370 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[September 11. 
by mentioning the circumference of a truss, and the 
number of flowers it contained, any more than I should 
like to mention the dozens of scores of bloom I counted 
upon a flower-stalk of the Kentish Hero Calceolaria: I 
had much rather let you grow, and count, and admire 
for yourself. The Punch is very well in a bed; but to 
see a glorious truss he must have a pot, and the pro¬ 
tection of glass. For all this group, where dwarf growth 
and free flowering for windows are concerned, two things 
are essential : stinted nourishment, when enough of 
growth has been obtained, until the flower-buds appear, 
and then, as rich feeding as the plant will stand. Mr. 
Beaton has detailed the superiority of old plants for 
flowering upon the “ Harry More system ; ” and, were I 
ever so willing, I could add nothing more. 
I have only got over a fraction of what I intended; 
among other things, a few words on potting, as suggested 
by a correspondent last week : that must wait. Mean¬ 
while, as Calceolarias have been mentioned, allow me to 
say that this, and a fortnight to come, is the best time, 
until next spring, for striking all the shrubby kinds;— 
stiff side-shoots, from two to three incites in length, are 
the things. The best of all places is under hand-lights in 
a north border; the next in a frame or pit, a sufficient 
distance from the glass to render shading next to un¬ 
necessary ; bottom-heat not wanted; failing these, in 
sandy soil, round the sides of a pot, inside the window, 
covered with a bell-glass, if you have got it, if not, in a 
small pot inside of a large one, and covered with a 
square of glass, exposed in the window, unless in bright 
sunshine, when you may either cover the glass or set 
the pot on the floor. Failing glasses of all kinds, a 
paper cap, made to fit the pot, and, unlike our head- 
acher night-caps, used only during the day, will answer; 
but you must give more attention and have more patience. 
Even those placed on the border, under hand-lights, will 
have their time ; but they will repay you for waiting. 
R. Fish. 
HOTHOUSE DEPARTMENT. 
EXOTIC ORCHIDACEiE. 
orchids that thrive well in pots— (Continued from 
page 321 ). 
Promenjea graminea (Grass-leaved P.); Demerara.— 
Sepals and petals pale yellow; lip the same colour, with 
a deep stain of purple near the base. A small growing 
plant occupying but little room, and, therefore, may be 
grown in the smallest collection. Very neat and pretty 
when in bloom. 21s. 
P. lentiginosa (Speckled P.); Brazil.—Sepals and 
petals sulphur-coloured ; lip darker yellow. The flower 
is evenly and beautifully speckled with rich reddish 
purple. Neat and pretty. 21s. 
P. Rollisonh (Mr. liollison’s); Brazil.—Sepals and 
petals light yellow; lip white. The whole are richly 
spotted with pink and dark red. Very like P. stape- 
lioides, only not quite so darkly spotted. Most likely it 
is a native hybrid. Very desirable. 21s. 
P. stapelioides (Stapelia-like P.); Brazil. — The 
ground-colour of the whole flower is greenish, beauti¬ 
fully stained, spotted, and streaked with rich purple. 
This is the prettiest of the whole genus, and worthy of 
cultivation in every collection. 21s. 
P. xanthina (Yellow P.); Organ Mountains.—The 
flowers are of a bright yellow colour, and are larger than 
any other species of this pretty genus. The lip is 
spotted slightly with purple. This is also a strong and 
robust plant. 15s. 
Culture. —As the whole of this interesting genus of 
orchids is composed of small plants, they require, con¬ 
sequently, small pots. They thrive well in very turfy 
peat. This should be prepared purposely for them and 
such-like small plants. Let it become moderately dry, 
and then lay a turf upon a block and chop it witli a 
sharp hatchet or bill-hook into squares about two inches 
in diameter, and then pull these squares or lumps to 
pieces with the hand, giving them a stroke upon the 
block to loosen the fine soil. When a sufficient quantity 
has been chopped and broken, put the heap through a 
sieve, with a quarter-of-an-inch mesh, or even less, the 
object being only to free the turf from the finer particles 
loosened by chopping, pulling, and beating. When this 
is done, the part to be used for potting these small plants 
in will be thoroughly porous, and will keep so for a con¬ 
siderable period, and so allow the superfluous water to 
pass quickly away from the plants; add some small 
pieces of charcoal, and mix them with the turfy peat. 
Charcoal is a useful adjunct in all mixtures for orchids, 
but it should not be used in too large pieces, for in the 
first place they are then clumsy and awkward to place in 
the pots; and secondly, these large pieces retain too 
much moisture when the plants are not in a growing 
state. On the other hand, the dust of charcoal is not 
desirable for these plants, because it chokes up the 
drainage, and the roots of the plants perish in it when¬ 
ever they come in contact. The right way, then, to pre¬ 
pare charcoal, is to break it into moderate sized pieces, 
varying from a quarter-of-an-inch to an inch in diameter, 
for small plants, and for larger plants to not more than 
one-and-a-half inch. Sift it when broken with a very 
fine meshed sieve, to take out the dust, which will be ex¬ 
cellent stuff for the kitchen-garden. 
Potting .—The right time for this important operation 
is when the plants begin to grow. If the seasons of 
growth and rest have been rightly managed, this will 
take place in the spring of the year. As soon as growth 
is perceived, have the compost prepared, and the plants 
brought to the potting-beneli. (This bench should be 
in a warm shed, or the orchids would suffer from the 
great change of temperature, even for the short time 
taken up whilst potting, especially if the young shoots 
are at all advanced.) Turn out of the pots the ball of 
the old compost, catching the plant in the left hand. 
Then carefully remove all the peat from it, and cleanse 
it from insects, dead leaves, dead pseudo-bulbs, and 
sponge the plant carefully all over, both leaves and 
bulbs. Great care being, meanwhile, taken of the roots, 
for the young points are exceedingly brittle, and as 
tender as the top of an asparagus shoot. The plant 
being ready, lay it on one side till the pot is prepared 
also. Fill it half full of drainage, and lay over that a 
thin layer of moss, then fill the pot up to the brim with 
the compost, pressing it down rather firmly. If the 
plant has many living roots, now is the time to place it 
on the compost, worldug it in amongst them so as to 
gradually raise the body of the plant considerably above 
the sides of the pot. We once saw a plant of this genus 
managed somewhat differently; the turf was cut exactly 
the size of the pot, and, resting upon the edge, was so 
thick, as to he three inches above it, on this raised 
mound the plant was placed, and grew so well that it 
completely covered the turf, and partly hung down the 
side. Either way will answer well; the great point to 
aim at being to keep the plant elevated so as to get rid 
quickly of the superfluous water, when this is applied. 
Fasten the plant to the turf with hooked pegs, and, the 
potting being finished, replace the plants in the orchid- 
house, giving a good watering to settle the compost. 
Water .—During growth this must be applied pretty 
liberally, and as soon as the new bulbs are fully grown 
gradually lessen the quantity, and when at rest give no 
more than is absolutely necessary to prevent the bulbs 
and leaves from shrinking and shrivelling. 
As these plants are from the Brazils, they require a 
rather warmer atmosphere than the Mexican house. The 
cooler end of the Indian house will be more congenial 
