514 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ June 21,18«8. 
0D0NT0GL03SUM VEXILLABIUM. 
At The Woodlands, Streatham, Mr. E. H. Measures has a grand 
display of Odontoglossum vexillarium in many varieties, all beauti¬ 
ful, and some of exceptional merit. The plants are in capital 
condition, and are arranged on a long ivide stage to form a bank, 
between 500 and GOO racemes of large flowers being now expanded. 
A few plants of the bright orange scarlet Epidendrum are intro-, 
duced amongst the Odontoglossums, which add greatly to the 
beauty of the group in contrast with the delicate tints prevailing in 
the latter. One vigorous plant of a good variety with three growths 
has fifteen racemes, or five to each growth. Another has nine 
racemes of sixty-seven flowers, a charming specimen, and several 
could be pointed out only slightly inferior to this in numbers. A 
variety named pulchellum has large well shaped flowers, white with 
a yellow base and a few crimson veins. Cobbianum is also pretty, 
though small, the sepals and petals rosy crimson, the lip pure white 
with a yellow base, but a variety with pure white flowers only 
faintly fringed at the base with yellow is one of the most notable, 
and the shape is excellent. The day temperature, both night and 
day, has been kept between 55° and G0° and frequently it has not 
varied more than 2° or 3° in the twenty-four hours. An even 
temperature and absolute cleanliness are the two means relied upon 
for maintaining the health of the plants. One point Mr. Measures 
remarks this year, and that is the much paler colour of varieties 
bought in flower for their high colour, and he has observed what 
others have also noted—namely, that these and other Orchids often 
vary considerably under cultivation both in colour and size of 
flowers. Some advocate growing Odontoglossum vexillarium in a 
higher temperature to induce the perfection of colouring, but this 
is scarcely what is found to rule in other cases. 
CATTLEYA BLUNTI. 
Some Orchids have been overpraised by the discoverers and 
vendors, but this is certainly not one of them, for when seen as it 
has been at The Woodlands, it is enough to make anyone an Orchid 
admirer. The strong plant there grown has had three flowers, one 
of which is now before me, and amply deserves a few words of 
description, for most of the books dismiss it rather summarily. 
Mr. Williams, however, does it partial justice in his “Manual.” It 
is distinctly of the C. Mendeli type, though it has been given 
almost specific rank by some, and with quite as good reason as 
many others. The sepals are spreading, nearly an inch in diameter 
at the widest part, tapering to base and point, the latter being 
slightly recurved, and are 3 inches long. They are white, with a 
faint scarcely perceptible blush tinge in the later stages, and spread 
equally from the base of the lip. The petals are the same length 
as the sepals, but 2 inches broad at the widest part towards the 
base, tapering gradually to an obtuse point, the upper margin being 
neatly undulated or frilled. They are pure white, and stand up 
from the sepals at a considerable angle like two beautiful wings 
half expanded. The lip is exquisitely formed ; the expanded 
portion is oblong in outline, 2 inches by If broad, very evenly and 
beautifully frilled, which reduces the breadth in appearance and 
gives the oblong form ; with the tube it is pure white, relieved only 
by a faint dash of clear yellow in the throat and a few pale crimson 
veins quite at the base. It is now ranked in some works as Blunt’s 
variety of C. Mendeli, and first flowered in the late Mr. Day’s 
collection at Tottenham, having been introduced by the collector, 
Mr. H. Blunt, from Colombia.—C. 
VENTILATING. 
There is scarcely any subject connected with practical garden¬ 
ing which has received so little attention as this—one of the most 
important proceedings. This seems extraordinary. Is it that the 
thing is in its nature or character mysterious and indefinite, or that 
it cannot be reduced to anything like system ? Certainly, it will 
not be expected that we can in such a case lay down cut-and-dry 
rules and state the amount and character of the ventilation to be 
pursued on any given day. This is impossible, inasmuch as our 
climate, although mainly divisible into four somewhat distinct 
seasons, yet is liable to amazing vicissitudes in most of them ; and, 
of course, modes of ventilation must be modified accordingly. I 
may,here, at the outset, state the objects of ventilation. They 
are mainly two—the escape of accumulated heat, and the correc¬ 
tion of a vitiated atmosphere by a circulation of pure air. But the 
way in which these two objects are carried out are various, and 
dependent entirely on circumstances. Those who will consider the 
matter fairly should first of all look into the science of pneumatics, 
and ascertain the characters belonging to what is called the air—its 
relative gravity, modes of interchange, &c. One broad fact may be 
here named as a prelude to succeeding explanations—that the 
admission of air in severe winter weather is a procedure requiring' 
much more caution than at other periods ; the frosty breeze is of 
insidious character, and this, too, enhanced in proportion to the 
discrepancy between the respective temperatures of the inside and 
outside. Most readers must be aware of this latter fact by observ¬ 
ing the effect of draught through crannies, when perhaps the Yule 
log is blazing, and the air outside a keen north-easter, of some 
20° of frost. What could there be but a rapid interchange ; the 
room within at a temperature of G0° to 70° ? Here we have a dis¬ 
crepancy of some 50°, or nearly so. Well may the good folks 
inside complain that they cannot keep their feet warm. I may 
here, in returning to our garden structures, state the consequences 
which generally ensue from a neglect of ventilation. They are as 
follows :—The plants draw, or become weak and long jointed ; a. 
corrupt atmosphere gives an unhealthy colour to the foliage ; stag¬ 
nated damps are engendered in parts of the structure, frequently 
giving birth to Mosses, and other cryptogamic productions ; the 
flowers are paler, and lose a proportion of their aroma ; an indis¬ 
position to produce blossom is generally a concomitant ; insects of 
all kinds increase more rapidly ; and fruits are deficient in flavour. 
These are the evils which may be expected to ensue from bad 
ventilation : of course they do not all happen on every occasion, 
but receive their being and character according to the aggravation 
of those circumstances which engender them. In looking over the 
principles of ventilation we may at once see that in endeavouring 
to teach the uninformed it is necessary to adopt some division of 
the subject. This is not a very simple task, but since I have 
travelled thus far I must endeavour to do so to the best of my 
abilities. 
First, then, I may observe that there are general principles of 
ventilation common to nearly all seasons, and next that there are 
many special cases which form an exception, either in mode or 
degree, or both. The special cases to which I allude consist mostly 
of singular tribes or families of plants, such as Orchids, Ferns, &c. 
But certain other families, which for the most part submit to the 
most ordinary treatment, have periods when a departure from the 
ordinary routine is of much benefit. Thus the Camellia : at this 
time my Camellia house is almost constantly shaded; but this is 
not the general practice. It is also kept very damp. But these 
would be serious conditions when the plants were in blossom 
through the winter. The house is scarcely ventilated at all whilst 
they are making their young growth ; this, too, would not be the 
case at other periods. But these are only a few solitary cases— 
enough, however, to show to those unpractised in gardening affairs 
that mere set rules, founded on the practice of someone, and 
devoid of principle, is not the kind of armour that a modern 
gardener must depend on. Apart from tribes or families of orna¬ 
mental plants we must look into the early forcing house, the 
warm pit, the old-fashioned hotbed. Then we may pass on to the 
cold pit or hibernatory, and cold frames. 
Thorough ventilation consists in admitting a complete circula¬ 
tion, both by means of the escape of heated or contaminated air at 
the highest point, and a consequent influx of fresh air from the 
lowest level; but this has to be performed %vith a due regard to the 
wind, its violence and its characters. Lively currents of mild 
winds are, in the main, beneficial, although they may slightly 
agitate the vegetation in the interior ; but when such are chilling 
to the human body they must be avoided. In managing this- 
matter a due regard must be paid to the proportion the front air 
bears to that of the back. The greater the egress at the back or 
apex of the houses the greater will, of course, be the demand for 
fresh air from the front, and vice versa. In vineries or Peaqh 
houses it is very frequently necessary in summer to open as wide 
as possible both front and back ventilators, or the inmates become 
scorched, and on most occasions it is better to starve than to burn 
if a risk must be run. Nothing looks worse in vineries than to see 
singed foliage ; it is not only a disfigurement to the Vines, but a. 
most serious injury to their permanent welfare. In what is termed 
“ catching ” or fluctuating weather, the ventilation requires much 
attention, and to be attended to several times within half-a-dozen 
hours. In such cases there is frequently neglect—the parties, per¬ 
haps, have too many irons in the fire, and some burn. Hailstorms 
must be studiously guarded against; these sometimes occasion much 
mischief in a few minutes. They generally fall perpendicularly, 
or, at least, they seldom do much harm through the front sashes ; on 
such occasions, then, and with alternations of bright sunshine—for 
bright indeed it generally is at such periods—the front ventila- 
