Way «, 18P0. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
429 
treatment describetl. 0. cirrhosum likes the warmest end of house. 
O. naevium majus also likes a snug corner. 0. blandum is rather 
troublesome to many cultivators. I have never had any difficulty with 
it, by keeping it quite cool, close to the glass, and always saturated, 
winter and summer, and in this I am quite in accord with the Messrs. 
Veitch, who say in their Manual, “ It occurs at an elevation of 5500 to 
C.500 feet, growing chiefly on the moss-covered stems of Melastomaceous 
trees, which, owing to the moisture of the climate, are constantly wet, 
and where the plants flower all the year round.” 
O, Edwardi I had some trouble with till I found a spot to suit it just 
over the pipes where they enter the cool house, and where there is always 
a little warmth rising and air at the same time. 0. Pardinum is something 
like a yellow cirrhosum, and very pretty, but I have never been able to 
grow it satisfactorily, but it does best in the coldest house. 0. coronarium 
is rather difficult to manage satisfactorily. I have flowered one plant 
twice in five years, and I suppose I must be satisfied. I grow it in a 
long basket of moss and crocks at the top of a cool house not far from 
the ventilators, and it grows well. I once flowered it in the autumn by 
taking it into the Cattleya house to finish its growth before winter, and 
it sent up a fine spike. I tried the plan again, but did not succeed. 
It is found at an altitude from 8000 to 9000 feet, and should be grown 
quite cool. 
0. citrosmum should be grown in baskets in a shady part of the 
Mexican house. It will stand plenty of heat while growing, and may be 
kept rather dry in a cool house during winter. This plant was first in¬ 
troduced into England by Mr. G. Barker of Birmingham, through his 
collector, Ross, about the year 1838. O. bictonensis does very well at 
the warm end of a cool house, or even in a shady corner of the Mexican 
house if rested cool. O. Cervantes! and its varieties grow and flower 
finely on a shelf close to the glass. I keep them wet all the year round, 
if a shelf is not available use shallow pans or baskets, as they must 
have a free circulation of air. O. Rossi majus and CErstedi require the 
same treatment. O. cordatura, and O. maculatum both succeed well at 
the warmest end of the cool house, or the cool end of the Mexican house 
if shaded. 
O. grande requires special treatment to ensure its success. I grow 
mine on a shelf at the top of a Mexican house, where they seem to like 
the heat and air, shaded of course. I just whiten the glass with flour 
and water, and after they have flowered and finished growth keep them 
somewhat dry for a month or two. I place mine in a vinery in which 
Grapes are hanging through the winter, and they are doing first-rate. 
I had two spikes on many of the pseudo-bulbs last autumn. 0. Schli- 
peranum, although similar in growth to O. grande, requires different 
treatment. 0. grande flowers from the current season’s growth just as 
it is finishing its pseudo-bulbs, whereas O. Schliperanum flowers in 
summer from the pseudo-bulb made the previous year, and as it some¬ 
times flowers late in the season it wants extra help to mature its growth. 
After flowering I place mine in a shady part of the stove, and as the 
autumn comes on give it less shade. By this means 1 secure fine plump 
pseudo-bulbs that flower well. O. Insleayi, another Orchid, first im¬ 
ported into Birmingham by Mr. Barker in 1838 or 1839, requires 
similar treatment to 0. grande, but will stand cooler treatment. I have 
done it well in the cool house in pans at the top of the house. 0. Halli 
is a grand species, and does well with cool treatment, but takes rather 
long time to become thoroughly established. 
O. Harryanum, although a robust growing species, needs a special 
corner. It seems to me to require the warmest end of a cool house, and 
one that is rather close, as it evidently does not like a draught or cold 
air blowing on it. The leaves soon tell tales if it does. I have tried 
mine all over the place, and they are doing very well in one end of a 
low pit where the heat enters, and we do not open the ventilators close 
to them. 0. hastilabium does well with the same treatment; also 
O. vexillarium, or Miltonia vexillaria as it is now called. 0. Polyx- 
anthum does well with the cool Odontoglossums, but requires looking 
after to keep it in health ; the least thing seems to upset it, its con¬ 
stitution not being over-strong. O. (Erstedi should be grown in a 
basket or pan close to the glass, with plenty of water. O. Roezli re¬ 
quires a close moist atmosphere. I have found it do best with Phalm- 
nopsis. O. Phalmnopsis I used to grow in a Cattleya house in winter, 
and at the warm end of a cool house in summer. 
Insect pests are numeruus, and the cultivator who would be success¬ 
ful must always keep them in check. The worst pest for cool Orchids 
is without a doubt yellow thrips, and I have been more successful in 
keeping them under by the use of dry flowers of sulphur dusted on the 
young growths with a small brush than anything else. In potting or 
cleaning the man always has a box of sulphur handy, and if there is any 
sign of thrips it at once has a dusting, with the certainty of being 
killed. 
Green fly is easily kept under by fumigation. I always use common 
tobacco paper, and keep a stock on hand, so that the oil may evaporate 
before use, and not being so liable to flare. I also never use coke or 
charcoal to light the tobacco paper, but a piece of brown paper, and by 
following the directions indicateil there will seldom be any plants 
injured by fumigation. Slugs are a pest in some places, and the 
best plan is to look after them by lantern light. Mice are apt to be 
troublesome sometime.s. I once had some Masdevallias much injured bv 
them. 
After the reading of the above paper there was a short discussion on 
various subjects touched on in the paper—i.e., on using sulphur for 
thrips, the Chairman preferring tobacco water and softsoap, and dipping 
all the plants once a fortnight, bat it was pointed out the great labour 
involved in going over a collection of 5000 or COOO plants. 
ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Scientific Committee. —Present : Mr. Morris in the chair ; Mr. 
McLachlan, Mr. Michael, Rev. W. Wilks, Dr. Scott, Mr. Wilson, Dr. 
Muller, and Rev. G. Henslow, lion. Secretary. 
Plant hng QLygus gmbuUnun, L). — Mr. McLachlan exhibited 
specimens of a small green bug, which has become very troublesome 
in the temperate house at Kew. It attacks Euchsias, Rhododendrons, 
Camellias, &.C. It has been observed for the last ten years. Paris green 
or London purple (arsenical preparations) were suggested as the best 
remedies, fumigating being difficult in so large a place. 
Ceratitis c'ltriperda (McLeay, 1829).—Mr. Uenslow gave somo 
account of the orange fly, which has become very troublesome in Malta, 
He also exhibited specimens of the grubs, pupae, and insects. It first 
appeared about fifteen years ago, but has increased to a very injurious 
extent during the last three years. A committee was appointed in 1881> 
by H.E., the late Governor of Malta, who have just issued their report 
(which will be published shortly in the “Kew Bulletin”). The fly per¬ 
forates the half-ripe orange, and lays several eggs within it. This 
causes the fruit to fall prematurely. The larva finally escapes, and enters 
the ground to pass into the pupa stage. It is suggested that preventive 
measures should be taken at this period, first by collecting all fruits 
attacked, and mashing them up with water in a tank. Secondly, the 
surface of the ground should be sprinkled with a mixture of one part 
of sulphate of iron, finely powdered, to twenty-four parts of dry earth 
or sand, and subsequently slightly watered. An account of this insect 
(under the name Ceratitis capitata) will be found in the Gardeners' 
Chronicle of 1848, page (104, at which period it caused great damage ts 
Oranges received from St. Michaels. In Malta it particularly attacks 
the Mandarine (Citrus nobilis). Cold and inclement weather is very 
unfavourable to the fly, which becomes much more abundant in a hot 
dry season. 
Ceramhyx miles, L.—Mr. Henslow showed specimens of Pear roots 
bored by this longicorn beetle; also the grubs and insects from 
Malta, where it is causing great damage to many fruit trees. The only 
remedy suggested was the well known one of spearing. In Malta, how^ 
ever, the beetles attack the roots rather than the stems, so that the 
difficulty of reaching them is greatly increased, as the only sign of 
their presence may be a feebleness in the upper part of the tree, and 
the branches decaying, when the tree may be already past recovery. 
The greatest difficulty, however, is to overcome the apathy of the culti¬ 
vators themselves. It is not British, but common in the Mediterranean 
region. 
Bclphininm diseased. —Some leaves were sent by Mr. Haywood of 
Reigate, apparently attacked by a fungus. They were forwarded to 
Professor M. Ward for examination and report. 
Primula metamorphosed. —Mr. A. Dean sent a number ®f seedlings 
of the “ Jack in the Green ” form of Primula. In thir variety the calyx 
is foliaceous. Of the seedlings some had assumed the “ hosc-in-hose ” 
type, the calyx becoming petaloid ; in others the calyx had become 
polysepalous, the sepals varying from the foliaceous to a setiform 
condition. 
Primroses and Bluebells degenerating. —Mr. Henslow showed speci¬ 
mens grown in his garden. They were received some years ago from 
Wiltshire, but have degenerated on the gravelly soil of Ealing. The 
Bluebells become pink, then white, at the same time changing in shape 
from the normal cylindrical to a cup-shaped perianth. This latter form- 
is recognised as a permanent one—viz., var. campanulata, of which 
there is a bed at Kew. Transitional stages are not uncommon. The 
Primroses exhibited were taken from a number of separate plants of the 
long-styled form ; but they had nearly all assumed a homomorphic 
character, by the pistil being dwarfed in length, and so bringing the 
stigma down to the level of the anthers. 
Plants exhibited. —Mr. R. I. Lynch sent an interesting series from 
the Botanic Gardens, Cambridge. Nevinsa al.abamensis, A. Gray, a 
curious apetalous ally of Rhodotypus. It has foliaceous sepals, and 
three or four carpels only. Baccharis patagonica, a shrubby composite, 
with flowers not unlike that of Groundsel ; the florets, however, are 
female only, with a rudimentary corolla tightly fitting the style, and 
having no border. Triosteum pinnatifidum, Maxim. ; Aristolochia. 
ringens, Vahl. ; Vanda alpina, a species not included m catalogues; 
Arisarum proboscidium (“ Bot. Mag.,” No. 0034), from the shaded woods 
of Upper Arno and Appenines, a very rare plant; Asarum Hookeri, var. 
insignis, Duch., the rarest species in cultivation. A vote of thanks wa» 
unanimously accorded to Mr. Lynch. 
ROYAL AQUARIUM, WESTMINSTER. 
May 21st and 22nd. 
The early summer E.xhibition .at the Roy.il Aquarium on the above¬ 
dates w.as one of the most attractive that has been held in the large- 
building at Westminster for a considerable time. The groups were very 
good, and the Roses, Calceolarias, Azaleas, and cut flowers formed n- 
rich display. The plants were arranged with considerable taste, an<4 
the general effect of the Show was highly pleasing. Some of the prin¬ 
cipal awards are referred to herevvith. Three groups were in competitiot> 
for the handsome prizes offered, Iffie first of which went to Messrs. 
