376 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
February 9, 1889. 
Ccelogyne Massangeana. 
When a visitor is walking through the houses of any 
enthusiastic Orchid grower who possesses this plant, the 
latter seldom fails to point to it with pride and satis¬ 
faction, especially if he happens to have a large plant 
of it in a basket slung up to the roof. The individual 
flowers are neither very large nor particularly showy, 
but when seen in long pendulous racemes, one cannot 
help being charmed with them. The sepals and petals 
are ochre-yellow, while the lip is of a maroon-brown 
with yellow veins, and is furnished with three keels or 
plates extending along its whole length. The flower- 
spike is produced from the base of the pseudo-bulb, and 
when grown in a basket so that nothing interferes with 
it, hangs down almost perpendicularly for a length of 
18 ins. or 21 ins., bearing from twenty to twenty-four 
or more flowers. The leaves are very large and ever¬ 
green, while the plant is vigorous, and blooms twice a 
year. 
Dendrobium Devonianum. 
A small piece of this is decidedly an ornament to any 
collection ; but a specimen like that which flowered 
with R. B. White, Esq., Arddarroch, in 1887, and 
of which we have just received a photograph, must have 
been simply grand. The specimen formed a compact 
mass, bearing over 850 blooms. Those who know the 
fascinating beauty of this species can hardly picture 
such a wonderful piece of floral splendour. There are 
sweral species of Dendrobium exhibiting the same or a 
greater amount of fringing so characteristic of this 
species, but the chaste and charming blending of 
colour seen here is absent from the others. The ground¬ 
colour of the lip is white, with a large golden yellow 
blotch on each side at the base, and purple at the tip, 
while the margin is deeply cut into delicate branched 
fringes. The sepals and petals are white tipped with 
purple, and varieties occasionally appear -with the 
nerves tinted with purple. The photograph of the 
specimen in question shows the stems to be nearly 
covered throughout their length with bloom. 
Miltonia spectabilis. 
The dwarf habit and large flowers of this species are a 
great recommendation to it, although it cannot compare 
with the variety M. s. Moreliana, generally regarded as 
a distinct species in gardens. The sepals and petals are 
spreading, white, and more or less marked with purple 
at the base. The lip is obovate, wedge-shaped, of a 
soft rose colour with darker veins, and a dark purple 
blotch at the base. It has the flattened flowers of the 
M. vexillaria type, but differs in several respects in 
minor detail. It flowers at different seasons of the 
year, according to conditions and cultural treatment. 
A figure of the type is given in a recent number of the 
Revue de l'Horticulture Beige. 
Saccolabium bellinum. 
Amongst the smaller-flowered occupants of the East 
Indian house few can excel the quiet beauty of 
this species. Compared with other kinds of Sacco¬ 
labium the flowers are not particularly small, but they 
are few in number, and arranged in corymbs at the end 
of short peduncles. The plant is small, with rigid, 
curved and keeled leaves arranged in two ranks, and 
unequally lobed at the apex, like those of other species. 
The flowers are, however, extremely beautiful. The 
sepals and petals are richly spotted or blotched with 
blackish purple on a yellow ground colour. The lip is 
the most curious and beautiful organ of the flower, and is 
excavated at the base into a deep and round well-like 
cavity, quite unlike that of the larger and more 
commonly cultivated species. The whole of the lip is 
white, the sack being spotted with purple ; the limb is 
covered with fleshy, white hairs, and spotted with 
purple on a small yellow disk at its base. The hairs 
give it a shaggy appearance, and render it very distinct 
as a species. It must be grown in a basket and hung 
up near the glass, to get the best results. It i 3 a 
native of Burmah, from whence it was introduced as 
recently as 1884, and has already found its way into a 
good many collections. A plant is now flowering at 
Kew. 
Dendrobium crassinode Barberianum. 
Beautiful as is the typical form of this species, the 
variety offers a considerable improvement. The sepals 
and petals are white, tipped with pale purple, while in 
the variety under notice the blotches are much larger, 
and of a deeper mauve-purple colour. The lip is large 
and conspicuous, the lower and bigger half being of a 
deep golden yellow, surrounded by a white band, and 
tipped with purple like the other segments. The 
flowers differ from those of D. Wardianum in the absence 
of the two characteristic brownish black blotches of 
the latter, and the stems have large knotty joints. 
The Gardeners’ Calendar. 
THE STOVE. 
Palms and Cvcads. —Such re-potting as is necessary 
must be done before the season becomes too far 
advanced. Work of other kinds, both indoors and 
out, will then press so hard upon the gardener’s 
attention that subjects of the kind mentioned get 
neglected. Another reason for doing this work now 
is that the roots should be left undisturbed when fresh 
growth commences. In the case of Cycads especially, 
a large bud is in the process of development during 
the winter, and when the temperature rises the bud 
bursts and a large crown of leaves is rapidly formed, 
taxing the resources of the root and other parts of 
the plant to supply the large amount of necessary 
food, so that potting should not be done at that 
time. When potting large specimens use a blunt- 
pointed piece of wood with which to press the new soil 
firmly down between the pot and the old ball con¬ 
taining the roots, otherwise, when water is applied, 
it will all run away through the new material. 
Seed Sowing. — In establishments where fine- 
foliaged subjects are grown for sub-tropical bedding, 
many of the kinds should now be sown, with the view 
of getting them well established before bedding-out 
time comes round. Large-leaved subjects are valuable 
when planted in the open air in proportion to the size 
they attain, so that no opportunity should be lost of 
sowing such things as Wigandias, Eucalyptus globulus, 
Ricinus in various forms, but especially the highly- 
coloured R. Gibsoni and R. sanguineus. There are 
several forms of Solanums much valued for their 
foliage in the subtropical garden, and in such cases it 
may be necessary to sow seeds as in the case of S. sisym- 
briifolium and S. aviculare, better known under the 
name of S. laciniatum. Other kinds, such as S. 
marginatum and S. robustuin, are generally propagated 
from cuttings. 
THE GREENHOUSE. 
Chinese Primulas. —Where it is intended to save 
seeds of these, a batch of the very best should be 
selected about this time or when the plants are in full 
bloom. This will depend on the time the plants were 
sown, but in most cases the main batch is now in 
perfection. They should all be carefully crossed with 
the camel-hair brush, the intelligent operator working 
in such a way as to obtain certain desired results with 
regard to the vigour of the plants as a whole, the size 
and intensity or delicacy in colouring of the flower. 
The best plan of procedure is to select for seed-bearing 
plants those that present good habit, vigour, constitu¬ 
tional and other qualities, aud to put colour into the 
flowers by using pollen from a plant possessing the 
desired hue. Almost any colour can be infused into 
any one strain in this way, and when next year’s 
seedlings germinate and afterwards come into flower, 
again select the best* of any particular variety from 
which to save seed. In this way can the strains be 
fixed and perfected. In establishments where but a 
limited quantity is required, the plants may be placed 
on a shelf or similar place out of the way where the 
flowers will be kept moderately dry and airy. After 
the blooms have given place to young seed pods, assist 
the plants with liquid manure. 
THE FORCING HOUSES. 
Vineries. —As soon as the bunches have been thinned 
in the earliest house, if the Vines are planted out, give 
the whole border a thorough soaking with water heated 
to a temperature of 80° to 85°, and in which a good 
proportion of liquid manure has been used before 
applying it. When tying in the shoots witlV their 
laterals be careful to have the trellis or wirework 
well covered with foliage, but not crowded, as it is a 
great diaadvantage to the Vines at all times, more 
especially so in the winter, when light is deficient. 
One leaf will be quite sufficient to leave on the laterals, 
and should space be deficient for their proper accommo¬ 
dation, then the shoot should be entirely removed. 
Damp down the paths and borders several times a day, 
and in keeping the evaporating pans well filled use 
liquid manure freely. A night temperature of 65° 
should be given, with a rise by day, ventilating as the 
thermometer rises, and closing the house again early in 
the afternoon. Later houses should have the temper¬ 
ature increased as the shoots lengthen, until it reaches 
a minimun of 65° at night. Tie or loop down the 
shoots before they touch the glass. 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Fruit Trees. —The open weather has greatly facili¬ 
tated the planting of all kinds of fruit trees, and that 
operation should now be all but accomplished where 
such work has been carried on without neglect. It is 
unadvisable to nail newly planted fruit trees on walls, 
or to tie those trained as espaliers ; but in the case of 
those that have been planted for a couple of months or 
so, the soil will now have sufficiently subsided, carrying 
the tree-roots with them, so that the trees may be tied 
or nailed without fear of further sinking. 
-- 
AN ORCHID SWINDLE. 
A warrant was granted last week, at Birmingham, 
for the arrest of an ingenious swindler, one of whose 
professional names is Ritchie, on a charge of forging 
and uttering on a bank at Birmingham a bill of 
exchange on an American bank for 250 dollars. On 
the 13th December last a man about forty years of age, 
of a dark complexion, with black hair, heavy dark 
moustache, and with the general air of a cultured and 
travelled man, and speaking with a strong American 
accent, called at Highbury, Birmingham, the residence 
of the Rt. Hon. J. Chamberlain, M.P. Finding Hr. 
Chamberlain’s eldest son at home, he introduced him¬ 
self to that gentleman as Mr. Ritchie, and produced 
what purported to be a letter of introduction from Mr. 
Erasmus Wiman, a gentleman of high position in the 
United States, whose acquaintance Mr. Chamberlain 
had made during his first and official visit to the States. 
The letter stated that the bearer of it, Mr. Ritchie, was 
this writer’s nephew, and set forth that his visit to 
Highbury was for the purpose of presenting speci¬ 
mens of rare American Orchids for addition to 
Mr. Chamberlain’s already noted collection. Mr. 
Ritchie’s description of the Orchids which his uncle 
desired to present was very circumstantial, and he 
requested Mr. Austen Chamberlain to send one of his 
gardeners over to Liverpool to receive them on their 
arrival, at a date a little distant, by a steamship the 
name of which he gave. Mr. Austen Chamberlain, 
having perused the letter of introduction, was satisfied 
as to the credentials of his visitor, whom he welcomed, 
and readily acceded to his request that he might be 
shown the collection which his uncle’s contributions 
were shortly to extend. He displayed a keen and 
intelligent interest in the contents of the Orchid 
houses, and when the visit was about to terminate he 
affected to have suddenly discovered that he had lost 
his purse, and that his dismay at the loss was the 
greater because he proposed that evening changing his 
hotel in Birmingham, and that as it was past banking 
hours he would be unable to cash a banker's draft which 
he had in his possession. He asked if Mr. Chamberlain 
would relieve him of his difficulty by a small loan, to be 
repaid the following day, and Mr. Austin, who appears 
to have been completely taken in by the appearance 
and specious representations of his visitor, consented, 
and handed £10 to Mr. Ritchie. That gentleman 
accepted the loan with profuse thanks for the accom¬ 
modation, and after adding grateful acknowledgment 
of the further courtesy which had been extended 
towards him took his leave. On the following day he 
again saw Mr. Austin Chamberlain, whom he induced 
to introduce him at his bankers in order that he might 
cash a bill of 250 dollars on the American house of 
Driscoll, Morgan & Co., and discharge the liability he 
had incurred at Highbury. Mr. Chamberlain con¬ 
sented to the bill being paid into his account, and cash 
given to Mr. Ritchie. Out of the English equivalent 
for the 250 dollars, roundly £50, Air. Ritchie repaid 
to Mr. Chamberlain the £10 lent on the previous day, 
and with profuse acknowledgments of his kindness 
departed. Air. Austen Chamberlain has not seen Air. 
Ritchie since. The bill was sent to America for 
collection, and in due time was returned dishonoured 
as a forgery ; but long before that fact became known 
to Air. Joseph Chamberlain he had been convinced 
that he had been swindled. The head gardener at 
Highbury had been to Liverpool to receive the “rare 
American Orchids,” and had returned with the in¬ 
formation, gained after considerable waste of time and 
trouble, that no consignment of any kind had arrived 
from America for Air. Chamberlain. A few days after 
his interviews with Air. Austen Chamberlain he pre¬ 
sented himself to Alessrs. Sander & Co., the noted 
Orchid growers at St. Albans, and had the consummate 
impudence to represent himself as Air. Austen Chamber- 
lain. He had paved the way for his visit by a letter 
written a day or two previously, purporting to come 
from Highbury, and notifying Messrs. Sander that Air. 
Austen Chamberlain would call upon them a few days 
