636 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
•June 4, 1887. 
staging all through, giving also a fresh coating of 
staging material. 
The whole of the zonal Pelargoniums have also been 
looked to, in most cases a shift into larger pots having 
been given ; even where this has not been done the 
drainage has been examined and a surfacing of fresh 
soil given. One side of the greenhouse has been given 
to them, as their flowers are extremely useful for cutting, 
and when grown under glass and liberally treated, 
amply repay all attention bestowed. All possible 
strength will be devoted to the bedding out, so as to 
get it completed as quickly as possible ; the weather, 
too, is extremely favourable to their taking hold of the 
soil, thus doing away with much of the watering 
generally attending this work. 
THE FRUIT HOUSES. 
Cucumbers which have been heavily cropped during 
the past two months, as ours have been, will now show 
signs of distress. We have packed round and between 
the hillocks of soil with some good strong half-rotten 
manure, and given a surfacing of 2 ins. of good rich 
soil, which will speedily cause them to grow away 
again ; at the same time the plants have been subjected 
to a thinning-out of the leaves. The temperature will 
be also rather higher for a time, so as to thoroughly 
excite them. Take care that the supports are placed 
under the Melons in good time. There is little to be 
gained in over-cropping—if anything, a loss of weight 
at the expense of the number of extra fruit obtained. 
If a plant will produce four good fruits we are quite 
satisfied. 
We have made up a hot-bed for the next set of 
plants, and the}' will be planted out as soon as 
the soil has become warmed. It will be found 
advisable to use a rather firmer compost from now, so 
as to avoid too frequent waterings at the roots. If 
grown in pits, take care that the proper temperature is 
maintained, or they are extremely liable to canker off 
at the base. Damp down the sides of the walls each 
afternoon, and close early—I wish I could say with 
plenty of sun-heat, to save firing ; truly this is a most 
unfavourable season meteorologically. 
Grapes are colouring fast; but with such continuous 
firing we notice a slight trace of red-spider, and to 
eradicate which, sulphuring, as previously advised, will 
be resorted to, a remedy always effectual against this 
tiresome pest. We shall ventilate more freely with 
both front and top lights, and so by this means we 
hope to make the foliage more hardy and less liable 
to be attacked. The succession Peach trees have been 
gone over, and neatly tied to the trellis. Much of the 
surplus fruit has also been taken off, so as to relieve 
the trees, and the foliage, too, should at the same time 
be kept from the fruits to thoroughly expose them to 
the light and sun. 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 
General Work. —Care must be taken that the 
thinning of the various crops, such as Onions and 
Carrots, is not too long delayed, as should they become 
too strong, much injury is done to the roots of those 
remaining ; the weather is particularly favourable for 
the work just now. For the main crop of Carrots we 
generally leave about 9 ins. between the plants, 
Parsnips a foot (these were thinned some-time since), 
and Onions, according to variety, from 4 ins. to 6 ins. ; 
after thinning is completed the Dutch hoe is run 
between the roots, which leaves a nice mould on the 
surface and prevents baking. We have planted out 
our first sowing of Snow’s Broccoli on a well-prepared 
piece of ground ; we find this the most valuable of all 
the Broccolis, and alw'ays make two sowings. 
We have also pricked out a quantity of the other 
varieties of Broccoli, these generally giving a better 
return than if drawn and planted from the seed beds, 
and as a rule stand severe weather better. Attention 
must be paid as much as possible to the. squares of 
Potatos ; they are now growing very freely, and much 
injury is done if neglected. As the Broccoli is cut the 
stems are removed from the squares, the ground is well 
manured and dug ready for succeeding crops. We 
have made another sowing of Lettuce to succeed those 
planted out last week. We have also made another 
sowing of Broad Beans, rather late in the season, 
in a young state ; these are useful as a change for the 
dining table. Make frequent sowings of Spinach, as it 
is so soon apt to bolt during hot weather. — Walter 
Child, Croome Court. 
ORCHID NO TES AND GLEANINGS. 
The Orchid Growers’ Calendar.— It is a 
very good plan as early as possible in the month of 
June to commence a regular review of the whole of the 
Orchids, as nothing more important just now commands 
attention. It is best to begin in the house in which it 
seems most necessary; clear a good space on the 
staging, have it thoroughly cleansed, and then pass 
the plants back, thoroughly cleaning them and their 
pots, and doing everything else necessary to each as 
they are passed over, taking care not to hurry, but to 
do all thoroughly and well. The fresh space cleared 
should be treated in the same way, and so on until the 
house and everything else in it is in perfect order, when 
another house should be commenced, and treated in the 
same way. 
In passing the plants over, it is advisable, with such 
things as Cattleyas and Lcelias, and, indeed, most other 
things on coming to a]specimen which is weak and does 
not seem to be settling in the pot in which it is placed, 
to turn it out and either block it or put it in a small 
basket and suspend it near the glass ; so treated, plants 
going back often get quite a fresh start and quickly 
re-establish. In arranging the baskets, blocks, and 
other plants suspended from the roof, care should be 
taken that they are so placed that they are not sus¬ 
pended over the plants on the stages more than is 
absolutely necessary, for plants do not like others over 
them, even although they are not allowed to drip on 
them. It is usually convenient to suspend many over 
the walks or in other ways where they have no plants 
under them, but where it is absolutely necessary to 
suspend some plants above those on the stages, the 
ill-effects may be lessened by changing their relative 
positions frequently. 
The Temperatures for the Month of June should 
be :—East Indian or warm house, 75° to 80° by day, 
70° at night ; Cattleya or intermediate house, 70° to 
75° by day, 65° at night; Odontoglossum or cool house, 
60° to 65° by day, 55° at night .—James O'Brien. 
Cattleyas at Messrs. James Veitch & 
Sons. —Lovers of good Cattleyas and Lfelias should 
not delay in paying a visit to the great display of them 
at the Royal Exotic Nursery of Messrs. James Yeitch 
& Sons, and fanciers of cool-house Orchids will find an 
equally good display in their Odontoglossum houses. 
There is a great advantage in inspecting the showy and 
variable Orchids when in bloom, as some like one kind 
of flower and some another ; when selected in bloom 
all are sure to secure what pleases them best. At 
Messrs. Yeitch’s the hybrid Cypripediums and other 
Orchids have many good things in bloom among them; 
and Ccelogyne Dayana, Dendrobium Bensonife xan- 
thinum, Phalsenopsis Parishii and many fine specimens 
of the noble Sehomburgkia tibieinus are in flower. 
Cattleya Mossise: New White Variety.— 
The finest thing we have seen in this way is now in 
flower at Messrs. Hugh Low & Co.’s nursery at 
Clapton. In form and size it is equal to the best C. 
Mossire, but has pure white sepals, petals and labellum, 
the only colour being a bright light yellow in the 
centre of the lip and the faintest pencilling of pink in 
the centre of the labellum at the edge, which is finely 
fringed and expanded. Scores of plants, too, of their 
fine strain which produced C. M. superbissima—now 
in Sir Trevor Lawrence’s collection, and which is 
admitted to be one of the very finest—are in bloom, and 
many of the specimens exhibit qualities of the highest 
order, the labellums being especially large, round, 
finely-coloured, and fringed. 
Phalsenopsis Sanderiana alba. —Amongst a 
host of other good things at the Clapton Nurseries a 
pure white variety out of P. Sanderiana is flowering, 
its blooms being as white as a P. grandiflora, and only 
having a very little tinge of chrome-yellow at the base 
of the lip. It is a very distinct and pretty variety, the 
leaves being quite those of P. Sanderiana, although the 
flowers are very dissimilar. 
Odontoglossum Andersonianum, Max¬ 
well’s Variety. —This is the finest variety of its 
kind we have seen, the spotting being altogether 
different to the other named forms. In shape and in 
the peculiar elongation and recurving of the labellum 
it is exactly 0. A. lobatum, but the sepals and especially 
the petals are so heavily blotched with bright chestnut- 
red in the middle of each segment, as to give a marked 
predominance of that colour, finely shown up by the 
broad creamy white margin which runs round and tips 
each segment. The lip is bright yellow at the base, 
and has a few round spots in the centre, and the 
flower measures 4 ins. across the sepals, and 3| ins. 
across the petals. This fine novelty comes from Captain 
Maxwell, of Terregles, Dumfries. 
Uropedium Lindeni. — It seems to be the 
generally-accepted opinion amongst reliable authorities 
that this singular Orchid is nothing more or less than 
a monstrous variety of Cypripedium (Selenipedium 
caudatum) that originated, as it were, accidentally, 
and became persistent, or managed to live and secure 
its reproduction in a manner different from that of its 
parent, and at present unaccounted for or unknown in 
the scientific world. Me had the pleasure of seeing it 
the other week in the collection of R. H. Measures, 
Esq., The Woodlands, Streatham, where it was bearing 
four of its singular flowers on a spike. The sepals are 
pale greenish yellow, and the petals deep dull purple, 
similar to those of C. caudatum, but, as a rule, not 
attaining the same length and slender character. The 
labellum is similarly coloured, and in shape and general 
appearance like the petals, or somewhat broader and 
concave at the base, but without the characteristic 
pouch or slipper-shaped process of Cypripediums. It is 
desirable on this account, and not without decorative 
effect in a collection of Orchids. 
Brassia verrucosa. — Some finely-flowered 
specimens of this singular and ornamental species 
have been gay for some time past at Carville Hall, 
Brentford. The sepals and petals are of a clear 
greenish yellow, spotted with brownish purple or black 
spots near the base. The labellum, the most con¬ 
spicuous part of the flower, is pure white, furnished 
with small green warts, which give rise to the specific 
name of the plant. Mr. Morrison grows it very suc¬ 
cessfully in well drained pots in a compost of lumpy 
peat and sphagnum. The pseudo-bulbs increase freely 
so that a number of specimens have been obtained by 
dividing the original one in a very short time. 
-—>X<-- 
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 
Manchester Botanical and Horticultu¬ 
ral. —The gardens at Old Trafford. being this year not 
available for holding the annual Whitsuntide exhibi¬ 
tion, a smaller piece of ground near at hand had to be 
called into requisition, and, consequently, the annual 
display was shorn of much of its proportions and 
reduced to very limited dimensions, though, as far as 
it went, the quality was, undoubtedly, first-rate all 
through. The society has held these annual displays 
for the last twenty years, and always with great success, 
so that, although this exhibition made somewhat of a 
break in the series, the council were wise in not break¬ 
ing the continuity of the series altogether, even though 
they lose money by so doing. 
The exhibits were staged in a range of glass 300 ft. 
long, specially built for the occasion by Mr. Sam. 
Deard, of Harlow, and in three large marquees. The 
most striking features of the show were the Orchids and 
herbaceous plants, though among the former were none 
of the grand specimens which have been so telling at 
previous exhibitions ; nor with the exception of one 
group were there any of the noble specimens of stove 
and greenhouse plants, Palms and Ferns, only to be 
seen now at provincial exhibitions of a first-class 
character. This, of course, was easily to be accounted 
for, as no money prizes were offered in the usual way, 
only J ubilee medals for collections, and these in three 
degrees of value. 
First Class Queen’s Jubilee Medals were awarded to 
Mr. B. S. Williams, Upper Holloway, for a grand bank 
of small and medium-sized flowering and fine-foliaged 
plants, in great variety ; and a choice assortment of 
Orchids— a group altogether that was a credit to one 
of the Society’s oldest supporters. To Messrs. F. 
Sander & Co., St. Albans, for a remarkably beautiful 
group of Orchids of various sizes, consisting of some 
300 specimens of Cattleyas, Odontoglossums, Cypri¬ 
pediums, Dendrobiums, Masdevallias, &c., grouped in 
a style that at once caught the eye, so fine was the 
general effect. To Messrs. John Laing & Co., 
Stanstead Park, Forest Hill, S.E., for a group of 
Caladiums and Tuberous Begonias of unusual excel¬ 
lence, the new varieties of the latter being for novelty 
