548 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May 1, 1886. 
operate than so far have presented themselves 
there is every reason to hope that both on walls 
and on exposed hush or standard trees we shall 
have a crop that will make the present year 
memorable amidst so many seasons that have 
brought only disappointment. Without doubt, 
a good fruit crop is at once healthful as well as 
profitable for the nation, and in the hope that 
such may be our fortune this year we are sure 
all our readers will cordially join. 
-- 
GARDENING MISCELLANY. 
National Rose Society. —We understand that 
arrangements have been made between this Society and 
the Eoyal Caledonian Horticultural Society, to hold the 
Provincial Exhibition for 1887 in Edinburgh. 
A Novel Auricula. —At the meeting of the 
Scientific Committee on Tuesday, Dr. Masters showed 
for the Eev. F. D. Horner, a flower of Auricula with a 
dark red ground and a green edge ; a form mentioned 
in his paper read before the Frimula Conference. It 
was recognised as an entirely new departure, and likely 
to excite great attention among Auricula growers. 
Rhododendron niveum. —At the meeting of 
the Scientific Committee on Tuesday, Mr. Bateman 
exhibited a specimen of this species in flower from his 
garden at Worthing, where “this and other species 
appear to succeed perfectly in a north aspect, and 
under cover of some 20 ft. of nearly perpendicular 
rock-work, which affords effectual protection from sea- 
breezes and the rays of the snn.” The flowers were 
relatively small, and of a dull lilac colour. The under 
surface of the leaves is covered with cream-coloured 
down. 
Tobacco Culture in this country was the sub¬ 
ject of a communication made to the Scientific Com¬ 
mittee, on Tuesday, by Colonel Clarke, in which he 
summarised the principal conclusions as follows :— 
1, Cultivation on ridges. 2, Eemoval of all laterals. 
3, The earliest harvesting of the crop consistently with 
a proper ripening of the leaf. 4, The absolutely dry 
state of the leaf before packing for fermentation. 
The Taunton Deane Horticultural So¬ 
ciety will hold its nineteenth annual show in Vivary 
Park, Taunton, on August 12th. 
Orchid Exhibition. —The Orchid exhibition at 
Mr. William Bull’s establishment in the King’s Eoad, 
Chelsea, which annually attracts so much attention 
and is so largely patronised, opens on Tuesday next, 
and continues through May, June, and July. 
The Lewisham and District Floral So¬ 
ciety. —On Wednesday evening, the 21st ult., a 
largely attended general meeting of this society was 
held at the Hither Green Hall, Lewisham, H. E. Joyce, 
Esq., in the chair. After the usual business pre¬ 
liminaries had been disposed of, including the election 
of a number of new members, the chairman introduced 
Mr. C. Harman Payne to the meeting, and called upon 
him to read his paper on the Chrysanthemum, as 
announced. After referring to the various forms of 
anthomania from which the flower-growers had suffered 
in the past, Mr. Payne contrasted them with the present 
craze for the Chrysanthemum. He also described the 
varieties originally introduced into Europe nearly a 
century ago ; and to show how great had been the im¬ 
provements in form, size, and colour, compared those 
old varieties with the sorts comprised in the different 
sections cultivated by modern growers. Seed-saving— 
beginning with Mr. Wheeler’s efforts in that direction 
upwards of fifty years ago—was touched upon, and the 
possibility or not of amateurs raising new varieties from 
home-saved seed was dwelt upon at some length. A 
very interesting discussion, which drifted into queries 
on several points of culture, afterwards ensued. 
Mushrooms. —On Good Friday morning, Mr. Peter 
Barrow, of Leyland, near Preston, whilst in his allot¬ 
ment garden, uncovered a neglected bed, and greatly to 
his surprise he discovered a splendid lot of Mushrooms ; 
one stool consisted of a large number, all of which were 
exceedingly well developed. One Mushroom was of 
extraordinary size, measuring no less than 10 in. in 
diameter, and weighing more than one pound and a 
half. 
THE GLEN, LEWISHAM. 
Dr. Duke’s collection of Orchids gives an admirable 
example of the variety and beauty which may be 
assembled in a small compass when the houses are 
chiefly devoted to Orchids, and of the wealth of flowers 
to be obtained at all seasons when their owner takes 
the interest in them that he does. Except the prin¬ 
cipal Cattleya-house, the houses are all small, and of a 
low pitch, which seems to suit the plants admirably ; 
they arc all (except the Phalrenopsis-house), moreover, 
so freely ventilated, that the plants may be said to be 
as well supplied with pure air as they would be outdoors, 
the houses merely shielding them from the weather, 
and by their protection securing a regular temperature, 
and when desirable of a more humid atmosphere than 
that outside. Under such conditions the plants are 
sound, clean and floriferous, loss or failure among 
them being events of very rare occurrence. 
In the flowering plant-houses the Orchids are arranged 
with foliage plants, Ferns, &c., presenting a very pretty 
effect. In the first house are some nicely-flowered 
varieties of Odontoglossum crispum, among them being 
a fine bright yellow 0. crispum aureum. Several fine 
varieties of 0. triumphans and 0. Hallii are of high 
merit, and the sweet and varied major forms of 0. 
odoratum are very charming, one dark-spotted variety 
named superbum being of great merit. 0. Cervantesii 
is represented by many plants, one of which has been 
in flower over three month, and many of the plants of 
0. Kossii have been in bloom almost as long. 0. Ander- 
sonianum, the many varieties of 0. luteo-purpureum, 
0. cirrhosum, 0. maculatum, Sophronitis grandiflora, 
Oncidium metallicum, 0. concolor, 0. sarcodes, 0. 
bracliyphyllum (a pretty, stout, terete-leaved form 
with bright yellow flowers, with rose speckles on the 
underside of the lip), Cymbidium Lowianum, Lj'caste 
Skinnerii, Ladia anceps, Houlletia odoratissima, and 
many very fine Cattleya citrina are well in bloom 
together. In the next house, arranged in the same 
way, are some Cattleya Triance, Calantlre Eegnierii, 
Aspasia epidendroides, Cattleya intermedia, C. amethy- 
stoglossa (specially good), C. Lawrenciana (very fine 
one with four flowers), C. Mendelii (with white sepals 
and petals and lovely yellow and purplish-crimson lip), 
Galeandra nivalis, Odontoglossum vexillarium, 0. pul- 
chellum majus, Leptotes bicolor, Dendrochilum glu- 
maceum, Dendrobium Farmeri album, D. thyrsiflorum, 
D. luteolum, Oncidium phymatochilum, and some 
curious Epipendree, among which the pretty and very 
fragrant rose-coloured E. glumaceum is noteworthy. 
The third house is that in which the Phaleenopsis 
are grown, and there the centre stage is devoted to 
foliage plants, such as Caladiums, Anthuriums, &e., 
which seem to exercise a health-giving influence over 
the Odontoglossum vexillarium, a large lot which are 
growing on the front stage, and also are a good lot 
of Cypripedium Godefroyae, and other new warm house 
Cypripediums as well as on the Phalfenopsis overhead, 
among which P. speciosa, P. Luddemanniana, P. 
amabilis, are in flower or bud. The fourth little house 
is a very light one devoted to the Mexican Laelias, 
Epidendrum vitellinum, &c., and which also forms a 
starting place for fresh imported things. In the lobby 
which is filled with flowering plants on a shelf over¬ 
head, and just beside the frequently open door, the 
varieties of Dendrobium infundibulum, Jamesianum, 
&c., are thriving remarkably well, and a liking for a 
suitable situation may be seen in the house containing 
Yanda Sanderiana, V. teres, Aerides Vandarum, and 
other good things, and in which on a shelf near the 
door is a quantity of stout pot-fuls of Odontoglossum 
Phaleenopsis, in the best possible condition, a very 
different state to that in which they are generally 
found even in more pretentious collections. The old 
Cattleya house now contains general intermediate 
house plants, among which some very strong Oncidium 
Marshallianum are sending up stout spikes. 
The Odontoglossums are in a low three-quarter span. 
They are in goodly numbers of all the best kinds, and 
in fine health. The largest flowered form of 0. Hallii 
known is here in flower. Barkerias are a speciality 
at The Glen, as the pretty collection exhibited in 
flower at South Kensington, last summer, can testify. 
Their house is a very light little structure and very 
airy, and they are grown in baskets or on blocks close 
to the roof, where they are very freely watered when 
growing. The different varieties of Cliysis cccupy the 
staging underneath. Disa grandiflora flourishes well 
in a cold frame outside, and the Xerines and many 
other bulbous plants are well cultivated at The Glen. 
But now comes the strangest feature, 
A Willesdex Paper Orchid House. 
That is to say, a house with a stout woodwork frame, 
glazed in the usual manner, but with the whole of the 
panelling filled in with the thick imperishable paper 
supplied by the Willesden Paper Company instead of 
wood, and as the house has no brickwork above the 
ground-line, the space so filled is considerable, the ends 
and the whole portion beneath the staging except the 
narrow ventilating-flaps being made of it. During the 
last winter the house had, perhaps, the roughest test it 
wflll ever have to stand, and it answered perfectly, and 
as the motives which prompted Dr. Duke to employ 
this material—viz., economy and the readiness with 
which the material can be fitted by anyone are likely 
to be shared by man}' others, we are glad of an oppor¬ 
tunity of noting it. While doing so we cannot help 
remarking on the quantity of fine plants, such as 
Disas, Cypripedium spectabile, many tropical bulbous 
and other plants which are not quite hardy, which 
would thrive well even in an unheated structure cheaply 
erected on Dr. Duke’s plan, and what a large amount 
of pleasure many of our suburban gardeners could get 
out of such a structure. 
The house in question is a sharp pitched span-roof, 
of good size, with continuous ventilators at the ridge 
and under the staging on each side, and besides these 
the 3 ins. just above the ground line all round the 
house is of perforated zinc, which gives air summer and 
winter, day and night. This provision, as well as 
providing perfect ventilation, allows of the Willesden 
paper being kept that distance (2 ins. or 3 ins.) short 
of the ground line so that it does not rest on the damp 
foundation. The house is filled with Cattleyas, every one 
of which is in the most perfect health. The dark purple 
tint of the leaves and pseudo-bulbs of many of them 
giving evidence by their ruddy appearance of their 
appreciation of Dr. Duke’s study of their habits and 
provisions for their requirements. Many an interesting 
plant may be seen and many a practical hint picked up 
at The Glen .—James O'Brien. 
-- 
HYACINTHS THAT HAVE GONE 
OUT OF BLOOM. 
What is best to be done with the Hyacinths that 
have bloomed in flower-beds is a question often put by 
amateur gardeners who have had a pleasant spring 
display with these charming flowers. Having paid for 
their Hyacinths, they are reluctant to consign them to 
the rubbish-heap, and they are, naturally enough, 
desirous of utilising them in the future if possible. If 
the bulbs were carefully planted and have flowered 
well, it may be taken that they are in good condition, 
and they ought to be,saved to flower again. How can 
the bulbs best be preserved during the summer ? is, 
therefore, a very pertinent question. Further, is it 
possible to'obtain off-sets so as to increase the supply of 
bulbs in the future ? Let me try to answer these two 
questions. 
By way of introduction, I may remark that not 
many weeks since attempts to cultivate Hyacinths in 
this country in the way that the Dutch bulb-growers 
do was recommended. I do not for a moment think 
that under the most favourable consequences this could 
be done in a satisfactory manner. We lack in this 
country the peculiar condition of a moist sandy soil 
found in Holland, and even could we grow them, I 
doubt if they could be cultivated to so large a size and 
finished off in so excellent a manner as the Dutch 
growers do. 
And now to reply to these questions. I have known 
growers of Hyacinths who were tolerably successful in 
growing their bulbs after flowering, with a view to 
future floral service. They begin by preparing a bed 
in a cold frame. The bed consists of rotten dung from 
a spent hot-bed, and this is turned over and infixed 
with any dry litter that may be at hand—leaves, if 
obtainable,' being also added. It is made up in good 
bulk, and soiled over with a foot depth of good garden 
soil, of any kind that may be available, mixed with a 
fourth part of rotten manure. Three or four days after 
making up the bed, a gentle heat is produced, and on 
thrusting the hand into the soil, it is found to be much 
■warmer within than without. 
I will suppose some Hyacinths have been grown in 
pots ; and those so cultivated are generally superior 
