January 19, 1889. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
325 
considered the best. The all-round good cultivation, 
and neat orderly manner in which every department 
is maintained, reflects great credit upon Mr. 
Birkenshaw, the gardener in charge, who is most 
liberally supported in his efforts by the owner of 
Bridehead.— J. Crook. 
-- 
DAMPING IN CHRYSANTHEMUM 
BLOOMS.* 
Damping of the blooms is one of the greatest annoy¬ 
ances Chrysanthemum growers have to contend with, 
for in a severe case damp steals over the blooms so 
suddenly as to do irreparable mischief in a few hours. 
What makes it more vexatious, is that it does not 
occur in the early part of the season when there might 
be time to secure fresh plants and so in some measure 
recover our loss ; but comes after a season’s labour and 
care have been bestowed on the plants, and those in 
charge are looking hopefully forward for satisfactory 
results to reward them for their patient and enthu¬ 
siastic labour. 
There are few cultivators of the Chrysanthemum 
whose experience extends over two or three seasons 
the soil in the pots sour. At the approach of autumn 
—say the middle of September—the buds have all been 
taken, some perhaps five weeks, and the wood having 
become hard up to the buds, a few of the earliest will 
be showing colour. Owing to the heavy dews we have 
at this season the plants are unable to take up so much 
water as they have been accustomed to, and also partly 
because they are not making growth. But strong 
manures are continued at this stage to obtain size and 
substance in the florets. In my opinion they are 
necessary to bring the blooms to perfection, although 
we may lose a few, especially in the case of varieties 
that are especially susceptible to damp. But I think 
care in watering the plants will reduce the evil to a 
minimum. By careful watering, I mean by applying 
water only when needed. If water is applied at this 
stage when the soil is wet, and especially if the air is 
charged with moisture, the plants cannot find an out¬ 
let for the superfluous moisture, except in the most 
tender part of the plant—the bloom—leading with the 
first adverse weather to the decay of the florets, called 
“ damping.” 
In the second form of “damping, ” the worst case I 
to ascend, and then be condensed on the blooms, thus 
aggravating the evil it is intended to cure. 
Numbers of early blooms were lost this season 
through a kind of damping of the lower florets, which 
faded in the way a bloom would through age, although 
these had, perhaps, not finished their centres. I 
believe this is attributable to the foggy weather we had 
at the time, for with drier weather a great improvement 
at once became apparent, although I think blooms 
generally did not have the staying powers of an average 
season when we had more sun. I think this season the 
Chrysanthemums have suffered with most other plants. 
As this is such a very exceptional season, I need not 
dwell on this matter, for after all, our efforts are feeble 
without that prime agent, the sun. In conclusion, 
whilst I think where high feeding is carried on for 
the production of high-class blooms, damping will be 
present to some extent in most seasons, I think the 
best safeguards against damp are careful watering and 
ventilating, a dry and airy atmosphere, avoiding as 
much as possible all sudden changes, and by the 
frequent use of stimulants rather than by strong doses 
occasionally. 
OdONTOGLOSSUM CRISPUM, VAR. LEOPARDINUM. 
ODONTOGLOSSUM CRISPUM BlCKLEYENSE. 
who have not felt the annoyance and perplexity which 
this damping causes, and as all good cultivators are 
enthusiastic and devoted to their plants it naturally 
leads them to try and ascertain the cause of this 
mysterious evil. Everything is thought out to try and 
find where in the past treatment of the plants cause 
may have been given for such bad results. The supply 
of stimulants, chemicals, the drainage of the pots, and 
ventilation, are all reviewed in order to find where 
culture may have been wrong or unsuited to the plants, 
in order to avoid those bad results in the future. 
In my own experience I have not suffered more than 
others, not so much as many have, but I have con¬ 
sidered there are two forms of damping. One form 
damps from the base and centre of the florets, gradually 
stealing over the bloom until it is useless ; and in the 
other, the bloom is suddenly affected at the upper 
part, and presents the appearance of having been 
scalded with hot water. 
In the first form my opinion is that it is chiefly 
caused by overfeeding and overwatering. To obtain 
the highly developed blooms we meet with in the prize 
stands at the exhibitions, it is necessary to assist 
them with manure, either in a liquid state from the 
farmyard, or some of the various chemical compounds 
to be had at the present day. While the plants are 
growing, manure judiciously applied is of great benefit 
to build up vigorous plants, especially when the pots 
are full of roots and there is little danger of turning 
■“Read by Mr. C. Gibson, Morden Park Gardens, Mitcham, at 
the National Chrysanthemum Society’s Conference, Jan. 9, 1SS9. 
remember occurred about three seasons ago. We had 
a few days very hot and bright, succeeded by a sudden 
change to wet with a little fog ; it was about the third 
week in October, and the early blooms damped most 
severely at the time. I well remember there was a 
general lament amongst the growers at the Floral 
Committee meeting we had a day or two after. But 
having another favourable change in the weather 
damping stopped, and in fact, I may say we were free 
from it for the rest of the season. As a grower I have 
had to guard against earliness, my plants having a 
tendency that way. Consequently, when housed, I 
used no fire heat while the weather kept favourable. 
When the atmosphere was not overcharged with 
moisture the blooms appeared all right, but with rain 
or fog suddenly setting in the chief damp occurred. 
The fire would then be lighted and the pipes kept 
constantly warm, more or less according to the weather, 
but the fire was out at no time except on the morning 
of a bright day, to be lighted again in the afternoon. 
From the time the firing was commenced there was a 
reduction in damping. This leads me to conclude that 
the atmosphere and the sudden change of the same 
have much to do with the damping, and especially 
where the blooms are suddenly affected. 
Fire-heat dispels the stagnant moisture and causes a 
buoyant motion in the air favourable to keeping the 
blooms. Where fire-heat is first applied and blooms 
are opening, take great care to keep the house well 
ventilated, and let the pipes waim gradually, or the 
sudden heat might cause a great quantity of moisture 
TWO BEAUTIFUL ODONTO- 
G-LOTS. 
The illustrations we give are those of two very choice 
forms of Odontoglossum crispum, the most popular 
and widely grown species. That on the left is 0. c. 
leopardinum, or leopard-spotted, a title it well merits 
on account of the profuse spotting that marks every 
organ of the flower. The ground colour is pure white, 
setting off the blotches, which are of a licli chocolate- 
brown, to the best advantage. The petals are jagged, 
as shown in the illustration ; but the latter scarcely 
shows the beautiful fringing all round the margin of 
the lip. The crest is prominent and yellow, while the 
white column is furnished with curiously fringed wings. 
The figure on the right is an illustration of 0. c. 
Bickleyense, which, while it shows a few incisions on 
the margins of the petals, is altogether distinct in the 
blotches, as well as in the ground colour, from those of 
0. c. leopardinum. Both are now flowering in the 
collection of H. M. Pollett, Esq., Fernside, Bickley, 
under the care of Mr. Parkes, the gardener. 0. c. 
leopardinum bears seven flowers on a spike, but 0. c. 
Bickleyense, which was shown at the Drill Hall, "West¬ 
minster, on Tuesday last, bore ten flowers on a spike 
about 30 ins. in length. The pseudo-bulbs and leaves 
were strong, healthy, and well developed. The ground 
colour of the sepals and petals is of a pale lemon- 
yellow, almost white, and are heavily blotched with 
cinnamon-brown in the manner indicated by the figure. 
The lip is of a deeper yellow, blotched with chestnut- 
brown and fringed at the margin. 
