November 1 , 1894. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
399 
with wood wool seems to be to prevent the wood dust settling 
on the exposed part of the Peaches, and thus spoiling their 
appearance. 
In the competition for the best packed box of Pears, six entries, 
things were even worse as far as attractiveness went than in the 
Peaches. In Class 139 the first prize was awarded to a large box 
packed with wood wool, which at first sight reminded one of the 
lucky bran-tub at school treats—the Pears were there, but they had 
to be hunted for. The packing of the second prize box showed a 
glimmer of taste in the use of pink tissue paper, but the packer had 
drifted back again into darkness in letting wood wool, with which 
the box was partially packed, come between the tissue paper and 
the fruit ; leaves were also used in this medley. In the third prize 
box the Pears were merely wrapped loosely in white paper without 
any attempt to prevent them rolling about, the packer evidently 
having a fine faith in the resisting qualities of bis fruit, that did 
not commend itself to the judges. One box in this competition was 
packed with lawn mowings. It was really difficult to look at these 
crude attempts at packing with patience. In not one solitary case 
were they attractive, indeed it was evidently only in two or three 
cases that they were intended to be so. The English fruit grower 
will not see that it is not the quality of his fruit so much as the 
way he places it before the public that makes the difference 
between his pursuit proving a winning and a losing game to him. 
The saying “ good wine needs no bush ” was probably evolved 
by a seller of cheap wines, who put the largest bush he could find 
over his own door, and thereby attracted the public to such a tune 
that he was able to retire to a dukedom and a castle of his own 
before the old-established firms had quite made up their minds 
whether they had not better send out the office boy to cut a bunch 
of broom. In growing fruit for market the same holds good. 
Grow the best if you can by all means ; but, at all events, put 
what you do grow on the market in the most attractive manner. 
Second-quality fruit, packed carefully and put before the public 
in a way that takes their fancy, will invariably pay the grower 
better than first-class produce if the latter be carelessly packed and 
marketed in a slovenly manner. 
Foreigners do not think that time spent in the details of 
packing is wasted. There were a few boxes of fruit at the Palace, 
on the stall of Mr. E. Guzner, 111, Fleet Street, which had come 
from Paris. The samples were certainly excellent, and were set 
off by the packing. The great Apples and Pears lay in their nests 
of paper shavings with white tissue paper around them, brightened 
here and there with little rosettes of crimson or green, without a 
bruise on them, and just as they had started for their lengthy 
journey. They were as good an object lesson of how fruit should 
be packed as the boxes in the prize competitions were of how not 
to do it. I was very sorry that Mr. Monro in his interesting 
lecture did not have one of these French boxes brought in, that his 
attentive audience might have seen by ocular demonstration what 
may and should be done. I am glad to find that the axiom, that 
boxes should invariably be used in consigning good Apples to 
market, is gaining ground, both Mr. Monro and Mr. A. Weir in 
their remarks on fruit packing emphasising that point. 
I received a letter recently from a Dorsetshire gentleman, who 
is doing his best to induce the neighbouring farmers to grow good 
sorts instead of the worthless cider Apples with which their 
orchards are now filled, asking me for information as to best 
markets and probable prices. I am telling him that if he can rely 
on his farmer friends spending a little time and money in carefully 
grading and packing their fruit, and putting the best of it on the 
market in an attractive form, it will pay them ; but that if they 
will take no trouble in these matters, they may just as well leave 
their orchards alone.—S. W. F. 
Oncidium ornithorhynchum album. 
At the meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society held in the 
Drill Hall, Westminster, on the 25th ult., Mr. R. J. Measures, 
Cambridge Lodge, Camberwell, exhibited a grand plant of this 
Oncidium, and for which a first-class certificate and cultural 
commendation were awarded. It is by no means a new Orchid, but 
it is not generally grown in collections. As depicted in the engraving 
(fig. 62), the flowers are small, white, with a yellow blotch on each, 
and they are borne in great profusion on arching spikes. The speci¬ 
men exhibited by Mr. Measures carried seventeen flower spikes, 
which made an excellent display, and caused the plant to create 
more than ordinary interest on the occasion mentioned. 
Cypripedium Charlesworthi. 
There is no doubt about this being a charming Orchid. It has 
flowered in many private and trade collections. July and August 
appears to be the time of flowering, although it may change a little 
earlier or later when thoroughly established. The dorsal sepal is 
very broad and shows off to advantage, as it does not turn back 
like some species. The colour varies from light rose mottled white 
to dark rose, the darker forms being the most rare. If an albino 
form turns up, which is not unlikely considering the number that 
has been imported, it will be very valuable. The shining white 
staminodes add greatly to the beauty of the flowers. 
The plant appears to be a very good grower, much better than 
C. Spicerianum, of which it was thought to be a variety ; but it 
FIG. 62.— ONCIDIUM ORNITHORHYNCHUM ALBUM". 
has proved quite distinct from that species. In the size of the 
roots and constitution it resembles the old favourite C. insigne. 
It also grows well under the same conditions as that species, 
thriving in an intermediate house, potted in turfy loam with all 
the fine soil sifted out, fibrous peat and sand, with good drainage.— 
J. Godfrey, S^petchley. 
Cypripedium insigne. 
There is probably no other Orchid so common as this hand¬ 
some old species, and certainly no other is so frequently illustrated. 
The introduction of so many new and beautiful species of this 
genus has had the effect of elbowing C. insigne out of the position 
it should hold in collections, and only in very few places is it 
cultivated with any spirit. Familiarity has undoubtedly bred' 
contempt of this beautiful plant to a very great extent, but even- 
so it is difficult to account for the almost total neglect that is- 
everywhere apparent. No Orchid is more easily grown or gives 
better return for a little care, as the flowers may be had from the 
present time until February, thus bridging over several of the 
dullest months of the year. 
Where it is desired to have the flowers over as long a period as 
possible, plants must be grown in different temperatures. Those 
to flower now should be kept in a warm house all through the 
season; plants so grown have been in flower for the past 
three weeks. Others may be grown in the same house, but retarded 
by placing in a cool house or frame when the growth is completed, 
usually about the latter part of July. From these the plants may 
be introduced to heat successively to prolong their season, while 
others grown in a greenhouse temperature usually flower at 
