THE GARDENING WORLD 
April 17, 1886. 
521 
sun having more power, makes it necessary to ventilate 
more freely, but rather than open the lights too much 
open the doors between the compartments, and so cause 
a freer circulation ; of course, the outer ones must be 
kept closed. Damp down very frequently and shut up 
early in the afternoon, and while the weather continues 
so cold and changeable, the pipes in the houses should 
always be kept well warmed to prevent too rapid a 
change in the temperature caused by the variable 
weather. 
Where Cucumbers and Melons are grown in frames 
and an early start was made, the greatest care must 
now be taken or the plants will be lost. Keep the 
linings well made up, and cover up early in the evening. 
Ventilate sparingly, and be particularly careful not to 
have the lights open for any length of time together ; 
rather do a little each day in the way of training than 
run any risk. In the houses one has matters almost 
their own way, making the cultivation a pleasure. Our 
early batch of Melons are in flower, and are set about 
mid-day each day until the desired number of fruit 
start away. About four to each plant will be ample 
thus early, and then a second crop may be safely relied 
upon ; whereas, if too heavily cropped, they are sure 
to become dirty and not worth the trial. We have 
planted the second house, and they are already rooting 
freely. We have also cut out the winter-fruitino- 
Cucumbers, w’ashed, re-made the hot-bed, and planted 
a young set of plants which we had prepared, so that 
no time will be lost. 
Look well to the ventilation of the Carrot and Potato 
frames ; remove the lights upon all favourable occasions, 
and damp the surface of the beds when closing of an 
evening, but not in the frame where tubers are being 
dug. Train and peg the early Vegetable Marrows as 
growth proceeds before becoming overcrowded. 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN AND GROUNDS. 
Potato planting being completed, of course releases 
the hands for other work which is now pressing upon 
us, namely, the putting of walks and verges into 
proper order. Let them be again well rolled before the 
knife is used. After edging, the walks should be well 
rolled, and the mowing machine be brought into use, 
making all smart and trim. Of course, no further 
delay can be permitted in the pruning of Roses, which 
must be now done or the bloom will not be so good as 
desired. Mignonette and other such annuals should 
now be sown in the borders where they are intended to 
flower, sowing good breadths rather than dot little 
patches about. 
The early-sown Carrots are up in full row, but look 
rather brown from the frosts. Onions, too, are well up, 
and as soon as the weather will permit the Dutch hoe 
will be run between the rows. The soil should be 
drawn to the early and second planting of Cabbages if 
not already done ; they have suffered very much from 
the severe easterly winds, and are not what they ought 
to be. We have to-day manured and dug a patch 
ready for planting out the Strawberries which have 
been forced ; should the season be favourable they will 
give us some good late pickings. We hope in a day or 
two to make another good sowing of Peas, which will 
consist principally of Ne Plus Ultra, as we find that 
the best late Pea ; the second earlies will need sticking, 
previous to which the soil must be drawn to them. If 
not already done, let the square devoted to Scarlet 
Runners be well dressed and deeply dug, as the time 
will soon come for a sowdng to be made. A good 
sowing of early Turnips should now be made. — Walter 
Child, Croome Court. 
•-—>£<»- 
ORCHID NO TES AND GLEANINGS. 
Weevils in Orchids.— At the meeting of the 
scientific committee of the Royal Horticultural Society, 
April 13th, Mr. James O’Brien exhibited specimens of 
a species of Curculio, which had attacked and very 
much damaged a Ccelogyne cristata in the gardens of a 
correspondent. The insects are about half an inch in 
length, and somewhat resemble the Curculio sulcatus, 
which often attack Echeverias and other fleshy plants. 
With respect to the Weevil, the sender remarked :— 
“ The maggot bores right through the bulbs of Ccelogyne 
cristata (fairly tunnels them), and then the leaves drop 
off. They are most ravenous ; and their work, as you 
will have seen by the specimens sent you, is terrible. 
I now find numbers of the beetles enclosed on the 
plants, and I conclude they are the outcome of the 
grubs.” Mr. O’Brien said that he could testify as to 
the ravages of the Weevil, but that the cutting away of 
the pseudo-bulbs infected as recommended by him, 
and frequent washing with tobacco-water had been 
effectual in checking the evil, and saving the plants, 
although they were much damaged. Mr. T. P. Pascoe 
pronounced the Curculios to be Nassopliasis foveata, 
belonging to the Calandra group, one of which is so 
destructive in granaries ; and stated that the specimen 
in his possession came from Ceylon. 
Mr. O’Brien also exhibited an imported piece of the 
curious Oncidium scansor (convolvulaceum), having 
roots, some of which had evidently been attacked by 
insects in their native habitats, and might even yet 
contain them in some stage. He stated that too much 
importance could not be attached to any information 
on this subject, which, through the committee, could 
be conveyed to Orchid growers, in order that they 
might know their insect enemies, and how to deal with 
them. In the first place, he had found that great care 
should be exercised in examining fresh imported plants 
before putting them into the Orchid house, and re¬ 
moving any parts, such as the gall-bearing roots. On 
the 0. scansor, exhibited as such, the course was a 
prudent preventative, or attempt at prevention. In 
all cases where insects, such as the Isosoma orchidea- 
rum (which worked such mischief on the young growths 
and roots of Cattleyas) were established, the only means 
of getting rid of the pests was by cutting off the parts 
affected in the earliest possible stage, and carefully 
burning them. Even with such careful treatment, 
Isosoma orchidearusi in Cattleta bud. 
some of the insects would escape observation and ma¬ 
ture ; and they should be watched for and killed before 
they have time to prepare for a succession. 
Seasonable Hints. —It is the great object of the 
grower to so manage his plants that they may keep in 
good health and produce a good crop of flowers, but 
after these are secured, it is of equal importance that 
the plants should be so managed whilst bearing them, 
that their capacity for growth, and consequently for 
flowering next season, be not interfered with. There 
is no doubt that many Orchids under cultivation are 
floriferous to a degree injurious to themselves if they 
are allowed to flower every time they make the attempt, 
or to bear all the buds they produce when an extra¬ 
ordinary crop is sent forth. It is, therefore, only wise, 
as being the safest for the health of the plants, and 
consequently the best means of obtaining the greatest 
quantity of flowers from each in the long run, to restrict 
their production according to the dictates of reason, 
as guided by the strength of the plants or other signs. 
With many Oncidiums, such as 0. Marshallianum 
and other Orchids which produce large-branched heads 
of flowers, nothing of their sliowiness is lost by, in an 
early stage of the flower-spike, removing as many of 
the branches as may seem desirable, as the quality of 
the remaining flowers will be greatly improved, and 
the plants not pumped as they would be if suffered to 
bear the whole of them. Where, however, it is deemed 
desirable to allow such things to bear an extraordinary 
crop for any special purpose, it is better to wholly 
remove the flower-spikes next produced in an early 
stage to allow the plant to thoroughly regain its 
strength ; and such a course is especially recommendable 
with Oncidium varicosum, 0. (Marshallianum, &c., 
which, through the exactions made on their flowering 
capabilities, have, with some, got them the reputation 
of flowering well once only. Also, if an estimate can 
be made of any time of the year when from any reason 
the flowers would not be required, it greatly assists the 
plants to have the spikes which would come at that 
time removed. 
Flowers of Orchids which are kept in a cool and well- 
shaded house last twice as long as those in which the 
sunlight is let in, and does not appreciably punish the 
plants ; and plants which would have lasted well in 
bloom for three weeks in a cool shaded house I have 
frequently seen destroyed in three days in a sunny one, 
and at the same time cause the plants bearing them to 
shrivel very much. While shading all the Orchid- 
houses according to the nature of their occupants, those 
in which the flowering plants are kept should be care¬ 
fully attended to, and where the blinds do not meet, 
or where they do not reach, some permanent shading, 
such as that supplied by Mr. B. S. Williams, of 
Holloway, for putting on with a brush, should be 
used.— James O'Brien. 
The New Yellow Odontoglossum Pes- 
catorei, which was announced for sale in our last 
issue, and which created such a stir among orchid 
growers at South Kensington on Tuesday, came under 
the hammer at Stevens’ Rooms on Wednesday after¬ 
noon, and after a spirited competition between Baron 
Schroder’s gardener and another distinguished orchid 
amateur, it was knocked down to the Baron for 165 
guineas ! For the same sale, the well-known room was 
packed with flowering orchids, an endless variety, truly, 
and good things realised their value. Among other 
notable plants sold, was a very fine specimen of Cym 
bidium Lowii, with ten new growths, and three spikes 
of flowers over 4 ft. long—41 guineas ; a variety of 
Odontoglossum Alexandra;, with very fine white 
flowers, having a few rich deep crimson spots on the 
petals—17| guineas ; another large white Alexandra, 
14 guineas ; and a Lycaste Skinneri alba, with thirteen 
bulbs—29 guineas. 
-—>K—- 
FLORICULTURE. 
The Auricula Outlook.— The week or ten days 
preceding April 12th were of a nature considerably to 
damp the ardour of those who are looking for a fine 
display of Auriculas on the 20th inst. How could the 
pips expand when high and cold winds shook the glass 
of the houses and frames in which they are growing, 
and they were accompanied by heavy showers of cold 
rain or dull leaden skies ? There were occasional 
glimpses of sunshine, but they were so fitful as to have 
been but little or any help to the developing pips. 
The Rev. F. D. Horner, writing on March 20tli from 
Kirby Lonsdale, said:—“The weather has mercifully 
changed, and the Auriculas with it. They are galloping 
along now T , but to get in for the 20th of April looks as 
though it would be a month’s hard labour. If it were 
not so wonderful what the Auriculas can do when the 
time comes really kindly I should despair. As it is I 
am uncertain, for all my best greens and other edges 
are not open enough to show the trusses. Nothing but 
the best of weather will suffice.” 
I do not know how Mr. Horner’s plants look by this 
time, when we are within a w T eek of the show ; but at 
the Royal Nursery, Slough, notwithstanding the plants 
have been in a long span-roofed house all the winter, 
helped by hot-water pipes when necessary, they are 
late, though probably forwarder than they are with 
Mr. Horner in the North. The Slough flowers 
have a great deal to do by the 20th in order to have a 
representative collection in bloom ; but to-day (Monday, 
the 12th) is kindly and sunny, though the north¬ 
westerly wind is cold and retarding. Not a green edge 
of any pretence to character was to be seen open at 
Slough, and 1 am afraid, unless Mr. Douglas’s plants 
are well forward, there will be but a spare representa¬ 
tion of greens at South Kensington next week. 
The seifs, as is usual, were the earliest at Slough. 
The following will be ready by the 20th Clipper 
(Turner), a good useful dark self; Sims’ Eliza, C. J. 
Perry, Lord of Lorne, a variety I did not expect to see 
so advanced ; Lord Clyde, (Mrs. Sturrock, Pizarro, one 
of the best dark seifs grown ; Topsy, Mrs. Smith, 
Vulcan, Spalding’s Bessy Bell, and Turner's Sarah. 
Of grey edges there were a few admirable specimens ot 
George Liglitbody, that if they can be got in by the 
20th will greatly strengthen the Slough collection :— 
Duke of Cambridge, Lancashire Hero, full of promise ; 
Dr. Horner, Atlas (I put this among the greys, though 
it is at times such a faint grey as to be nearly a green); 
