68 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ January 28, 1886. 
selecting those kinds which are known to be the most certain pro¬ 
ducers of fine flowers. In competing in a class for twelve blooms, 
either Japanese or incurved, the general good quality should run 
right through the stand, as in such small classes there is not that 
opportunity to insert a moderate bloom or two like there is in 
larger classes. For the benefit of inexperienced growers I append 
a list of the best twenty-four kinds in each section and the number 
of each variety it would be advisable to grow for the purpose 
named :— 
Twenty-four Varieties Japanese. — Four Madame C. 
Audiguier, four Belle Paule, three Fair Maid of Guernsey, four 
Jeanne Delaux, three Baron de Prailly, four Criterion, four Val 
d’Andorre, three Meg Merrilees, three Boule d’Or, three Marguerite 
Marrouch, three Comte de Germiny, three M. Ardene, three M. 
Burnet, two Hiver Fleuri, two Thunberg, two M. Astorg, two 
Elaine, three Duchess of Albany (Jackson), two Japonaise, 
three Fernand Feral, three Golden Dragon, two Peter the Great, 
two Sceptre Toulousain, three Mdlle. Lacroix. 
Twenty-four Varieties Incurved. —Four Lord Alcester, 
four Empress of India, four Queen of England, four Golden 
Empress, three Golden Queen of England, four Alfred Salter, three 
Princess of Wales, four John Salter, two Lord Wolseley, three 
Prince Alfred, three Jeanne d’Arc, four Hero of Stoke Newington, 
three Jardin des Plantes, two Mrs. Heale, three Princess of Teck, 
two Refulgence, two Mr. Bunn, two Empress Eugenie, three Mrs. 
W. Shipman, two Lady Hardinge, two Lady Carey, two Sir 
Stafford Carey, three Barbara, two Cherub. 
MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG PLANTS. 
This is a very important phase in the cultivation of the 
Chrysanthemum, as upon the treatment they receive in the early 
stages their future welfare depends. Especially they should not 
be checked in any way, or they will be stunted. When the plants 
are well rooted and will bear free exposure to the air without 
flagging remove them from the handlights and place them upon a 
shelf close to the glass in the same house where they were struck. 
The advantage of a light position is that it prevents their becoming 
weakly. They also get more air than they can have when placed 
on the side stages of the house if ventilation can be given at the 
top of the house. If the house is not provided with shelves tem¬ 
porary ones can easily be put up by suspending them from the 
rafters by means of strong wire and screws. The shelves may be 
about 9 inches wide, according to circumstances, and on each side 
there should be a groove to run the water off to one end, which can 
easily be done by allowing a slight slope in fixing the shelves. Any 
plants standing underneath the Chrysanthemums are then not 
splashed by the water given to the plants overhead. 
At this stage I prefer a cool house to a cold frame for the plants 
for the same reason as explained in the case of cuttings—that less 
trouble is caused in preserving them from frost and allowing them 
exposure to light; but the house must be kept perfectly cool—just 
enough heat to prevent the plants being frozen. In such a house 
the air can be maintained in a drier condition than in a cold frame, 
and mildew, which frequently attacks the young plants, can be 
more easily dealt with. Great care should be exercised in supplying 
water, never allowing the soil to become dry. 
The future object of the plants must be now determined. Those 
that are intended to be grown for the production of cut blooms or 
groups will not require stopping. When the pots are well filled 
with roots, and before they become root-bound, they will require 
larger pots. At this time the size in which they are to bloom must 
be taken into consideration, and for the bulk of the varieties 9-inch 
pots are large enough, and then the first shift from the cutting 
pots should be into those 3J inches wide. The next time employ 
pots 5J inches in diameter, and transfer the plants from these to 
the 9-inch pots. If growers desire to use larger pots, say those 
10 inches in diameter, 4)-inch pots should be used at the first shift, 
next 64 -inch size, and then the 10-inch pots. Where pots of 10 \ and 
11 inches are in stock I prefer placing two plants in each in pre¬ 
ference to potting them singly, using the weaker-growing sorts. 
By this means a great saving in space is effected, as nearly double 
the quantity of plants can be grown in the same space. To prepare 
the plants for these pots at the first shift they should go into the 
3^-inch size and then into the 5^-inch size, which allows them to 
be the right size to occupy the 11-inch at the final potting. As the 
“ cast ” sizes vary at different potteries I think it better to give the 
sizes in inches, always measuring inside. 
The soil used for this first potting should consist of two parts 
fibry loam, one part leaf soil, and one part of spent Mushroom bed 
materials, with a free admixture of sharp silver sand ; if the loam 
is inclined to be heavy add crushed charcoal freely, which keeps the 
whole porous. For the greater convenience in potting pass the 
compost through a coarse sieve, rubbing the fibrous pieces through 
also ; the pots must be quite clean and carefully drained ; over the 
crocks place some of the rougher parts of the soil and pot firmly. 
If the soil is moist when used no water will be required for a day 
or two ; after this time they must not be allowed to suffer by want 
of it, neither must they have too much. Return them after potting 
to their former position on the shelves till the roots run through 
the soil to the sides of the pots ; place a neat stake to each and 
transfer them to a cold frame or pit, standing them upon ashes near 
to the glass. Keep the frame rather close for a day or two, avoid¬ 
ing draughts, after which admit abundance of air according to the 
state of the weather. On very fine days take the lights off for a 
time, as by this means the plants are kept “ stocky.” As soon as 
the pots are filled with roots they are ready for their second shift 
as described, the soil consisting of the same materials as at the 
last potting, with the exception that fine ground bones can be 
added freely, and a 5-inch potful of soot to 4 bushels of soil, 
potting the plants more firmly than previously.—E. Molyneux. 
(To be continued.) 
ORANGE CULTURE. 
In 1866 my father read a paper on “Dessert Orange Culture” 
before the members of the Horticultural and Botanical Congress 
then assembled. He had successfully cultivated Oranges for some 
years, and had formed a collection of several kinds. The house which 
he there describes is still used for the same purpose, some of his fru't- 
ing trees being still in existence. When the simplicity of Orange 
culture is known, it is likely to be more popular than it is. An 
Orange house is charming in December and January, and, unlike an 
Orchid house, can be thoroughly enjoyed, the temperature being very 
agreeable, as it need not be higher than 50° ; the rich dark green of 
the leaves contrasting with the golden fruit appealing equally to the 
eye and the palate, the fruit being delicious when thoroughly ripe. 
I prefer half-standard trees to those trained on walls, a double row 
of trees in a span-roof of 100 feet being a picturesque sight. The 
cultivation and pruning are simple enough, the most exacting woik 
being the destruction of scale ; moderate and careful attention will, 
however, effect this. If any of your readers take an interest in the 
cultivation of this delightful tree, they should procure the Horticul¬ 
tural Congress papers by Thomas Rivers of Sawbridgeworth — 
T. Francis Fivers. 
TWO RARE PITCHER PLANTS. 
NEPHENTHE3 EDWARDSIANA AND N. VILL03A. 
Nepenthes villosa and N. Edwardsiana are found growing on the 
great mountain of Kina Balu in North-Western Borneo, and together with 
N. Rajah and N. Lowii, were long ago figured by Dr., now Sir Joseph 
Hooker, in vol. xxii. of the Transactions of the Linnean Society of 
London. These fine illustrations were copied, of a reduced size, and 
coloured in St.John’s “Life in the Forests of the Far East,” vol. i., a 
book which all who are interested in Borneo should read. 
Speaking of these plants, St. John, vol. i., p. 334-5, says, “As we 
ascended [Kina Balu] we left the brushwood and enteied a tangled 
jungle in which few of the trees were large. The spur of the mountain 
became very narrow, sometimes not much wider than the path, and was 
greatly encumbered at one part by the twining stems of Nepenthes 
Edwardsiana. This handsome plant was not, however, much diffused 
along the spur, but confined to a space about a quarter of a mile in length 
and it clambered upon the trees around with its fine pitchers hanging 
from all the lower boughs. We measured one plant, and it was 20 feet in 
length, quite smooth, and the leaves of a very acute shape at both ends. 
It has a long, cylindrical, finely frilled pitcher growing on every leaf. 
One we p : cked measured 214 inches long by 2| in breadth. They swell 
out a little towards the base, which is bright pea green, the rest of the 
cylinder being of a brilliant biick-red colour. Ls mouth is nearly circular, 
the border surrounding it being finely ft rmed of thin plates about a sixth 
part of an inch apart, and about the same in height, and both of a flesh 
colour. The handsome lid is of a circular outline. Ihe dried pitcher 
forwarded to Dr. Hooker only measured 18 inches. The plant is epi¬ 
phytal, growing on Casuarinas (species nova). The pitchers of the young 
creepers precisely resemble the older ones, except in size.” It is to be 
hoped that this splendid plant will be introduced by some of the exploreis 
of the new North Borneo Company, in whose territory this great Pitcher 
Plant mountain stands. 
N. villosa is found at an altitude of from 9000 to 10,000 feet, and is a 
strong-growing terrestrial species with rounded pitchers densely covered 
with short hairs. The rim and lid of the urns resemble those of N. 
Edwardsiana, but the swollen or lower part of the pitchers are of a lovely 
rose colour, not unlike that of a well-ripened Royal George Peach in 
colour, but a little rougher in texture. The largest pitchers are about 
5 inches long by 4 inches broad. 
The five days journey from the N.W. coast to this mounlain is by no 
means an easy undertaking, and unless the explorer should time his 
journey so as to be on the spot just as the Nepenthes are at their beBt 
stage of growth for removal, his chances of introducing these noble plants 
alive to Europe is of the most remote kind. 
