April 15, 1886. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE] GARDENER. 
297 
formed flower, the petals round and well proportioned, it is one of the best 
of the striped class, which afford such a pleasing contrast with the scarlet 
and crimson varieties. The ground colour is pure white striped irregularly 
with bright scarlet. 
Primrose Alice Wilson (Gr. F. Wilson, Esq.).—A seedling from Primrose 
Scott Wilson, the flowers neat in Bhape and of good size, but chiefly 
remarkable for the distinct and rich colour, a violet purple with a gold eye, 
which is surrounded by a crimson margin. An exceedingly pretty 
variety. 
Masdevallia racemosa Cross's (Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., M.P.).—A 
distinct variety, brilliant scarlet in colour, the sepals looking as if shortened 
or contracted, especially the lower ones. 
Anthurium Schertzerianum Devansayanum (Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., 
M.P.).—One of the same type as Rothschildianum, but the spathes are 
narrower, about 4£ inches long, boldly spotted with deep scarlet on a white 
ground, and the back of the spathe is scarlet instead of being dotted as in 
the other form named. 
Cypripedium Wallisi (W. Lee, Esq.).—A species of the caudatum section, 
with tapering greenish sepals, and long narrow brownish-green petals, 12 to 
15 inches long, the lip greenish white, pure white in the throat. 
Odontoglossum Courtauldianum (S. Courtauld, Esq., Braintree, Essex).— 
One of the luteo-purpureum type, yellow blotched and barred with brown, 
the lip having a white spot at the base. 
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE. 
A. Grote, Esq., in the chair. Present:—Messrs. Llewelyn, Michael, 
Pascoe, Boulger, Bennett, W. G. Smith, J. O’Brien, G. F. Wilson, Rev. C. W. 
Dod, A. H. Smee, G. Murray, H. Ridley, Major Clarke, Prof. Church, Dr. 
Hogg, and Dr. Masters. 
Rhododendrons. —Mr. Llewelyn exhibited from the neighbourhood of 
Swansea various Rhododendrons, all grown out of doors except R. Edge- 
worthi. The species and varieties included R. Shepherdi (?), R. ochra- 
ceum, R. barbatum, R. Thomsoni, R. ciliatum. Many of these are as hardy 
as the common Oak, provided they do not make their growth too early in 
spring. Most of the trees mentioned by Mr. Llewelyn were introduced 
many years since from Himalayan seed, and have now attained a height of 
25 to 30 feet. 
Sparroics and Crocuses. —Mr. Boulger gave his experience as to the 
mischief effected by sparrows. Unlike Mr. M‘Lachlan, he had found that 
the birds principally attacked the edge of the corolla and not the tube. It 
was remarked that Crocuses in masses were less liable to injury than when 
in lines. 
Primroses. —Mr. Boulger exhibited various forms of hose-in-hose Prim¬ 
rose, in which the calyx was petaloid like the corolla, and a malformation in 
which the stamens were all united into a tube. 
Fungus Poisoning. —Mr. W. G. Smith read an account of the injurious 
effects produced on himself by partaking of Agaricus dealbatus. The species 
is capricious in its action, as it does not always, and under all circumstances, 
produce the effects described by Mr. Smith, and which consisted in a sensa¬ 
tion of heat and excessively profuse perspiration. No other ill effect was 
produced, and others who ate the fungus at the same time were not 
affected. 
Weevil on Orchid Bulbs. —Mr. O’Brien showed pseudo-bulbs of Coelogyne 
cristata, injured by a beetle which was referred to Mr. Pascoe for identifica¬ 
tion. A conversation ensued respecting Isosoma and other insect pests 
imported with Orchids, and it was suggested that any suspicious-looking 
plants should be destroyed, but it was pointed out that the damage was 
probably done in a young state of the insect, and that destruction of the 
perfect insect or of the affected bulbs might be of little avail. Mr. Llewelyn 
alluded to certain longicorn beetles imported with timber from the Baltic, 
and which were illustrations of life under untoward circumstances, the 
beetles being found in the timber used in the mines after a long period of 
use under ground. 
Frost on Leaves. —Mr. G. Murray stated that the leaves referred to him 
on a former occasion were injured by frost and not by fungi or insects. 
Odontoglossum ramosissimum. —Mr. Buchan showed a specimen of this 
plant determined by Professor Reichenbach to be the var. roseum, but as 
the Professor had not seen either leaves or pseudo-bulbs, which differ mate¬ 
rially from those of ramosissimum, it was considered that the determination 
was open to doubt. 
Outdoor Orchids. —Mr. A. H. Smee showed a plant of Cattleya Trianre in 
bloom. The plant was placed in the open air, exposed to full sunshine from 
June 24th, when the entire growths were made, and taken in again on 
September 24th. The flowers were of a richer colour than those formerly 
produced on the same plant under glass. A plant of Cypripedium insigue 
was also shown, which had been out of doors all through the winter with 
only the protection of a broken handglass. The plant had been exposed in 
a similar way for two or three years, and this year had been subjected to 22° 
frost without injury. 
Phatanopsis intermedia. —A botanical certificate was awarded to this 
plant from the great interest attaching to the circumstance that this 
artificially raised hybrid, whose history is given in the report of the Show, 
proves to be identical with imported plants suspected (and now proved to be 
of hybrid origin). 
Miscellaneous Exhibits. —Owing to the number of subjects brought for¬ 
ward, the following subjects were laid on the table :—A specimen of 0. 
Alexandras, in which alternate flowers were fertilised, and had become of a 
fawn colour, while the virgin flowers remain of their usual colour. A burr 
of Abies Douglasi, showing a condition of things like the Clanbrassil Fir. 
Peculiar growths of the Laburnum, in which the growth of last year was 
much thicker than that of the year preceding. 
HEDGES. 
Hedges are sometimes planted to afford shelter, but more frequently 
as a fence. However carefully they may he planted and cared for in a 
young state, it must be admitted that without the same care in after years 
they soon become unsatisfactory and unfit for the purpose for which they 
were planted. Perhaps this remark may apply with much greater force 
to hedges on the farm than to those about the garden. How often do we 
meet with hedges that have been left to grow untended for years, dying 
at the bottom for want of light and air, and with large gaps. When it 
gets into this state the farmer finds it is of no use to keep his live stock 
together, so he cuts it down to the ground, very likely with the good 
resolution to keep it better in future, but with the result that he has no 
fence at all for some years to come. Even about gardens hedges some¬ 
times become unsatisfactory, though from a somewhat different cause. 
They are generally kept under the shears, and if due care is not taken to 
keep them within bounds they gradually become too wide and heavy at 
the top, and so become, to a certain extent, faulty at the bottom. 
Hedges surrounding plantations are especially liable to fail. They 
very often are damaged by the trees being too close to them, and in time 
overhanging them. They are thus weakened and drawn ou ward, so that 
we very often find them similar in shape to that given at A, fig. 53. When 
such hedges get very bad the usual remedy is to cut them down. This is, 
however, not always necessary nor desirable. If the tihjber is well 
cleared away from behind them, and they are cut in so that they are 
narrow at the top, similar to the dotted lines in the section referred to, 
stepping the upper part of them well back, they will gener lly fill up at 
the bottom if kept clean and narrow at the top. The best time to do this, or 
indeed to reduce a hedge in any way, is when the sap begins to move in 
spring, say from the middle of March to the middle or end of April 
according to the season. They then soon break in to growth, and are 
green again in a short time. The ends of the young shoots should be cut 
off about midsummer, and by the autumn there will be a fair quantity of 
young growths upon it. 
Hedges are to be met with in a great variety of shapes, some of them 
Fig. 53.—Hedges. 
not commendable. I am rather partial to those with almost perpen¬ 
dicular sides, such as represented at B. But there is no doubt that to 
keep a good close bottom good enough to turn sheep, &c., the top must be 
kept a good deal narrower than the base, similar to C. This is not only 
an advantage in the formation of a good fence, but it is a saving in the 
labour of keeping. It is quite a common thing to meet with hedges from 
2 to 3 feet across the top, and cutting these, propped upon steps or 
a plank, is a laborious task which may well be avoided. Too much labour 
is generally expended on the tops of hedges, and too little at the base, in 
keeping them clean and well furnished. If you can accomplish the latter 
good quality, the top, which is really of secondary importance, may safely 
be relied upon to assert its claim to a fair share of the shears, which it 
should always have. I have sometimes seen young hedges grow four 
or five years without cutting, to give them strength, and then have them 
cut down. Is not this a fallacy ? I think it is most foolish. If a hedge 
is from the first turned in the shape of section c, keeping it quite narrow 
at the top, a good fence will be the result without any cutting down.— 
R. Inglis. 
HINTS ON ORCHID CULTURE. 
( Continued from page 271.) . 
ORCHIDS OUT OF DOORS. 
Many of the Orchids already named in the various lists can, under 
certain favourable conditions, be placed out of doors during the 
summer months, and the hardier of the cool Orchids seem benefited 
by such treatment; while with all it has the advantage of keeping 
them free from insects, and ripens the growths well. It can, however, 
only be safely done in gardens that are rather sheltered and moist in 
warm districts, like the southern counties of England. To expose 
Orchids in hot, (iry, or cold gardens would be ruinous, and amateurs 
who do not wish to lose a large proportion of their plants had better 
not try such experiments ; though with any kind of shelter, as an 
ordinary frame, most cool Orchids can be grown during the six 
warmer months of the year. The principal experiments with Orchids 
out of doors have been tried in Mr. A. H. Smee’s garden, where large 
numbers have been placed out from June to October with satisfactory 
results, but this garden has a low moist situation, and is otherwise 
favourable for the purpose. [See Journal of Horticulture , p. 392, 
November 8th, 1883 ] Upon the continent similar experiments have 
been repeatedly tried ; indeed it is quite common there to place all 
but the most tender Orchids outside in the summer. [See Journal of 
Horticulture, pp. 481 and 550, December, 1883.] 
