312 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
L Apr'l 21, 1867. 
of this plant during the dry season is of the most brilliant description. 
Poinsettia pulcherrima, Allamanda, Clerodendron Balfourianum, Plum¬ 
bago, Maranta, Alocasia,'Aralia, Bougainvillea glabra arc all represented, 
the latter at an elevation of 3000 feet changing its trailing habit to that 
of a shrub, flowering freely, but the flowers not so bright and showy as 
on plants grown at a lower elevation. On the Malabar coast this plant 
is seen to great advantage, growing in gardens and climbing its way up 
trees of a stronger growth, which it hides with its clouds of gaudy 
flowers throughout the dry season, forming one of the great floral 
features of the seacoast line. 
Although the fact will not be disputed that horticulturists have given 
frequent proof that cultivated specimens of plants can be produced, 
surpassing individual examples of the same species found under strictly 
natural conditions, yet this assistance of Nature, as it is frequently 
called, has, to some extent at least, led cultivators of the present day 
into the mistake of almost, if not altogether, ignoring even the very 
slightest imitation of the natural conditions under which plants are 
found in a wild state, and in so doing, as I imagine, of fostering in very 
many instances a disposition to disease, and hindering longevity. That 
a long season of rest is a natural condition of most plants found wild in 
India is a fact patent to all who have lived in that country, and that 
this period, dependent as it is upon the rains, is not unfrequently 
extended to even six months out of the twelve is also a fact not unworthy 
of note. 
Amongst the numerous tribes of plants that annually pass through 
this long season of drought and consequent rest in the Wynaad, the 
stems and leaves, in some instances, becoming so dried and shrivelled as 
to be almost beyond recognition, and in others disappearing altogether, 
the roots alone surviving. I would give the names of a few only as 
striking examples ::— Adiantum lunulatum, Saccolabium guttatum, 
Cissus discolor, Impatiens Jerdonise, and one or two species of Dendro- 
bium. The first named, Adiantum lunulatum, is a deciduous plant 
certainly, but the fact of the roots surviving unscathed this severe 
climatic test, situated, as they frequently are, in unprotected situations, 
fully exposed for milny months to strong easterly winds and burning 
sun, points, I think, to the likelihood of one of the absolute requirements 
of the plant being a long season of uninterrupted rest. Immediately 
the first showers of spring have fallen on the baked and | arched earth 
the plants reappear, as if by magic, in abundance all over the Bamboo 
jungle, springing from the clefts of trees, rocks, and stumps, or nestling 
in thick masses close around the stems of large trees, or the bases of 
boulders and rocks, and quickly draping all these objects with a rich 
mantle of graceful verdure, which contributes in a marked degree to the 
general beauty of these jungles all through the rainy season, but as 
quickly vanishing with the breaking up of the monsoon clouds and the 
reappearance of the sun.— Planteb. 
(To be continued.) 
DEATH OF MR. RICHARD CARR. 
We have to record with much regret the sudden death of a well- 
known gardener, Mr. Richard Carr of Welbeck Abbey, who for the past 
eight years has had charge of the Duke of Portland’s gardens on that 
estate. Mr. Carr visited London on Wednesday, the 13th inst., and 
returned by the fast train from King’s Cross, due at Retford at 8.16, 
and had to change at Retford to get into the slip carriage for Worksop. 
When entering the station he tried to get out of the carriage, but instead 
of alighting on the platform he fell off one of the short high steps on 
the continuous footboard below, and was dragged along some distance 
and crushed against the platform before the train pulled up. It was 
then found that he was so fast that it was impossible to extricate him 
without removing one of the short steps, and this was unscrewed as 
quickly as possible. When released Mr. Carr was sensible, and asked 
that a telegram might be despatched at once to Welbeck, and his wish 
was complied with. He was terribly bruised, but the most serious in¬ 
juries were internal, and before a medical man could be summoned he 
had lapsed into an unconscious state. He was removed to the Queen’s 
Hotel, and Dr. Pritchard attended to his injuries, but he died from 
the shock about half-past ten o’clock. Upon receipt of the news at 
Welbeck Mrs. Carr and a son of the deceased were driven to Retford 
as speedily as possible in the Duke of Portland’s carriage, but they did 
not reach the Queen’s Hotel until eleven o’clock, too late to see Mr. 
Carr alive. 
A correspondent who was an intimate personal friend of Mr. Carr’s, 
sends the following note :— 
“ When Mr. Carr took charge at Welbeck, eight years ago, in the late 
Duke of Portland’s time, the garden and grounds had been kept as 
distinct departments, and they were more like a large manufactory 
than a private place. When the present Duke came to the estate Mr. 
Carr took the whole of the gardens, pleasure grounds, and surroundings 
to level, turf, seed, plant, and keep them in order (including the roads), 
several hundred acres in extent. This certainly must have been a very 
heavy tax upon any one individual, besides all other duties, in the per¬ 
formance of which I believe he gave every satisfaction to his noble 
employer. He also planted avenues and extensive shrubbery borders and 
herbaceous borders, that at one time were heaps of stones. * The kitchen 
and fruit gardens at a very recent date were like so many large fields, 
but are now planted with the best fruit trees that show promise of good 
crops ; new walks were formed and open quarters that will produce 
vegetables in quantity for a large establishment. These gardens are 
some 36 acres in extent, and are now in good working order. Fruit, trees 
under glass have been well cared for, so that a good supply of the best 
fruits was always obtained, also plants and flowers which have been ia 
great request. Mr. Carr never shrunk from his duty, was always up and 
doing, in fact, a straightforward, hard-working man, and very much 
respected by the Duke of Portland, by whom he was presented some 
three yeais ago with a valuable gold watch in appreciation of his 
services. He leaves a widow with seven sons and a daughter to mourn 
his loss. He was interred at Cuckney Church April 16th, age fifty-sis; 
years, and was followed to his last resting place by the heads of all 
departments on the Welbeck estate, and carried to his grave by the: 
garden labourers, &c. Friends that followed included : Mr. Taft 
(D. B. and Tait), seed merchant, Manchester ; Mr. O. Thomas, Chats- 
worth ; Mr. A. Henderson, Thoresby ; Mr. M. Gleeson, Clumber ; Mr. W. 
Elphinstone, Shipley Hall, Derby ; Mr. Thos. H. Sutton, Worksop Manon, 
with others.” 
r > el)id3 
DENDROB1UM CRASSINODE x WARDIANUM. 
Last year, at the meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society cn 
March 23rd, Baron Schroder exhibited a plant of this remarkable Den- 
drobium in good condition, and a first-class certificate was unhesitatingly 
awarded to it. After another season’s trial it has again flowered, and 
has been even stronger and more handsome than it was before. The 
characters both of the growth and flowers afford clear evidence that it is 
a hybrid between the t*o well-known species D. crassinode and Dw 
Wardianum, and for that reason alone it would be very interesting, as 
D. crassinode does not appear to have been employed as a parent of any 
artificially raised hybrids. D. Wardianum was employed with D. lituK 
florum in the production of D. micans, but this I believe is the only 
hybrid in which D. Wardianum has been concerned, D. nobile and EL 
heterocarpum having been the principal species hitherto experimented 
with, or which at least have produced the best results. The plant repre¬ 
sented in the illustration (fig. 58) had a growth 3 feet long bearing forty- 
seven large flowers, two of the racemes having the unusual number of 
four flowers, several three and some two, there being fifteen racemes in 
all. The flowers are not so large as some of the D.Wardianum giganteuia 
type, but they are of better form, the petals and lip broad and beauti¬ 
fully proportioned. The sepals and petals are white, tipped with crim¬ 
son, the lip also tipped with purplish crimson, golden in the centre, and 
two maroon dots at the base, one each side of the column. There is a 
brightness and freshness about the flowers that is very pleasing, and 
grown as it is at The Dell, the beauty of the plant is quite exceptional. 
The other plants of D. Wardianum are similarly strong, and have 
flowered nearly equally as well, several having growths 3 to 4 feet long, 
in baskets 7 inches square, and one grand specimen has had as many as 
124 flowers open at one time. The magnificent effect produced by these 
plants has been previously noted, but it can scarcely be imagined what a 
charming display is afforded by thirty or forty such specimens suspended 
from the roof of the stove with their pseudo-bulbs hanging down like 
long wreaths of flowers. These plants are treated generously, and repay 
for the attention they receive by their wonderful success. They have % 
good season of growth when they are encouraged by plenty of heat, 
moisture, and by weak liquid manure. Then they have a good season of 
rest and ripening in the porch of the vinery, close to the glass, and fully 
exposed to the sun, and where during the winter the temperature is often 
down to 40°. From these in February some are removed to the stove, 
anil a succession is maintained by introducing other plants at intervals. 
-c. 
ODONTOGLOSSUM ROSSI MAJUS. 
It is unnecessary to commend this Orchid to the attention of your 
readers, but it seems to me that all its good qualities are not fully recog¬ 
nised, and like some other Orchids its capacity for enduring rough treat¬ 
ment is much greater than is imagined. To test the hardiness of 
Odontoglossum Rossi as fully as possible I decided this winter to place a 
strong plant in an unlieated house, and there it remained until the eni 
of February. On several occasions there were 5° or 6° of frost in the 
house, and a Camellia was killed near the Odontoglossum ; the latter, 
however, seemed quite free from injury, and commenced producing its 
flowers. It was then removed to a room where there is a fire daily, but 
no gas, and the flowers are as fresh still as if they had only been ex¬ 
panded a week. It has been in the room for about seven weeks, and will 
probably last for several weeks longer. The long period during which 
Lycaste Skinneri will last under similar conditions is well known, and I 
have repeatedly proved its qualities in that respect, also Cypripedium 
insigne, but I confess this Odontoglossum has surprised me, .as its flowers 
have not the substance of the Lycaste nor the Cypripedium, and few 
would expect it to possess such powers of endurance. I should like to 
know whether any of your readers have tested the amount of frost the: 
hardiest of the cool Orchids will bear. We read of some been found 
white with frost, and I believe that Messrs. Veitch & Sons state in their 
‘ Manual of Orchidaceous Plants” that Odontoglossum Rossi is found 
