344 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
January 26, 1889. 
Barrington, claimed by the French as a synonym of 
the Chancellor; the "Walburton Admirable, which is 
evidently a seedling from the Noblesse ; the Late 
Admirable, which is also claimed by French po- 
mologists as a synonym of the Bourdin. The orchard 
house has, I am glad to say, introduced a new race of 
late Peaches ; these are—-Princess of "Wales, Lady 
Palmerston, Golden Eagle, the Nectarine, Sea Eagle, 
Gladstone, and Osprey, all of which fruits in the 
orchard house, properly grown, are far superior to the 
Late Admirable, Chancellor, Gregory’s Late, Desse 
Tardive, or any other so-called October Peaches. There 
is a variety of the Peach which has never been very 
popular in England, but which is used in the south of 
France for stewing ; this is the Pavie, the fruit being 
large and heavy, with tough and tasteless flesh, and a 
skin as disagreable to the touch as cotton velvet. This 
is the Melacoton of the Spanish (Anglice, Cotton 
Apples). In the Provencal tongue it is Mirecoton or 
Mirlecoton, and in the United States, where the fruit 
seems to be popular, it is ingeniously transformed into 
Malagatune. If these Peaches could be grown out of 
doors like Pears or Apples they might make a pleasant 
addition to the dinner table, but they are not worth 
either the time or cost of glass or wall culture. 
Nectarines. 
Since the introduction of the Stanwick Nectarine, a 
great advance has taken place in this smooth-skinn d 
brother of the Peach. Some few years since the Elruge 
and Violette Hative were the principal sorts grown ; 
we have now a more extended range. These ordinary 
varieties of Nectarines, unless very skilfully and excep¬ 
tionally grown, are small and insipid. The green- 
fleshed sorts have not been considered as equal in 
flavour to the orange-fleshed kinds. I think, however, 
this is no longer the case, the intermixture of the 
Stanwick race having imparted a quality of flesh 
differing completely from the older sorts. This is 
exemplified by the Victoria Nectarine, which was 
raised by my father, and is the result of a cross between 
the Violette Hative and the Stanwick. This is a very 
delicious and distinct Nectarine, but it ripens too late 
for walls in our climate, and must, therefore, be grown 
under glass to be enjoyed in perfection. The early 
sort, Lord Napier, I believe, inherits the Stanwick 
blood, although it came from a Peach. This Nectarine 
begins a series of fruits which last through August and 
September, divided into two distinct types—the orange- 
fleshed and the green-fleshed. There are now many 
important varieties of the former, and I venture to say 
that the better known they are the more popular they 
will become, the principal sorts being the Rivers 
Orange, the Pitmaston, Humboldt, and Pine Apple. 
These ripen generally in the order in which they are 
placed. The most decided success of late years in 
seedling Nectarines is the Lord Napier, ripening fully 
ten days in advance of the Hunt’s Tawny, a Nectarine 
valued for its precocity, but otherwise of no merit. In 
Peaches and Nectarines, as in other fruits, I hope we 
shall cease to place a fictitious value upon varieties 
because they happen to be old and historical. It will 
be much better, both for ourselves and for others, if we 
can improve the standard of flavour and merit. This 
can only be done by the judicious raising of seedling 
fruits. I have tried with varying success for many 
years ; but considerable improvement is still desirable, 
both in early and late Peaches. The failure of flavour 
attributed to the latter, however, appears to me to 
result from the fact that the tree, unless kept in a 
gentle warmth, is unable to complete the ripening. 
For this reason I think that the late sorts should be 
grown in a house devoted especially to them, so that 
the necessary heat should be applied. This continual 
heat is injurious to those sorts which have ripened 
their fruits and desire rest. As late Peaches have a 
high value in the market, the extra expense is fully 
repaid to the cultivator .—From a paper read at the 
Horticultural Club. 
-- >X<~—. ■ 
The Gardeners’ Calendar, 
THE STOVE. 
Seed Sowing. —Batches of tuberous-rooted Begonias, 
Gloxinias and Cyclamens should now be sown if the 
operation has not already been done. The first two 
are the most important at this season, because the 
seedlings will flower during the course of the summer, 
so that if a collection is being formed a selection may 
be made before the close of the season, and the worthless 
kinds thrown away. After filling well-drained pans or 
boxes with light sandy soil, mixed with well-decayed 
leaves, it may be pressed firm after putting a sifted 
layer of the same material on the top. "Water, and 
after the superfluous moisture has drained away, sow 
the seeds evenly, and not too thickly. Sprinkle a 
little of the sifted soil or even silver sand on the top, 
so as to settle the seeds, but not bury them. Place a 
square of glass over the pans so that no watering will 
be required till the seeds germinate. Stand in a shady 
place till the seedlings appear, when they must have 
light. 
Achimenes, Gesneras, and Gloxinias. —The pots 
containing the rhizomes and tubers of the above should 
be transferred from their winter quarters to a propa¬ 
gating pit or stove, and if dry receive a watering with 
the object of moistening the ball. The tubers and 
rhizomes will absorb moisture, and being stimulated by 
the heat, will soon commence to push, and when the 
tops appear above the soil they may be potted off. 
Achimenes may, however, be put in fresh soil, placing 
the rhizomes rather thickly, and covering them up till 
they have made some growth, -when they may be 
transplanted to their flowering pots or pans, as the 
case may be. This may be done for an early batch, 
leaving the main body of the tubers to be dealt with 
later on. 
Tyd^eas. —These, as well as Gesneras, which flower 
in winter, will now be going past their best, and should 
be induced to go to rest by gradually withholding 
water. They must on no account be suddenly dried 
off, or the rhizomes cannot be properly plumped up, 
and must suffer in consequence. Do not store them 
away till thoroughly at rest. 
THE GREENHOUSE. 
Herbaceous Calceolarias. —The potting on of these 
must not be neglected at this season, otherwise good 
results at flowering time cannot be expected. Those 
in 60-sized pots should be potted in 32 size, using rich, 
light loam, with a good admixture of leaf-soil. The 
plants will then require more room to allow of the best 
development of the foliage, and must have a light 
position near the glass if growing in a greenhouse. A 
heated frame with a temperature of 45° by night, and 
a rise of 10° by day, would be a more suitable place 
than a greenhouse at this stage. If in the latter struc¬ 
ture a great many might be accommodated on a shelf 
near the glass. 
Fuchsias. —In order to obtain an early batch of 
these, the desired number of old plants should be 
pruned into shape, and placed in some house where a 
gentle heat is maintained till young shoots commence 
to push, when the roots should be shaken out of the 
old soil and re-potted in light, rich, open soil. Some 
growers shake out the roots before starting .them into 
growth, but the buds break more regularly if started 
before the roots are disturbed. 
THE FORCING HOUSES. 
Early Peach House.— Attend to the disbudding of 
the trees in the earliest house as soon as it becomes 
necessary, so as to throw the whole vigour of the trees 
into the remaining shoots and the young fruit. In 
some establishments they are still in the flowering 
stage, but as soon as that is over, the trees may be 
regularly syringed twice a day—say in the morning 
and again early in the afternoon—to keep down all 
insect pests. 
Early Vinery. —The Vines that were started in the 
first week of November will now be passing out of 
flower, or if they have made favourable progress, the 
bunches will soon require to be thinned. Ventilation 
must be carefully done at this critical stage, so as to 
prevent currents of cold air from playing on the tender 
fruit. 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Seed Sowing. —Should there be an insufficient supply 
of autumn Cauliflower, or if, through some cause or 
other, the young plants in the frames have kept badly, 
then a sowing must be made in boxes, afterwards 
hardening off the seedlings, and transferring them to a 
cold frame, in which they can be sheltered till the 
weather is favourable for planting them out of doors. 
Brussels Sprouts and Lettuce may be treated in the 
same way. 
Standard Fruit Trees. —The present time pre¬ 
sents a favourable opportunity for going over all trees, 
whether in the garden or orchard, and thinning them 
out where crowded. Weak, useless, and decayed 
growths should also be cut out of the heads, so as to 
admit light and air amongst the branches. 
ORCHID NO TES AND GLEANINGS. 
Odontoglossum coronarium. 
A remarkably fine spike of this Odontoglot has been 
sent us by Mr. W. Stevens, Walton GraDge, Stone, 
Staffordshire. It bore twenty-eight flowers, occupying 
a space a little over 9 ins. in length. The individual 
blooms measured about ins. across the petals. Both 
sepals and petals are incurved from about the middle, 
which make the flowers appear smaller than they really 
are ; but they have a beauty of their own not seen in 
other species of the genus. The sepals and petals are 
of a rich reddish coppery brown, variegated at the base, 
especially of the latter, with a few yellow lines and 
numerous brown spots on a pale ground, while the 
margins of all are yellow and beautifully crisped. The 
lip is a curious organ, and reminds one of that seen in 
0. Insleayi, and is obcordate, somewhat spathulate, 
yellow in the upper half, and brown at the base ; the 
side lobes are adnate to the claw, and ascending along¬ 
side of the prominent, white and brown three-lobed 
crest. The white column is spotted with brown, and 
is furnished with two conspicuously spotted wings, 
which are connected by a process that forms a distinct- 
looking hood to the column. The successful cultivation 
and flowering of this uncommon Orchid is a matter of 
no small importance, as it has peculiar likings of its 
own. In the first place the pseudo-bulbs are borne on 
elongated rhizomes slightly thicker than a goose-quill, 
each being separated from its neighbour by a distance 
of 2 ins. or 3 ins., so that pot culture is here inap¬ 
plicable. Long baskets or rafts have to be constructed 
for it, so that the yearly growth may have something 
to which it may cling and derive support. The baskets 
containing it should be filled with peat and sphagnum, 
and supported from the roof of the cool Orchid house, 
so as to be favourably situated with regard to light ; 
and the plants must not be allowed to get dry at any 
time of the year. 
Oncidium anthrocrene. 
Amongst the many well-cultivated Orchids in the 
collection belonging to W. L. Barclay, Esq., The 
Briars, Reigate, is a specimen of the now seldom seem 
Oncidium anthrocrene. The plant bears upwards of 
thirty flowers on the spike, nearly 1J ins. across. 
The spike is upright, and the flowers dark-coloured 
and very showy; the sepals and petals slightly 
undulated, chocolate-brown, barred with yellow. It is 
a good showy Orchid, somewhat resembling Oncidium 
"Weltoni in growth, and is, I believe, a native of Peru. 
It is well worth cultivating in the choicest collections, 
and flowering just now makes it doubly valuable. 
This collection has greatly improved under the fostering 
care of Mr. Bailey.— Easticus. 
Lycaste costata. 
This not very common species, which was named and 
described some thirty-five years ago, is now in flower in 
Mr. B. S. "Williams’ nursery at Holloway. The plants 
were imported for Anguloa eburnea, which the long 
pseudo-bulbs, as imported, closely resemble, but they 
turn out to be this Lycaste, which, like L. lanipes, is 
exceedingly free flowering. The blooms are like the 
last-named in being of a pale greenish white colour, 
while the lip and base of the petals are white, with a 
yellow blotch on the former, which is also fringed. 
SOPHRONITIS GRANDIFLORA AND S. VIOLACEA. 
A large number of the first named constitutes a 
conspicuous ornament in the cool Odontoglossum house 
of F. G. Tautz, Esq., Studley House, Shepherd’s Bush. 
The variety S. g. rosea is also flowering. They are 
grown in baskets and small Orchid pans arranged on 
shelves close to the glass. The recent fogs played sad 
havoc with the flowers of this exceedingly handsome 
species, turning them livid or washing out the colour 
as if they had been dipped in hot water. A few fine 
days, however, with an absence of fog, restores their 
beauty again by expansion of fresh flowers. From the 
fact that two flowers are occasionally produced on a 
spike is evidence of the good cultural treatment they 
receive. S. violacea, also flowering, is an interesting 
species, although the flowers are much smaller than 
those of their congener, and violet-magenta in colour. 
It has the same compact, neat habit of growth as S. 
grandiflora, but the pseudo-bulbs are smaller. Struc¬ 
turally there is a considerable difference between the 
two, so that it is not surprising they are sometimes 
placed in different genera. S. violacea has an obovate 
undivided lip, while in S. grandiflora the same organ 
is conspicuously three-lobed. The crest at the base of 
the lip differs slightly in the two cases, and in the first 
named the pollinia are yellow, while in the latter they 
