116 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 24, 1891. 
THE KING OF DEN- 
DROBES. 
Such was the name given to an importation of 
Dendrobium Phalaenopsis Schroderianum, a thous¬ 
and plants or pieces of which were sold at the auction 
rooms of Messrs. Protheroe & Morris, Cheapside, 
on the 16th inst. Hitherto only about seven plants 
of it have been under cultivation in Europe, and 
most of them are in the splendid collection of Baron 
Schroder, at The Dell, Egham. Now that the 
excitement of the great sale is over we shall wait 
eagerly for the flowering of the new importation 
made by Messrs. F. Sander & Co., St. Albans. 
The story in connection with the importation is 
quite a sensational one. About eighteen months 
ago the collector arrived at a small port in New 
Guinea with 400 plants in his possession. The ship 
caught fire and everything was burnt, the crew and 
passengers escaping with their lives only by taking 
to the boats. Wiring home for instructions, the col¬ 
lector was told to return and collect more, notwith¬ 
standing that the rainy season was on. He obeyed 
much against his will, and later on wrote that he 
had arrived at his place of destination with his 
plants in the finest order, and assured Mr. Sander 
that he would get some striking novelties at last 
from the terrible country where he had gone to 
search for them. He forgot all his troubles when 
he discovered the first plants growing upon some 
isolated rocks on the sea shore, near the huts of the 
natives in which he was staying. Those isolated 
rocks could only be reached at low' tide, and were 
actually the graveyards of the natives. The dead 
bodies were not buried, but simply placed in a kind 
of coffin and stood amongst the plants in those 
places. The Dendrobe was growing in great luxuri¬ 
ance on the bare limestone rocks amongst the 
bleaching skulls and other bones of the dead rela¬ 
tives of the islanders. As might have been expected 
the natives did not relish the idea of rooting up the 
Dendrobe plants, which w'ere only w'eeds in their 
eyes, for fear of disturbing the repose of the de¬ 
parted. 
The sight of looking glasses, beads, brass wire and 
showy handkerchiefs was more potent than English 
gold in removing their conscientious scruples, and 
waving all reverence for the remains of 
their ancestors, they rooted up every plant 
they could get at. For the collector to have set 
about the uprooting of the. plants on his own ac¬ 
count would probably have cost him his life, as the 
people there think no more of killing a man than 
the cook here of killing a fowl. He describes them 
as the finest race, of savages he has seen, and in 
order to render his journey safer he w'ent with a 
Dutch trading party. 
The superstitious scruples of the savages were the 
more fully satisfied when the collector allow'ed one 
of their golden-eyed idols to accompany the Orchids 
and take care of them on their passage to England. 
The idol consisted of a roughly carved piece of wood 
representing a human head, painted black and 
furnished with eyes of polished pearl shell. It ap¬ 
peared in the auction rooms at Cheapside, and was 
sold for a guinea to Mr. H. Bailey, gardener to 
W. L. Barclay, Esq., The Briars, Reigate, who re¬ 
garded it as a great curiosity. Notwithstanding the 
assurances of the collector not to send home any 
skulls or other bones, a skull did arrive with a plant 
growing out of it, and which was exhibited in 
another place close to the auction room so as to 
avoid a crush of excited sightseers. The bulk of the 
plants, however, were collected where no bones were 
to be found. 
The situation in which the plants were found 
should afford the cultivators some hints as to 
culture, inasmuch as they chiefly consisted of 
honeycombed limestone rocks fully exposed to the 
sun, or shaded only at certain times of the day. 
Growth is made during the rainy season, after which 
the plants ripen and flow'er splendidly, judging from 
the long racemes, the huge size of the flowers and 
the pseudobulbs, which for Dendrobium Phalsenopsis 
were simply extraordinary. The specimens which 
appeared at the auction rooms varied from 6in. to 
2J ft., and the stems of one specimen at least 
measured 43 in. in length. There can be no 
question that an abundance of moisture will be re¬ 
quired during the growing period. The flow’ers of 
the wild plants varied from 3jin. to 4Jin. across. 
One dried raceme was 34 m. long, and showed seats 
for twenty-four blooms. 
One piece described as the mother had stems 3 ft. 
long, furnished with numerous young growths at the 
apex. The father (so called) was a fine piece with 
stout stems 2J ft. long, and sold for 28 guineas. Very 
few’ plants sold for a guinea, the usual price being 
from 2 to 6 or 8 guineas ; 9, 10, n and 16 guineas 
were also obtained for large and promising samples, 
the latter being paid for a plant consisting of only 
four large stems. Amateurs were the principal 
buyers, and they evinced great eagerness to obtain 
all those pieces showing traces of life in the shape of 
a young shoot or two. The sale of the Dendrobe 
alone occupied about five hours, at the end of which 
it w’as declared that absolutely every one of the 1,000 
plants was sold. The sale of the Dendrobe realised 
.£1,500, and together with Cattleya labiata and some 
others it was run up to £2,000 that evening. At the 
finish of the Dendrobe it seemed as if the buyers 
were far from satisfied, and although it was the third 
sale of Cattleya labiata autumnalis the plants w’ere 
bought at high prices. The latter were sold just 
as imported, and were generally in very good condi¬ 
tion. Many of the Dendrobiums had been started 
and placed in small pans ; their flowering will be 
eagerly looked forward to, for it is stated that some 
of them are pure white, others dark purple-red, and 
some variegated. 
THE ROCKERY AT 
LAMPORT. 
The term Alpine garden may embrace widely 
different ideas. It may comprehend a collection of 
Alpine plants without a vestige of stone, or it may 
include a beautiful structure of crags, caves, 
crevices, and underground excavations replete with 
vegetable incrustations, self-sown ferns, pigmy trees, 
etc. Of this latter kind there is a notable example 
at Lamport Hall, the seat of Sir Charles Isham, 
Bart, (situated midway between Northampton and 
Market Harborough), than which it is probable there 
is no similar example to be found elsewhere. 
When thoroughly maintained a rockery of this kind 
continues beautiful throughout all seasons of the 
year ; and what is an additional advantage in this 
climate, damp and rainy seasons increase its rugged 
beauty, a beauty which it possesses independent of 
flowers. Even were all vegetation to disappear, iis 
beauty, although impaired, would by no means dis¬ 
appear, as exquisite effects of light and shade 
would still remain. 
The structural part of the generality of Alpine 
gardens in England—and there are said to be no 
others, foreign climates being unsuitable—might to 
all appearance have been put together in a few 
days or weeks. The rock garden at Lamport has. 
been, although of limited dimensions, upwards of 
forty years under the most minute and careful 
culture and improvement. It keeps up an appear¬ 
ance of age in its lichened stones and pigmy Fir 
trees clad with ivy to match, and which have re¬ 
quired seventy years to attain 3 ft. in altitude. A 
garden of this description must be regarded as much 
superior to the ordinary rockery, which is frequently 
placed in some remote comer, under the drip of 
trees, rank in growth and decaying leaves, and a 
sight altogether melancholy to behold. 
Even the best collections of Alpines do not usually 
display any great amount af artistic merit in their 
surroundings, the plants being cultivated more as. 
specimens than for picturesque effect. At Lamport 
common and rare things are treated as of equal 
value, should they be suitable for their respective 
purposes; and some which are seldom or never seen 
in gardens except in their ordinary coarse growth 
would not be recognised here where they are 
properly grown in the crevices of the rock. The 
primary object with Sir Charles Isham is not variety,, 
but quality and careful growth, that being the only 
means of obtaining the best results. Some also are 
esteemed on account of their seldom or never flower¬ 
ing, since this defect usually causes them to remain 
in good habit throughout the year ; and this latter 
quality is regarded as superior to all others. 
Those who can appreciate minute beauty in 
nature cannot fail.to appreciate the force of the 
above remarks, when they see the effects produced. 
There can be no doubt that a rock garden subject to 
such cultivation may become, however limited in 
extent, infinitely superior to any other kind of garden¬ 
ing, and might throw into shade the most fertile dream 
of the imagination. 
A gentleman, quite recently visiting this rockery 
for the first time, exclaimed upon entering, " I can’t 
understand this ! What is it? It is like magic ! ” 
This was not in allusion to the beautiful models, 3 m. 
high, of gnomes or fairies which are seen at work (or 
on strike !) under some of the pigmy trees, but to the 
trees themselves, which to all appearance are thriv¬ 
ing in the solid rock. It seems incredible that more 
than one of the crevices of the rockery, which is 
bounded on two sides by the house, conservator)’, 
and other buildings, should have been found sufficiently 
seclusive for a fox to have used as a residence 
for two seasons. Yet such has been the case, and 
there Master Reynard would probably have remained 
and done less harm than a mouse until it was found 
necessary to expel him, in consequence of threatened 
invasions of the Pytchley hounds. 
The miniature figures alluded to were first ad¬ 
vocated by the late J. C. Loudon, fifty years ago, 
as an appropriate set-off to pigmy Fir trees, but this 
is probably the first instance of his ideas having 
been realised, and in a very superior manner to the 
style indicated in a wood-cut in one of his ponderous 
volumes on Horticulture. 
Strangers to Lamport must not be taken aback, 
as they invariably are, on observing a lady seated on 
a rock as if she were the sole possessor of the situa¬ 
tion. She is a life-like model in terra-cotta. 
In sunshine, in shower, in mist, and in snow 
The rock-work at Lamport ’tis well you should 
know; 
O’er the crags up above, and the depths down 
below, 
At each step you may take there are treasures 
to show. 
Much " beauty in common things ” also is 
found, 
Some are prized above rare ones, they cover 
the ground. 
In the caves you may see the Berg-geister or 
.Gnome, 
You may see him at work, he is always at home. 
There is only one draw-back which many might 
own, 
You are weary of wonders ere half have been 
shown. 
Let those who would turn up their noses and 
doubt it 
Come and judge for themselves, then they’ll 
know more about it. 
The twilight produces a charming effect, 
More lovely than some could suppose or expect. 
It is then as a Photo, all perfect in tone ; 
But to see it aright— 
GO AND SEE IT ALONE. 
AVe should add that the height of the rocker)- is 
24.l t., length 90 ft., and breadth 47 ft. 
ROSES ON THEIR OWN 
ROOTS. 
Bt ithis term I mean Roses raised or struck from 
cuttings. Roses can be reared from cuttings in 
•various ways, and at different seasons of the year. 
Plants reared from cuttings taken from forced plants 
in heat, and struck in heat, make very good plants, 
but one eminent Rose-grower informs us they do not 
prove so hardy as plants reared from cuttings which 
have a cool treatment. Striking cuttings in heat 
may be to some a convenient method of obtaining 
plants, and they should be potted off as soon as 
rooted, kept in warmth until established, and then 
hardened off by degrees, potted again in the autumn, 
kept in cold frames during the winter, and planted 
out in May in well prepared soil, and kept well 
watered until fully established. 
Mr. Brown, of Great Doods, Reigate, one of our 
best amateur Rose-growers, states, that of the various 
modes of striking Roses, he much prefers the follow¬ 
ing. He selects a frame, places it on hard soil, and 
then fills it with a suitable compost, composed of 
■one half loam and the other half in equal parts of 
leaf mould and sand, the compost being made very 
firm, and about six inches in depth, well watered, 
and left a few days to settle, at the end of which 
time it is ready for the cuttings to be inserted, they 
being dibbled in in rows, about 4 in. between each 
row, and the cuttings 2 or 3 in. apart in the rows. 
The last week in September is the time Mr. Brown 
selects as best for putting in cuttings, but the period 
must be regulated by circumstances. The best wood 
to make cuttings is that from one-half to two-thirds 
well-ripened, as soft wood will turn black and die. 
Mr. Brown says that cuttings for a frame are best 
