May 26, 1887. ] 
415 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
never strike. The difficulty that we experience with them in the south 
is their care during the summer ; and this is where the Scotch growers 
have the advantage in their cooler and moister seasons ; and yet few 
grow them better than Mr. Hooper of Hath, anil his situation and soil are 
dry and warm enough for anything, so that there is some way of over¬ 
coming this difficulty. One great advantage of growing them in pots is 
that you are not annoyed by having your best blooms eaten off by snails 
and slugs. Another is that you have no need to stoop to admire the 
flowers, and this is an advantage which l daily more and more 
appreciate. 
. Ranunculus.—T his has been a very trying season for them, 
rejoicing as they do in moisture,and objecting very much to the cold, dry, 
searching winds that we have been exposed to for some time. My beds 
show a lack of vigour which is very distressing ; the plants are there, 
but they do not cover the ground as they ought to do. When there is 
no danger of frost the beds may be well watered, but it is best to do 
this below the rows and not to wet the foliage. This very beautiful flower 
ought to be more grown than it is. I do not think anything can be 
more lovely than a well-grown bed ; the colours are so varied and the 
form so symmetrical that they arc always sure to please, and now that 
the Dutch growers, especially Ant Roozen, are giving more attention to 
them, we may hope that all inferior varieties will be weeded out and 
only good ones retained. 
1 Tulips.—I can say but little of these, as my experience is very 
limited; they are, however, late, as everything is this year, and it is 
not likely, 1 fancy, that they will be as good as usual this season.— 
D., Dea\ 
LIQUID MANURE FOR FERNS. 
Almost all stove and greenhouse Ferns are much benefited by being 
watered once a week with liquid manure, but no plant should be watered 
with it that has not its pot filled with roots. When it is desired to have 
large plants in small jiots, and these are often desired for room anti table 
decoration, nothing will benefit them so much as liquid manure, but 
terns which were potted recently, and have yet much of their new soil 
to take possession of, do not require it; in fact it will do them more harm 
than good. Ferns, however, which were potted last year, and have not 
undergone that operation this season, will be greatly benefited by it, and 
we have given such plants a supply twice weekly with advantage. We 
have tried various kinds of manure, but none of them have had such 
good effect as that from cow or horse droppings. Artificial manures, 
although excellent for some plants, are rather hot for Ferns, but the 
liquid from the droppings is cool and refreshing. As to the strength to 
apply it, that depends entirely on the condition of the plant. Robust 
plants with many roots in an active state may be supplied with it 
stronger than weaker plants, or those inclined to be sickly, but we 
generally give it diluted with half the quantity of clear water.—M. 
rating market gardens. 
In the Court of Appeal on Thursday, the 19th inst., before the 
Master of the Rolls, Lord Justice Fry, and Lord Justice Lopes, the case 
of Purser r. the Worthing Local Board came on for hearing. This case, 
to which we have previously referred, raised the question whether glass 
houses and greenhouses, in which fruit, flowers, and vegetables are grown 
in the way of a man’s trade for market, are to be assessed at their full 
net annual value, or only at one-fourth thereof under sec. 211, sub-sec. 
1 (i) of the Public Health Act, 1875, which provides, inter aha, that 
“ the occupier of land used as market gardens or nursery grounds shall 
be assessed in respect of the same in the proportion of one-fourth part 
only of the net annual value thereof.” George Purser was a grower of 
fruit, vegetables, and flowers, carrying on business at Worthing, and 
describing himself as a “ market gardener and nurseryman,” and he 
occupied a piece of land about la. lr. in extent, upon which were 
sixteen glass houses or greenhouses of various sizes, substantially built, 
and used by him for the purpose of growing Tomatoes, Cucumbers, 
Grapes, flowers, &c., in the course of his business. The Local Board 
rated him in respect of the glass houses or greenhouses on their full net 
annual value. The Divisional Court (Mr. Justice Day and Mr. Justice 
Wills) held that the land covered with glass was a “ market garden ” 
within sec. 211, sub-sec. 1 (i) of the Public Health Act, 1875, and the 
occupier was only liable to be rated at one-fourth of the full net annual 
value. The defendants appealed. 
Mr. Lumley Smith, Q.C., and Mr. English Harrison, for the de¬ 
fendants, contended that the glass houses, which were substantially 
built, with brick walls let into the ground, ought to be rated as 
buildings at their full net annual value, and were only adjuncts to and 
not part of the market garden. They cited ‘‘South Wales Railway 
Company r. Swansea Local Board” (4 E. and B., 189), and “Newport 
Docks Company r. Newport Board of Health ” (2 B. and S.. 708). 
Mr. Charles, Q.C., and Mr. A. Glen (Mr. Forrest Fulton with them), 
were not called upon. 
The Court yesterday dismissed the appeal. 
The Master of the Rolls said that the case was a clcir'one. This 
land was not used as a pleasure garden, but as a market garden. It was 
used for the purpose of utilising the soil to grow vegetables and other 
things which the market gardener sold in the way of his business. Was 
it the less “ land used a market garden ” because it was covered with 
glass f Certainly not. That in reality was the whole case. The Lords 
Justices concurred. 
ORCHIDS AT MESSRS. J. VEITCH Sc SONS, CHELSEA. 
The large Cattleya house in Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons’ Nursery, King’s 
Road, Chelsea, of which we gave an illustration a year or two since, now 
contains a magnificent display of Laslias and Cattleyas such as is worth 
a long journey to see. Earlier in the season there was a charming exhi¬ 
bition of Cattleya Triame varieties, with the fragrant C. citrina and 
others; but a most beautiful succession is afforded byLmlia purpurata, of 
which there is a large number of plants and some superb varieties. This 
Lidia is one of the finest Orchids grown, and when massed as it is ab 
Chelsea it produces a grand effect that can scarcely be excelled or even 
equalledi by any of its relatives. Some idea can be formed of the ap¬ 
pearance of this house when it is stated that between 500 and 600 
flowers of L:clia purpurata are fully expanded with others to come, the 
pure white sepals and petals contrasting delightfully with the rich 
purplish crimson lips and the dark green foliage. The house and Messrs. 
J. Veitch’s system of culture evidently suit these plants admirably; the r 
Fig. 72. —Odontoglossum Edwardi. 
growths are strong and well matured, the flowers large and well 
developed, and the colours pure or rich—they constitute indeed a floral 
bank such as could scarcely be seen elsewhere. Cattleya Skinneri is 
represented, a number of freely flowered specimens, several having 
forty to fifty fine rosy crimson flowers each. C. Mossise, C. Mendeli, and 
C. Acldandiic contribute to the general effect, while of Lidias there 
are scores of the pretty L. elegans and the bright orange scarlet L. cin- 
nabarina, which form an important portion of the show. Several plants 
of the interesting Cow Horn Orchid, Schomburgkia tibicinis, are flowering, 
the scapes being 5 or 6 feet long, bearing twenty or thirty flowers each, of 
a curious purplish colour and a neatly veined lip. The hollow conical 
pseudo-bulbs are of great size and constitute the favourite haunts of 
ants where the plants are found in a wild state. Were this house the 
only one to be seen at Chelsea the nursery would be well worth a visit, 
but attractions innumerable are found in all the structures devoted to 
Orchids and other plants. 
Cypripediums have a house appropriated to them, and a capital re¬ 
presentative collection is now in flower, comprising many of the finest 
species, varieties, and hybrids, the latter of which have mostly originated 
