476 
THE HARDENING WORLD. 
March 27, 1886. 
a ttended to. Rhubarb being so late outside this 
season, we have placed another batch in the Mushroom 
house so that the supply may be kept up. 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 
In walking round one is able to perceive the rapidity 
with which vegetation is moving, Apricots on the walls 
are open, Pears and Plums are having a race to see 
which shall expand first ; Crocuses and other spring 
flowers, which could scarcely be seen at the beginning 
of last week, are now in full bloom, so that some of the 
apparently lost time will soon be made good. In the 
sowing of seeds we have made some headway, having 
got in the main crop of Onions and Parsnips, with 
remainder of Broccoli, excepting, of course, Borecoles 
and late Broccoli, which, if sown thus early, would 
be quite useless, unless ground were kept specially for 
it, which is not as a rule done. 
We hope to-morrow to sow a good bed of Parsley, 
we always try to select a good open square in good 
heart, but not manured for this crop ; draw the drills 
1 ft. apart and sow the seed in the same manner as 
Onions ; when large enough, chop out the plants to 
about 1 ft. apart, and a few days afterwards thin the 
bunches to single plants ; as the crop advances keep 
the ground well stirred with the Dutch hoe, and add, 
before rain, a good dusting of dry soot as a fertilizer. 
Many eminent practitioners, from force of circumstances, 
are compelled to take a lot of pains in the culture of 
Parsley, but with us the above treatment always sue ■ 
ceeds. As the stock of greens is so short, it will be 
advisable not to remove any old stools likely to furnish 
a dish, until the ground is absolutely required for 
cropping. — Walter Child, Croome Court, March 22nd. 
-- 
ORCHID NO TES AND GLEANINGS. 
Angraecum citratum. —This pretty neat-grow¬ 
ing Orchid is, perhaps, not so much grown as its merits 
deserve. Being at once neat in habit and very flori- 
ferous, it is sure to give satisfaction to the most 
fastidious. The flowers, which are whitish with a 
shading of French grey, are produced closely together 
along the spike evenly on either side. It may be grown 
in either shallow pans or baskets, but I prefer the 
former. During the summer it will be best on the 
shaded side of the East Indian house. It is rather sus¬ 
ceptible to the attacks of thrips, which, if not kept 
in check, speedily destroy the appearance of the young 
growth, and which detracts from the appearance of the 
plants.— E. Dumper, Limerick. 
Orchids, &c., at Broomhall Field. —At the 
present time there is a goodly display of flowers at the 
above-named place, the residence of B. P. Broomhead, 
Esq., and as nearly all the Orchids grown here have 
been bought in as imported plants during the past four 
or five years, it may be interesting to note the measure 
of success attending the enterprise. It ought here to 
be stated that no elaborate and expensive structures 
have been erected for their accommodation, but such 
ordinary structures as existed for the cultivation of 
general stove and greenhouse plants and fruit have been 
utilised as required. 
Odontoglossums are to the front in successful estab¬ 
lishment ; “ bits ” that were obtained several years ago 
are now large (comparatively), strong and healthy 
flowering plants, and no small amount of interest is 
excited when their flower-spikes appear to know whether 
the qualities of each respective variety will be good, 
bad or indifferent ; and in this, as in other respects, 
Mr. Broomhead has cause for satisfaction. Amongst 
the Alexandra type are some very beautiful varieties, 
some with broad sepals and petals of pearly whiteness 
blotched with deep crimson, others almost devoid of 
markings, and others with longer and more pointed 
sepals and petals with delicate markings of lemon and 
rosy crimson. Occasionally an 0. Lindleyanum appears ; 
but other times what was obtained for an Alexandr® 
turns out to be a good variety of 0. gloriosum, thus 
producing never-ceasing interest. 0. pulehellum, 0. 
cirrhosum, 0. vexillarium, and 0. Rossii rnajus are 
most successfully established, and most of them are now 
in flow T er or producing flower-spikes in abundance. 
Amongst the Dendrobiums now in bloom are two 
superb varieties of D. Wardianum, which were obtained 
from Rangoon in 1884 amongst a lot of others. One is 
particularly noticeable on account of the large size of 
its flowers as compared with the average collection ; 
the other on account of the depth and richness of its 
colouring. Were these in the hands of a nurseryman, 
large prices would be asked for them. A specimen 
plant of D. Wardianum is very striking, five pseudo¬ 
bulbs bearing 100 flowers. D. primulinum, D. nobile, 
D. nobile var. Wallichii, and D. crassinode were also 
flowering very freely. Few people are more successful 
than Mr. Walker in cultivating D. Devonianum, D. 
Dalhousianum and D. thyrsiflorum. The Devonia- 
nuins have pseudobulbs 3 ft. to 4 ft. long, with flower- 
buds developed nearly three-parts of their length ; D. 
Dalhousianum is producing six fine spikes, and has 
growths nearly 5 ft. long ; and the large D. thyrsiflorum 
is a perfect specimen. Vanda ccerulescens gives us a 
colour very scarce in the Orchid family, but very 
effective when introduced into “arrangements” of 
Orchids in flower. 
In the conservatory at Broomhall Field is a perfect 
medium-sized specimen of Yucca aloifolia variegata. 
This is the top of a once “leggy” plant; but Mr. 
Walker made a ring round the stem immediately below 
the foliage, bound it with moss, which he again sur¬ 
rounded with soil kept in its place with a cloth bandage, 
and in due time roots were formed, the stem severed, 
and the 3 ft. or 4 ft. of foliage on the top of equal 
lengths of bare stem became a beautiful and sym¬ 
metrical plant. 
The Cinerarias are now in full flower and are a 
splendid sight, the strain is called “Wonder of the 
West,” the plants are large, clean, and robust, bearing 
dense heads of large and beautifully coloured flowers, 
varying in colour from deep purple to pure white ; the 
purple seifs and crimson seifs, crimson edged, and 
magenta edged being particularly good. 
In one of the vineries is a Black Hamburgh Vine, the 
stem of which Mr. Walker layered the whole length, 
and having effected his object with the shoots obtained 
therefrom, he retained the end shoots and in due time 
shortened them back, last year from two shoots he took 
three, which made very long and strong canes. During 
the winter he pruned them, and has left two shoots 
15 ft. long, and one shoot 18 ft. long, these have now 
broken strong and are showing abundance of fruit. It 
will be interesting to know the condition of this vine 
in future years.— J. Udale. 
Dendrobium Wardianum. — I think your 
correspondent Mr. Dumper’s flower of the above must 
be very thin in texture, or it would last as long, or 
even longer, than the smaller forms, providing the 
plant is well established, and has plenty of roots to 
support the flowering bulbs. We have an exceptionally 
fine variety, which in 1883 produced flowers measuring 
4 i ins. across the sepals and petals, and It ins. across 
the lip. Since then the individual flowers have not 
been quite so large, but equally fine as to colour and 
substance, lasting fresh from three weeks to a month. 
—Thomas Simcoe. 
Dendrobium crassinode album. —We have 
a plant of this, with two strong flowering bulbs bearing 
twenty flowers each. Colour pure white, except the 
lip, which has a large blotch of pale yellow on the 
upper part of it. A very desirable addition to the 
family of Dendrobes, but at present scarce.— Thomas 
Simcoe. 
Cymbidium eburneum. —This is now flower¬ 
ing very satisfactorily with us, and out of some half- 
dozen plants in bloom, there is one in an 8-in. pot 
bearing ten spikes or twelve flowers. Last year, the 
same plant, in the same pot, bore eight flowers. The 
stronger plants, in larger pots, have fewer spikes, but 
more with two flowers upon them. I suppose plants 
of this extremely chaste and beautiful Orchid can now 
be bought for shillings where they would have realised 
guineas ten years ago. — Thomas Simcoe. 
Phaius grandifolius. —This is not grown nearly 
so much as it deserves to be. I once heard a gardener 
remark, “Oh, only a common Phaius, give me some¬ 
thing choice—a Phalsenopsis or an Angracum ” ; well, 
1 replied, “they are certainly both choice and beauti¬ 
ful Orchids, but I maintain that a well-grown specimen 
of Phaius grandifolius with eight or ten spikes of 
flowers towering up well above the dark green foliage, 
is not to be despised—if it is a common plant. ” I have to 
provide a constant supply of cut flowers for the house, 
and to send away also nice plants for house decoration, 
and I find Phaius grandifolius very useful and most 
accommodating ; for instance, I have had a plant of it 
in the drawing room for a fortnight at a time, and then 
not much the worse for its change. I repot them as 
soon as they have done flowering in a mixture of peat 
and fibrous loam with some well-dried horse manure, 
and grow them on in an early vinery where they revel 
in heat and moisture ; as soon as they get established 
in the new soil we give them manure water twice a 
week. — W. Driver, Langfords. 
-- 
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 
Royal Horticultural.— March 23rd.— As usual 
at the meetings held here, preceding the first spring 
shows at the Botanic and Crystal Palace, there was a 
liberal display of subjects of a popular and seasonable 
character, forming altogether quite a brilliant little 
show, which few, however, came to admire. Daffodils, 
Cyclamen, and Hyacinths were the leading features, 
and the highest awards voted, Silver Gilt Medals, 
■went to Messrs. James Yeitch & Son’s for a grand 
group of Hyacinths ; and to the St. George’s Nursery 
Co., for a magnificent collection of Cyclamens. Silver 
Banksian Medals were awarded to Mr. T. S. “Ware, 
Messrs. Barr & Son, and Messrs. Collins Brothers & 
Gabriel, for extensive and exceeding showy collections 
of Daffodils, that of the latter firm being especially 
noticeable for the great variety staged, and the superb 
quality of the individual blooms. From Mr. Smith 
Dorien’s remarkable garden at Treseo Abbey in the 
Isles of Scilly, a very fine collection of Daffodils, grown 
in the open, was also sent, mainly varieties of the 
Tazetta, Incomparabilis, and Ajax groups, and a Silver 
Medal was awarded. Silver Banksian Medals were 
also voted to Messrs. Wm. Cutbush & Son, for an 
extensive collection of well grown Hyacinths, some¬ 
thing approaching their old style in quality ; and to 
Mr. J. James, Farnham Royal, for a superb group of 
Cinerarias, the flowers erring, if anything, on the point 
of size, but perfect in shape and richness and variety of 
colour. A Bronze Banksian Medal w T as also taken by 
Mr. J. Wiggins, gardener to W. Clay, Esq., Kingston- 
on-Thames, for a good group of Cyclamens. 
The new plants certificated were the new Catdeya 
Lawrenceana, represented by a beautiful specimen with 
fifteen flowers, from Baron Schroder, a beautiful variety 
which immensely raised the reputation of the species ; 
Dendrobium crassinode Wardianum, a supposed natural 
hybrid, also shown by Baron Schroder, and a gem 
amongst Dendrobes. The growth is upright, strong 
and vigorous, and partaking of the character of D. 
crassinode ; while the flowers closely resemble in size, 
massiveness, and colour's, those of D. Wardianum, and 
equally as freely produced. The hybrid Dendrobium 
Leechianum, splendidly shown by Messrs. William 
Thomson & Sons, of Clovenfords, at last gained the 
coveted award ; be it also stated, by an unanimous 
vote. The award was gained by sheer force of merit, 
as it has often been shown before and as often 
been sent back on account of its supposed resemblance 
to D. Ainsworthii, raised from the same cross, but 
in different places. Of its distinctness from, and 
superiority over that hybrid there can now be little 
room for doubt, and for freedom of flowering it is, per¬ 
haps, unrivalled ; even quite small bits having a natural 
tendency to display its floral charms. By another 
unanimous vote, a First Class Certificate was awarded to 
Messrs. E. Vervaet & Co., Mont St. Amand, Ghent, 
for a very distinct and exceeding fine variety of Odonto- 
glossum Pescatorei, named Vervaeteanum ; the flowers 
of which are of fine form and substance, white, suffused 
with rose, and with from one to four circular deep crimson 
spots on the sepals and petals ; a distinct variety of 
the highest excellence. Certificates were also given to 
Messrs. Veitch & Son’s, for Hyacinths, Queen of the 
Pinks, and Grande Fleur ; the former was obtained 
from King of the Blues, and resembles its parent in 
the shape and general character of the spike and bulbs, 
but of a pleasing pink shade of colour. Grande Fleur 
is also a single pink ground flower, heavily shaded with 
a rich wine colour, a close compact spike, and distinct. 
Messrs. William Cutbush & Son received a similar 
award for Azalea mollis, var. Lord Shaftsbury, one of 
the finest and best shaped varieties we have seen, and 
wonderfully bright in colour, clear yellow ground, 
shaded with orange. 
Other notable subjects exhibited includes a curious 
species of Pleurothallis, and a very showy Odonto- 
glossum, in the way of 0. mulus or 0. lyroglosssum, 
from Messrs. Vervaet & Co. ; a fine variety of 0. 
triumphans, with fifteen flowers on a spike, from Mr. 
