390 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
February 10, 1887. 
ledge is desirable of their suitability for different parts 
of the kingdom. We had the pleasure of seeing them 
recently at Chiswick, through the kindness of Mr. 
Barron. 
Dessert Pears. 
Old Colmar is generally reckoned to be ripe after 
Christmas, but may be considered in season from 
November to February. It is a medium-sized Pear, of 
a greenish yellow spotted with russet, and possessing 
an excellent flavour when ripe. No Pear, probably, 
keeps so long and well after being sufficiently ripe for 
use. The fruit of Josephine de Malines is green spotted 
with russet, and has a melting flesh with a fine aroma, 
and on that account is grateful to the palate of many. 
It is of medium size, top-sliaped, and is in season from 
December to March. St. Germain is an old variety 
that attains great size, and is in season for the table 
from November to January ; the fruit is green spotted 
or suffused with russet, keeps well and has a rather 
gritty flesh, but is sweet and otherwise rich when in 
good condition. The Pear-shaped fruit of Comte de 
Flandre is juicy, rich and sweet when mellowed in the 
fruit room, but does not keep after January ; while its 
usual season is generally considered to be November 
and December. Beurre Bance keeps in season from 
January to May, and is an excellent juicy Pear, except 
towards the core, where it is rather gritty. 
The late-keeping qualities of Easter Beurre are well 
known. It ripens late, and is in season from January 
to April or May ; while, according to the experience of 
some growers, it refuses to become mellow and fit for 
use in particular soils or seasons. The fruit is green, 
more or less distinctly dotted with brown all over, and 
presents a fine appearance when in good condition. 
The flesh is white, buttery and sweet. The quality of 
Fortunee Boisselot varies, but, in general, may be 
described as a useful sort that sometimes attains a large 
size. The fruit is turbinate or top-shaped, varying in 
colour from green to yellow', more or less coloured with 
grey-russet. It was raised at Nantes, introduced in 
1867, and is in season during January and February. 
Aglae Gregoire is sometimes stated to be in season from 
October to November, but the fruits at Chiswick keep 
good till February or March. Another variety not yet 
widely distributed is Bowood. The fruit is soft and 
sweet by January, but does not become melting ; it is 
large, top-shaped, and yellow suffused russet. 
The above mentioned are all large-growing Pears, 
and generally have a commanding appearance on the 
table ; but medium-sized and smaller ones, if less im¬ 
posing, are equally serviceable, both from the variety 
they afford, their generally good keeping properties, and 
peculiarities of flavour they may possess. One of the 
best-flavoured of this class is Olivier de Serres. It is a 
short Pear, heavily suffused with a russet colour, and is 
in season during the months of Januaiy and February. 
Doyenne Flon Aine is another short, roundish, deep 
russety fruit, that keeps from November to February. 
It is one of comparatively recent origin, having been 
imported in 1866 from Angers. When in proper con¬ 
dition, the flesh becomes very juicy, with a slightly 
acid taste. Another Pear of somewhat similar appear¬ 
ance is Prince Napoleon, which is roundish, with a 
ground colour of olive-yellow, much blotched or marbled 
with deep brown or russet. It is a fruit of first quality, 
and keeps in season from January to March. It was 
introduced from Rouen in 1869, and is a first quality 
late season fruit, with a sugary, perfumed, half-melting 
flesh. This is perfectly distinct from the better-knowm 
Pear-shaped green-fruited Napoleon. Another small 
roundish Pear that might possibly find many admirers 
is that of Prince Imperial. The skin is of a clear 
yellow, and the flesh sweet and juicy ; it is in season 
during the month of January. Beurre du Cercle is a 
short fruit, suddenly tapering into the stalk, or even a 
little one-sided. When ripe, it is of a dull bronzy 
colour, more or less dotted with greyish white points. 
It is in sea-son during January, and has a juicy, sweet, 
melting flesh, but somewhat gritty. The flavour of 
Huyshe’s Victoria does not seem to attain the high 
quality in the rich clayey soil at Chiswick which 
it does in some other parts of the country. The 
fruit is small and yellow when ripe, and keeps well 
during the months of December and January. It is 
said to be an excellent Pear in the V T eald of Sussex, 
where it becomes sugary and melting, with a vinous 
flavour. In different soils Fondante des Bois behaves 
differently as to size, so that in one may be described 
as large fruit and in another as small. When mellowed 
in the fruit-room it has a pale green colour, more or 
less heavily stained with brown and grey, and the 
melting flesh becomes sugary and savoury, somewhat 
acidulated. 
-- 
ODOURS OF ORCHIDS. 
Recently I heard the remark, “Orchids are very 
beautiful, but their flowers are not fragrant, I believe.” 
The remark seems to have been made for the same 
purpose as I had heard it made on several occasions 
before, viz., for the sake of saying something ; and I 
think it as well to call the attention of those who have 
used their eyes only in the matter, to the fact that 
there is no truth in the statement, and that Orchids 
supply us with flowers in the different species, which 
imitate in odour all those of our sweetest flowers, as 
well as bringing to us odours not known in other 
plants. By far the greater number of the species are 
fragrant, and there are peculiarities in the variations 
of the intensity of their odours, at which time, in 
the same flowers, they are emitted powerfully or almost' 
suppressed ; and many other points in connection there¬ 
with, which afford study for a lifetime to anyone who 
has the courage to devote himself to the task. 
To name a few of the peculiarities of fragrant 
Orchids: I have noticed that some of them of delicate 
and subtle odour, such as Oncidium ornithorrhyncum, 
may be tested by a dozen persons, and each would give 
a different name to the scent, some declaring it was 
delightful, and one or two, perhaps, not being quite 
sure whether they liked it or not. Even the same 
plant may emit a different odour at different times, and 
the most direct proof of this I found in the original 
Odontoglossum hebraicum, which on flowering with me 
proved to be strongly fragrant of cinnamon ; the plant 
passed into Sir Trevor Lawrence’s collection, and I 
notified the late Mr. Spyers of the difference in its 
odour, but he said that when it again flowered no one 
at Burford could find any but the strong Hawthorn 
scent peculiar to the section. On flowering again the 
following year, however, he informed me that for a 
time lie found its odour exactly that of cinnamon. In 
flowers of the same species, differing widely in odour, 
I lately had a striking instance, having met with 'a 
variety of Zygopetalum crinitum, which instead of 
having the aromatic aniseed odour of the type, smelt 
like a Rose. 
Those who are in the habit of wearing Orchid flowers 
in their button-holes will have noticed how it often 
happens that they place an Orchid without much 
apparent odour in their coats in the morning, and how 
that suddenly, at a given time, the fragrance of it 
ascends to the nostrils with great strength. In some 
cases, and especially when there is bright sunshine, 
the odour becomes more pronounced as the mid¬ 
day approaches, when it is at its strongest ; but in 
others—as in the case of Epidendrum ciliare, E. nutans, 
and E. nocturnum—the odour is strongest at night. 
There is nothing in nature without a use and a reason, 
and no doubt the varying odours, and the times and 
seasons of their being given forth, play an important 
part in the economy of these plants, and, most pro¬ 
bably, in respect to their reproduction from seeds by 
insect aid when in a wild state. 
The Hawthorn scent is by far the commonest in 
Orchid flowers ; we have it in a great many of the 
yellow and brown Oncidiums, in an equally larger 
number of Odontoglossums, and stronger than any in 0. 
odoratum, 0. Sanderianum and 0. madrense, of which 
a single plant in bloom in a house is enough to call to 
mind a May bush. Trichosma suavis and Maxillaria 
picta smell very strong of Hawthorn flowers, M. punctata 
and Oncidium (Cyrtochilum) maculatum of Primroses, 
M. Turneriof Honeysuckle, M. venusta of Coriander, and 
many of the other Maxillarias are very fragrant. 
Among Orchids which imitate the fragrance of the 
Rose, we have Odontoglossum Roczlii, Trichopilia 
suavis, Lycaste Harrisonife, the varieties of L. elegans, 
Turneri and prasiata, and Phaltenopsis Schilleriana. 
Of Vanilla-scented Orchids there are many, good 
examples being all the varieties of Vanda tricolor and 
suavis, Aerides odoratum, A. suavissimum and many 
other Aerides. The Cattleyas give us many delightfully 
fragrant species, of which, perhaps, the most grateful 
are the old C. Mossi®, C. speciosissima, C. Gaskelliana 
and C. Eldorado, the last-named being between Rose 
and Honeysuckle, or a mixture of both. The Anguloas 
have a strong aromatic odour, Oncidium tigrinum is 
like violets, 0. Lanceanum, Odontoglossum laeve, and 
many other Orchids have a delightful odour like some 
ripe fruits ; Sobralia dichotoma smells of ‘Wallflowers, 
and S. macrantha and other Sobralias are very sweet. 
Ccelogyne pandurata has the odour of ripe Apples, 
Sarcopodium Lobbii of fresh-cut Cucumbers, Brassavola 
Digbyana and Cymbidium sinensis are like Violets, 
Angnecum arcuatum like Tuberoses, most of the 
Dendrochilums like Hawthorn, and many of the 
Catasetums, Mormodes and Pilumnas are very fra¬ 
grant, and Lycaste aromatica and cruenta are strongly 
aromatic. 
The great genus Dendrobium gives us a variety of 
sweet odours, of which the Violet-scented D. hetero- 
carpum is a noteworthy example ; all its family— 
Ainsworthii, splendidissimum, Leechianum, endocharis, 
&c., partaking more or less of its fragrance. The old 
Dendrobium nobile is very sweet, and the many varie¬ 
ties flowered out of recent importations give as great a 
range of odour as they do of colour. D. primulinum, 
D. palpebne and other Dendrobes have the odour of 
Primroses; whilst among the doubtfully grateful 
odours may be placed the Rhubarb scent of D. super- 
bum macrophyllum, the pungent odour of Brassia 
verrucosa, the ground Ivy smell of Epidendrum inver- 
sum and the heavy odours of some of the Stanhopeas 
(S. grandiflora, S. iusignis and some others have grate¬ 
ful odours for a plant house) which in S. graveolens is 
so strong that the smell cannot easily be removed from 
the fingers with soap and water after handling the 
flowers. 
But it is impossible to touch on a tithe of the 
Orchids which have pleasant odours ; suffice it to 
glance at a few of the large genus Epidendrum, which 
give us a rich range of odours. E. varieosum and 
E. ionosmum are exquisitely fragrant of Violets, E. 
pheenieum of Vanilla, E. ala turn of Angelica, E. 
eriniferum of Cowslips, E. selligerum of Tuberoses, and 
E. Stamfordianum, E. fragrans, E. paniculatum, E. 
maerochilum, and by far the greater nnmber of the 
rest of the genus are very sweet. But it will not do to 
preach sweetness only ; we have a few—and a very 
few—among the Orchids which have flowers not grate¬ 
ful to the olfactory organs. The 'worst example of this 
is the curious Bulbopliyllum Beccarei, of which I sent 
the first inflorescence to Professor Reichenbach. The 
opening lines of his acknowledgement will serve to 
give an idea of his appreciation of its fragrance. The 
worthy Professor began his letter, ‘ ‘ When I opened 
the box—Oh, horror ! ” Truly it has a vile odour ; 
and so also has Cirrhopetalum ornatissimum and a few 
others, all of which, by their livid brown, grey, and 
other Arum Dracunculus-like tints, fail not to warn 
the wary plantsmen ; but for chance experimentalists 
who cannot read the signs, one trial sufficiently en¬ 
lightens them.— James O'Brien. 
-- 
THE PROPAGATING HOUSE. 
This house is a necessary appendage to all horticul¬ 
tural establishments, both in trade and private growing. 
In this house either the greatest achievements liorti- 
culturally, or the greatest failures, have to be recorded 
annually ; and it is in this house that a successful pro¬ 
pagator turns out the quantities of plants that are to 
bring money to the tradesman, or pleasures to the eyes 
of the masses of people who promenade our public 
parks. They also bring pleasure and refinement to the 
merchant after the toils of business are over. 
The position of this house need not run at any par¬ 
ticular point of the compass ; but, for choice, I prefer 
the ends of the house to be east and west; this gives a 
south and north aspect equally. It is a much easier 
matter to shade from sun than to make sun shine upon 
the house. Its shape should be an equal span, and its 
height need not exceed 7 ft. in the centre, the w'alls up 
the side being 4 ft. in height, and the width 10 ft. to 
11 ft. Ventilation must also be provided along the 
centre of the roof, so arranged that from a very little to 
a quantity of air can be put on if necessary. The 
house should be in length from 36 ft. and upwards, 
according to the quantity of work it is expected to do, 
and should always have a glass division made in the 
centre. This arrangement is to facilitate the means of 
having a hot propagating house and a cool one, which 
is an absolute necessity where a great quantity of work 
has to be turned out. 
In the heating of these houses plenty of piping must 
be provided both for top and bottom-heat, and stop 
