THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, October 16, 1860. 
It has become tlie custom for the Committee at the commence¬ 
ment of the season to direct the attention of their fellow members 
to tho*e points, in connection with the working of the Society, 
which seem most worthy of notice. These points m 1860 wore 
the following:— . 
“It would be very desirable to give more attention to the cultiva¬ 
tion of the Onion, Carrot, and Parsnip—vegetables which, in respect 
of utility, come second only to the Potato. To aid in this matter 
as much as possible, the Committee have proposed the three 
special prizes to be awarded in June. It has, perhaps, been 
scarcely sufficiently noticed that two of these vegetables (and 
probably the third) will yield larger quantities of produce th m 
the Potato from equal surfaces of ground. Thus the average 
weights of produce obtained from 36 square feet of ground at 
Hitcham were, in 1858— 
Potatoes 
Onions.. 
Carrots.. 
22,f lbs. 
38 „ 
38 « „ 
Taking into account the uncertainty which always hangs over the 
result of the Potato crop, it would, therefore, appear that these 
vegetables might advantageously receive more attention than they 
have hitherto had at our hands. 
“The failure of a large proportion of the Potato crop la it 
year, occurring as it did at a late period of the season, seems to 
show that it would be desirable to grow those varieties of the i 
Potato which ripen earlier in the autumn. Many crops which 
were secured early last year were disposed of advantageously, or 
housed in safety; while few, if any, of the later crops yielded an 
average quantity free from disease. 
“ The cultivation of early, or second early Potatoes, will offbr 
peculiar advantages for a crop of Broccoli, or of Savoy, or other 
Cabbage, &o., to be put in the ground after clearing off the 
Potatoes. The Committee earnestly press this upon the attention 
of their fellow members. Large surfaces of allotment, ground lay 
empty all last winter, while from a few other pieces Cabbages 
and Savoys were sold at prices ranging as high as S d. per dozen 
on the ground. And lately a3 much as 2s. per dozen lias been 
offered for these vegetables, if fine. The Committee believe that 
no plan of gardening which leaves the ground unoccupied for 
six or seven months out of the twelve can be profitable; they 
are quite sure that no such plan is creditable to the allotment 
holders. 
“ Some advance was made last year in the sale of vegetables ti 
Birkenhead market; and believing, as the Committee do, that 
this opportunity offers great advantages to their fellow members, 
they wish again to direct attention to the matter. ’ 
THE ILLUSTRATED BOUQUET: 
TOL. II., PART 9, PLATES 39 TO 43. 
This number of the “Illustrated Bouquet,” published by 
Messrs. E. G. Henderson & Son, of the Wellington Road Nursery, 
St. John’s Wood, London, opens with a plate (39) of Clematis 
viticella , var. venosa, a fine new kind, with large, handsome, rich 
violet-purple flowers, from three to four and a half inches in 
diameter. The plant is a free-growing hardy climber, and blooms 
the chief part of the summer and autumn—a valuable acquisition 
to the more choice hardy climbers. The most ornamental kinds 
of Clematis are also enumerated and described in this number. 
Plate 40 is occupied with the new handsome variegated-leaved 
Spharostemma marmorata , which was introduced from Borneo 
by the Messrs. Low, of Clapton. Treated as a soft-wooded plant, 
this soon attains the size of an exhibition plant, for which it3 
rich silvery markings on a large leathery leaf make it a fit associat j | 
in a select collection of variegated plants. 
Plate 41 exhibits four distinct kinds of the best and most 
recent hybrid Tydceas, or late Achimenes—namely Ignescens, 
Lurline, Volunteer, and Countess of Ilchester. Ignescens is a 
rich orange-scarlet, banded and spotted with crimson. Lurline, 
deep salmon, banded and spotted with cerise and crimson. 
Yolunteer, rosy crimson, “with club-shaped bands and spots of 
deep velvety blood red.” Countess of Ilchester, rosy crimson, 
marked with deep crimson bars and spots—“ the choicest new 
varieties of this family ” of useful plants. Beauty, Elegantissima, 
and Lady Digby are three additional kinds of equal merit; and 
there is an excellent digest of their culture. 
Plate 42.—The subject of this plate, Stokesia cyanea, will vie 
some day with the largest and best French Asters. The patien’ 
industry of the florist has not more Burely created the race of 
Pompone Chrysanthemums from the small single Daisy of the 
Island of Chusan, than it will convert this enormously _ large, 
rich, “ porcelain purplish-blue,” single, China-Aster-looking 
flower to rival the Dahlia. The same untiring industry has just 
been awarded the highest prize at the command of the Ploral 
Committee for a collection of full double Zinnias. And Stokesia 
cyanea, a hardy, perennial, herbaceous, autumn bloomer, will be 
the next subject for these experiments. For its history and cul¬ 
tivation we refer to the work itself. 
Plate 43.— Portlandia platantha, a noble-looking stove plant, 
after the make and fashion of Portlandia grandiflora; or, on a 
smaller and more familiar text, a subdued edition of Magnolia 
grandiflora, with the leaves of some vigorous Camellia. This 
plant blooms from the cutting-pot up to three feet high—its 
ordinary stature under pot cultivation. The flowers are richly 
fragrant, and come in great profusion. 
Altogether this is a varied and most useful number of the 
“ Illustrated Bouquet,” than which no work is more deserving 
of a prominent place in the drawing-room when garden visitors 
are expected, or when one has half an hour to spare to learn the 
fashion of the seasons in the matter of flowers without the 
tedium of technicalities or high-sounding words. 
STOVE ORCHIDS. 
(Continued from page 25.) 
Utensils. — A Cistern. —The rain water that falls on the roof 
should run into spouts placed just under the ends of the glass 
frames, and conducted from them by a pipe into a large cistern. 
This utensil is almost indispensable to the Orchid grower. The 
water in it should be kept; milk-warm. If placed upon the flue 
the water will be kept sufficiently warm. It is highly useful in 
that state for syringing with, and also to dip the baskets and 
logs with plants on them in. Just before the plants in baskets 
begin to grow, the peat from having been dry during the season 
of rest will be found hard ; and then, if the plants require new 
baskets, the roots will be so firmly fixed to the lumps of dry peat, 
that, if these lumps are not softened by steeping them in the water, 
the roots will be broken and otherwise greatly injured; but if 
steeped for two or three hours the peat then is easily separated 
from the roofs without injury to the latter. 
Baskets. —The grower will soon find that baskets are 
necessary, and for this reason—that some species, especially of 
Stanliopea, Acinetas, and a few Peristerias, send their flower- 
stems down through the soil. Now, if these are grown in pots, 
it is evident that the greater part of the flower-stems will 
perish. The baskets should be of a size in proportion to the 
size of the plants. The smallest may be six inches square, the 
next twelve, and the largest eighteen inches. To make these 
baskets, iron, brass, and copper, have been used. I object to 
the first because it rusts so soon in the damp Orchid-house, and 
the other two are too expensive. Earthenware also has been 
converted into baskets for Orchids ; but its great weight and 
liability to break renders it undesirable. After having tried all 
these, I have come to the conclusion that the best material for 
baskets for Orchids is long Hazel rods; the smallest, for small 
baskets, about the thickness of one’s middle finger, and the 
largest as thick as one’s wrist, with proportionate intermediate 
sizes. Saw them into proper lengths, and with a sharp-pointed 
iron borer made red hot, bore a hole through each end. Then 
have ready some copper wire cut into the right lengths; lay 
down for small baskets two rods six inches long, and upon these 
at right angles three rods at equal distance. Nail these to the 
two first with small copper flat-headed nails, then turn over 
this first layer and place two more to form the other two sides of 
the baskets. Then take four pieces of the wire, make a loop at 
one end of each, and then draw the other ends through the holes 
at the four corners of the basket. Slip over two more at oppo¬ 
site sides, and then two more to fit upon them at the other two 
sides. For the smallest three rods deep will be sufficient. Wedge 
the wires with small wooden wedges at each corner, and then the 
basket is ready for the plant. The next size may have four rods 
on each side, and the size larger five on each side. There is no 
advantage gained in making those baskets deeper. 
Pots. — The kind of pot that I have found best for Orchids is 
a wide shallow one, the proportions of which are as two, three, 
and five—that is, two inches wide at the bottom, three inches 
deep, and five inches wide at the top, all inside measure. Larger 
pots to be in the same proportions. The roots of Orchids are 
