24 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[FEBRUARY, 
The most popular of Weeping Elms is the 
Cabiperdown, a very picturesque and elegant 
tree, which can be employed with the most 
satisfactory results in extensive grounds, as 
well as in small garden-plots. It is of rank 
growth, the shoots often making a zigzag 
growth outward and downward of several feet 
in a single season. The leaves are large, dark 
green and glossy, and cover the tree with a 
luxuriant mass of verdure. By a judicious use 
of the knife, it can be kept very regular and 
symmetrical in form, and a handsome specimen, 
isolated on the lawn, will always arrest atten¬ 
tion and elicit admiration. 
The Scotch Weeping Elm ( Ulmus montana 
pendula) is a drooping variety, resembling the 
Camperdown, but not so good. 
The Rough-leaved Weeping Elm (Ulmus 
rugosa pendula ) is a pendulous variety, with 
large rough leaves, and Ulmus viminalis is a 
distinct, slender-branched variety, very orna¬ 
mental in habit and foliage.—W. C. Barry, 
Rochester, New York, U.S.A. 
ORCHID NOTES. 
OBSERVE in the current number of 
The Gardener a note by F.W.B. in 
regard to Odontoglossum Alexandres, 
that just forestalls what I had written to 
send to you about the same matter, namely, 
the falling off in the varieties now sold under 
the name of 0. Alexandra or 0. crispum, as 
compared with those sold, even say ten years 
ago. I bought two years since a lot of 100 
0. Alexandra from a large importer of Orchids, 
and out of that lot about seventy or so have 
flowered, and there is only one I would call a 
true 0. Alexandra. The rest are made up of 
0. Lindleganum one plant, 0. Andersonianum 
two plants, and a lot not worth a name at all, 
small flowers, some spotted, and others pure 
white, very pretty in their way, but not 0. 
Alexandra. I think F.W.B.’s friend is right 
in his surmises, as my experience tends in 
the same direction as his. 
I have the first 0. Alexandra I bought 
still to the fore, and for size of flower and 
substance it has not yet been equalled by any 
I have got since, and I have some hundreds. 
The enormous quantities that are sold every 
year, not only in this country but in America 
as well, must tell a tale on the numbers tb be 
found in its native habitats. The plant 
will no doubt be more difficult to procure 
every year, and will require a longer journey. 
A large importer once told me in regard to 
this very subject, “What we used to go two 
days journey for now takes ten or twelve.” 
I am of opinion that many orchid growers 
give their Odontoglossums too little root 
room. They are essentially surface rooters, 
so to speak, and I find they do best in shallow 
perforated pans, each plant of course raised 
above the edge of the pan. I much prefer a 
six or seven inch pan to the same size of pot. 
I put about an inch and a half of nicely sorted 
crocks in the bottom of the pan, and then fill 
up with the potting material, putting the plant 
on a slight mound in the centre. I prefer 
crocks to charcoal, at least to too much of it, 
as it retains the moisture, and is more liable to 
rot the roots than clean crocks are. 
Maxillaria grandiflora should be in every 
collection of Cool Orchids. I have it in full 
bloom just now, and its large waxy-looking 
flowers contrast so w r ell with its bright green 
leaves. The coolest part of an Odonto- 
glossum-house suits it best. It is a very 
free grower, and the fact of its flowering at 
this time of the year makes it doubly useful. 
—N. B. _ 
POINSETTIA CULTURE* 
EARLY two hundred plants of the 
Poinsettia pulcherrima are grown at 
Mauldslie Castle Gardens each season, 
and that with very little accommoda¬ 
tion. The plants are kept during the winter 
beneath the staging or at the back of a pit, 
where there is a temperature of from 50° to 
60°. Towards the end of March or beginning 
of April, they are shaken clean out of the pots, 
most of the roots are cut away, and the stem 
cut down to the eye next the old wood; they 
are then placed in boxes, properly drained, and 
filled with river-sand, and removed to a Melon 
pit, where there is a night temperature of 65° 
or 70°. As soon as the eyes have started a 
few inches, they are potted into 4-in. or 5-in. 
pots, according to the size of the plants, using 
good fibry loam, with plenty of river-sand 
and some leaf-mould, and then plunged in a 
moderate bottom-heat, in the propagatmg- 
* Abridged from a Paper read at the meeting of the Scottish 
Horticultural Association, August 2nd, 1881. 
