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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
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HARDY ORCHIDS. 
I quite agree with your correspondent’s remarks last week about 
the beauty of hardy Orchids, and it is surprising that more attention is 
not paid to these plants. The Orchises are nearly all easily grown, and 
are moreover very showy, especially 0. maculata and O. mascula, and 
they are even worth growing in pots for the greenhouse. They are 
indeed the only Orchids that can be employed successfully in an 
ordinary greenhouse. One cause of failure is the neglect to provide 
hardy Orchids with the special soils they require, and attempts to grow 
plants found on chalk downs in the same situations as the moisture- 
loving species found in low semi-marshy localities can only result in 
failure. The peculiarities of plants in this respect need careful con¬ 
sideration, and many seeming difficulties will be overcome. Another 
cause of loss is, that often amateurs search for the wild Orchids, and 
dig them up for transference to their own gardens at any time, quite 
regardless of whether it is a suitable period or not. Lifted in this way 
three-fourths of them are almost certain to die. The swamp or mois¬ 
ture-loving species are liable to suffer in the summer in two ways— 
first, by their being too directly exposed to the sun, and secondly, by 
having insufficient moisture in the soil. During the summer months it 
is almost impossible to give them too much moisture. Perhaps the 
plant received by your correspondent as Ophrys is Orchis provincialis. 
—S. E. 
ORCHIDS AT KEW. 
Much attention has been given to the Orchids at Ivcw in the past 
few years, and with increased facilities for cultivation, and the gradual 
addition of distinct and effective species, the collection has been con¬ 
siderably improved. There is now an unusually handsome and varied 
display in that portion of the T range devoted to these plants, and 
especially numerous are the Masdevallias, which include besides the 
useful ornamental M. Harryana and Veitchiana varieties many rare and 
curious species, such as Reichenbachiana,triaristella, infracta, oehthodes, 
trichoete, Shuttleworthi, xanthocorys, porcellipes, and radiosa. Of 
Odontoglossums there are excellent examples of Odontoglossum vexil- 
larium flowering very freely, of capital colour and in fine healthy 
condition. O. citrosmum is beautiful with its pendulous racemes ; 0. 
crispum, 0. Pescatorei, 0. radiatum, and many others are also note¬ 
worthy. A large plant of Sobralia macrantha has been flowering for 
some time and still bears its large flowers. Cattleya Mossiae and the 
fragrant yellow C. citrina are still in good condition. Dendrobiums are 
numerous, but there is one plant of the charming Dendrobium trans- 
parens in a basket that is the finest example of this Orchid that we have 
seen ; it has fourteen flowering growths with sixteen to twenty flowers 
each, and the effect produced is beautiful in the extreme. The sepals 
and petals are white with a violet purple blotch in the lip, and they have 
a light graceful appearance quite distinct from others of the genus. 
D. Dalhouseanum is also fine with eight racemes of six or seven flowers 
each. The elegant Ionopsis paniculata with a cloud of its delicate 
mauve-tinted flowers furnishes an attraction in the warmer house, 
together with several Cypripediums, Saccolabiums, Acrides, &c. 
In addition to those already named, the foliowing were in flower : — 
Pleurothallis semi-pellucida, P. Barberiana, and P. ornata, all very 
interesting and curious, Oncidium dasystyle, Hexadesmia crucigera, 
Phaius bicolor, Cypripedium Stonei, C. macranthum (in cool house), 
Saccolabium curvidorum, Dendrobium capillipes, D. mesochlorum, D. 
secundum, D. hercoglossum, D. Jamesianum, Aerides Fieldingi, Cyrtopo- 
dium squalidum, Ooelogyne corymbosa (ocellata maxima), C. ochracea, 
Epidendrum variegatum, E. difforme, Stanhopea oculata Lissochilus 
Krebsi, Lycaste cochleata, L. Dayana, L. plana, and L. Candida. 
L TELIA PURPURATA. 
This when well grown is one of the finest Orchids in cultivation, 
and it well deserves its great popularity. Mr. J. Cypher of Cheltenham 
had some grand varieties at the Regent’s Park Show recently, and he 
has also had a magnificent display in his nursery, over 400 blooms being 
open at one time. Some of the flowers were of astonishing size and 
beautifully formed, some of the best indeed that we have seen, and good 
varieties are by no means scarce now. Like all the plants under Mr. 
Cypher’s care they are admirably grown, and a large miscellaneous 
collection of Orchids is also looking extremely healthy, and bearing 
numbers of flowers.—T. 
CINERARIAS. 
As my gardener has been more than usually successful with the 
Cinerarias it may interest your readers to have a few particulars as to 
the treatment adopted. The flower heads were fuller than I have ever 
seen them. I have measured scores of the blossoms, and find several fully 
21 inches in diameter, and the colours exceptionally rich. The seeds 
were procured early in April from Messrs. Carter & Co. The first 
sowing was made April 14th, in pans half filled with rough peat, to 
which was added a mixture of loam and peat finely sifted, with plenty 
of sand. The pans were then covered with glass, and placed on the 
higher shelves in a cool greenhouse. As soon as the plants showed their 
second leaves they were potted singly into thumb pots, using rather 
coarse soil, but taking care not to cover the hearts of the plants. They 
were then placed in a close frame shaded, and sprinkled morning and 
evening till well established, being kept close for a couple of weeks, 
after which more air was given. As soon as the pots were full of roots 
the plants were shifted into 4.^-inch pots, and again at the end of 
September into 8-inch pots (for the largest specimens). As soon as the 
flower buds showed the plants were liberally supplied with soot and 
liquid manure. Plenty of air was given night and day when the weather 
was suitable, and at all stages of their growth the plants were shaded 
from bright sunshine. 
The soil employed was equal parts of rich loam, leaf mould, and 
thoroughly decayed horse manure, mixed with charcoal dust and coarse 
sand. I trust the above account may lead some of your readers to test 
still further the capabilities of this handsome and interesting flower.— 
C. T. Ckuttwell, Benton Rectory, No'folk. 
ROSE THE PURITAN. 
This handsome Rose has attracted so much attention recently, both 
in America and England, that Rose-growers are repeatedly inquiring 
respecting it. The illustration (fig. 78), for which we are indebted 
to Messrs. W. Paul & Son, gives a faithful representation of its general 
characters, judging from the blooms we have seen. The variety wa3 
raised by Mr. H. Bennett of Shepperton from a cross between Mabel 
Morrison and old Devoniensis, but though it is repeatedly referred to as 
a Hybrid Perpetual, there seems to be' a preponderance of the Tea in 
the habit and foliage. The blooms are fragrant, large, of good form and 
substance, the petals white, slightly recurving at the margin, and the 
variety appears to be both free in growth and profuse in flowering. 
It will be remembered that on April 12th, this year, Messrs. W. Paul 
and Son, Waltham Cross, who are the agents for the Rose in .this 
country, exhibited stands of two dozen blooms at South Kensington. 
These had been dispatched from New York on the 2nd of April, and it 
was astonishing how well they had travelled, as when shown they were 
almost as fresh as if they had been conveyed a hundred miles or so by 
rail. Half the number of blooms were placed upright in tubes of water> 
and the others were firmly packed in damp cotton wool in tightly closed 
tin boxes. The latter were much the better, and were very little the 
worse for their journey. 
THINNING LATE GRAPES. 
By the time this is in print much of the important work of thinning 
the berries on bunches will have been completed, only those started 
without artificial heat and the very latest crops remaining to be done. 
The first proceeding ought in all cases to be thinning the bunches. 
We are apt to overlook the fact that bv leaving too many bunches we 
not OT'ly run the risk of not ripening the crop satisfactorily, but over¬ 
cropping leaves its mark on the Vines for one or more seasons to come. 
Even if there were no risks to be run in the latter respect, it cannot be 
too often pointed out a moderately heavy well-finished crop is of more 
value, and usually gives more pleasure than a much greater weight of 
inferior produce. It is not always the gardener’s fault that too many 
bunches are retained ; many employers insist upon the retention of one 
bunch on every lateral of a fruit-bearing size. 
When the bunches are small, or on an average l’kely to be less 
than 1 lb. in weight, every strong lateral on a healthy well supported 
Vine may be depended upon to ripen one satisfactorily, but when they 
run rather heavier it will be much safer to leave a bunch on every other 
lateral; while in the case of comparatively large bunches, or, say, 
approaching 4 lbs., one to every third lateral may prove quite as much 
as can be finished properly. I know from experience how hard a matt«r 
it is f o cut away a number of good bunche-, but I have much less 
hesitation in thinning the bunches than formerly. Too often it is not 
fully realised how heavy a crop is left on the Vines till the Grapes are 
nearly coloured, and when it is too late to do much good by thinning. 
Our plan is to make a note of the number of bunches perfected on the 
various Vines each year, and bv perfected I mean well finished examples, 
this proving a good guide for the next year’s thinning. It is not often 
any of us err on the wrong =ide—that is to say, in leaving too few 
bunches on the Vines, but it does happen occasionally. For instance, 
we may be too lenient with young Vines, and these having a new and 
rich root run, as a natural consequence form rank growth, the reverse of 
what is needed for laying the foundation of profitable or enduring 
rods. Secure medium-sized short-jointed canes at first, and gradually 
build them up. A Vine planted this season, and which grows stronglv, 
ought to carry one good bunch next year, and about three during the 
third year, or according to the habit and vigour of each Vine. Some 
regard must be paid to the nature of the border, also taking into con¬ 
sideration the amount of food within reach of the roots. Those rooting 
in a strong loamy border, with plenty of fibre near the surface, ought to 
