January 2, 188C. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
285 
syringe all theJCypripediums of the barbatum section, 
but none of the C. Lowi type ; Epidendrum bicornutum 
is well syringed ; Odontoglossum Roezlii is syringed 
lightly now on bright days ; also Dendrobium Ward- 
ianum coming into flower, and just starting into growth. 
Nearly all the Dendrobiums in the growing season are 
syringed as much as Crotons, there are some exceptions, 
two of which I can name just at this moment, D. 
Bensoniae, and D. crystallinuin, are very apt to rot if 
water is allowed to lodge on their young growths, unless 
they are in a very high temperature ; D. formosum, 
and D. Falconeri, I fail to see how they can be grown 
thoroughly well unless they are syringed ; neither of 
them will thrive in pots upon the stage for any length 
of time. It is painful to see D. formosnm lingering and 
starving in a pot beneath some other Orchid far less 
beautiful. Instead of such an unnatural position, 
place it upon a block and hang it up close to the roof 
glass and syringe it two or three times daily, then see 
what returns it will give. 
I have a note by me written by someone resident in 
India, who says that this plant requires 300 ins. 
of water yearly !. How is it to get it in our hothouses 
except by syringing ? D. Devonianum is subject to red 
spider, but no red spider will thrive if you can ply the 
syringe about them freely. I think for Dendrobium 
culture, the syringe and rain water are indispensable. 
There are few things in the Cattleya house we syringe ; 
Thunias and Sobralias get as much as the Dendrobes 
when in active growth, and enjoy it; Masdevallias also 
enjoy a “dewing” overhead every hot day ; as to Disa 
grandiflora it is simply drenched with water. There is 
one other Orchid I had nearly forgotten to mention, as 
being subjected to the overhead shower baths with very 
good results, that is Cattleya superba. In closing 
these notes I may say that there is a kind of syringing 
that I would put my foot upon very firmly, which is 
that of an inexperienced or careless youth who chooses 
the coarsest rose he can find, and considers that the 
quicker and harder he can hit the plants above and 
below, the better and more effectual it will b e.—Thos. 
Simcoe, The Gardens, Lake House, Cheltenham. 
Syringing Orchids.— I am glad to see Mr. 
O'Brien’s remarks on this subject (p. 268), as I think 
many will be tempted to give the matter more con¬ 
sideration than formerly. For my own part, although 
previously a little prejudiced in favour of the syringe, 
I have worked the matter out, and find it can well be 
done without, and that doing without it relieves one’s 
mind of many a care. Over two years ago when starting 
a house of cool Orchids, the bulk of which were 
composed of very miserable fresh imported pieces of 
Odontoglossums, bought in lots of twenty-five each, 
Mr. O’Brien advised me not to syringe, and I followed 
his advice so far as never to take a syringe into the 
house summer or winter. My plants, although from 
such poor beginnings, are in grand order, clean, shiny, 
thick leaved, and well furnished with spikes, and I 
attribute much of their good health to the fact of their 
being grown without syringing, for if when first 
starting from the weak and often decayed bulbs they 
had got moisture overhead, I am sure the majority of 
them would have died. My Masdevallias are also 
grand, and do not exhibit the slightest trace of the too 
many inexplicable black spots on the leaves, but which 
I believe in most cases to be the result of wateiing 
overhead. I need hardly say that I have done with 
syringing my Orchids, but of course I always take care 
that there is nothing in the houses to draw vitality 
out of the plants by keeping up an even but not ex¬ 
cessive moisture.—F. King, The Gardens, Kenton Grange. 
Lselia purpu.ra.ta.. —A richly coloured form of 
this, with a curious formation seeming to bear traces of 
Cattleya lobata, comes from Mr. J. Cypher, of Chel¬ 
tenham. Its sepals are white, washed with mauve ; 
petals very broad, white at the base, but almost wholly 
washed and veined with violet ; the lip is commonly 
elongated, dark maroon fading to mauve towards the 
fringed front. It is very bright, pretty, and distinct. 
Management of Cool Orchids.—I have a few 
Odontoglossums in a cool house, and Cattleyas, etc., 
in an intermediate house, but cannot keep the sphag¬ 
num green and growing like it was twelve months 
since when bought, and shall be glad to know the 
cause. The cool house has been fumigated a few times, 
and by mistake the plants had manure water once or 
twice. They are watered with rain water, and have 
plenty of water and moisture. Those in the interme¬ 
diate house are watered with warm spring water, and 
there has been sulphur on the pipes. The moss looks 
brown and decaying, and, though some plants are 
showing for bloom, had I better repot or will they do 
all right as they are ?— Amateur. [Your statement 
discloses several probable causes for the decay of the 
Sphagnum Moss. The manure water most likely helped, 
the fumigating might have done so, and the sulphur 
could not fail to be injurious. Watering with warm 
water is unnecessary and bad. The best water is 
rain water, and it needs nothing but to be applied 
direct from an unheated tank. See at once to get some 
good living Sphagnum and fibry peat, and carefully 
repot all which do not show cause that they had better 
be left until later on. In an early number we shall 
remark on potting. Be careful to ventilate freely and 
observe our prescribed temperature.— J.\0'B .] 
Pilumna laxa. —The flowers of this species though 
by no means equal to the more prized P. fragrans 
and P. nobilis, is, nevertheless, a pretty object, 
especially when suspended, in which position the 
flowers being naturally of a pendulous habit are shown 
to the best advantage, as they are formed loosely all 
along the stem and not in a cluster, as is the habit of 
its congeners. A small plant has lately produced from 
one growth two spikes of flowers, one having eight, the 
other ten flowers on it, so that when strong, it may be 
looked forward to as a most floriferous Orchid.— E. I). 
-- 
The Gardeners’ Calendar. 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Peas and Beans. —Next week will be a good time 
to make an early sowing of Peas in 3-in. pots, three 
parts filled with light garden soil. Put about nine 
Peas’in each pot, covering them with soil, and after¬ 
wards putting the pots into a forcing house; and when 
the plants have made a couple of inches of growth 
remove them to a cooler and airier house, where they 
must be gradually hardened off before being planted 
out on a warm border later on. Day’s Early Sunrise, 
Ringleader, and William I are the best varieties to sow 
to yield gatherings of Peas towards the end of May 
next, in warm districts. 
Concurrently with this sowing there should be one 
made out of doors in a well-prepared piece of ground of 
the following varieties, in rows running north and 
south, and from 6 ft. to 10 ft. apart, viz. :—Sutton’s 
Ringleader, Dickson’s Favourite, Laxton’s Supreme, 
and Carter’s Telephone. The space between the rows 
of Peas can be planted with two to four rows of Cauli¬ 
flowers in February, weather permitting. In reference 
to early Peas I should advise a sowing of the American 
Wonder and Sutton’s Bijou Peas, to be made in 3-in. 
pots, either for planting in pits or shifting into 8-in. 
pots later on, for yielding early gatherings of Peas. 
These varieties being only 12 ins. to 15 ins. high are, 
therefore, very suitable for pot or pit cultivation. 
A sowing of Seville Long-pod Beans should also 
be made in boxes for transplanting in a favourable 
situation out of doors, when it is considered safe to do 
so. At the same time there should be a sowing made 
in a south border, at 3 ft. between the rows. These, 
like the Peas, will make a succession to those raised in 
pots and boxes. Peas, which were sown out of doors 
the end of October or early in November, will now 
require to have a little soil drawn up to them ; after 
which they should have some short spray sticks put 
close to the haulms on either side to prevent them from 
swaying, and afterwards be staked in the ordinary way. 
Forcing Department. —French Beans, when they 
have grown a few inches above the rim of the pot, 
should be top-dressed with soil of the same temperature 
as that in which they are growing, and have the points 
of the shoots pinched out to make them branch, and 
weak liquid manure should be given at the roots when 
the plants are podding, which will enable them to pro¬ 
duce finer Beans. Damp the plants over-head with 
tepid water on fine days, and make successional sow¬ 
ings at short intervals, in quantity according to the 
accommodation for their growth and the demand for the 
same, so as to maintain a regular supply. Maintain a 
top and bottom heat of from 60° to 70° in Asparagus 
frames, and should it be likely to fall below this, the 
the linings should be freshened by the addition of fer¬ 
menting material, a good heap of which should be kept 
in reserve for this and other purposes, for anything like 
a stagnant growth would be prejudicial to the quality 
of the produce. 
Ventilate the frames in accordance with the condition 
of the beds, the stage of growth at which the occupants 
of each frame may have arrived, and the weather. 
These remarks are also applicable to pits and frames 
which have been recently planted with Potatos, and 
sown with Carrots and Radishes. With these remarks 
we commence our Calendar for the year 1886, trusting 
that they may be found of some little service to the 
readers of The Gardening World.— Hi W. Ward, 
Longford Castle, Salisbury. 
THE PLANT HOUSES. 
Composts, &c. —With the new year we are reminded 
that the work in the plant department will be on the 
increase from week to week, and it is therefore neces¬ 
sary to prepare for the busy time, as far as possible, by 
getting everything put in working order, and seeing 
that a proper supply of “ requisites ” are at hand. 
One of the most important matters is to have a good 
supply of potting compost prepared for use. Previous 
to adding leaf-mould or manure to the other soil, it 
should have a good sprinkling of soot well mixed with 
it and laid up for a week or so ; this will help to 
destroy any worms or other insects that it may contain, 
besides which it will be a valuable addition to the 
compost for most plants. It will be well to remember, 
however, that while soot used in suitable quantities is 
beneficial, an over-dose will be detrimental. About a 
48-pot full to a barrow-load of leaf-mould or manure 
will be a fair quantity, though more may be used for 
some plants. 
Bedding Plants.— The stock of these should be 
gone through, and many things may now be propagated 
as soon as good cuttings can be obtained. In any case, 
where the stock of autumn-struck bedding Pelargoniums 
is insufficient and cuttings can now be obtained, they 
should be put in as early as possible. Verbenas and 
Petunias, as the old plants are very liable to go off, the 
first cuttings that can be obtained should be put in, 
and if these are rooted successfully, they will provide 
extra stock, and better cuttings than the old plants will 
give. Lobelias, the first batch of this should be already 
rooted, and, if so, the tops may be taken off as soon as 
they are long enough. Lobelia is often raised from 
seed, but that which is propagated from cuttings is 
more reliable, and makes more compact and better 
plants, especially if a good strain is selected for stock. 
It is easy enough to get good plants of any soft-wooded 
bedding plants by propagating later on, provided good 
cuttings can then be obtained ; but, unless the stock 
plants have careful attention, they get into a bad con¬ 
dition or perhaps die off altogether, especially after 
such a dull wet season as we have had. 
Bouvardias. —Plants that have been flowering 
through the autumn will now be exhausted, and may 
be stood by in any position where they can be kept 
dry, and when sufficiently dried off, they should be 
pruned back. If a batch can be pruned, say early in 
January, they will, if put into heat about a week after 
they have been pruned, soon break out and give a good 
batch of cuttings ; or, some of the free-flowering kinds 
may be grown on for spring flowering. 
-- 
FLORICULTURE. 
Wintering Dahlia Roots.— The usual rule is to 
lift Dahlia roots as soon as the first serious frost has 
blackened the tops and made it dangerous for them to 
remain longer in the ground. Some growers prefer to 
take up their roots before the frost has injured them, 
which is undoubtedly the safest practice, for I have 
known permanent injury done to the tubers by reason 
of the rot which follows on frost striking down the 
stem and reaching the root, causing it to perish by 
means of slow decay. I can remember some sorts_ 
I may mention Drummond’s Bob as a case in point_ 
that seldom produced sound roots in the ground, and 
they invariably perished before Christmas arrived ; but 
they are not so numerous as they were a quarter of a 
century ago. When the lifting of the roots takes place 
a drying day should be selected for the purpose, and if 
some of the more adhesive of the soil clings to them the 
heavier particles should be loosened by means of a 
pointed stick, and the root turned upside down on 
a mat or hurdle to dry a bit. It is a mistake to wash 
