August 4, 1888, 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
781 
weather. Lamb’s Lettuce' (Valerianella olitoria) or 
some of the improved continental varieties may be 
sown at once on a warm sunny border, where it will 
produce leaves for use during winter and early spring. 
-- 
ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS, 
t 
The Orchid Growers’ Calendar. 
It is not easy to grow good Dendrobes without a fair 
amount of artificial heat in summer, and this season a 
good supply of fire-heat has been necessary to perfect 
good pseudo-bulbs ; indeed, while growing, it is next 
to impossible to give such Orchids as Dendrobium 
nobile, D. Wardianum, D. crassinode, and others 
usually called deciduous Dendrobes too much heat, if 
the houses are well ventilated and damped, and the 
plants properly supplied with rain-water. Next in 
importance to heat is a bright clear light, for if kept 
too shady Dendrobes that make very fine pseudo-bulbs 
produce few and poor flowers. The plants should be 
allowed to fully make up their pseudo-bulbs in their 
warm quarters,’ and when their leaves begin to turn 
yellow they should be removed to a cooler and more 
airy and sunny house to ripen their growths. At the 
beginning of the resting season, for these and other 
Orchids which lose their leaves when at rest, it is 
better to look out for a house in which the ripening 
and resting may be carried out. 
In some places a vinery or greenhouse is available, 
and usually if due consideration be given to the matter 
suitable accommodation can be found, but it is difficult 
and in some cases impossible to rest the Dendrobes 
in the house in which they have been grown. At this 
season and onward many of the Dendrobes will have 
completed their growth, and should be rested dry and 
tolerably cool, until their flower buds appear to be 
pushing. Pleiones turn in at various times, according 
to the manner in which they have been grown. It 
may easily be determined when they should be placed 
in cool quarters to keep dry until their buds appear, by 
noting the fully made-up pseudo-bulbs, and the evidence 
of the leaves turning yellow. A shelf near the glass 
is a good place to rest them. There is nothing easier 
to grow or flower if grown tolerably warm and moist, 
and rested properly after the growth is done. 
The Temper atures for the Month of August 
should be :—East Indian or warm house, 75° to 85° by 
day, 70° at night ; Cattleya or intermediate house, 70° 
to 80° by day, 65° at night ; Odontoglossum or cool 
house, 60° to 70° by day, 55° at night. Degrees 
Fahren h eit. —James O'Brien. 
ONCIDIUM SPLENDIDUM. 
A nice plant of this hitherto rare Orchid is at present 
in flower in the collection of G. C. Raphael, Esq., 
Castle Hill, Englefield Green. The plant was imported 
less than twelve months ago, and when received was 
placed in a basket with peat, crocks, &c., and hung up 
in a warm house where Cypripediums, Ccelogynes, 
Dendrobiums, &c., are grown. It has made two new 
bulbs, both of which are flowering ; the more forward 
spike is 3 ft. long, with four laterals, of which twenty- 
three fine flowers are now fully open; the other spike is 
only partially grown, and will come on later. The 
flowers of this species very much resemble O. tigrinum 
(Barkeri), and at a first glance it would be difficult to 
tell the one from the other. The sepals and petals, 
however, are larger in O. splendidum than in O. 
tigrinum, whilst the labellum in 0. tigrinum is usually 
broader than the same organ in 0. splendidum. The 
lengthened spike of 0. splendidum, producing fine 
flowers, with a lip of such a bright yellow, will cause 
this species, when it comes into flower, to be much 
appreciated. Another very pretty Oncidium now in 
flower is 0. Croesus. This is a dwarf-growing species 
grown in a basket, and producing spikes bearing six 
flowers apiece, the blooms being very similar in form 
to 0. longipes, but the prevailing colour in 0. Croesus 
is canary-yellow.— TV. S., July 30th. 
Terrestrial Orchids Remaining Dormant. 
The interesting remarks which the Rev. F. D. Horner 
makes respecting his Bee Orchis remaining dormant— 
skipping, as it were, a season both of flower and growth, 
and then flowering well the next year—has a parallel 
in the blue Disa lacera, which a correspondent in South 
Africa informs me occasionally does the same either 
in patches or generally in his district. I have little 
doubt but that the other blue Disas have the same 
habit and power of lying dormant a considerable time, 
and that when lifted and sent to us to cultivate they 
invariably do so, and in consequence get thrown away 
as dead, while if left and”carefully"tended they would 
flower the next season. As a case in point, I have now a 
pan of D. lacera imported in the spring of 1887 ; these 
have lain utterly inactive up to the present, so far as the 
top is concerned, but they are now pushing up flower- 
spikes. If they made any leaves at all they must have 
been but very short ones, not above the moss and grass 
which I suffered to grow around them. Nevertheless, 
I am of opinion that the tubers which are now sending 
up spikes are not those I planted—-an opinion which is 
backed by the same correspondent informing me that 
blue Disas do not flower from the tubers of the current 
year, but from the old ones (? in some cases). I think 
when we know the peculiarities of these cold frame 
blue Disas better we shall find their character for being 
bad growers will be removed .—James O'Brien. 
Drying Orchid Flowers. 
Various expedients have been tried for drying Orchids 
so as to retain their colours. In some cases it seems 
almost impossible to desiccate them with any degree of 
success in the case of some Vandas, Calanthes, and 
other fleshy flowers, which invariably turn black, or 
almost so under the ordinary process with drying 
paper. Mr. De B. Crawshay, Rosefield, Sevenoaks, 
sends us a flower of Odontoglossum Harryanum, in a 
beautiful state of preservation. It had been dried in 
sand, and retains not only its natural colours but the 
natural form of the flower, which has incurved sepals 
and petals, and a somewhat boat-shaped labellum. It 
had been partly dried or withered on the plant before 
removal, and had, therefore, lost the violet tint of the 
lip. Others collected while still fresh are much more 
satisfactory. The yellow and brown shades of colour 
are fresh and life-like, even in the partly withered 
flower. We have also seen Cattleya and Lidia flowers 
ranging from two to five years old, and which were 
dried by the same means by Mr. Crawshay. They 
retain not only their colours but their forms, and when 
mounted in cases after the manner that insects are 
preserved they are interesting, and serve to show the 
characters of particular varieties for many years to 
come. If the flowers are desired for mounting on 
paper they may be pressed between sheets of paper 
before being thoroughly dry, or they may even be 
wetted and pressed. 
Malformed Cypripediums. 
At the last meeting of the Scientific Committee, Dr. 
Masters exhibited drawings and made comments on 
several malformed Cypripediums, which had been 
referred to him at a previous meeting. The principal 
peculiarities, in different flowers, were the following :— 
Imperfect development of the lip ; adhesion of the 
lateral petals to the sides of the column, and conse¬ 
quent displacement ; disjunction of lateral sepals, and 
presence of two lips in one flower. The adventitious 
lip might be the result (a) of additional development, 
(b) of subdivisions of the primary lip, ( c ) of the presence 
in the guise of a lip of one of the outer stamens, 
which is usually suppressed. Another flower had three 
staminodes, one corresponding to Al, and two lateral 
ones as usual, the stigma being distinctly three-lobed. 
From Mr. Kimball came a drawing of C. Lawrencianum, 
in which the parts of the flowers were arranged in 
crossed pairs. The most peculiar flower was one of 
C. barbaturn, exhibited by Mr. O’Brien. In this the 
general form was triangular, and the upper sepal was 
wanting, but the two lateral ones were present ; the two 
lateral petals were also present, but in the shape of 
broadly ovate segments, more like sepals in shape, but 
having the position of petals, as well as the little tufts 
of hairs on the margins, characteristic of the petals in 
this species. The column was erect, with two lateral 
shields concealing the anthers, while the ordinary 
median staminode was absent. The style was erect, 
cylindric, scarcely lobed at the top, and the ovary 
entirely absent. 
Orchis hircina. 
The plants, from one of which the spike was cut which 
is mentioned in The Gardening World of the 21st 
ultimo, are growing in a damp shady place in ordinary 
loam and leaf-soil. They came from France about two 
years since, and have had no special treatment. I 
shall be pleased to send Mr. Webster a plant in the 
autumn for trial with his. —J. IV. Odell. 
Ophrys aranifera. 
The damp weather is evidently favourable to some 
hardy Orchids. Our plant of this curious Spider Orchid 
has flowered very freely this summer ; it is growing in 
company with some plants of Primula rosea in a damp 
corner, planted in peat and road-grit, and evidently 
enjoys both the weather and its position.— J. TV. 0. 
HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 
Brookfield Horticultural. — July 23th. 
The fourth annual show of this society was held in the 
cricket field adjoining St. Anne’s Schools, Highgate, on 
Saturday last, by permission of W. L. A. Burdett- 
Coutts, Esq., M.P. Previous to the formation of the 
society, annual shows were held in the school in connec¬ 
tion with the allotment gardens adjoining, which still 
constitute the leading status of the society. These 
shows were originally started about fourteen or fifteen 
years ago, and as an instance of the progress made by 
the society, there were 1,200 entries for fruit, flowers, 
and vegetables on Saturday, against 380 or there¬ 
abouts last year. 
Special prizes were offered by the Baroness Burdett- 
Coutts for the best kept plots in the allotment gardens, 
which at the present time are worthy of inspection. 
Peas, Beans, Potatos, Onions, Cabbages, Carrots, Beet, 
Parsnips, Gooseberries, Currants, and other garden 
produce are grown to such perfection by the holders, 
who are amateurs, cottagers in fact, as many a pro¬ 
fessional might not be ashamed to own, and might well 
awaken a spirit of emulation in other districts where 
allotment gardens are yet unknown. Mr. C. Abrahams 
was the holder of the best kept plot, which was 
really a picture of economy, and bore evidence 
of careful and skilful attention. The whole piece of 
ground constituting the allotment gardens is really in 
excellent order. Four second prizes were given, the 
winners being Messrs. C. Williams, C. Parling, — 
Brett, and — Skeats. Five third, five fourth, and 
three fifth prizes were also awarded. About three 
years ago the Baroness Burdett-Coutts gave six hives 
of bees, which became the property of the receivers 
after giving up their first swarm to the next candidate 
for a hive. In the afternoon Mr. S. J. Baldwin (expert- 
in-chief to the British Bee-keepers’ Association) gave a 
lecture on bees and their management, with practical 
demonstrations at intervals on driving bees from a full 
into an empty hive. Prizes were also awarded for the 
best kept walks and flower borders, the latter being in 
many cases very orderly and neat. 
Three tents were devoted to garden produce, one to 
fruit and vegetables, one to flowers, and the third to 
wild flowers named, miniature flower gardens, models 
of cottage gardens, devices, cut flowers, &c. Mr. C. 
Parling took the first prize for a collection of garden 
produce, consisting of Cabbages, Cauliflowers, Celery, 
Potatos, Carrots, Onions, Rhubarb, Beans, Peas, 
herbs, Gooseberries, Currants, Scarlet Runners, cut 
flowers, and other things. Mr. C. Williams was 
second. Mr. W. Wetherley and Mr. George Young 
took the first and second prizes respectively for a 
collection of six kinds of vegetables ; and Mr. Hibburt 
had the four best kinds. First prizes were won by 
Mr. C. Purling, for Broad Windsor Beans ; by Mr. 
Geo. Young, for Long-Pod Beans ; by Mr. E. Best, for 
a dish of Telegraph Peas ; by Mr. R. G. Hales, for 
three dishes of Peas ; by Mr. C. Williams, for Cabbages, 
which were large specimens of Enfield Market; by Mr. 
C. Purling, both for spring and autumn-sown Onions, 
for Cucumbers, Cauliflower, Scarlet Runners, French 
Beans, and Carrots. There was great competition in 
the classes for Beans, Peas, Carrots, Potatos, Rhubarb, 
Turnips, and for the collections of vegetables. The 
best dish of Kidney Potatos was staged by Mr. John 
Smith, the best dish of a round variety by Mr. G. W. 
Smyth, the best three dishes by Mr. S. Head, the best 
Turnips by Mr. E. Best, the best Rhubarb (which was 
a very heavy sample of Victoria) by Mr. R. G. Hales, 
and the best collection of herbs by the same exhibitor. 
The first prize for six window plants was awarded to 
Mr. C. Holcombe, who had Diplacus glutinosus and 
Alonsoa incisifolia amongst other things. Mr. Geo. 
Young had the best window-box, which was large and 
well filled considering the season. The best window 
plant was Aspidistra lurida variegata, shown by Mr. 
F. C. Clark. A special prize was awarded to Mr. C. 
Parting, who exhibited a huge and well-flowered 
specimen of Funkia Sieboldi, grown in a pot. 
Prizes were offered for plants in pots grown by school 
children, and there was a keen competition. Master 
Robert Witty, aged 11, had the best collection of 
wild flowers named, while Master Richard Witty had 
the best device. The best miniature flower garden was 
that of Master F. J. Clark ; while the best model of a 
cottage garden was shown by Master T. Sawyer, 
Master Arthur Bartlett had the best collection of 
named grasses. 
