680 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June 22, 1889. 
The Gardeners’ Calendar. 
THE STOVE. 
StepHANOtIS. —Small plants that have been flowered 
in pots may now be potted on if required for another 
season ; but should they be too large, and planting 
them out is in contemplation, the present is a good 
time to do so, as they become established and the roots 
permeate the soil before the approach of winter. All 
weak shoots may be cut away, leaving only those 
strong ones which will now rapidly extend in length. 
Old plants may be treated in the same way with regard 
to pruning, if the shoots are at all crowded. The 
main ones will grow rapidly, and soon commence to 
flower again. The primary object to be kept in view is 
never to allow crowding of the stems and leaves if good 
results are expected. When planting out, one of the 
principal points to be observed is that a large body of 
soil in which the roots will ramble is prejudicial to 
freedom of flowering, whereas they will be more in¬ 
clined to do so if rather restricted for room. 
Coleus. —Keep tying down the shoots as they 
develop, and pinch those that are inclined to make 
loose rampant growth. This must be closely attended 
to when the plants are trained flat. Less tying is 
necessary in pyramidal specimens ; and if a broad, 
flat-headed bush is desired, a considerable amount of 
pinching is necessary. The plants must be fairly well 
exposed to light, in order to develop their beautiful 
colours. Give an abundance of water, especially during 
bright weather, and ventilate freely to keep them 
short-jointed. 
Clep.odendron fallax.— Plants of these that were 
cut down in autumn with a view to keep them dwarf 
may be pinched to encourage a bushy habit. Towards 
the end of summer the buds must be allowed to 
develop for autumn and winter flowering. 
THE GREENHOUSE. 
Camellias. —Plants in pots that have made good 
growth may now with safety be stood in the open air 
to gradually ripen their wood. A slightly-shaded 
position should, if possible, be selected for them, or the 
pots, at least, should be shaded and stood on a cool 
bottom of coal ashes for the rest of the summer. It 
will still be necessary to pay close attention to watering, 
even in rainy weather, because although the surface 
may be wet, it is often misleading. A great quantity 
of the rain will be thrown off the pots or tubs altogether 
by the thick masses of foliage, hence the necessity of 
inspecting the pots from time to time. 
Heaths, &c.—Many hard-wooded plants may be 
turned out in the same way as Camellias, including 
Heaths, Epacris, Azaleas, and various shrubby green¬ 
house plants. Before turning them out see that the 
Heaths are in no way infested with mildew, which is 
very liable to attack them at this season. If so, give 
them a good dusting of flour of sulphur, or syringe 
them with a mixture of the latter in water. 
THE FRUIT HOUSES. 
Vineries. —Early forced pot Vines may be placed out 
of doors and the house utilised in some other way. 
They may be forced again if required, but they cannot 
be depended upon with certainty to produce a good 
crop ; nevertheless, if room can be afforded them they 
may be tried. They should be stood in front of some 
wall, against which the stems may be nailed or other¬ 
wise fastened, to thoroughly ripen the wood. Should 
the earliest lot have been planted out, then the main 
point for consideration will be to ripen the wood, and 
for this purpose the house should be well ventilated 
night and day, using at the same time a little fire-heat 
during the day, especially in cloudy wet weather, with 
which we have been visited since the severe thunder¬ 
storms that occurred a short time ago. 
Melons. —A batch of these planted now in a pit or 
house adapted for the purpose would come into bearing 
during the autumn months, and would prove accept¬ 
able when the main supply is getting short. The 
plants should, of course, now be in readiness, and 
might occupy the pit in which the earliest lot of pot 
Vines were forced. 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 
"Wall Trees. —In relieving the wall trees of their 
breast wood and other superfluous shoots, that will be 
a good opportunity of determining the amount of the 
ravages of insect pests that are particularly abundant 
this year. The heavy rains of recent occurrence will 
have done much to check the increase of soft-bodied 
insects, such as aphides ; but the black species 
affecting Peaches, Nectarines, and Plums, as well as 
many other subjects, are extremely tenacious of life, 
and require more than ordinary violence to destroy or 
even dislodge them. Where they affect the tips of un¬ 
necessary shoots, the latter may be removed bodily, 
thus getting rid of the insects ; but the tips of needful 
wood may occasionally be removed also if the branches 
have attained a fair length. The whole of the prunings 
should be taken to the rubbish heap and burned 
without delay. 
Netting against Birds. —Some of the early 
varieties of Cherries have now commenced colouring, 
and where gardens are surrounded with much wood, 
harbouring birds, it will be necessary to net the trees, 
using a double layer where small birds are the chief 
enemies. Several of the early varieties of Strawberries, 
such as Noble, King of the Earlies, &c., will also 
require to be netted at once. 
-- 
ORCHID NOT ES AND G LEANINGS. 
The Orchid Growers’ Calendar. 
Now that the bulk of the Odontoglossums have gone 
out of bloom, it is a good time to give them another 
overhauling, and thereby find out any plants that may 
have started into growth, and which require re-potting 
before the larger batch, which I think is best done in 
September. The presence of green-fly on the flowers 
causes the bulbs and the underside of the leaves to 
become black and sticky, and now that most of the 
blooms have been cut off, it is a good opportunity to 
sponge the plants over with soft water, and thus to 
make all clean again, as it is apparent that cleanliness 
is one of the first principles in the successful culti¬ 
vation of Orchids. The plants in the other houses 
may then be gone through as opportunity occurs, for 
the shifting of a batch of plants to clean and rearrange 
them often leads to the finding of slugs and woodlice, 
which so frequently do some damage before their 
presence becomes known. 
Where it is necessary to have the houses painted 
inside, the present is a good time to commence, and it 
is absolutely necessary to clear out all the plants before 
the painters commence operations, and they should not 
be taken back again until the paint has become 
thoroughly dry and hard. If the newly-painted 
houses have a thorough good fumigating with tobacco- 
paper the day before the plants are taken back again, 
it will greatly tend to lessen the smell of paint. 
The recent storms have supplied us with an abundance 
of pure soft water, which it is advisable to keep for 
watering the plants with, using hard water for damping 
down and washing out, unless the supply of soft 
water at command is unlimited.— IF. P. 
PhaL/enopsis Mari/e. 
The flowers of this species are moderate in size, but 
they are numerously produced on erect panicles, and 
from their rich and varied colours are very effective. 
The sepals and petals are transversely banded with 
chocolate-red on a white ground, and are more or less 
tinted or blotched with magenta at the base. The lip 
is magenta-purple, paler at the margin, and bearded 
with hairs along the central ridge. The leaves are 
oblong, dark green, and arranged in a two-ranked 
manner. It differs from allied species in its smaller, 
much more numerous flowers, which are borne on a 
branching inflorescence. Neither does it emit the 
strong odour of pomade or hair oil which is so char¬ 
acteristic of the flowers of P. violacea. A finely- 
flowered piece may be seen in the East Indian house 
at Kew. 
Orchis foliosa. 
Considering the hardiness of this beautiful species, 
and the facility with which it may be cultivated either 
out of doors or in pots, it is no little matter for surprise 
that it should find its way so slowly into gardens. The 
difficulties that some growers have experienced in the 
cultivation of terrestrial Orchids have no doubt deterred 
others from attempting it; but there are several species 
which occasion no difficulty whatever, and Orchis foliosa 
is one of these. The stems vary in height from 15 ins. 
to 30 ins., according to the conditions under which the 
plant is grown. The former size is a very good one for 
pot work, and a batch of plants may be seen of this 
size in a north aspect pit at Chiswick, in the girdens 
of the Royal Horticultural Society. The leaves are 
large bright green and are continued up the stem, where 
they become gradually smaller till they merge into the 
bracts of the inflorescence. From this fact the species 
is well named 0. foliosa. The flowers are produced in 
long dense spikes, and in the aggregate are very 
effective. All parts are reddish purple, and the lip is 
marbled with darker markings or spots. 
Oncidium sphacelatum. 
There are two forms of this plant in cultivation, one 
having much larger flowers than the other. The latter 
is, however, by no means plentiful, judging from 
Lindley’s figure of the smaller or typical form given in 
the Botanical Register, 28-30, which cannot be con¬ 
sidered a bad form, if the artists colouring of the same 
has been faithful. Their great number, however, 
rather than their colour and their endurance is a point 
in their favour. Both sepals, petals and lip are yellow, 
transversely blotched with brown. The specific name 
sphacelatum, signifying scorched, refers to the notched 
wings of the column, which are marked with dull 
brown spots as if they had been scorched. The species 
is a native of Guatemala, Mexico and Honduras ; and 
in this country is remarkable for the length of time 
the flower-spikes require to develop. At Gunnersbury 
House recently the flower-stems were from 7 ft. to 8 ft. in 
length, and copiously branched from the top almost to 
the base. The scape showed itself at least six months 
ago, and the flowers now in full bloom are mixed and 
interlaced with Stephanotis on the roof of the house. 
It cannot flower every year owing to the length of time 
it takes to develop its great quantity of bloom. 
Zygopetalum stapelioides. 
Though introduced from Brazil so long ago as 1843, 
this interesting little Orchid, perhaps better known 
under the name of Promenasa stapelioides, is not nearly 
so common in collections as it deserves to be. It is 
now in flower with Mr. B. S. Williams, and the 
Stapelia-like character of its blossoms attract the 
attention of every visitor. The small roundish ovate 
sepals and petals are greenish yellow, transversely 
barred with dark purple, and the lip is deep purple. 
-- 
FRUIT CULTURE ON FARMS. 
I believe that orchards on farms can be made to pay, 
but very much depends upon how the culture of the fruit 
is carried out. English growers have to contend with a 
formidable competition from abroad, and if fruit culture 
be entered upon, it must be upon proper lines—intel¬ 
ligently, systematically, properly, and thoroughly. I 
am encouraged in asserting that fruit orchards could be 
made to pay by having heard farmers state that their 
fruit orchards helped them to tide over times when, had 
it not been for this aid, they must have gone to the wall. 
On many farms the orchard is not considered such a 
valuable adjunct as it could be made to become. On 
some farms it is a feature totally neglected. It 
is too often regarded as outside the attention of the 
farmer ; a pleasant place indeed for the women folk to 
walk in, and the children to play in, but not as a 
source of income to the agriculturist. The county of 
Herts does not rank very high as to the extent to which 
fruit culture is carried on within its borders. Some 
parts of the county are better adapted for the purpose 
than others. At Rickmansworth there is generally a 
light soil, resting on gravel, and fruit trees, especially 
Apples, do well in that locality. At Berkhamstead 
there is a fertile vegetable mould with a subsoil of 
strong yellow clay and flint, some flint being mixed 
with the surface soil. On going across to Cheshunt, 
there is a strong loam resting on gravel, which pro¬ 
duces fine Apples. On proceeding further east, to 
Sawbridgeworth, there is found drift clay and chalky 
gravel of a fertile character ; but there is a keener 
climate than is felt on the western side of the county. 
It is these varying differences of soil which have pro¬ 
bably had a good deal to do with circumscribing the 
areas in which fruit culture for profit is carried on in 
Hertfordshire, as compared with Kent, Devon, Hereford, 
Somerset and other counties. There are three im¬ 
portant considerations which must engage the at¬ 
tention of those who contemplate embarking upon the 
cultivation of fruit—first, what to grow ; second, how 
to grow it; third, how to profitably dispose of tho 
produce grown. 
What to Grow. 
Of large fruits grown for profit, Apples would seem to 
stand first, Plums next, then Pears, and then Cherries. 
Of small fruits, Strawberries, Raspberries, Currants and 
Gooseberries are the most important ; Filberts might 
also b3 planted to give a profitable crop in odd 
sheltered spots where other fruits would not grow well. 
But these different fruits do not all require precisely 
the same climate and soil. Mr. W. Paul, of Waltham 
