November 14, 1885. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
171 
Fig Houses. —The trees in these structures should 
he got in readiness for forcing forthwith, beginning, as 
a matter of course, with the trees in the earliest house, 
and finishing with those in the latest. In pruning the 
trees, cut out as many of last year’s shoots as will 
make room for a like number of those of this year’s 
growth being retained to cover the wall or trellis at 
6 ins. apart, selecting, of course, for this purpose, those 
shoots which are best furnished with embryo fruits. 
Care must be exercised, in washing the shoots with a 
soft brush and soft soapy water, not to injure these in 
doing so. The interior of the Fig-house should be 
cleaned in the way recommended for Peach-houses, and 
the same remark applies to the surface-dressing of the 
border. In many places the early crop of Figs is 
secured from trees growing in pots plunged in a bed of 
fermenting leaves in a forcing pit, in which case the 
surface soil, to the depth of 2 ins. to 3 ins., should be 
removed, and be replaced with some of the same 
description as that recommended for top-dressing Peach 
borders, prior to plunging the pots, when sufficient 
tepid water, to thoroughly moisten the ball of earth 
and roots, should be given to the individual plants. 
Aim at a night temperature of 55° ; 5° or 10° higher by 
day with fire heat, and 10“ higher by sun heat. Damp 
the trees more or less morning and afternoon on bright 
days.— H. W. Ward, Longford Castle. 
THE PLANT HOUSES. 
Flowers for Christmas. —In almost all establish¬ 
ments an extra supply of flowers is required at 
Christmas, and it is therefore necessary to give timely 
attention to make the most of resources. Chrysanthe¬ 
mums : the late-flowering varieties should be kept as 
cool as possible, but if we get much damp weather it 
will be necessary to give just sufficient fire heat to dry 
the atmosphere, otherwise the flowers will damp off. 
Azaleas : where such varieties as Fielder’s White or the 
old white have been previously forced, they will not 
require much heat to have them in flower by Christmas, 
but unless the buds are very forward they should now 
be placed in heat. A few of the earliest varieties of 
Hyacinths and Tulips may be started at any time now. 
Helleborus niger: although this usually comes into 
flower in the open ground by Christmas, yet it is 
advisable to have a few in pots or boxes, so as to be 
able to give them some protection in case we get severe 
weather, and the flowers come cleaner and can be easier 
protected from slugs and snails than when left in the 
ground. 
Any hardy plants that are required for forcing which 
have not already been potted, should now be done with 
as little delay as possible. Hybrid Perpetual Roses : 
plants that have been established in pots are best for 
early forcing, but these should be gone through and 
have the old soil removed from the surface, and the pots 
top-dressed with good rich compost. If any extra 
plants are to be potted, the earlier this can be done the 
better. Although- plants potted now will not bear so 
much forcing as plants that have been established in 
pots, yet they will come in very useful for succession. 
Plants potted now should be stood out of doors, and 
have their pots well covered over with cinder ashes, if 
the tops are very long they may be shortened back, but 
they should not be pruned in close until just before 
they are taken in for starting them. 
-—i- 
ORCHID NO TES AND GLEANINGS. 
Orchids at The Woodlands, Streatham. 
—The collection belonging to R. H. Measures, Esq., is 
certainly one of the best we have in the neighbourhood 
of London, if the health of the plants in every depart¬ 
ment and the number of rare things are considered as 
any tests of merit. Each season seems to bring in a 
fresh set of things in bloom, and at The Woodlands the 
plants are expected to do their very best in producing 
a good show in their season. At the present time a 
very fine display is made in each department with the 
plants furnished by each set being arranged together 
thus :—In the Cypripedium flowering house, a rather 
lofty structure, a pleasing combination meets the eye, 
made up of large pans of Cypripedium Spicerianum, C. 
Mierax (a hybrid of venustum), C. Sedeni, C. insigne, 
varieties, including that best of all, C. insigne violaceo 
punctatum and many others. 
The intermediate houses are gay with numerous 
graceful spikes of Oncidium Forbesii, 0. prsetextum 
brunneum, 0. prietextum olivaeeum, and others of that 
section, which look so well arranged with the rose- 
coloured 0. ornithorhynchum ; many Calanthe Veitchii, 
C. vestita, a few late Lycastes and varieties of Vanda 
tricolor, Odontoglossum Kramerii, Oncidium Jones- 
ianum, a grand mass of the large snow-white fragrant 
Pilumna nobilis, with over twenty flowers sparkling 
like crystal; and a plant of Cattleya speciosissima, 
which is flowering for the third time this year, and thus 
departing fioin its usual custom, which is rather to 
flower once in three years. 
The cold houses contain a few very good Odonto¬ 
glossum Alexandras, and just opening the rare Od. 
Josephime. These look very effective arranged with the 
mauve Mesospinidium vulcanicum ; the pretty brown 
and yellow Oncidium O’Brienianum, which is really 
handsome when well grown, and some fine tufts of the 
lovely scarlet Sophronitis grandiflora. Of this last- 
named plant the Woodlands collection has some very 
fine specimens, some of them having about fifty blooms. 
Mr. J. Howe, who is one of the most painstaking of 
growers, has tried it both in cool-intermediate and cold 
houses, and he finds that the plants carry their flowers 
better and are better in colour in the cold house. 
Many other good things are in bloom at The Wood¬ 
lands : but the great attraction at the present time is 
the fine plant of the very rare autumn-flowering Cattleya 
labiata Pescatorei, which has two fine spikes, the one 
with three and the other with four flowers. The sepals 
and petals are light rose and the lip bright magenta- 
crimson fringed with lavender, the throat being richly 
stained with yellow and veined with crimson. The 
habit of the plant is erect, the bulbs and leaves being 
bright green without the tinge of red which many 
varieties of C. labiata have. One of the pseudobulbs 
has a pair of leaves, and altogether the plant is very 
distinct, the flowers appearing at their very best by 
contrast with the clear green foliage. Flowering as it 
does in November, it will be a strong rival to the great 
old autumn-flowering labiata. 
Collecting and Packing Orchids. —In 
answer to “ M. G., Calcutta, ”p. 156, I may say that I 
have been very successful in growing some Orchids 
which were brought home from tropical South America 
last spring. The plants were gathered oft' the trees, 
and securely placed in some old packing-cases without 
lids or any packing material whatever, and put on 
board ship at Bahia. They were more than a month 
from the time of collecting until they reached here, and 
yet not one has failed to grow'. Doubtless, one great 
point is to collect them as soon as they finish their 
growth. They then arrive here without attempting to 
grow' on the journey, and are also not so likely to dry 
up. Then, as regards establishing them, it is best done 
steadily, as they are sure to be in a partially exhausted 
condition when they arrive. Some growers pot them 
at once, but I prefer laying them out on a bed of 
Sphagnum Moss in a nice close and genial atmosphere, 
until they plump up and begin to start into growth, 
when they may be potted with advantage. The con¬ 
signment mentioned above consisted principally of 
Cattleyas and Epidendrums, which have a good store of 
sap in their pseudobulbs. Probably “M. G.” would 
not be quite so successful with the more delicate kinds 
of East Indian Dendrobes, &c. In all cases, unless 
they are accompanied home, they should be met on 
arriving at the port here, as they are otherwise liable 
to be detained in unloading, and a few days’ exposure 
in our variable climate does more harm than all the 
other part of the journey. — W. H. Divers, Katton Hall. 
Barkerias. —The handsome display of these lovely 
plants, made up of five species, which Dr. Duke, of 
The Glen, Lewisham, sent to the Royal Horticultural 
Society’s last meeting, should give fresh courage to 
those amateurs who have not been so successful with 
them to try again. Dr. Duke’s plants are in perfect 
health and very heavily bloomed. They are grown in 
a cool airy house in baskets without much peat or moss, 
or on blocks, and they are most liberally watered while 
growing. The white B. Barkeriola with crimson blotch 
in the lip, the handsome rose-coloured B. cyelotelle 
with white middle to the labellum, and the many 
varieties of B. Lindleyana and other species, as seen at 
The Glen, are charming.— J. B. 
Orchids at the Hands worth Nursery, 
Sheffield. —There is at the present time a nice display 
of the followung :—Cattleya aurea, Cypripedium Harris- 
ianum, C. Spicerianum, C. barbatum, C. barbatum 
superbum, C. insigne, DendrobiumheterocarpumPhilip- 
pinensis, Cymbidium Mastersii, C. Hookcrianum, Odon¬ 
toglossum Andersonianum with two very fine spikes, 
O. crispum, 0. glori’osurn, 0. constrictum, Oncidium 
Kramerii, 0. tigrinum, 0. chrisopliorurn, 0. ornitho¬ 
rhynchum, 0. Rogersii, 0. incurvum, Masdevallia 
tovarense, M. ignea, M. Harryana, M. Shuttleworthii, 
hi. amabilis, Trichosma suavis, Ladia Dayana, L. 
marginata, Sophronitis grandiflora (very fine variety), 
Maxillaria grandiflora, M. picta, Phalamopsis amabilis, 
P. violacea, Vanda tricolor Patersoni, and tricolor 
planilabris, the latter a very fine and valuable specimen. 
The general collection of Orchids is in excellent health. 
Ccelogyne cristata and its varieties are extensively 
grown, and promise a fine display in due course. 
J. W. S. 
Growing 1 , Resting and Watering Orchids. 
—At p. 156 in our last issue, in the sentence “and 
when there is an appearance of new and active growth, ” 
read “ and when there is no appearance of new and 
active growth.” 
-- 
FLORICULTURE. 
The New Dahlias of 1885.—While of the many 
seedlings shown for the first time in 1885, no flower 
may be said to possess that marked individuality of 
character which is possessed by Mrs. Gladstone—a 
flower of such surpassing character, that it appears 
only after an interval of a few years. I may say of it, 
that it was largely shown during the past year, and 
always in very fine condition, characterised alike by 
size, refinement, shape of petal, and purity. 
My first sight of some of the new varieties was at 
Trowbridge, in Wiltshire, in the third week in August. 
At this exhibition classes are provided for seedling 
flowers, and Messrs. Keynes, Williams, & Co. always 
exhibit. On this occasion they had Richard Dean, a 
fine self, the ground colour crimson, flushed and edged 
with purple; a flower of good size, fine petal and centre; 
this I take to be the nearest approach to atrue purple self 
Dahlia yet raised. Two others, also purple seifs, 
named respectively W. J. Cross and Thomas Hobbs 
were also shown, but they were not in the best con¬ 
dition, as the drought severely affected the Salisbury 
flowers all through the season. General Grant is a 
flower full of promise, the ground colour wine-crimson, 
the basal petals heavily tipped with purple, fine petal 
and build, and a good back-row flower. William Slack 
is a very bright red self, one of the brightest seifs in 
this way, but while there is plenty of substance and 
a fine outline, there is the old lolipop petal, that is to 
say, the petals are ribbed in the centre, and not cupped, 
and they are somewhat reflexed ; and yet it will be a 
very useful flower, and one that will tell in a stand. 
Of fancy varieties there were Salamander, a General 
Gordon style of flower, but flaked with crimson instead 
of scarlet, a good useful fancy ; Eva Fisher, buff, heavily 
flaked and striped with dull scarlet; and George Sanger, 
yellow, heavily flaked with maroon. 
At the National Dahlia Show held at the Crystal 
Palace early in September, Dahlias in the form of new 
varieties were produced somewhat numerously. Ou 
this occasion, Messrs. Rawlings Brothers, of Romford, 
were in strong force, showing Bird of Passage, light 
ground, tipped with pale lilac-pink, adelicate and charm¬ 
ing flower of excellent properties ; Mrs. John Walker, 
delicate pink and sulphur ground, with wire edge of 
pale purple, good petal, outline, and high centre ; Mr. 
Glasscock, the centre of the flower maroon-crimson, the 
circumference bright purple, a little flat as shown, good 
petal and outline ; and Mrs. G. Rawlings, pink, with 
stripes and tip of purple, good outline and petal, 
excellent centre ; said to be very constant. All the 
foregoing are show varieties, and were awarded First 
Class Certificates of Merit. The same award was also 
made to Messrs. Rawlings Brothers for fancy, Frank 
Pearse, bright deep lilac ground, flaked and striped with 
crimson ; fine outline and petal. 
Messrs. Keynes, Williams, & Co., had a First Class 
Certificate of Merit for Pelican, a distinct and good 
fancy variety, having a pale ground, striped and flaked 
with purple ; the petals slightly reflexed, good close 
high centre. They also had, but not in good form, 
Richard Dean, William Slack, Thomas Hobbs, Sala¬ 
mander, and Eva Fisher. 
