May 22, 1886. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
603 
deep and well drained soil, or to simplify matters, I may 
remark that the culture of P. nivea, by some regarded 
as a variety of this species, will suit this plant exactly. 
It seeds freely, and may also he propagated by division. 
Herein have I given some of the most worthy of this 
valuable and extensive genus. I have, however, been 
obliged to omit many very fine and interesting species, 
while I have endeavoured to place before the readers of 
The Gardening World a selection of kinds which by 
following the simple instructions given may be grown 
successfully, and also such as will form an extensive 
season of flower, while the majority of them are of such 
widely different hearing and aspect generally as to give 
sufficient room for those deeply interested in them to 
specially study their individual wants, which after all is 
the only real means of grow'ingthem to perfection.— J. 
-- 
FRUITS, FLO WERS & V EGETABLES. 
The Hardiest Rhododendrons.—I was always 
under the impression that Rhododendron ponticum was 
the hardiest of all, hut it would seem as if I had been 
labouring under a 'delusion, for during last -winter 
the ponticums suffered terribly in the West Riding 
of Yorkshire. They appear to be all more or less 
damaged, the leaves seared and browned as if a red-hot 
iron had passed over them ; indeed, most of the 
ponticums here, if not killed half way dow T n, have at 
least for the present lost their leaves, whilst the species 
or hybrids, of -which Catawbiense is the type, are, com¬ 
paratively speaking, untouched. Their stout, well- 
ripened branches and thick, handsome, leathery leaves 
seemed to defy the action of frost. Were I going to 
plant, I should certainly select the hybrids in which 
the blood of this hardy North American species pre¬ 
dominates, for as well as being hardier, the quality of 
their flowers is superior.— B. Lockwood, Huddersfield. 
The Germination of Seeds. —On p. 582 I 
notice Mr. Fry’s remarks on Peas not vegetating, and 
I perceive that they are somewhat in harmony with 
those of Mr. Gilbert on p. 556. Now' I can well realise 
the disappointment it must be to Mr. Gilbert to see 
that the Peas he obtained from various firms had shown 
such a poor percentage of germinating power, while 
those of his own saving have vegetated so satisfactorily. 
In this case (as in many others) the question arises, 
where does the fault rest ? Mr. Fry has very rightly 
said, “It is no consolation to he told that so and so 
had good results from seeds taken from the same bag as 
yours were taken from, but in your own case the re¬ 
turns were nil ; it would be more consoling to know 
that the whole bag of seeds was a general disappoint¬ 
ment.” Mr. Fry also says that “If you want any¬ 
thing done well you must do it yourself. ” So far so 
good, from a self-confident point of view ; but I think 
in other w T ays that assertion is a very wide one. With 
me Peas have vegetated very satisfactorily, for at 
present I cannot record a single failure to vegetate; 
hut I will quote an instance, of which up till now I have 
been unable to satisfy myself, as to the cause. Last 
year I sowed a bed with Onion seed, which in due 
time germinated well, vrtth the exception of one row, 
and thinking that the drill must have been missed, I 
reopened it, and made sure that I did not miss sowing 
it that time, and -with seed from the same packet; but, 
to my surprise, not a single Onion made its appearance. 
I am at a loss to say why.— 0. G., Dorking. 
Soot and the Onion Maggot. —Like many 
others of your correspondents, I have had some ex¬ 
perience with the Onion maggot, and like your esteemed 
correspondent, Mr. Ward, I look upon soot as a specific 
remedy for a specific complaint, and till its application 
as a remedy against it fails me, I shall continue to 
think it an universal one under whatever diversities of 
soil and climate the Anthomyia ceparum makes its 
appearance. I am not so happily placed as some of 
your correspondents, and cannot by any possibility 
afford to spend the time they do in preparing the 
ground, and in the after-cultivation of the Onion crop; 
yet we have never had a failure, although we never 
dress the ground with soot either previous to or when 
we sow the seeds, only when from the appearance of the 
crop it is evident that the maggot has commenced its 
ravages. We give one good dressing of soot, which has 
always proved sufficient here to check its ravages and 
insure the ingathering of a crop of good sound Onions. 
— W. B. G. 
Boronia elatior, megastigma, and serru- 
lata. —These three fine greenhouse plants are now at 
their best, and offer unusually attractive features to 
plant lovers. The long bright pink sprays of flowers 
produced by elatior are very fine, almost every branch 
being furnished with flowers, and a few plants dotted 
about the greenhouse has a very pretty effect. In B. 
megastigma the colour of the flower is more sombre, but 
the rich scent given off from it will always make it a 
general favourite. B. serrulata is perhaps the most 
difficult of the three to grow, but when it can be 
managed well, it is certainly a very beautiful variety 
producing bright pink clusters of flowers at the end of 
every shoot. This latter plant is not often seen in 
collections now—the cause being the length of time it 
takes to make a specimen of it. Ordinary cool green¬ 
house treatment suits them, and the kind of soil 
suitable for their well doing is good sound peat and 
sand, except in the case of elatior when a small amount of 
loam may be added. They require very firm potting, 
and are very impatient of being over-watered. Elatior 
and megastigma may be cut into shape after they have 
finished flowering, but serrulata should not be cut but 
trained into shape.— W. G. 
Salads. —In a salad competition it would seem as 
if some would measure the capabilities of a good 
gardener alone by the growing and flowering of an 
Orchid. It appears to me not unlikely that a grower 
of Orchids will soon be easier to obtain than one who 
can produce a good salad daily for his employer’s table, 
without going to Covent Garden or any other garden 
for it. I know from a long experience that a daily 
salad is very highly appreciated, and reflects the greatest 
credit on a gardener. .A breakfast table nicely set out 
w’ith a plate of Rampions, Radishes, Cress, &c., is always 
refreshing to look upon, and the green-stuff is always 
eaten. Good blanched heads of Sutton’s Crimson 
Flaked Chicory is a fine adjunct to the salad bowl ; 
Silesian, Long Magdeburg, and Brunswick, nicely 
blanched, are very wholesome and palatable eaten like 
Celery. I would say to my young friends, keep the 
table well supplied daily with saladings, you will find 
it no slight matter to do so, but you will always be well 
repaid in the long-run.— Geo. Bolas. 
The Snowy Mespilus. —This is the common 
name of Amelanchier Botryapium or Mespilus cana¬ 
densis. It is just now an object of singular beauty and 
attractiveness in the Sydney Gardens, at Bath. It 
comes from North America, and was introduced to this 
country in 1746. I saw some very fine specimens of it 
at Bath a few days ago, one, a large tree for this 
subject, growing in an elevated position by the side of 
a cutting of the Great 'Western Railway, for this great 
avenue to the west cuts through the gardens for some 
distance just previous to reaching Bath. As seen here, 
it is well named the Snowy Mespilus. The branches 
of the tree are laden with racemes of white flowers, and 
they look as if the soft silent snow had fallen lightly 
in the night, lodged on the branches, and was waiting for 
the warm sun to dissolve it. Perhaps there is some¬ 
thing in the locality that suits it, but I never before 
saw this tree so wonderfully floriferous as it is at Bath. 
Who introduced it to this country ? If it came to us 
now for the first time it would be welcomed as one of 
the floral stars of the season. Nor does its service end 
with its blossoms. It produces small purplish fruit, 
and in the autumn the leaves assume a fine reddish 
yellow tint. In addition it is cprite hardy. Mr. Leo 
Grindon tells us in his book on Fruits and Fruit Trees 
that the natives of the vast districts extending from 
Hudson’s Bay southwards to Florida, and westwards to 
Nebraska, collect the fruit when ripe, press it into 
square cakes, and use it with their pemmican.— R. D. 
Tiger Flowers. —Your correspondent “Reader,” 
p. 586, approaches this subject with “fear and trem¬ 
bling,” but why he is thus over-awed is not quite clear. 
I trust your correspondent does not regard me in the 
ferocious light of that prodigious quadruped, with 
which the popular name of these flowers is associated, 
for I assure him I am perfectly harmless, and only 
enter upon these criticisms that the general reader may 
be benefitted. I take exception to “Reader’s” state¬ 
ment, of my admitting the necessity of artificial heat 
and moisture during the resting period, and I again 
condemn it, as I did at p. 571. But let us examine 
the case ; my statements are these, “never apply 
artificial heat or water from November to the end of 
March, ” then in April they are transferred to the open 
ground and there remain till November again, and 
which leaves not a shadow of a chance of their receiving 
artificial heat. What I do believe is this, that the 
colder you can keep such things, consistent with 
safety, the better for them, and save your artificial heat 
which is as injurious as it is unnecessary ; and I say, 
too, that there is a wide difference in the atmosphere of 
a cellar or shed than in an artificially heated greenhouse. 
In the former you have a humid uniform atmosphere, 
while in the latter it is arid, and which gives rise to the 
occasional waterings which your correspondent appears 
to prefer. Why not, I ask, have them in their more 
natural quarters, secure from frost, than subject them 
to the ever changing temperature of a heated green¬ 
house ? I freely admit that there are cellars and cellars, 
and though of the same name, very widely distinct in 
themselves, and I left it to the common-place discretion 
of an enlightened public not to select the one containing 
several inches of water above the floor. Many people 
may embrace Tigridias, Begonias, and Gladioli, who 
have no heated structure to winter them in, and who 
must leave them alone if artificial heat is requisite, but 
happily, it is due to their adaptation to cool quarters 
in winter, and their starting into growth naturally, 
and minus artificial heat in spring, that these plants 
are becoming popular. Lastly/“ Reader ” does not 
believe in absolute cessation, still, I incline to the 
belief that in many cases of bulbs and tubers it is 
absolute, especially such as Narcissus, Tigridias, 
tuberous Begonias, Potatos, Gladioli, and so forth, 
which lose the majority, and in some cases, the whole 
of their roots annually, and as a child awakes from 
sleep so does the potato push forth its eye and then the 
root; and so in turn do Tigridias, Narcissus, Gladioli, 
and the like, by first putting out roots and then leaves, 
show symptoms of awakening from that state of som¬ 
nambulism into which they annually fall, a state which 
may be shortened by foreign means.— E, Jenkins. 
Black Beetles. —Can any reader of The Garden¬ 
ing World tell me how to get rid of Black Beetles ? 
I have tried almost all the different kinds of powder 
sold, including Hardiman’s of Manchester, which is 
said by many to be the best, but it only killed a few. 
I have also tried scalding them out with hot water, 
and several kinds of poisons, but all to no purpose. 
Mushrooms and Sea Kale they cleared off as fast as 
they grew, so my best plan for the time was, I thought, 
to try kindness by feeding them on sliced Potatos 
which they prefer to Mushrooms. I have them in 
almost every shed and building in the garden, and yet 
two years ago they were scarcely known here. Now 
that my winter house of Mushrooms is almost done 
with, it is my intention to declare war against them 
once more, but if any of your readers will be kind 
enough to give me instructions as to the best way of 
destroying them, I shall feel obliged.— Onsloiu. 
--- 
ORCHID NO TES AND GLEANINGS. 
The Orchid Growers’ Calendar.— As the 
varieties of Odontoglossum vexillarium go out of bloom, 
they should, after seeing if they require re-potting, he 
placed either in a shady part of the cool house or in 
some other moist comer of an unheated house, where 
they may remain throughout the summer. Odonto¬ 
glossum Roezlii may afterwards be placed with them, 
and suspended or placed on a shelf near by 0. Pha- 
loj'nopsis ; all these like a moist pure air in a house not 
heated by artificial means throughout the warm weather. 
Shade and moisture at the roots are essential to all this 
section. It should also be seen that all the Oncidiums 
of the 0. crispum and 0. varicosum sections, viz., 0. 
Marshallianum, 0. prsetextum, 0. crispum, 0. Gardneri, 
0. curtum, 0. dasytyle, 0. concolor, 0. varicosum, 0. 
bifolium, 0. holochrysum, &e., should be placed in a 
strictly cold house for the summer, or if kept warm and 
close, gradual decline will be the result. 
The varieties of 0. cucullatum and phalsnopsis are, 
strictly speaking, cold house plants all the year round, 
and will bear even a touch of frost better than excessive 
heat. The varieties of Masdevallia chimera are, in 
most collections, kept a little above Odontoglossum 
house temperature, but from henceforth until late 
autumn the coldest house is the place for them. 
Fire heat and lack of free ventilation in summer is a 
prolific source of evil with Orchids, it is best, therefore, 
in all cases, except with Phalamopsis, zErides, Den- 
