February 14.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
267 
numbers. See that they are well filled with roots 
before you introduce them into the bouse, and then 
give them the warmest place until they show bloom. 
Petunias and verbenas, whilst in the bouse, should 
not have above 55° from fire heat; both make splen¬ 
did pot specimens, when well managed. 
Strawberries. —Those plunged in the ground in 
32-pots, protect alike from wet and frost. These 
precautions, along with having the buds well matured 
in the autumn, are the secrets of success. For early 
work—such as producing in the end of February 
and the beginning of March—we prefer 48 pots, 
such as our correspondent used last year, chiefly 
because in them growth is sooner perfected in the 
autumn; 32’s will answer admirably now; begin 
with a temperature of 45°, raising it to 60° when in 
bloom, and 5° more when swelling their fruit. Air 
give freely; pots keep near the glass; water, whe¬ 
ther from pot, syringe, or steam, give sparingly, 
until the flower trusses appear; but keep them rather 
damp than dry afterwards, until the fruit begins to 
change, when water must be withheld, so that the 
leaves do not droop, nor the fruit shrivel. We would 
have entered more into detail, but our space is more 
than filled. ft. Fish. 
HOTHOUSE DEPARTMENT. 
EXOTIC ORCHIDACErE. 
PLANTS REQUIRING PECULIAR TREATMENT. 
Cyrtopodiums. —These are noble and splendid or¬ 
chids, when grown well, especially C. punctatum. 
They belong to the division we have described as 
“ terrestrial”—growing on the ground. They are na¬ 
tives of various parts of the South American conti¬ 
nent. We have had plants of this genus sent from 
Guatemala, Brazil, Demerara, and Venezeuela. C. 
Andersonii has been found in the island of St.Yincent. 
These habitats (native places) show that these plants 
do not require the heat of the Indian house: the 
Mexican one will grow them better. Even in a com¬ 
mon stove they will grow satisfactorily, provided they 
are kept quite dry when at rest. We published, seve¬ 
ral years ago, in the Botanical Register, an account 
of a successful mode of cultivating them. As that 
work may not be in the hands of all our readers, we 
quote it here for their benefit, premising, that we 
have seen no reason to suppose that any better me¬ 
thod can be followed. It is as follows :— 
“ As soon as I perceive the buds springing at the bottom 
of the pseudo-bulbs, I take the plants, and carefully shake 
off all the old soil, and cut off all the decayed roots. I 
then put them in large pots, well drained, in a compost of 
rough turfy loom, chopped into pieces about the size of a 
pigeon’s egg, peaty turf broken in the same manner, and 
leaf mould about half rotten, all in equal parts ; to which I 
add about one-eighth of bones, broken into small pieces. I 
mix all these well together, and place the plants on a level 
with the rims of the pots, and finish, by giving a good 
watering to settle the compost. The plants are put in the 
warmest part of the house, and watered very moderately 
at first, increasing the quantity as the plants increase in 
growth, until the leaves are fully developed. I then give 
them manure-water once a week, to encourage the produc¬ 
tion of strong pseudo-bulbs, without which it is in vain to 
look for flowers. In this I succeeded to my entire satisfac¬ 
tion, and last year, had the pleasure of perceiving the flower- 
stems appearing at the same time as the bulb-shoots. I 
had, eventually, flower-stems five feet high, with numerous 
side branches, making a bundle of flowery-stems in one 
shoot of more than eighteen inches diameter. As soon 
as the present stems (that is, the stems of that year) were 
perfect, I gradually reduced the Water ; and when they are 
at rest, I give no more. To induce a mor» perfect quies¬ 
cence, I have them removed into a cool, dry, house ; average 
temperature, 55°. The essentials of this method are, to 
use a rich, but open compost, to give plenty of water 
during growth, and a season of complete rest. Those who 
attend to all these points, need not fear flowering orchids.” 
In addition to tlie above, we have only to remark, 
that the season of rest must be attained, at least, by 
the end of September. Every pseudo-bulb must then 
be completely formed, and the growth finished, so as 
to be sound and perfect. If in a crude state, it is 
more than probable that the tops of the pseudo-bulbs 
will, during the winter, begin to rot. To arrest this 
decay, we have found the application of a coating of 
powdered-chalk very effectual. Cut away the decayed, 
or rotten part, down to the sound, living, healthy 
part; and then place upon it a covering of the chalk, 
pressing it with the finger into the pores of the 
pseudo-bulb. By this application, we have often pre¬ 
served the greater part of the bulb through the win¬ 
ter; and the spring following, after potting, had as 
good—or nearly so—shoots as those that had been 
perfectly ripened. Still, we advise, by all means 
strive to have the bulbs perfectly ripened, and then 
there is no necessity to use such remedies. 
Barkeria Lindleyana. B. melanocaulon. B. 
Skinneri. B. spectabilis. —There is no genus of 
orchids more deserving of culture than Barkeria, 
and no collection, however small, but ought to in¬ 
clude at least the two latter species, though they are 
all beautiful, elegant plants when in flower, and last 
a considerable length of time in bloom. We have 
already (at page 155 of the present vol.) alluded to 
the B. Skinneri exhibited by Mr. Plant, gardener to 
PI. Schroder, Esq., at the Horticultural Society’s 
meeting, on December 4th of last year. 
Barkeria —so named after the late William Bar¬ 
ker, Esq., of Birmingham— Lindleyana (Lindley's 
Barkeria) a native of Casta Rico, is a truly elegant 
species, but very scarce and dear. The flowers are 
larger than those of B. Skinneri, the sepals and 
petals of a deep rosy purple, the lip is of the same 
colour, but darker, except in the centre, which is of 
a beautiful blush. 
B. melanocaulon (Dark stemmed B.).—We have 
not seen the flowers of this species, but they are 
described as being very beautiful, with rich, dark- 
coloured stems, as the name implies. 
B. Skinneri G. (Mr. Skinner’s B.) is from Guate¬ 
mala. Sepals and petals of a most lovely rosy-pink 
colour, produced thickly on a stem sometimes two 
feet high, nine inches of which stems are densely 
covered with its lovely blossoms. We have had the 
same spike in flower for two months and upwards at 
a time. There is a variety named major, with large, 
deeper-coloured flowers. Barkeria Skinneri was for¬ 
merly named Epidendrum Skinneri, but is now gene¬ 
rally known by the former name, and we think it 
quite correct that it should be so. In habit, in flo¬ 
rescence, and culture, it is to all intents a Barkeria. 
Barkeria spectabilis (Showy B.) is also from 
Gautemala. We quote the following account of this 
splendid plant from Mr. Lyons, whose work on the 
the culture of orchids is a most excellent one. 
Amongst the Guatemalese, this plant bears the 
name of Flor de Isabel, and is one of their votive 
offerings. It forms a tuft of cylindrical stems, about 
four or five inches high, each bearing two fleshy 
lanceolate acute leaves, separated from each other 
about an inch; the raceme rises out of some dry 
brown sheaths, and, in the plants that have flowered, 
