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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
359 
fhe leaves becoming’drawn and weak. Sufficient water should be given 
to the plants during winter to prevent the plants flagging until growth 
is advancing towards the end of February, when tepid liquid manure 
may be freely given. From that time the plants may be subjected to a 
temperature of 65° by night if they are required earlier than they would 
&e in flower by following cool treatment.— Practical. 
IMPORTED ORCHIDS. 
For all uninitiated in the cultivation of Orchids imported ones 
in good plump condition are strongly advised. It invariably follows 
4hat if they can be established they can be successfully grown 
afterwards. Plants that have started and lost their growths should 
be avoided, for although they will break again, the eyes that do so 
as a rule are weaker than the first would have been. Some of the 
back breaks will come away strongly, but every eye lost in transit 
means the reduction of the plants. Those that have commenced 
rooting on the journey are the worst to deal with, for they require 
most careful management afterwards. 
Upon arrival wash the plants thoroughly in tepid water, re¬ 
move dead and decaying pseudo-bulbs, and cut off with a sharp 
knife all leaves that have been injured or bruised. The plants 
should then be placed in some position where they will dry quickljq 
•and be airanged in the various structures in which they are to be 
grown. For the first fortnight Vandas, Aerides, Saccolabiums, 
Cypripediums, Cattleyas and others will do in a temperature of 50^ 
ito 55°. They are better for a short time in an intermediate tempera¬ 
ture than in the stove proper. Those who have two or three 
structures for these plants may place them in after the first 
fortnight. In each case suspend them from the roof with their 
growths downwards, so that no water will lodge in the axils of the 
leaves. At first the moisture of the house will be ample, and after 
4hat time they may be syringed once daily until they are thoroughly 
plump and fresh. Syringe freely two or three times a day when 
the weather is favourable. 
The plants named are better suspended until they commence 
rooting than if placed in pots or baskets. In fact if they are potted 
mo soil should be employed about them until the formation of roots. 
The plants should be secured in position by crocks or charcoal. 
-Odontoglossums, Lselia albida, and many others may be laid on a 
hoard or on damp moss in a temperature of 45^^ to 50° until they 
start, when they may be potted. 
To attain success too much water must not be given in the 
marly stages of the plants’ growth. The supply should be gradu¬ 
ally increased as the shoots and roots exte id, and they must not 
be placed in too high a temperature at first to induce them to 
break. The plants are partially ruined if the first growths are 
prematurely forced out of them. Such plants only make weak 
growths in the first season, and are frequently a long time before 
they attain the strength they would have done undtr cooler and 
more natural treatment.—X. G. 
CATTLEYA. TEIAN^E. 
A MUCH longer succession of flowers can be obtained from this 
Grchid than by growing the whole stock in the same temperature. 
The earliest are grown in the stove suspended from the roof in 
baskets, and not only flower earlier, but produce finer flowers and 
larger pseudo-bulbs than those grown the whole of the season under 
•cooler conditions. No doubt this is due to the more thoroughly 
matured condition of the growth. There is, however, one draw¬ 
back to the maturation of the pseudo-bulbs early in the season— 
namely, they are very liable to start again into growth. This must 
be prevented, and can only be accomplished by the removal of the 
plants after growth is completed, as far as appearances are con¬ 
cerned, to a much cooler structure, where liberal ventilation can be 
given and a greater amount of light admitted. By this means a 
second growth has been prevented, and the ripening and rest they 
receive under such conditions have proved beneficial. 
While in flower these plants may' be employed in rooms for a 
time where gas is not used, and cold draughts do not strike upon 
•them, without the slightest injury. They are also perfectly safe in 
the conservatory, and a few Orchids at this season of the year add 
much to the attractiveness of such structures. Care must be taken 
not to overwater them while in these positions, most of the injury 
done to them arises from this cause. They need no more water 
than is sufficient to keep their pseudo-bulbs from shrivelling. Good 
plants of this description should not be crowded amongst others, 
for in so doing they lose half their beauty and effectiveness. The 
most prominent position in the house should be selected and the 
plants tastefully grouped by themselves, or with the addition of 
Ferns. Nearly all Orchids look well when grouped with an under¬ 
growth of Ferns to hide the pots, pans, or baskets in which they 
may be grown.—B. 
EPIDENDRUM BICOENUIUM. 
The beautiful species which so many people fail to grow satis¬ 
factorily is to be met with in splendid condition at two or three 
gardens near Croydon, perhaps the specimen at Croydon Lodge 
being the best. This is grown in a strong moist heat, where it 
makes larger growths and blooms freely every year. The enclosed 
bloom is from a plant now flowering at Birdhurst, Croydon, the 
residence of J. C. Lanyon, Esq. It is grown similar to the above, 
and each spike has carried about a dozen pure white sweet-scented 
flowers, which have been in perfection some time.—G. W. C. 
ORCHIDS AT CHELSEA. 
Mr. Wii.liam Bull’s exceedingly beautiful exhibition of 
Orchids in his King’s Road nursery is now regarded as one of the 
interesting events of the London season by the numerous visitors 
who annually make a journey thither during May and June. It 
was opened on Tuesday last, and in saying that the display is fully 
equal in all respects to those of preceding years, an ample idea will 
be conveyed to all who have seen previous efforts. There is the 
same wealth of flowers, the same graceful association of foliage 
plants with the Orchids, and the same taste manifest in the ar¬ 
rangement. But to show that there is always room for improvement, 
greater variety has been introduced, and the exhibition consequently 
presents a kind of conspectus of the most useful and beautiful 
Orchids for general cultivation, together with rarities and curiosities 
in abundance to satisfy the connoisseurs. No one could inspect an 
exhibition like this without being impressed with the fact that the 
value attached to Orchids is very far from being fanciful, and Mr. 
Bull justly claims to have assisted materially in popularising a most 
fascinating class of plants. 
The house in which the principal display is provided is span- 
roofed, 120 feet long by 25 feet wide, with a central bed and two 
side stages, which are filled with Orchids, Palms, and Ferns, the 
rich colours of the Cattleyas, Lselias, Masdevallias, and Dendro- 
biums being agreeably contrasted with delicate Odontoglossums of 
the crispum type, and such graceful species as 0. citrosmum with 
long drooping racemes of soft tinted flowers. Facing the entrance 
is a charming bank of Masdevallias and Odontoglossums, and con¬ 
spicuous throughout the house suspended from the roof is the useful 
yellow-coloured Oncidium concolor. But to enumerate all the 
attractions of the display would occupy more space than can be 
spared this week, and we must therefore content ourselves with 
announcing the fact that the exhibition has been opened and is well 
worthy of a visit. 
TWO HOURS AT SWANLEAT. 
SWA'SLEY, Cannell, and the Home of Flowers are practically 
synonymous terms. Mr. Cannell has ma'de Swanley a familiar name in 
the horticultural world. A few years ago two or throe cottages and a 
roadside inn were all that could be seen in the way of dwellings, and 
the surrounding land was devoted to agriculture. Now quite a busy 
townlike community has sprung up and is still growing, while all around 
are fruit farms, and in a hollow nestles what may almost be termed a 
village of glass, the structures which shelter the plants covering an area 
greater than all the cottages did at the time of the floral invasion. Ibis 
astonishing to see what has been accomplished in so short a time by the 
energy, industry, and business capacity of one man. '\V'hat is the secret 
of this success! Enthusiasm tempered with sound judgment founded 
on practical knowledge and governed by common sense. 
Mr. Cannell commenced business on the slope of a railway embank¬ 
ment. It was a mere “ patch” of barren ground, but if it would grow 
little or nothing it would hold a few frames and a small greenhouse, and 
in these he could grow Fuchsias, doing all the work himself. He called 
this the “Fuchsia Nursery,” and commenced advertising Fuchsias to be 
sent by post. The more he advertised the more he sold, and the more he 
sold the more he advertised, until he made for himself a position and a 
name that is familiar to the lovers of flowers in this and other lands. 
The railway embankment being no longer adequate for his expanding 
trade he migrated to the present scene of his labours. And a busy scene 
it is, for he does not do quite “ all the work himself ” now, but employs 
110 persons. How many he will have in ten years’ time to work his last 
addition of 300 acres no” one can venture to guess, as he is as healthy and 
active as ever in body and mind, and has diligent sons to aid him. 
Mr. Cannell has not only established his great business in popular 
flowers, but has done it without injuriously affecting the trade of any¬ 
one else ; but on the contrary, he has increased the operations of many 
by inciting a love for flowers and creating a greater demand for them 
