332 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
January 23, 1886. 
The spikes are branched, and the form of the flower 
is starry, but a very fine flower of that variety, and 
beautifully spotted. The plant presents a grand 
appearance, being in perfect health. It has been at 
Oswald Road about four years, and was in the country 
some three years previous to that time. "While writing, 
I may, perhaps, mention a few “immense spikes” 
which have flowered, and are flowering in Scotland. 
No doubt, if Mr. Crawshay could spare the time to 
come and pay occasional visits to the various places in 
Scotland where Orchids are grown, he would not only 
hear of “immense spikes,” but also see some. 
1 have notes by me of a Dendrobium macrophvllum 
giganteum, which flowered at Carolside, one of Lord 
Reay’s Scottish homes. It was growing in a basket, 
and there were two growths in flower 4^ ft. long, the 
flowering part of the bulbs being as long as a walking- 
stick ; one bulb had forty-one flowers, the other thirty- 
seven. Many of the blooms were 5 ins. across, and the 
plant presented a most beautiful sight. Many other 
fine samples of Orchid culture were to be seen at 
Carolside. At the same date there were some very fine 
Orchids in bloom at Ravenswood, the seat of Admiral 
Fairfax, C.B., which is a nice little place not far from 
Melrose. An Oncidium Sarcodes in a 6-in. pot had one 
spike 8 ft. long with 103 flowers open, a very fine variety. 
At other times Ca4;tleya crispa superba was to be seen at 
Ravenswood with sixteen flowers borne on two spikes ; 
Cattleya superba splendens with eight flowers on a spike. 
At Priorwood, Melrose, the residence of A. Curie, 
Esq., lately there was in flower a plant of Odontoglossum 
Pescatorei with eighty-six blooms on one spike. The 
same plant last year had two spikes to one bulb—sixty - 
four flowers on one of the spikes and fifty-five on the 
other. At the present time there are a good few 0. 
Pescatoreas in bloom with forty-nine, fifty, and sixty- 
three flow r ers ; Odontoglossum Alexandras, with one 
bulb bearing two spikes, one with thirty-two, and the 
other seventeen flowers ; three other spikes came from 
the top of the bulb, but they were taken off. Many 
other fine things are to be seen from time to time at 
Priorwood, and I have a good many notes of some of 
them, but space forbids their reproduction here. 
I may also say that an Odontoglossum Alexandra, 
with one spike bearing ninety-six flowers, was sold at 
Stevens’ auction rooms in November, 1882, by Messrs. 
Thomson & Sons, of Clovenfords, for £17 I7s‘. It was 
a good spotted variety, and was one among many which 
have produced large spikes at the Tweed vineyard. At 
the present time there may be seen at Messrs. Thom¬ 
son’s a plant of Laelia superbiens with two spikes, each 
nearly 7 ft. long, one bearing seventeen blooms and the 
other fourteen blooms. In conclusion, I presume that 
Mr. Crawshay will believe that there is no desire to 
exaggerate in connection with any accounts, which 
may from time to time appear, of Orchids flowered in 
Scotland. It is well to stimulate a generous rivalry, 
but at the same time it is desirable that nothing like 
suspicion should be entertained regarding statements 
made in good faith, and with no desire to unduly 
praise anything at the expense of truth. As Mr. Craw¬ 
shay will observe, I stated that the 0. Alexandra at 
Oswald Road had 140 flowers, and as a matter of fact it 
has 141, so I certainly erred on the safe side when writing 
of it. England should be pleased to hear of Orchid 
successes in Scotland, and vice versa. — J. T. 
-->Z<-- 
SYRINGING ORCHIDS. 
Entertaining the belief, in common with all other 
Orchid growers, that the grand collection of Messrs. 
Jas. Veitch & Sons, of Chelsea, is one of the richest and 
best grown which has ever been got together since 
Orchid growing first commenced, I this week asked 
Mr. Canham, their Orchid grower, what use he made 
of the syringe on his plants. He replied “I never 
syringe any Orchids overhead at any season of the year, 
except growing Dendrobes which may be situated whei’e 
syringing them would not be likely to cause water to fall 
on other things.” These few words, which exactly 
tally with the views on the subject which I advocate, 
and which are called by some extreme, describe the 
practice of admittedly one of the very best growers of 
the day, one who in his younger days was engaged in 
Mr. Rucker’s collection, and had the opportunity of 
seeing the magnificent collection of Phalgenopsis in it 
completely destroyed in one year by a fancy which 
Mr. Rucker took for watering them overhead, and 
strongly against Mr. Pilcher’s wish. 
Many other equally pointed examples were witnessed 
by Mr. Canham, and he seems to have arrived at the 
same conclusion as I have on the subject by hard 
practice and observation, and proves the correctness of 
the almost total abolition of syringing overhead by the 
steady progress which the plants in his care always 
make. 1 think he is well-known enough among Orchid 
growers for a statement of his practice to outweigh 
any number of small practitioners who have only 
knowledge of their own experience where syringing 
has always been carried out, whereas, we, who advise 
its discontinuance, have practical experience on both 
sides of the question. With respect to Mr. Seden, the 
great Orchid hybridist, whom Mr. Burbidge (p. 316) 
fears I shocked at the Orchid Conference by my con¬ 
demnation of the practice of syringing Orchids overhead, 
I am assured that he did not feel it a bit, as his views 
on the subject entirely agree with those I there ex- 
pressed, and I have his authority for saying so. If Mr. 
Burbidge can get anyone at Messrs. Veiteh’s to come to 
his syringing practice, and particularly the nightly use 
of it he advocates any nearer than to have a laugh at 
it, their ideas on the subject will have to change very 
much. They, and all other good growers, know how 
to secure a sustaining moisture at night by lowering 
the temperature, and by seeing that they do not have 
any of those dry houses which he mentions. 
However, reform on any question is not brought 
about without a show of resistance from that party 
which feels its long-cherished pet being snatched from 
it; but the comforting part of it is that once van¬ 
quished the refractories invariably take kindly to the 
new state of things. If all interested in this matter 
will carefully read the discussion on this subject in 
your columns, and particularly that in this note setting 
forth the practice of two of our best growers on such a 
collection as that of Messrs. Veitch, and will then 
carefully regulate their practice and watch the results, 
I am convinced that if this subject is brought up again 
next year, short work will be made of the syringers of 
Orchids overhead—I forgot though, they have already 
departed and light and nightly dewers have taken their 
places .—James O'Brien. 
I w T AS surprised to see such a strong article from 
Mr. Challis condemning All. O’Brien, and asserting in 
conclusion, that everything in the house may occasion¬ 
ally on a warm summer’s eve be deluged with water. 
While I cannot claim to the experience of either the 
two gentlemen named, I am very much of Mr. O'Brien’s 
opinion, and I know that he practised what he preaches 
while in charge of the Pine Apple Nursery. To my 
mind his advice is far more sound than the practice of 
occasionally deluging all the occupants in the houses. 
I do not know how it may be with PhalaenopsLs, 
Cattleyas, Lrelias, Aerides, Vandas, and others I 
could mention of a fleshy nature in an elevated dry 
district, but here in a damp low-lying situation I 
should be very sorry to go in for such a general use of 
the syringe. 
Perhaps Mr. Challis will accuse me of taking extreme 
cases only, but then considering what harm may be 
done in a very little time, if anyone who may have 
read his remarks were to practice on the genera men¬ 
tioned, and if everything in the house is to be deluged 
they must be included. With few exceptions 1 follow 
Mr. O’Brien’s advice, and only use the syringe for 
damping under the stages, walks, walls, &c., the 
exceptions being Dendrobiums, Sobralias, Odonto¬ 
glossum lloezlii, and a few others, which as far as my 
own experience is concerned are benefited by a moderate 
use of the syringe during the growing season, that is, 
if rain-water can be obtained. I have also during the 
hot dry weather of last summer given a slight damping 
only over the cool house Odontoglossums, not more 
than half-a-dozen times during the summer. I do not 
in any case syringe any of the plants mentioned whilst 
hanging over others, as the drip would be far worse to 
those underneath than good would accrue to those 
suspended. 
I do not syringe in anything but bright weather, 
with which I may say we are not so favoured here 
as in Englaud. I do not think we have had 
more than 50 hours sunshine during the last three 
months, but not having kept an account I would not 
ike to state this as a positive fact.— E. Dumper, 
Summerville Gardens, Limerick. 
