our hybridisers at home, very little success has attended their 
labours with this genus ; but we hope soon to see this difficulty 
overcome, for there is doubtless a great future yet in store for the 
numerous admirers of the Odontoglossums. The most forward 
seedling Odontoglots we have yet seen are in the garden of 
H. J. Buchan, Esq., of Wilton House, Southampton, raised by his 
gardener, Mr. Osborne. 
“ Odontoglossum eugenes is a magnificent evergreen plant, with 
bright green foliage ; the inflorescence is arched and many-flowered, 
producing a grand effect when the blossoms are expanded. The 
flowers are 4 inches across, and of a bright, showy, and pleasing 
colour ; the sepals and petals are of a pale yellow, distinctly 
margined and tipped with deep yellow, the centre and base of the 
petals white, both sepals and petals being heavily blotched with 
chestnut-brown ; lip white, with yellow crest, and a large blotch of 
chestnut-brown in the centre, while the column is white. This 
plant flowers during the months of June and July, and lasts in 
full perfection for six weeks. The length of time Odontoglossums 
retain their beauty renders the flowers of these plants so valuable ; 
moreover, we have frequently observed that the flowers of those 
kinds which open during the dull heavy days of winter and early 
spring do not suffer from the fogs—which we often experience at 
that season of the year—in the manner that many other orchid¬ 
aceous plants suffer, so that this is another favourable argument 
for the cultivation of the various members of this truly beautiful 
genus. 
“ This plant requires to be treated in precisely the same 
manner as its supposed parents. It should be grown in a cool 
house, and shaded from the hottest sun in summer, but in the 
autumn and winter shading may be entirely dispensed with. In 
the spring, when the sun begins to rise high and shine powerfully, 
will be soon enough to think of shading the Odontoglots ; but, as 
we have frequently remarked, these plants should never be shaded 
after the sun is on the decline on a summer afternoon, because we 
cannot in this country expose them to a greater share of light than 
they enjoy 7 , and there is little doubt this thorough exposure is one 
of the great secrets in the successful management of Orchids. 
Treated in this manner the plants form fine growths, and ripen up 
their bulbs thoroughly, from which fine spikes may be reasonably 
expected, and fine spikes produce fine flowers. On the other 
hand, weak growths cannot be expected to produce like results,, 
but must lead to failure and disappointment ” 
ANGR2ECUM SESQUIPEDALE. 
At Witton Park, near Blackburn, the country home of General 
Fielding, there is a fine specimen of the above named grand Orchid 
in full beauty 7 . The plant, I understand, has been one of the prin¬ 
cipal attractions of Witton Park for many seasons, but this year it 
is better than ever, there being no less than seventeen of its peculiar 
though beautiful flowers. It is intended, I believe, to have the- 
specimen photographed. Mr. Blench, the gardener, evidently 
understands the requirements of this Orchid. —YlSiTOK. 
GRAPES SCALDING. 
I am much obliged to “ J. B.” for submitting for my consi¬ 
deration a case of scalding very similar to that given by the Editor 
in answer to a communication of Mr. Simpson’s on page 392. The- 
Editor there says, “ The subject of Grapes scalding is neither 
exhausted nor settled,” and I cordially agree with him. He goes- 
on to say, “We have known houses of Lady Downe’s Grapes in 
which scalding is practically unknown, and also a house of Black 
Hamburghs in which it was not possible to prevent the fruit of 
one Yine scalding by any method of ventilation, while not one- 
injured berry was seen on the other Yines in the same house.” 
For all practical purposes the two cases—this one, and the one 
given by “ J. B.” on page 517—are the same, only it is unfortu¬ 
nate perhaps that the Editor’s Yir.es were not Lady Downe’s 
instead of Black Hamburgh. But these are by no means solitary 
cases. For some years I had the charge of a span-roofed house 
running north and south, 40 to 50 feet long and 12 to 13 feet wide,, 
planted with Lady Downe’s with the exception of one Yine, and 
that an Alicante. This Vine filled three lights on each side of the 
house, and always carried the finest Grapes ; but they were scalded 
every season, or nearly every season, while not a berry of Lady 
Downe’s was affected. The Yine of Alicante was at the north 
end of the house. Ventilators on each side at the base could be 
opened, and also at the top on the west side. To try and prevent 
scalding taking place ventilators were arranged a3 well on the east- 
side, but the Alicante seal led as badly as before. 
I am rather surprised that “ J. B.” did not submit this difficult 
matter to those who have been so ready to condemn my contribu¬ 
tions on Grape-scalding. The fact that two other varieties than 
Lady Downe’s have scalded under similar conditions, as far as- 
appearances are concerned, at least, strikes at the very root of the 
constitutional theory. It goes further, and helps to prove that 
Lady Downe’s amongst Grapes cannot be regarded as the sole- 
variety liable to scald. It proves more than this, that scalding is 
not alone due to defective ventilation, although I believe it more 
generally arises from that than any ether cause. I advanced over- 
forcing, which I have had ample proof to convince me that it is 
another cause, and one that will end as disastrously with the Vines,, 
whether Black Hamburgh or Lady Downe's, during that critical 
period as with the Peach cr Nectarine. I also believed in other 
causes, and perhaps some of the solitary instances of scalding given 
above may be traced to one or other of them. I believe at that 
critical period that any check to the Yine, whether arising from, 
inactivity of the roots, dryness, overfeeding, or an insufficient 
supply of food in the border that the Yine might require just then, 
would bring about scalding. 
It is very difficult matter for anyone to state the exact cause of 
scalding in any of the three cases given above. To do this it is 
necessary to be on the spot and investigate the case carefully, and' 
even then it might take a long time to trace the evil to its true 
source. In the case of the Alicante, the cause was dryness at the 
root, which was found by accident. The Yine had grown straight 
out of the house, through a walk and into a small bed planted with 
Lily of the Valle} 7 , through one end of which hot-water pipes 
passed. The Yine flagged, and watering the border inside had no 
effect in restoring it. It recovered at night, and the leaves drooped 
daily for a week or more during the daytime. The weather being 
very dry we soaked the Lily bed with liquid from a cesspool, which 
gave new life and vigour to the Yine. By attention to the water¬ 
ing of this Lily bed afterwards scalding was unknown in the house 
as long as the Yines occupied it. 
Your correspondent, Mr. J. B. Riding, on page 470, states 
that he has not ventured an opinion as to the cause of scalding. 
Without going back, I think he once before reminded us of this. 
It appears, therefore, that he has made a mistake in imputing to 
me a modesty that he possesses in a marked degree. It is evident 
he has been too modest to give us his opinion on the cause of 
