Maroh 31, 1887. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
249 
method has entirely eradicated these troublesome little pests, while the 
plants are cleaner and healthier by this method of culture.—W. B. 
MR. SMEE’S ORCHID3. 
Mr. Smee has an excellent display of Orchids at The Grange, 
Hackbridge. The collection is noteworthy by the number of plants 
rather than the size of individual specimens, and they arc in admirable 
condition. The house in which the majority are arranged is very uncon¬ 
ventional and highly attractive. It is a span-roof, about 100 feet long, 
the short southern side of the roof boarded, the northern side glazed. 
Under the former is a forest of Ferns, the opposite side containing 
Orchids and various other plants. The glazed roof is gay with Tropasolum 
Ball of Fire trained at intervals; and several plants of Thyrsacantlius 
rutilans in pots stood in baskets suspended from the roof with their 
pendant racemes of scarlet flowers minglingwith the Fern froiulsare highly 
effective. Among the Orchids are several fine forms of Cattleya Trianse, 
the colours having deepened considerably from growths made in the open 
air. Odontoglossum Rossi majus is represented by distinct and good 
forms, and amongst some twenty others of the genus in flower 0. retusum 
is seen, and the charming white 0. Oerstedti majus that far excels the 
type and is worthy of extended cultivation. A great number of others 
must be passed in this picturesque structure. In a smaller house 
Phalnenopses arc flowering freely, the plants having improved considerably 
since being suspended over a bed of Selagiuellas and other trailing 
plants, which, besides being of service as indicated, forms an attractive 
feature. Prominent in this house are two plants of Cyrtopodium Saint- 
legerianum, the one which was certificated last year bearing eighty 
Sowers on a robust branching stem, some of the round stony pseudo¬ 
bulbs being 3 feet high. The companion plant is nearly as large and 
has much deeper-coloured flowers. Dendrobium macrophyllum is very 
fine, as are many others that cannot be enumerated. Mr. G. Cummins 
assiduously studies the requirements of the plants, and scarcely one can 
be seen “ out of condition ” in the mixed collection. 
SERVING THE KITCHEN. 
The above phrase is very common in a gentleman’s garden ; but 
common as it is, it is not the least important among many duties. It 
is often considered of minor importance, and frequently the duty 
is performed by the garden boy for economy’s sake instead of by a 
more experienced person ; and even when some persons of matured 
age are entrusted to perform the duty I am inclined to think that 
it is not always executed in the manner which its importance 
requires. After trouble has been taken to prepare the ground, sow 
or plant, as the case may be, the several vegetables required for use 
in the kitchen, and growing them to the best possible condition. 
I think sometimes a little more discretion should be used in the 
selection of vegetables at the proper time, and to utilise them in 
the most economical manner. How often vegetables are wasted 
when a little timely thought may prevent it! and at times when 
those have been used indiscriminately are wanted they are not 
forthcoming. The person who performs the duty of serving the 
kitchen, after receiving his order, should make an inspection of 
what stock is already in the scullery. Some vegetables are ordered 
day after day without regarding what they have already, and con¬ 
sequently much is often spoiled and consigned to the pig tub. In 
the selection of the different vegetables a certain amount of care 
and thought is indispensable, especially with such vegetables as 
Peas, Beans, Cauliflowers, and all kinds of vegetables that are eaten 
in a young state. I have seen men, who might be expected to know 
better, pull young and old Peas together, and take them to the 
kitchen, where if they were cooked and sent to the employer’s table 
as sent in (and I am afraid they often are) they would not make 
an agreeable dish, for some of the Peas would be hard and dry, 
while some would be almost smashed, and the chef be blamed for 
cooking them badly. Peas and Broad Beans should be gathered as 
nearly as possible of the same age, and while they are in a green 
tender state, and if any become old they can be used in other ways. 
The same applies to dwarf and runner Beans. If allowed to become 
old and stringy they will defy the best cooks to make them tender. 
That some good vegetables are spoiled in cooking I admit, but all 
vegetables which are used in a young state should be sent in young 
and fresh. 
C mliflowers and Broccoli must not be left till fully opened 
before sending them to table, and Cabbages are best before the 
hearts get too hard. Carrots for a dish should be young, and 
Asparagus must be cut before it is too long. Seaka'e soon grows 
stringy and strong in flavour, if not cut at about 4 to 6 inches 
long, and many good vegetables are spoiled through not being used 
at the proper time. There is a vast difference between well 
sebeted vegetables properly cooked and those indifferently selected. 
There are few tables which a good dish of young Peas is not 
app ’eciated, but if given badly selected with a few dry ones among 
the n the whole dish is spoiled. As the finishing touch of the 
paiaters brush often decides the fate of a picture, so does the 
sel action of vegetables for the table at the proper time decide their 
good qualities, therefore I feel certain that a little more discretion 
is necessary in the matter. I am quite aware that in the majority 
of gardens labour is so limited that to get through the work at the 
busy time of the season in a satisfactory manner is a strain on the 
most energetic, and serving the kitchen is looked upon as a secondary 
consideration by many, but whether this is a wise course to adopt I 
must leave my readers to determine.—W. Simpson, Knowsley. 
NOTES FROM MY GARDEN IN 1886. 
No. 2.—ROSES. 
The same reason that has led me to take Gladiolus as the first sub¬ 
ject for my annual papers induces me to place Roses second, for in one 
sense this is the time of Roses. All Rose-growers aro thinking upon the 
important subject of pruning, and when any two of them meet you 
may be sure that the first question will be, “ Have you pruned yet ? ” 
When the answer is in the affirmative the expression will be, “ I am 
sorry for you.” We have had lately as severe frosts as at any time 
during the winter, but they are not so hurtful. The nights are shorter, 
the sun has more power, so that it does not do so much damage as when 
the frosts are continuous and the days dark and dreary. 
The effects of the past winter vary very much on localities and soils ; 
but of this I have not now to write, but only of its effects on my own 
small collection. Here we have not had any lower temperature during 
the winter than 16° of frost. We had also a nice fall of snow of about 
3 inches, which protected the plants during its greatest severity, and as 
a consequence I do not find any amount of losses amongst my plants. 
They now look vigorous and healthy, while I believe the Teas have stood 
it just as well as the Hybrid Perpetuals ; in fact, I believe that each 
year is showing us that they are equally hardy. There are amongst 
both classes some that are equally delicate, several H.P.’s, of which the 
record is best on maidens, implying that after the first year they are not 
to be depended on. They are too weakly to make fresh strong shoots, 
and consequently they dwindle away. So with Teas. I think, however, 
that those of late years have few delicate varieties amongst them ; at 
any rate, I cannot find more blanks amongst my Teas, not even in those 
planted last autumn, than amongst the H.P.’s, and as I have said there 
are but few in either. 
I mulched heavily in the autumn, mainly with pig manure, and 
raked all the long stuff off in the spring, forking the rest lightly in, so 
as not to disturb the roots of the Roses. This was done before pruning, 
for as my beds are narrow there is no necessity for stepping on them to 
perform that operation. They were pruned about the middle of March, 
and pruned hard. A noticeable change has taken place in pruning of 
late years. I recollect when the strong shoots, which we look for now 
as “the hope of the flock,” were regarded as “robbers,” and were ruth¬ 
lessly cut out; but nowadays it is the old wood we get rid of, and trust 
to these vigorous young shoots, which were formerly despised ; hence 
the idea of having large bushes of H.P. has to be abandoned, and if we 
wish for these we must look to our summer Roses which may grow at 
their own sweet will. My Roses broke well ; we had none of those May 
frosts, at least to any extent ; the thermometer at 4 feet from the ground 
never went below freezing point, and on the night of the 1st of April, 
which was generally so severe, the thermometer stood at 37°, and during 
the time when the cold wave usually passes over us, from the 15th to 
the 22nd, it was never below 37°. The result of this was an excellent 
bloom, although I think a shorter one in duration than usual. We had 
very hot weather in July, but while the exhibition Rose season, if I may 
so call it, was short, I never recollect a more favourable time in my 
garden for autumnal Roses, while the Teas were an unceasing delight. 
Day after day we could gather bouquets of these lovely flowers, and up 
to the very approach of winter they were affording delight. There are 
some varieties which from their excessive fulness are apt to succumb to 
wet, and the buds do not open well, such for instance as Jean Ducher ; 
the more pointed and less full flowers are those which afford the greatest 
satisfaction at the later period. 
The behaviour of certain Roses is remarkable, and I am sure the 
more they are studied the more remarkable their mode of conduct will 
strike one. Why in one season does the same Rose all over the country 
come so well as to give its character to the year ? Why is it that two 
Roses so alike as Alfred Colomb and Marie Baumann, so come that 
in one year you will rarely see a good bloom, and in the following 
year hardly an indifferent one ? Why is it, again, that during the past 
year a Rose which many considered only a summer Rose—Madame 
Gabriel Luizet - should have bloomed most profusely in the autumn 
with me ? in fact, I gathered from it as fine blooms in August as I did 
in July. But as I do not grow for exhibition probably in both cases an 
ardent exhibitor would have pooh-poohed them. 
I have not much to say on absolutely new Roses, and have to wait 
for another season before pronouncing on such varieties as Clara Cochet, 
Victor Hugo, Duke of Marlborough, Edouard Hervd, Genc'ral Appert, 
Ferdinand Chaffolte amongst the Hybrid Perpetuals, and Comtesse de 
Frigneuse, Souvenir dc Gabriel Drouet amongst the Teas. They have 
not done much, as they were not had till late in the summer. I have 
not had the two American Roses, The Bride and American Beauty. The 
former 1 have seen ; but it does not so far deserve the title of a white 
Rose,—nothing, for instance, like the white of Niphetos. 
Following the prevailing fashion, and, indeed, quite in harmony with 
my own feelings on the subject, I grew a few of the species of Roses 
last year, and Mr. Geo. Paul has kindly enabled me to look forward to 
