486 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
| Jane 16, 1887. 
summer occupants of the beds they simply require t© be divided and 
planted deeply in well manured ground in the reserve beds until the 
autumn. There are at least two variegated varieties, one having the 
leaves tinted with yellow, the other white ; probably the former is a 
variety of A. albida, and the latter of A. alpina. They both produce their 
racemes of white flowers as freely as the green form, but do not add to 
their effectiveness. 
AubkietiA.—A genus of small rock plants of a spreading habit, 
which has produced a number of various forms from seed ; this, con¬ 
sequently, adds considerably to the difficulty of deciding upon the best 
forms for our purpose. If any reader selects a few pods of seed from 
the best flowers, sows them as soon as they are ripe, pricks out the seed¬ 
lings into good ground, he will in the ensuing spring probably find 
several different forms, varying considerably not only in the size of bloom 
and richness of colour, but also in habit, some being coarse and strag¬ 
gling, while others form neat and compact tufts. The best of these 
should be selected, and when the flowering season is over they ought to 
be cut off close to the ground, when a quantity of young fresh shoots 
will spring up, from which, if cuttings are taken and inserted in sandy 
soil under an ordinary handlight or cloche, and shaded for a time, they 
will root freely. This method is mentioned in preference to that of 
division, as they often form a multitude of stems from a very small root- 
stock, and unless planted in moist soil they often refuse to establish 
themselves with any degree of certainty. By those who do not wish 
to raise seedlings for themselves the following varieties can be recom¬ 
mended—graeca superba, a large flowered and free growing lilac-purple 
form ; Hendersoni, probably the best of the close growing purple varie¬ 
ties ; and violacea, a very dark form, of intermediate habit, first seen by 
me at the Royal Horticultural Gardens, Chiswick.— G. Guthrie. 
(To be continued.) 
ORCHIDS AT KEW. 
V isitors to the Royal Gardens, Kew, who only go occasionally 
can form but an inadequate idea of the collection of Orchids. Those, 
however, who see them frequently, know that there is a continual 
succession of curious, interesting, and beautiful forms throughout 
the year, and that in some respects the collection is unequalled. It 
has assumed such an important position within recent years that its 
history may be worth a few minutes’ attention. When Kew was in 
what might be termed its crude and undeveloped state about the 
middle of the eighteenth century, the formation of the Orchid 
collection was commenced with the hardy British or European 
species, as there were then very few exotic or tropical Orchids in 
cultivation. One of the first tropical epiphytes to flower was 
Epidendrum cochleatum, which produced its flowers in 1787, and 
was followed in the next year by E. fragrans, but until the close of 
that century the Kew collection was a small one. When the second 
edition of the “ Hortus Kewensis ” was published in 1813, there 
were 115 species, eighty-four of which were exotics. Some of 
these were introduced by Dr. Roxburgh from India, and comprised 
such well known Orchids as Saccolabium guttatum and Aerides 
odoratum, while a few years later came Dendrobium Pierardi, with 
others from Calcutta brought by Mr. Pierard. Mr. J. Bowie and 
Mr. Allan Cunningham commenced their travels as collectors in 
1815, and during the two years they were in Brazil numbers of 
Orchids were shipped to England. Subsequently Cunningham also 
dispatched a collection of Orchids from New South Wales, com¬ 
prising the beautiful Dendrobium speciosum, and during five or six 
years he sent many other species. About the same period some 
were obtained from Trinidad, amongst which were Oncidium 
Papilio, Stanhopea insignis, and Ionopsis pallidiflora. The Cape of 
Good Hope, Java, and other countries also contributed, but there 
does not seem to have been a rapid advance for a long period. 
About 1841 Sir William Hooker enriched the collection by the 
addition of 200 species purchased from Loddiges for £50, a mode¬ 
rate price for such a number. By 1848 there were 755 species 
cultivated at Kew, and in 1850 the total was 830, but after that 
there was a reduction in the number of cultivated forms to 038 in 
1864, and to 400 in 1868. I have not been able to learn the cause 
of this decline, but substantial progress has been made since 
then. 
The following are a few particulars concerning the Kew col¬ 
lection at the present time. The number of genera is 148, com¬ 
prising 1204 species, exclusive of varieties, and 200 unnamed plants. 
Thus the collection is richer now than ever it has been before, and 
there is a good proportion of what are termed botanical and horti¬ 
cultural Orchids. The genera most largely represented are Den¬ 
drobium, 105 species ; Oncidium, 90 ; Odontoglossum, 61 ; Masde- 
vallia, 76 ; Epidendrum, 57 ; Cypripedium, 56 ; Coelogyne (including 
Pleione), 39 ; Maxillaria, 27 ; Bolbophyllum, 26 ; Phalaenopsis, 17 ; 
Disa, 15 ; and Yanda, 22. 
During the year 516 species and varieties flowered, included in 
ninety-three genera, the principal of which were the following, the 
numbers indicating the distinct species that flowered—Odontc- 
glossum, 34 ; Oncidium, 34 ; Masdevallia, 38 ; Epidendrum, 35 ; 
Cypripedium, 33 ; Cattleya, 20 ; and Dendrobium, 51. Taking the 
months in seriatim, the number of species which flowered in each 
was as follows—January, 83 ; February, 75 ; March, 74 ; April, 
106 ; May, 105 ; June, 117 ; July, 108 ; August, 96 ; September, 
88 ; October. 128 ; November, 101 ; and December, 95. This is a 
most interesting list, and has been obligingly supplied to me by 
Mr. W. Watson, together with other statistics incorporated in these 
notes. It is doubtful if any other family of plants would afford 
such an equal distribution of species throughout the year. Taking 
the six months, October to March inclusive, 558 species flowered, as 
against 620 species during the six spring and summer months, a 
difference of only sixty-two in favour of the latter. 
Two houses are devoted to Orchids and open to the public, 
besides a porch in which Sarracenias, Droseras, and Pinguiculas are 
grown, and which, being furnished with outer and inner doors, 
prevents the sudden inrush of cold air in the winter when visitors 
are entering or leaving the houses. Next to this is the intermediate 
or Mexican house, and then there is the warm or Cattleya house, 
which contains most of the Cypripediums. Several houses to which 
the public are not admitted, are also occupied with Orchids during 
their resting or growing periods, and they are removed thence to 
the other houses when their flowers are expanding. This permits a 
much larger collection to be grown and represented than could 
otherwise be the case, and is more beneficial to the plants, as they 
can be accorded the treatment best suited to their requirements. 
The appended list of Orchids in flower at the present time will 
give an idea of the nature of the displays produced, though neces¬ 
sarily, as a large number of one species is not grown, such brilliant 
effects as those in some nurseries and private gardens are seldom, 
seen. Cattleya Mossise, C. citrina, C. Trianse, C. Skinneri, Brassia 
verrucosa, Dendrobium moschatum, D. Jamesianum, D. Deari, 
D. Parishi, D. hircoglossum, D. Dalhousianum, D. transparens, 
D. Lowi, D. mesochlorum, D. suavissimum, Saccolabium Blumei, 
S. gemmatum, Epidendrum selligerum, E. vitellinum majus, 
E virens, E. variegatum, Cymbidium ensifolium, Phaius (Thunia) 
albus var. superbus, P. Wallichi, Coelogyne ocellata, Lycaste 
aromatica, L. (Colax) jugosa, L. Candida, Masdevallias ochthodes, 
Veitchiana, infracta, floribunda, Harryana, erythrochoete, triaristella, 
muscosa, coriacea, Reichenbachiana, and Wagneri, Restrepia elegans, 
Liparis Loiselli, Oncidium aureum, O. dasystyle, O. ornithopedium, 
O. Weltoni, O. pulvinatum, Hexadesmia crurigera, Odontoglossum 
vexillarium (three fine plants with twelve racemes), O. pulchellum, 
O. Halli, O. maculatum, O. hastilabium, Miltonia spectabilis, Cypri¬ 
pedium barbatum, C. Roezli, C. Lawrencianum, and Cleisostoma 
Wendlandi.— Visitor. 
OVERCROWDING. 
The prevailing evil of the present system of gardening is that of 
overcrowding plants. No matter how many gardens are visited the? 
common practice is painfully visible in one department or another. To 
think for a moment that such methods result in a better return of plants, 
or flowers, or that the effect produced is in any way enhanced, is one of 
the greatest mistakes, but much at this period ef the year can be done to 
avert disastrous consequences that are certain in some shape or other to- 
f jllow overcrowding. 
The advantages that result from the proper maturation of the wood 
of Vines, Peaches, and other fruit trees under glass, and on walls that 
have their branches thinly and judiciously disposed, so that light and 
air have free access, has long since been fully appreciated by the best culti¬ 
vators. If the results are so satisfactory in the case of fruit trees they 
are equally essential to other plants. If we glance for a moment at the 
condition of Melons and Cucumbers in many gardens, and even 
Tomatoes, we find them a crowded mass of foliage. This ends in a 
severe thinning, and the fruit suffers in consequence. Certainly 
Cucumbers and Tomatoes will bear it without any appreciable injury ; 
but this is not wise, for the plants are checked for the time and crippled 
fruits follow. This is not all, for the foliage left to furnish the plant is 
soft and flabby by overcrowding, and will not afterwards bear full ex¬ 
posure to sunshine. Good well flavoured Cucumbers cannot be grown if 
the plants are allowed to become crowded with foliage, for a large per¬ 
centage of it is certain to be scorched or damp before the crop of fruit is 
perfected. Plants that are crowded with foliage are far more suscep¬ 
tible to the attacks of insects than those with the whole of their leaves 
fully exposed by being gradually thinned out from the first. To have 
really first-class fruits the main foliage must be preserved in a healthy 
condition until the fruit is ripe. This can be accomplished by the re- 
