March 26, 1892. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
473 
ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS, 
The Orchid Growers' Calendar. 
Cattleya Trian^. —As these go out of flower 
they should, if requiring it, be repotted, using good 
fibrous peat alone. This I find suits Cattleyas much 
better, and keeps the roots in a much healthier con¬ 
dition than when Sphagnum Moss is mixed with it. 
The Moss might enable the cultivator to determine 
the state of the plant as regards dryness, &c , but I 
doubt the plants receiving any benefit from its use, 
and unless they are repotted every season I know of 
nothing that would be more likely to accelerate the 
growth of the Cattleya disease, which I firmly believe 
is brought on by allowing the plant to remain in the 
same pot too long. I might say that the disease is 
not foreign to me, but only in cases where the plants 
through some cause or other have been allowed to 
remain in a sour compost has it made its unwelcome 
appearance, therefore I at once admit that I consider 
myself to blame. Cattleya gigas and Laelia pur- 
purata, or Cattleyas that make luscious bulbs seem 
to be the only ones that are affected by it, but if 
taken in time its progress might be arrested by cut¬ 
ting away as much of the affected parts as possible, 
and making incisions with a sharp knife where it 
shows itself in the bulb or leaf. The best plan is to 
shake the plant clean of all the old material, and 
thoroughly examine the roots, when they will mostly 
be found dead at the points, through being too long 
in something they do not appreciate. Here then, in 
my opinion, lies the secret of the disease. Cut all 
the dead roots away, and pot into as small pots as 
possible, and water very sparingly until fresh roots 
appear. By this means they might be coaxed back 
into health. 
Cattleya Gigas is breaking away unusually 
strong this year. The plants will require very little 
water yet, just enough to keep the bulbs plump. 
Ours are all grown in baskets, and should any reader 
grow them in pots I would advise that instead of 
watering the compost in the ordinary way, to plunge 
the pot in a pail of tepid water ; this will help the 
roots that have gone down the inside of the pots 
and among the crocks without making the compost 
too wet, which is undesirable at this^season of its 
growth. 
Anguloas.— Our plants are making growth and 
pushing flower spikes, and will be repotted forthwith, 
for if left till the growths are much advanced the 
roots, which are rather brittle, will suffer. We use 
as a compost one part loam, one part leaf soil, not too 
much decayed, and silver sand, and pot mode¬ 
rately firm but not so firm as for Calanthes. 
Miltonia vexillaria growing in the same house is 
pushing up its spikes, and should receive weak 
manure water twice weekly to help them to properly 
develop. Ours have been very free of thrips this 
season, but will receive a dipping or two before the 
spikes are too far advanced. We have begun to 
shade this house for a few hours in the hottest part 
of bright days. It keeps down the temperature 
without having to let in too much of the piercing 
cold winds we are getting. The blinds should not 
remain down after 2 o'clock p.m. 
Cool House.— Odontoglossums may be syringed 
overhead on bright mornings, taking care not to wet 
those that are in bloom. I find it necessary to 
syringe this house late in the afternoon, while the 
fires have to be kept up, or else it dries up too much 
during the night; this of course depends on the 
kind of house, ours dries up very quickly. Pay 
careful attention to shading and watering, etc., and do 
not let the shading remain down longer than ab¬ 
solutely necessary or the growths will be small and 
the spikes weak. Temperatures as advised in last 
Calandar will still hold good. We draw the fires 
entirely for a few hours in the hottest part of the 
day now but set them going again about two o’clock, 
air is admitted more freely through the bottom 
ventilators, and the damping of the floors done 
more frequently.— C. 
Rooklands, Torquay. 
Visiting Torquay recently I had the pleasure of 
looking through the very choice collection of Orchids 
formed by Morton Sparke, Esq. For excellence of 
culture and cleanliness it cannot be surpassed by any 
in the district; cleanliness to my thinking is one of the 
most important factors in orchid culture, and all who 
wish to merit success must ever keep this end in 
view. Mr. Medland, the indefatigable) gardener, 
whose skill as a grower and exhibitor is well known, 
considers that his success is more due to the fact 
that he never allows a single aphis to get on his 
plants than to anything else. In passing through 
the houses I could not resist the temptation of 
making a few notes. The first plant calling for 
special mention is Dendrobium Jamesianum, a 
grand specimen in a 5 in. pot with bulbs like 
walking sticks and carrying upwards of fifty huge 
flowers Hitherto I had never seen a plant in such 
a small pot carrying the same number of blooms ; it 
shows what good culture can do. Then comes a 
fine piece of Lycaste Skinneri, with upwards of forty 
fine flowers, a very superior variety, followed by a 
grand specimen of Dendrobium densiflorum, whose 
thirty-six golden racemes were most effective. The 
lovely Cymbidium Eburneum is well grown at 
Rooklands, I counted on one plant over twenty- 
seven fine blooms. Coelogyne Massangeana was a 
perfect sight, its long pendulous racemes were the 
admiration of all who saw it. Calanthe Veitchii and 
C. Sandhurstiana were passing out of bloom, but 
their delicate tints gave a pleasing effect to the 
whole. Numerous Dendrobiums were in bloom, 
several fine plants of D. Wardianum, D. infundibu¬ 
lum, D. Brymerianum, D. Nobile and D 
hetrocarpum. Many Odontoglossums, Masdevallias, 
Cypripediums, Miltonias, /Erides, Vandas, Angrie- 
cums, Oncidiums, Cattleyas and Lselias made up a 
grand floral display the admiration of all who saw 
it.— J. McNub. 
Odontoglossum Wilckeanum flavescens 
O. Wilckeanum is supposed to be a natural hybrid 
between O. crispum and O. luteo - purpureum, 
amongst which it has frequently been imported. 
The type has the ground colour of the sepals and 
petals of a pale sulphur-yellow, while that of O. W. 
pallens is almost white. We have received a noble 
inflorescence of a variety for which we propose the 
above name, from Mr. Geo. Neil,New Milns, Ayrshire. 
The scape was branched at the base and bore seventeen 
large flowers. The sepals were lanceolate, wavy at the 
margin, and clear bright yellow with two to three 
large, but irregular reddish - brown blotches, and 
some smaller ones along the sides. The petals were 
broader, almost rhomboid, wavy at the sides, deeply 
toothed or lacerated on both margins at the widest 
part, with one large blotch above the middle and 
numerous smaller ones of irregular size between that 
and the base on a paler yellow ground than that of 
the sepals. The lip was similar to that of O. crispum, 
obovate, with an involute and cuspidate reflexed tip, 
and finely fringed from base to apex ; it was sulphur- 
yellow with a large blotch in front of the prominent 
crest, and several smaller ones on each side. The 
magnificent appearance of the whole spike, and the 
number of flowers on the arching scape gives ample 
evidence of the high culture the plant must have en¬ 
joyed under Mr. Neil's care. 
-- 
WHAT TO DO IN THE GARDEN. 
Allamandas in pots --If these are required by 
any given time, the young shoots should be stopped 
about twelve weeks previous to that date. All the 
shoots then start away equally, so that they come 
into bloom with more regularity than when the buds 
commence to push at different times. Ixoras will 
require sixteen weeks to come into bloom after they 
have been stopped, unless a very high temperature 
is maintained. 
Epiphyllu m truncatum. —Those who desire their 
plants to flower in the early part of winter should 
now place them in heat to encourage an early deve¬ 
lopment of young wood, which will therefore ripen 
early, and develop their flower buds at a correspond¬ 
ingly early period. Epiphyllums can be propagated 
at this time by means of cuttings, or if standards are 
desired then they may be grafted on the stems of 
Pereskia at the desired height. 
Old Fronds on Ferns. —Evergreen Ferns should 
not have too many of the old fronds taken off at one 
time. It is advisable however to remove them when 
getting shabby and more especially if infested with 
scale. This need not be done till the young fronds 
are pretty well advanced, but before the latter get 
infested with scale from the old ones. The work 
further might be accomplished gradually if the old 
fronds are numerous, removing the worst first. 
Shading the Conservatory. —The sun is now 
getting strong, and it is advisable to get the blinds 
in readiness so that they might be let down as occasion 
requires. This will serve to prolong the season of 
plants in bloom, and which are now getting numerous, 
including forced bulbs and shrubs, as well as those 
things which naturally come into bloom at this 
season. 
Chinese Primulas— Those plants which had 
their flowers set with the object of saving seed 
should be placed in a light airy position, say on a 
rhelf near the glass, to encourage the development 
and ripening of the seed pods. They should not be 
starved in the matter of watering till the seeds are 
approaching maturity, when the plants may be kept 
drier at the root. I he perfectly double kinds, which 
cannot be raised by seeds, may be treated in the 
same way, but simply kept cool until time to propa¬ 
gate them. A light compost should be made up, 
containing plenty of leaf soil and sand, and after 
removing some of the older leaves from the neck of 
the plants, the surface of the pots should be 
top-dressed with it, heaping it up so that the base of 
the shoots will be well covered The top-dressing 
should be kept moist with a rosed watering pot until 
roots are emitted, after which each crown may be 
severed from the parent plant with its own comple¬ 
ment of roots. 
Petunias. — Continue to take off the young grow¬ 
ing points as cuttings, and pot off those that are 
rooted. Sow seeds of single kinds for planting out 
of doors. They make capital free-flowering subjects 
in a dry season, even if the soil is not very rich. 
Peaches.— The fruits in the earliest house may 
now be partly thinned out, leaving the final thinning 
out till stoning is completed. The crop will be 
sufficiently heavy for the tree to bear if each fruit 
has about a foot square of surface all over the tree. 
Check all over-vigorous shoots before they destroy 
the balance of the tree. Give copious syringings 
with clean water on bright days, and top dress the 
borders with manure to preserve the moisture in the 
soil. A night temperature of 6o° will be sufficient 
until stoning is completed, after which the trees will 
stand a considerable amount of forcing if necessary 
to hasten maturity. 
Sea Kale. —Now is the time to make fresh plan¬ 
tations of this useful vegetable. When the old plants 
were lifted for forcing a sufficient supply of the stout 
roots should have been preserved for making the 
young plantation. These roots if cut into lengths 
of 3 in., or 4 in., and laid into soil to callus somewhat, 
will now be fit to plant out in properly prepared 
ground, in lines 18 in. apart and 12 in from plant to 
plant. 1 he root cuttings may then be dibbled in 
with the thick end upwards, but covered with soil. 
If more than one crown is developed, only one 
should be left, removing the others. 
Figs on open walls —The necessary pruning or 
thinning out should now be completed without 
further delay. Nail in just sufficient of the best 
shoots so as to cover the wall without crowding, 
giving preference to those with the plumpest buds. 
All the rest, including weak and useless wood, should 
be spurred back. Those shoots which have not 
plump buds at this time cannot ripen any fruit dur¬ 
ing our short summer season. 
Cucumbers —Where these have covered the 
trellis work, or the area intended for them, the tips 
of the lateral shoots should be pinched out to throw 
the plants into a fruiting condition. As the young 
fruits get plentiful and begin to swell up, the plants 
will be greatly benefited by applications of weak 
liquid manure. Keep the foliage well syringed, 
especially in bright weather. In dull or cloudy 
weather, on the contrary, the atmosphere should be 
kept somewhat drier, otherwise the foliage may get 
chilled and checked in cold, sunless weather 
Onions and Leeks. —On the first favourable 
occasion, that is when the soil is in a suitably dry 
condition, level down the ridges, and add any further 
manure that may be intended to be given, such'as 
pigeons’ dung or fowl’s manure. Then level the 
ground equally all over and tread or roll it firmly. 
Takeout shallow furrows, say about half an inch 
deep, and about a foot apart, and sow the seeds 
thinly, afterwards covering them up, and levelling all 
with the rake. The ground for Leeks should not be 
trodden. 
Carrots.—Make a sowing of some of the early 
varieties of short horn Carrots for the earliest supply, 
and should the ground be infested with maggots, 
give a sprinkling of salt and scot upon the surface 
before the lines are drawn out. 
