January 9, 188(5. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
299 
majority of cases this is applied in too shallow a 
manner for the roots to derive the full benefit of its 
properties. In applying stimulating agencies to soil 
the first consideration should be the nature and root- 
growth of the plant, for the use of which the appli¬ 
cation is made. Celery roots to a considerable depth ; 
it is, therefore, essential that in all eases manures 
should be worked well down into the ground before 
planting. An admixture of cow-manure and well- 
rotted stable-litter will produce excellent crops.— 
C. F. W. [The difficulty in many gardens would be 
to get the dry litter. — Ed.] 
Flowers for Perfuming Tea. —A Chinese 
“ Materia Medica ” affords some information regarding 
the flowers used for perfuming Tea. The principal 
ones appear to be those of Gardenia radicans, Jasminum 
Sambac, Aglaia odorata, Ternstramia japonica, 
Camellia Sassanqua, and Olea fragrans ; those of the 
last-named shrub being especially esteemed for the 
purpose. The leaves of Salix alba, and many other 
species of Willow, are employed in making a kind of 
Tien-cha, and are said to be openly mixed with the Tea 
intended for exportation at the Chinese ports. 
-- 
The Gardeners’ Calendar. 
THE PLANT HOUSES. 
Most of the Chrysanthemums will now be past their 
best, and must be removed from the greenhouse or 
conservatory, and, while doing so, it will be advisable 
to look over the stock of cuttings to make sure that 
each variety is struck or calloused, so as to keep up 
the stock ; and in case of failures, a fresh batch of each 
sort put in before the old stools are subjected to the 
elements outside. It will also be advisable to give 
these late cuttings some warmth, but care should be 
taken that they do not flag ; placing them under hand¬ 
glasses is a good preventative. 
Stove plants of all descriptions will now very shortly 
need attention in the way of potting and surfacing, and 
it will be necessary, if not already done, to prepare the 
compost. This may readily be done when work outside 
is not practicable. Peat can be broken up and the 
leaf-mould carefully looked over to remove objection¬ 
able matter, such as sticks, &c. Let each be then 
placed in a separate bin or heap under cover, and as 
each subject is brought to the bench a little of each 
may be added more or less, according to its recognised 
requirements. This will be far better than mixing a 
whole bench full and potting indiscriminately. 
Now will be a good time to look over the stock of 
Fuchsias, let them be brought to the light and care¬ 
fully pruned and cleaned, do not give any water for 
some days, simply when weather permits syringe, 
which will cause them to start into growth ; after 
which they may have a good soaking. Take off a good 
hatch of cuttings of the sorts required, these will make 
good plants for staging in front of the larger ones, and 
need not get beyond a 7-inch pot, which is a very 
handy size for decorative purposes. 
Keep all the occupants of the houses as clean as 
possible, removing all dead and decaying foliage, be 
particularly careful in the watering, and to all plants 
that have been forced give tepid water, open the valves 
in the greenhouse for half-an-hour in the morning to 
dry up the damp, and make the house feel comfortable. 
THE FRUIT HOUSES. 
In the case of Vines started at the beginning of last 
month, care will now be necessary not to maintain too 
high a night temperature, or a spindly growth will be 
sure to follow, and that sickly transparent look in the 
foliage so much to be avoided, will be apt to cause 
uneasiness. 50° is quite high enough, allowing it to 
run to 65° by day, but after once the Vines have 
started into growth, always have a chink of top air on, 
night as well as day' when weather will permit; this 
morning within the outlook was rather dreary, the 
ground being covered with about a foot of snow. 
We are just now finishing the tying in the late Peach 
house, after which the border will receive a good 
soaking of -water and air left on night and day for the 
present—the house being quite empty of plants for that 
purpose. We have not yet bottled our Muscats, which 
are keeping well; but, of course, must do so now. 
For my part I do not agree with the bottling if it can 
he avoided, of this Grape, it deteriorates to such a 
great extent. Of course, one does not look for Muscats 
after February, and ours will last well till then without 
much ground for complaint as to flavour. 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 
With the ground covered with snow all digging and 
planting operations are suspended ; but still, as the 
ground is not frozen the staking and tying of Rasp¬ 
berries, where not already done, can be looked to ; 
pruning, of course, is best avoided until a change in the 
-weather takes place, but fermenting material can be 
turned over, leaf soil heaps looked to, and, where 
practicable, the refuse heap be attended to. Our soil 
being heavy with a marl sub-soil, I find nothing so 
good for it as burnt refuse, consequently, we annually 
burn all up, putting it chiefly upon the squares which 
are devoted to Potatos. 
As the weather permits, it is wheeled out before the 
ground is dug, and as the digging proceeds the burnt 
refuse is kept scattered on the surface. When planting 
time comes the ground is forked over, consequently the 
refuse is tossed on to the sets, and by the crops we 
secure I am confident it is of the greatest benefit, added 
to which they lift remarkably clean. The refuse also 
has a decided effect on the subsoil, apparently eating, 
as it were, its way into it, and giving us a greater 
depth of workable soil. Trenching is quite out of the 
question, but double digging I find of the greatest 
benefit, particularly in such summers as we have lately 
experienced. The squares which were double-dug last 
season scarcely showed any signs of the effect of the 
long-continued drought. 
Where not already done, it is necessary to look 
to the patching and relaying of turf in the shrubberies 
and elsewhere, so that it may become well knit before 
the March winds set in. We only yesterday completed 
a very big job of levelling and relaying, this will have 
ample time to set before being used for cricket or lawn 
tennis. We are busy to day looking round the Cedars, 
Yews, and so on, and relieving them of their heavy 
burden as much as is practicable. That being done, all 
hands will be placed inside roof washing and cleansing. 
•— Walter Child, Croomc Court, Worcestershire, Jan. 5th. 
-- 
ORCHID NOT ES AND GLEANINGS. 
Orchids at Oswald Road, Edinburgh.— 
There are always some beautiful Orchids in bloom at 
Mr. Buchanan’s, and on the occasion of my visit (Dec. 
30th) there were a number of fine things in flower. 
Among them may be mentioned an Odontoglossum 
Pescatorei, with three spikes and one hundred flowers, 
open or just opening—a very fine plant and a good 
variety. There were also a very large number of 0. 
Alexandra flower-spikes in various stages, proceeding 
from plants which looked the picture of health ; one 
had 140 flowers on it, nearly all fully expanded—a fine 
sight. A variety of O. Alexandra, with flowers of a 
deep yellow colour [0. crispum aureum], was a con¬ 
spicuous feature among the Odontoglots. It will be 
very fine in a year or two if it attains to the vigour of 
most of the others and retains its present rich yellow 
colour. Another notable plant is 0. Hallii superbum 
with six grand spikes and splendid bulbs. 
Mr. Buchanan has been very fortunate in his pur¬ 
chases of Lycaste Skinneri. Some time ago one flowered 
in a lot purchased in London, and proved to be the 
variety alba, and now another, obtained from a 
different scource, has turned out to be alba also, and Mr. 
Buchanan is naturally not a little pleased at his good 
fortune. Among other fine plants may be mentioned 
Coelogyne cristata, represented by huge specimens 
bristling with flower spikes; about 200 spikes are com¬ 
puted to be on one plant, and others appear equally 
thickly covered. A Cypripedium Stonei, 3£ ft. across, 
with splendid leaves of a dark green colour, which 
seems to tell that the treatment it receives is appreciated, 
forms a striking feature in the collection. 
The Vandas, of which there is a large collection, are 
all in grand condition, dark green foliage of a sturdy 
growth, and clothed to the bottoms of the stems in all 
O ' 
cases. A very pretty thing, and much appreciated by 
Mr. Grossart for button-hole work, is Loelia albida, one 
fine plant of which had eight spikes, with eleven 
flowers on a spike ; Laelia purpurata alba is represented 
by a very fine plant, 4 ft. across, with sixty bulbs, all 
■with leaves ; Cattleya Sanderiana by a very grand 
plant with glossy dark green leaves, telling of perfect 
health ; Oncidium sarcodes, a fine plant with strong 
spikes, and bulbs 6 ins. long ; Oncidium Phalaenopsis, 
represented by a nice plant in bloom, a beautiful thing 
which should be in every collection; Cymbidium 
eburneum and E. Dayana are represented by grand 
plants in perfect health. Cymbidium Lowianum, 6 ft. 
across, with eleven spikes, and twenty-four flowers 
showing on a spike, with many strong growths coming 
away, and leaves of the darkest green, forms a very fine 
feature in the collection. Angracum sesquipedale is in 
good condition, and showing strong flowers. 
Space forbids a more detailed account of this fine 
collection, which has already been written about in 
various gardening papers ; but it may be said that there 
is at the present time a great show of flowers in nearly 
all the houses, the numberof Odontoglossum spikes alone 
being at least 200 ; and many other things are showing 
in proportionately great abundance. Altogether, the 
jrresent aspect and the future promise of Mr. Buchanan’s 
collection of Orchids is such as all who know him and 
his generous support of, and regard for, horticulture, 
will be glad to see or hear of, and is well calculated to 
make his love of Orchids increase as years pass on. 
All lovers of horticulture are made welcome at Oswald 
Road, and will not only see a fine lot of Orchids, but 
also a general collection of plants which amply repay 
a visit.— J. T. 
Lselia anceps grandiflora. —A flower of a 
variety which may well bear this distinguishing name 
comes to us from Mr. F. Bridger, Penshurst Place, 
Kent, and being so very showy, we take the actual 
measurement, that any of our correspondents may tell 
us how it compares with others now in bloom. The 
petals are nearly 6 ins. across, and close on ins. in 
width, the lip 2 ins. in length, and in these three seg¬ 
ments the chief attraction of the flower is situate. The 
petals are bright rosy magenta and the middle and 
front lobes of the lip an indescribable glowing dark 
violet-crimson ; the throat is yellow veined with red, 
and the whole flower appears to us to be one of the 
finest of coloured L. anceps. 
Orchids at Priorwood, Melrose. — I was 
very much pleased on visiting this place the other day 
to see such a grand display of Vanda coerulea in bloom. 
Some plants over 2 ft. in height, with leaves to the 
bottom, w T ere sending forth two spikes each, the flowers 
being of a size and colour that were all that could be 
desired. One often sees it recommended to grow' a 
certain Orchid in the Cattleya house, and another in the 
East Indian house, and so on, but at Priorwood you find 
Vanda coerulea rubbing shoulders with Angracum 
sesquipedale, Dendrobium Jamesianum side by side 
with Cattleya amethystoglossa, and making growths 
which I have seldom seen equalled ; you will also see 
Odontoglossum vexillarium growing splendidly beside 
a Phakenopsis. So much for hard and fast lines in 
Orchid culture.— W. Thomson, Jun., Clovenfords. 
Dendrobium formosum.— Your correspondent 
Mr. Simcoe’s experience with this beautiful Dendrobe, 
are very similar to my own. I once saw' a batch of 
plants starving and lingering in pots, but which, when 
put on teak blocks grew vigorously and flowered freely ; 
they were suspended near the glass in company with 
D. Wardianum, D. crassinode, and several others, and 
the syringe was freely used during the growing season. 
In the hands of a careless operator this is, doubtless, a 
misehievious instrument in Orchid houses, but when 
used with care and judgment, in my opinion good 
rather than harm will be the result, especially among 
the Dendrobes. I might also mention that D. 
eburneum with the same treatment as formosum gigan- 
teum thrived equally well, the only difference being 
this, that it was growm on charred blocks.— J. S. B. 
Odontoglossum Alexandras. —I have often 
wondered how many of your readers have noticed how 
poorly this Orchid often flowers the second time it does 
so in this country. I bought a lot of O. crispum in 
1883 said to be the very best varieties, and those which 
bloomed in 1884 fully maintained the character given 
them, being fine broad petalled flowers. I marked the 
labels accordingly, and as they made extra strong 
growths I looked forward to some good spikes in 1885, 
instead of that, however, I have not had a really good 
one open out of the lot, some marked in 1884 as extra 
fine, being small puny things in 1885. 
When going through one of the London nurseries 
last year, I remarked, on passing an Odontoglossum 
that was in flower, that it was rather a poor form. 
