May 18, 1889. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
599 
ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 
L/elia Digbyana-Mossi/e. 
A great sensation was produced at tlie Drill Hall, 
Westminster, on Tuesday last, when Messrs. J. Veitch & 
Sons, Chelsea, exhibited this new bi-generic hybrid. 
The female parent was Cattleya Mossire, and we should 
therefore have expected that Mossire would have formed 
the first part of the name. The male parent was Ltelia 
Digbyana, formerly better known under the title of 
Brassavola Digbyana, and noted for its large and re¬ 
markably fringed lip. The colour of the hybrid closely 
resembles a form of C. Mossire, while the form and 
structure of the flower are undoubtedly that of Lielia 
Digbyana, so that there can be no doubt either of its 
hybrid origin or of its parentage. The sepals are oblong 
and of a beautiful soft rose, while the petals are of the 
same colour, but much larger, oblong-elliptic, blunt, 
and finely toothed at the margin. The whole flower 
measures about 6 ins. by 5 ins. across, and the widely- 
expanded lamina of the lip itself measures 3 ins. by 
2J ins. The latter is deeply fringed at the margin, and 
of a pale soft rose, with splashes of rich purple, as seen 
in Cattleya Mossise, while the throat is furnished with 
a large yellow blotch, and the tube internally is lined 
with purple. The whole flower of L. Digbyana is of a 
creamy white. The crest-like elevation of the latter is 
almost obliterated in the hybrid. A First Class Cer¬ 
tificate was awarded it by the Orchid Committee. 
Brassavola caudata. 
A little but very pretty group of this Orchid was 
exhibited b 5 ' Mr. J. T. White, Drayton Villa, Winch- 
more Hill at the last meeting of the Orchid Committee 
of the Royal Horticultural Society, -when a Botanical 
Certificate was awarded. The flowers expand of a 
greenish yellow, becoming paler, with the lip white, 
and ultimately all parts of the bloom change to a 
pale yellow. The base of the petals and of the lip are 
spotted all over with brown or purple. The flowers 
are arranged in two-ranked drooping racemes, and are 
very pretty. The lateral sepals attain a length of 
6 ins. or 7 ins., and like all other parts, are drawn out 
to a slender point. 
Saccolabium cerinum. 
Tiie rarity and the colour of this Orchid are of more 
importance than its beauty, speaking from a horticul¬ 
tural point of view. From each side of the stem a 
two-ranked series of deep green, oblong, leathery, 
unequally bifid leaves are given off. The flowers are 
produced in dense capitate racemes on the end of 
stout horizontal peduncles. They are at first greenish, 
but expand of a pale yellow. A plant was exhibited 
by Mr. F. W. Moore, Curator of the Botanic Gardens, 
Glasnevin, at the last meeting of the Orchid Committee 
of the Royal Horticultural Society, when a Botanical 
Certificate was awarded. 
Cattleya Schroderiana alba. 
With the exception of a pale yellow blotch in the 
throat of the flower, all the rest is pure white. The 
margins of the petals are slightly undulated, but that 
of the front lobe of the lip is much more so. The 
crisping is not, however, so conspicuous as in C. labiata 
Mossiie Wageneri, another equally pure white Cattleya 
of the C. labiata group. The variety under notice is, 
however, a form of C. 1. Trianse Schroderiana, and one 
of its chief distinctions is that the agreeably fragrant 
flowers smell like Hawthorn, whereas those of the 
variety Wageneri do not appear to be fragrant. A plant 
was exhibited at the Crystal Palace on Saturday last by 
Messrs. J. Laing & Sons, Forest Hill, when a First 
Class Certificate was granted. 
Orchids in Flower at Claregate. 
The cultivation of Orchids has been successfully 
carried on for a number of years by A. W. Wills, Esq., 
Claregate, Wylde Green, Birmingham, and at present 
the houses are very gay. Every plant is looking the 
picture of health, cleanliness being considered indis¬ 
pensable to their well-being, and this in a great 
measure is the secret of their success. It is certainly 
veiy gratifying to all lovers of Orchids to know that 
no sooner does one Orchid grower leave the field than 
there are others who are prepared to step into the 
breach and keep the torch burning. I noted the 
following species and varieties in bloom—viz., Cypri- 
pedium ciliolare, fine specimen with five immense 
slippers ; C. Lawrenceanum, having dorsal sepal 3 ins. 
across ; C. barbatum nigrum superbum, C. niveum, 
Cattleya Mendelii, in quantity, among which are some 
really choice varieties ; C. intermedia, C. Skinneri 
oculata, good variety ; Lrelia purpurata, several fine 
masses carrying numerous extremely dark flowers of 
good size ; Dendrobiuin thyrsiflorum Walkerianum, 
with raceme over 12 ins. long; D. infundibulum and 
the sweet D. Jenkinsoni, Oncidium phymatocliilum, 
superior variety with strong spike and upwards of sixty 
fine flowers ; 0. crispum, specially fine variety having 
twenty-six fully expanded flowers ; Odontoglossum 
maculatum, with fifty large flowers of good colour 
considering it has been in bloom for ten weeks—this is 
a great favourite at Claregate ; 0. Pescatorei and 0. 
Alexandra, several plants of each ; 0. hastilabium and 
0. nebulosum, Brassia verrucosa, wth fourteen spikes ; 
the lovely Angrrecum Sanderianum, with raceme 9 ins. 
long; Masdevallia Veitcliii grandiflora, M. Shuttle- 
worthii, M. Bella, M. Houttei, and the beautiful 
Anguloa Clowesii. All of these are effectually arranged 
by Mr. Morgan Gair, who not only grows Orchids well, 
but Pelargoniums and all kinds of stove and greenhouse 
plants receive their share of attention.— J. McNoh. 
Oncidium macranthum. 
When grown under cool treatment and allowed plenty 
of headway to develop, the flower stems of this climbing 
species attain great length, become branched, and pro¬ 
duce a large number of flowers from 3 ins. to 4 ins. in 
diameter. It is considered the best of the Microchila 
section in cultivation. A strong plant at Gunnersbury 
Park, Acton, has a flower stem already 8 ft. in length. 
-->X<--- 
THE RAILWAY RATES 
QUESTION. 
On Tuesday afternoon a public meeting of the trade 
was held at the Hotel Windsor, to receive the report of 
the committee appointed by the Nursery and Seed 
Trade Association to consider the revised classification 
of merchandise and the revised schedules of maximum 
rates and charges issued by the various railway 
companies. Mr. N. N. Sherwood (Messrs. Hurst & 
Son) presided, and the trade was represented by Mr. 
William Paul, Waltham Cross ; Mr. R. C. Smith 
Carrington, Worcester ; Mr. J. Fraser, Lea Bridge ; 
Mr. J. Laing, Forest Hill ; Mr. A. Veitch, Chelsea ; 
Mr. T. F. Rivers, Sawbridgeworth ; Mr. J. Noble, 
Bagshot ; Mr. Jefferies, Cirencester ; Mr. H. W. 
Williams, Salisbury ; Mr. G. Bunyard, Maidstone ; 
Mr. J. Cheal, Crawley ; Messrs. J. Carter & Co.; Mr. 
Myers, Swanley; Mr. R. Dean, Messrs. Pearson, and 
others, the gathering being a very small one con¬ 
sidering the magnitude of the interests at stake. 
The chairman having stated the object for which the 
meeting had been called, and remarked that the trade 
did not seem to be generally aware of the effect which 
the proposed classification and revision of rates would 
have upon the business they were interested in ; called 
upon Mr. Goodchild to read the report of the com¬ 
mittee appointed on the 11th of March, from which we 
gathered, with reference to the question of classification, 
that the committee have carefully considered all the 
items in the revised classification which affect the 
horticultural trade, and are of opinion that all the 
articles are wrongly and inconsistently classified. They 
approached the consideration of the matter not so much 
in a spirit of antagonism to the railway companies, 
as with a desire to point out to the horticultural trade 
generally such questions as will affect them hereafter. 
They find that according to the proposed classification, 
seeds are distributed over four classes, viz. : —Class 1 
comprises seeds for crushing, oil Hemp seed, and 
Mustard seed ; 2, agricultural seeds and Canary seeds ; 
3, Carraway seed, Cummin seed, Coriander seed, and 
Flax for sowing; 4, seeds, except where otherwise 
provided ; and consider it ivould be fairer to the trade 
if all seeds were placed in the same class, and that this 
should be done by raising those in Class 1 into Class 2, 
and by lowering those in Classes 3 and 4 into Class 2. 
Flower roots (comprising bulbs, Lily of the Valley 
crowns, and Spiraeas) are placed in Class 4, but the 
committee consider that they should be placed in Class 
3, because they are heavy for their bulk, and are so 
packed that there is little or no fear of their being injured 
except by water, and they also point out that the value 
of bulbs has of late years been considerably reduced, so 
that the placing of them in Class 4 would operate most 
unfairly to the trade. Shrubs, trees, and plants are 
distributed over three classes, viz. :—Class 3 comprises 
plants not in pots (except where otherwise provided) ; 
4, shrubs and trees (except where otherwise provided) ; 
5, plants and shrubs in baskets, mats, pots, or tubs, 
and they recommend that all should be placed in 
Class 3. 
Before dealing with the question of rates and charges, 
the committee call attention to the maximum weight 
of small parcels, viz., 560 lbs., which may be a fair 
one, taking the average bulk of all goods classified, blit 
is, nevertheless, excessive as regards goods in the 
horticultural trade, and they recommend that the 
maximum weight should be reduced to 224 lfis. If 
this maximum rate remains as proposed, it will be in 
the power of some companies to charge an excessive 
rate both for conveyance and terminal charges. For 
instance, a parcel of agricultural seeds (Class 2) weigh¬ 
ing 560 lbs., for a distance of 50 miles on the Great 
Western Railway, would, according to the proposed 
revised classification rates, cost (exclusive of terminal 
and service charges) 2s. 7\d., whereas, if the company 
thought fit, they might charge for the same parcel as a 
small parcel, in which case it would cost 4s. Id. In 
the former case the proposed terminal and service 
charges would amount to Is. 7 id., and in the latter 
case to 2s. 4 %d. Thus, instead of charging 4s. 2f d. 
the company would be empowered to charge 6s. 11 \d. 
The committee consider that the proposals in 
connection with small parcels are most unsatisfactory, 
that they do not comply with the requirements of the 
Act in stating the rates to be charged, but leave the 
matter in such a condition that the trader will he at 
the mercy of the companies, which is contrary to the 
spirit of the Act, and they recommend that companies 
should be required to submit further aud better 
proposals as regards small parcels. 
According to the proposed rates the leading companies 
differ in the numbers of miles for which they propose 
to charge different rates, and in consequence of this 
the labour in checking the charges of the various 
companies will be considerably increased. In most 
cases eight calculations 'will be necessary before this 
can be done. The committee recommend that only one 
rate per mile should be allowed, and that such rate 
should be the one recognised by the Board of Trade. 
The committee are unable to present a comparative 
statement, showing the difference between the existing 
and the proposed rates, owing to the number of pre¬ 
ferential rates now in existence, and the difficulty in 
arriving at a general average ; but from the information 
before them they are satisfied that the proposed rates 
will be enormously in excess of those now in use. 
They recommend that the Board of Trade should be 
asked to withhold their consent from the proposed 
rates until they have had an opportunity of satisfying 
themselves, by whatever evidence they may require, on 
this point. In the alternative, the committee recommend 
that the Board of Trade be asked not to sanction any 
rate which is in excess of the average of those at present 
in use. 
With reference to the station terminals and service 
terminals, the committee recommend that they should 
be strongly opposed. They consider that on the true 
construction of the Act only one charge in the nature 
of a “ terminal charge ” was intended to he authorised ; 
and further that the charges defined by the companies 
under “service terminals” are all included in the 
charges defined under “station terminals.” It is part 
of the duty of a carrier to supply “ labour to load and 
unload,” and to “cover and uncover” merchandise 
entrusted to him. The “covering” of merchandise is 
done not so much for the benefit of the trader as for 
the benefit of the company, who are bound to take all 
reasonable care of goods entrusted to them for con¬ 
veyance. Much time and trouble is expended by traders 
in checking railway charges, and in applying for and 
obtaining re-payment of charges wrongly made, and 
the committee recommend that the Board of Trade 
should provide for the infliction of penalties on any 
railway company so overcharging, in like manner as 
penalties are inflicted on the public for attempts to 
evade payment to railway companies of charges justly 
payable to them. 
A general discussion followed, in which Mr. Myers, 
Mr. Sharman, Mr. R. C. Smith Carrington, Mr. 
Pearson, Mr. Rivers, Mr. Fraser, Mr. W. Paul, Mr. 
Bunyard, Mr. Cheal, and the chairman took part, and 
in which the general idea prevalent seemed to be that 
the classification was all wrong—nothing right; that the 
proposed revised rates were outrageously unjust, and 
that a general protest should be lodged against the 
whole scheme. 
In the end the report was confirmed by the meeting, 
and tlie committee instructed to lodge objections with 
the Board of Trade in accordance therewith. It was 
also resolved that a guarantee fund be raised for the 
purpose of defraying any necessary expense that may 
be incurred in carrying the previous resolution into 
effect, sueb fund to be under the management of the 
committee. 
A vote of thanks to the chairman and the committee 
brought the proceedings to a close. 
