January 16, 1892. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
311 
the drainage, set the ball upon this, and fill up to 
within 2 in. of the top. Ram all well, a little lighter for 
the delicate rooters, but very hard for the others. In 
ramming hold the plant firmly down and upright, 
but ram only round the edges—ramming the centre 
breaks roots, and it can be made just as hard from 
the edges. Let this operation, and that of placing 
the final stick, be carried out at the same time, for 
driving a stake later on through the roots must do 
great damage. 
The final potting being finished give them slight 
watering, and stand in the shade for a day or so. 
The plants with their tall sticks can be well secured 
in the following manner:—fix securely in the 
ground at distances of 12 feet apart, a row 
of stakes, about 5 ft. above the ground. Run two 
lines of wire the entire length, one at the 
top, the other mid-way down. Along the foot of this 
fence place your slates or boards, stand the pots 
upon these, and fasten the sticks securely to the 
cross wires. You need two rows of wire because of the 
short growers. Still keep off the side shoots as 
directed, and they will now begin in many cases to 
show up from the soil; these must be nipped off level, 
not dug out, for by so doing you must injure roots. 
The First Break. 
We have now reached to about the middle of April 
or first week in May, and expecting soon to see the 
first break. This is the forming of a cluster of shoots 
at the growing point of the plant. These shoots are 
generally three or four in number, and surrounding a 
flower bud. This bud is worthless. Left by themselves 
the shoots will soon grow past the bud, but as by 
leaving the bud on the plant, one of the leaders often 
grows deformed, it is as well to remove it. Three is 
the generally approved number of these shoots that 
are allowed to run up, therefore if more than three 
show cut off the weakliest. 
As these shoots lengthen and become liable to be 
broken, it is well to loop a piece of bass loosely 
round the three leaders and the central stick. The 
plants now require but regular watering, disbudding, 
and a good look out for caterpillars, fly, etc., and 
regular syringing, say twice a week, with soot water 
is very beneficial. This syringing is best done in the 
evening, when the sun is off the plants. Watering, 
too, during hot days will often be necessary twice— 
noon and evening. Syringing, to remove fly and 
other pests from the now large plants, supersedes the 
use of tobacco powder. Warm soapy water gener¬ 
ally answers the purpose admirably. Another pre¬ 
preparation I would recommend is made as follows : 
—Boil 1 lb. of Quassia chips in about 3 gallons of 
water, allowing it to stand overnight that all the 
bitterness may be extracted from the chips; strain 
this in the morning to remove the chips, and put the 
liquid back again into the boiler; add another 3 
gallons of water, boil up again, stirring in 1 lb. of 
soft soap, and J lb. of hellebore powder. Let it 
simmer for about an hour. You can then add to 
this 12 gallons of water, and syringe v'ith it warm. 
This removes the pests, and they are slow to appear 
again, the mixture seemingly leaving a bitterness be¬ 
hind it that they do not appreciate. It is a very con¬ 
venient method to store the stuff in an old barrel in 
its strong state, that is before adding the final 12 
gallons of water. It is then an easy matter to take 
out what quantity you require, and, adding double the 
quantity of warm water, make it ready for use; tem¬ 
perature always about 70° to 8o°. I may add this also 
forms a splendid dip for Pelargoniums, Cinerarias, in 
fact, any plant, even when in full bloom—it cleans 
the leaves and freshens the plant splendidly. 
Second Break. 
We will now assume that the plants have grown on 
to about the first week in August, when we may 
expect the second break to appear any time between 
then and the second week in September, according 
to the variety. The “break” consists of a cluster 
of buds formed at the growing point of each leader. 
As soon as these appear give each plant a top-dres¬ 
sing of the following compost about an inch thick :— 
6 parts fresh loam, 1 parfl cow dung, with all 
straw removed, and 1 part of Ichthemic Guano. 
The latter ingredient I have always found first-class ; 
it feeds strongly without burning or rushing the 
plants. A little liquid stimulant is now of great 
benefit. I carefully avoid sulphate of ammonia, and 
prefer, as being safer, a liquid of soot and sheep’s 
manure made by putting a 7 lb. bag of each in an 18 
gallon cask filled up with water. Give it a stir up 
before using, and apply to the roots only, for the 
first twelve days every third day, the next twelve 
days once every other clay, and after that once every 
day. 
.Disbudding. 
Well, returning to the buds, the centre of the group 
we left is the crown bud, which forms the finest and 
truest blooms. The surrounding buds if left to 
themselves will grow past the crown bud, forming 
terminal flowers; these shoots always show a ten¬ 
dency to grow from the centre, leaving the crown 
distinct. Disbudding must soon be performed, but 
not too hurriedly. Wait a few days until the buds 
show a slight neck, then carefully examine the crown 
bud to see that its shape, is round and free from 
damage by insects, etc. If it is not so you must 
discard it and allow one of the surrounding buds or 
shoots to run up, when that will in its turn form a 
cluster of buds at its tip ; these buds are all blooms, 
and the crown bud of this group is the one to re¬ 
tain as the best substitute for the first or true crown 
bud. Some disbud with their fingers, but working 
with such clu .nsy tools is risky business; a bruise 
or wound on li neck of the crown would very likely 
cause contract and your bloom come all on one 
side, like a sunflower. This would mean unequal 
opening, which is very unsightly even at the best. 
I prefer to use a narrow pointed penknife. 
The buds having been successfully taken, the 
plants require but a continuation of the treatment 
already described, Hie buds will now commence 
to swell fast and 
Housing the Plants 
must soon be considered. The house should be dry, 
clean, light, and airy, thus all your operations must 
tend towards those ends. Damp floors, walls, and 
damp air must be carefully avoided. I find a good 
preventative to mildew on brick walls is to whitewash 
them with a mixture of five parts ot lime and one of 
sulphur ; and to dust the floors with this mixture dry 
where the pots are to stand arrests mildew, and 
stops slugs from crawling about. In arranging your 
plants in the house orderliness must be your chief 
aim, you may grow the finest blooms in the world, 
but if arranged in a slovenly, untidy style, all the 
fine effect is lost. The leaders loosely tied round 
with bass would decidedly be too bunchy for housing. 
I adopt the following : cut lengths of sticks or canes 
about 14 in. long, tie these T fashion to the top of 
the centre sticks, making a slight notch an inch from 
each end ; tie out the two side leaders to these notches 
and the centre one to the upright stick ; you thus 
have the plants like three-pronged forks ; it keeps 
them shapely and allows free circulation of air and 
light. The sticks, unless of Hazel or other natural 
rods, should be stained a brownish-green, the bass 
dyed a similar colour. All this tends to throw up 
the colour of the blooms—unsightly light-coloured 
sticks and bits of straw-coloured bass here and there 
make the whole thing look ragged. 
Before housing the plants give them another inch 
of the mulch as described at time of setting the buds. 
Then as every house has its early and late ends, select 
that part which enjoys most sun in autumn for the 
late blooming varieties, and place the early bloomers 
in the shadier spot, thus tending to hasten the late 
and retard the early ones. 
With an ordinary season and fair cultivation the 
late varieties should be ready for housing by the 15th 
September, the mid varieties about the 22nd, and the 
earlies about the 30th September. This may seem 
too early to some, but I am convinced it is best for 
the following reasons :—the buds at this time are 
heavy, in some cases perhaps showing colour, and 
the winds and rains getting rough, the swaying 
about of the heavy buds, if not actually resulting in 
breakage, are very apt to get rubbed, or bruised, 
and you will find upon their opening, that each 
rubbed point means discoloured petals quickly damp¬ 
ing off. Housing early is the safest. Keep the 
flowers as well up to the light as possible, and give 
air night and day when there is no frost or thick 
heavy air about. Frost injures the buds most when 
justbegining to expand; an unopened or fully opened 
flower feels its effect but very little unless very severe. 
I always keep pans under my pots to prevent the 
draining from damping the floor, and I further stand 
the pans upon laths that the air many get under 
them. Water sparingly when once housed, and do 
this in the morning that the dampness may get away. 
Picking off the suckers may now cease—nothing is 
gained at this stage by removing them, and besides 
one must now think of next season’s stock. 
Colour. 
Rich colour is naturally one of the greatest features 
desired in the blooms, and without going into 
chemistry, I may say that sunlight and iron are 
very necessary to this end. Free exposure to the sun 
has already been advocated, and for the iron I use a 
heaped up tablespoonful of sulphate of iron to three 
gallons of water, and am quite satisfied with theresult. 
No burning occurred to even the young suckers,and all 
the colours came much brighter then I ever obtained 
without it. Sarah Owen came out orange and a 
rich coppery red, Etoile de Lyon a good pink and 
so on. I give them this once a week, as soon as they 
commence to show colour. The yellows I should 
mention also were first-rate with this treatment. 
Charcoal. 
The real service of charcoal as a food is sometimes 
questioned. One theory says it but acts as drainage 
or as a retainer of ammonia. Another that it is im¬ 
possible for the plants to absorb carbon in this form, 
but I think if any will try the experiment, say with 
two scarlet Pelargoniums of the same variety, grow¬ 
ing one with and the other without charcoal, al¬ 
though in every other respect exactly under similar 
conditions, they will agree with me that charcoal, 
whatever be its constituents, greatly helps to form 
wood, sustain foliage, and produce good blooms of 
good colour. I have brought some of my 1891 wood 
to show its work, even in such an unfavourable sea¬ 
son as the last. 
Collars. 
For blooms of the type of Fair Maid of Guernsey, 
Mrs. J. Wright, and any requiring the lower petals 
to be supported, also of the type of Stanstead White, 
where compactness is desired, I use collars fixed 
under the bloom when just expanding. They are self¬ 
fastening, and, although retaining their position, the 
pressure exerted is not of an injurious nature, 
There are many other things that should enter into 
consideration in dealing with the subject of this 
paper, such as sizes of blooms, height of plants, 
early and late varieties, etc., etc. ; but the present 
occasion does not admit of their consideration. I 
have simply done my best to lay before the Associ- 
ation the means I have followed to grow Chrysan¬ 
themums with what I think I may call a fair amount 
of success. With only ninety-six square feet of floor 
space in my greenhouse I yet manage to grow about 
six dozen varieties in 7-in. to g-in. pots. 
*=- 
Odontoglossum Rossii albens. 
Noticeable amongstabatch of well-flowered Odonto¬ 
glossum Rossii at Messrs.Charlesworth, Shuttleworth 
& Co.’s nursery, Heaton, Bradford, is the rare and 
beautiful variety albens. The flowers are well-formed 
and of great substance, petals and lip pure white, 
sepals slightly green and faintly spotted. The plant 
carries two spikes of three flowers each. I believe 
there are only two other plants, one in the collection 
of R. Young, Esq., Linnet Lane, Liverpool, the 
second in the possession of T. L. Cater, Esq., 
Birkenhead.— X. 
Cypripedium Spicerianum. 
This is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful of 
Cypripediums, and, being of a robust constitution, 
easily cultivated, and flowering in gorgeous pro¬ 
fusion during the autumn and winter months, it is 
invaluable for all kinds of decoration. It has become 
a great favourite with all Orchid growers, and many 
representatives are to be seen in all collections ; but 
the finest specimen that has come under my obser¬ 
vation is in the collection belonging to E. Barnett, 
Esq., Kenton Court, Sunbury-on-Thames. Its 
diameter is over three feet, and at the time of my 
visit there were upwards of thirty splendid blooms 
open, with many more to follow. Mr. Bowdon, who 
conducts the gardening operations in this establish¬ 
ment, informed me that prior to my visit many fine 
blooms had already been cut.— J. McNab. 
Lselia Gouldiana. 
The above name has been given to a highly coloured 
Lselia, a form of L. autumnalis, which is very much 
given to variation, although not to the same extent, 
perhaps, as L. anceps, another Mexican and closely 
allied species. The sepals of L. Gouldiana are 
lanceolate and purple, while the petals are elliptic or 
rhomboid and of the same rich colour. The lateral 
lobes of the lip are rose-coloured, while the middle 
one is deep purple. When in their prime the flowers 
are very showy, reminding one of L. autumnalis 
atrorubens, but the petals are broader, aj often 
happens in the varieties of L. anceps, 
