736 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 23, 1892. 
ool Orchids for Amateurs.— It seems 
very difficult indeed to impress upon 
the minds of many persons that there are 
Orchids which, coming generally from ele¬ 
vated districts in presumably tropical 
countries, thrive not only well, but rather 
best in a comparatively low temperature. 
It has been so much the rule to associate 
with Orchid culture both great cost and 
great heat that the growing of collections, 
even small ones, has been regarded as 
quite outside the capacities of a poor 
amateur. We are indebted to the Rev. E. 
Handley, of Bath, for letting in a con¬ 
siderable amount of light upon this 
interesting subject in a capital paper, 
bright and practical, which he read before 
the fellows of the Royal Horticultural 
Society at the last meeting. 
First, the reader impressed upon his 
audience the fact that whilst the costly 
Orchids when sold were the only ones 
heard of in the press, thousands of really 
beautiful sorts could often be picked up at 
the cost of a few shillings each, and these 
were well worthy of the attention of the 
amateur. He preferred a lean-to house, 
floor of ashes, aspect north-west, venti¬ 
lation in front by means of shutters near 
the ground and close to the pipes, and 
shutters in the roof at the back ; also 
plenty of heating power, as a good gentle 
warmth was better than forced heat from a 
few pipes. Of species and varieties that 
did well in a cool house were specially 
mentioned Odontoglossums, Oncidiums, 
Masdevallias, Cypripediums, Sophronitis, 
Cattleyas, Laelias, etc. 
Orchids seemed to have their fancies and 
would sometimes do badly in one part of a 
house and well in another. Like all other 
vegetation they were subject to insect 
pests, but the battle with depreditors gave 
zest to life and cultivation. When this 
paper is published in the Society’s journal, 
as of course it will be, we trust it will be 
widely read, because it should help to give 
a material fillip to cool Orchid culture 
among many whose fear of cost and trouble 
now prevent from becoming orchidists. 
ouillie Bordelaise. —We refer to this 
now somewhat famous mixture be¬ 
cause the time for its application is at 
hand. It is obvious that ere the black 
spot of the fungus, Phytopthora infestans, 
makes its fell appearance on the leaves of 
the Potato plants, the Bordeaux mixture, 
if it is to be regarded as a preventative, 
must be applied. We unfortunately at 
present know comparatively little as to 
its powers, whether they be preventative 
or remedial, but Mr. Henri Vilmorin the 
other day told us of its original discovery, 
and that leads to the impression that it 
does prevent disease attacks. 
It appears that in one of the French 
departments some stakes used to support 
vines had been either dressed with or 
dipped in a solution of sulphate of copper, 
and it was found that the vines sustained 
by those stakes were not affected with the 
prevalent vine mould or fungus. Further 
inquiry led to experiment, and hence it 
was found that the sulphate of copper 
mixed with lime was a powerful check or 
antidote to fungoid moulds on plants. 
Tried upon Potato breadths it proved to 
be successful, and being a Bordeaux mix¬ 
ture it obtained its now well-known 
appellation. The proportions have been 
set forth as properly equal; as for instance 
2 lbs. ol sulphate of copper well mixed 
with water in one tub, and 2 lbs. of fresh 
slacked lime mixed with enough of water 
to liquefy it in another, then finally added 
in one vessel to 20 gallons of water. 
This mixture should be sprayed lightly 
and in a vapourous form on to the Potato 
breadths now and again a fortnight later, 
and if disease abounds yet once again. 
Such dressings should save the breadths 
from harm. In any case we urge readers 
to try the solution at once, especially upon 
varieties that are the most subject to 
disease, as disease-resisting varieties do 
not suffer from the fungus appreciably. 
^Feather Prospects.— We are getting 
rapidly to the end of July, and have 
no cause for congratulation so far that the 
month has been particularly generous of 
heat or sunshine. Really there is much of 
Far and trembling as to whether, after all, 
we may not later have to record another 
comparatively cold, wet summer, because 
conditions point to that exceeding misfor¬ 
tune. Those of our garden readers who are 
not farmers in ever so small a way have 
not upon their minds at least any concern 
as to how their late hay crops are to be 
harvested. On the other hand those whose 
concern is with flower shows have infinite 
worry and weariness, because of all social 
functions the flower show perhaps suffers 
most in wet weather. 
Much as we may be gratified to have a 
comparatively dry winter, it seems to be 
almost certain that we shall have to pay 
the penalty for that favour by enduring in 
a season of far greater importance very 
much of discomfort and of loss because of 
heavy rains. It does happen that in this 
country at least the most fertile years are 
those which include warm, dry summers. 
The present is the third summer that has 
been somewhat cold and wet, and although 
it is too much to say that appreciable 
harm has been done yet, it is certain 
that sunshine, which is after all the chief 
factor in the production of good crops, 
has been lacking and cannot be replaced. 
But cold, wet weather brings loss in 
many ways to us all, ap 1 rt from injurious 
effects upon gardening and produce. We 
find trade always to be far more active in 
fine weather than it is when the season is 
cold and ungenerous, and every day which 
is wet serves to check expenditure and to 
narrow trade in myriads of directions. 
That there is a tendency at present on the 
part of trade to narrow apart from weather 
influences, there has for several months 
been ample evidence, and it seems to be 
but too certain that bad weather will only 
help to make that trade restriction all the 
more apparent. 
-- 
Mr. J. R. Wilson, late foreman at Leckmellin 
Gardens, Ross-shire, has been engaged as gardener 
to Mrs. Middleton, Haselbeach Hall, Northampton. 
Royal Horticultural Society. —The next meeting of 
the above society will be held in the Drill Hall, 
James Street, Victoria Street, S.W., on Tuesday, 
July 26th. In addition to the ordinary exhibits the 
National Carnation and Picotee Society will hold its 
annual show, and the special prizes offered by Mr. 
Martin Smith will be competed for. At 3 p m., Mr. 
A. ]. Manda, of theUnited States Nurseries, Hextable, 
Swanley, will give a lecture on " Insect-eating Plants " 
in connection with which a number of exhibits are 
expected. 
Flower Show Fixtures. —The following fixtures 
have been recently announced :— Cheadle Flower 
Show, August 12th and 13th; Leicester Early 
Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Show, September 10th ; 
Portmadoc Flower Show, August 5th ; Sheffield 
Flower Show, August 29th and 30th ; Sheffield Chry¬ 
santhemum Show, November nth and 12th ; Hornsey 
Chrysanthemum Show, November 9th and 10th. 
Plants Certificated from 1859 to 1892. — The council 
of the Royal Horticultural Society have decided to 
issue a carefully compiled list of all awards made 
since the year 1859, arranged as follows for the sake 
of convenience, viz. :— Parti. All Flowering Plants, 
Shrubs, &c. (Orchids excepted) Part 2. Ferns 
and other Cryptogams. Part 3. Orchids. Part 4. 
Fruits and Vegetables. 
Hybridising Roses.-Mr. Dawson, curator] of the 
Arnold Arboretum, has done a great deal in this line 
and achieved some remarkable results. He has en¬ 
larged the blooms of Rugosa and deepened its colour, 
doubled and increased in size of blooms of multiflora, 
and so on. But he tells me he can only hybridise 
these Roses satisfactorily indoors ; outside plants no 
matter how carefully pollenated are very shy at 
crossing. — Wm. Falconer, in American Florist. 
A Wonderful Cal la. — A Mr. Searles, of Windsor in 
the Connecticut Valley,is the owner of a very strange 
Calla which has been in his garden for many years, 
and this is what it has done according to his own 
showing in the New Yoik Times " The day that my 
first wife died there was a handsome blossom on the 
Lily. That was over twenty years ago, and on the 
day she was buried the blossom suddenly withered 
and died. In all the twenty years since there has 
been no blossoms on the plant, but on the day my 
second wife (a sister to the first) died a rich fine bud 
appeared on the Calla, and on the day of her burial 
it bloomed out beautifully.” Wonderful is it not, 
even for America ? 
Heivy Rainfall. —The rainfall over the south of 
England on the afternoon of Tuesday last was 
exceptionally heavy. At the camp at Bisley, where 
the shooting for the Queen’s Prize was being 
actually carried out, a meteorological expert had 
some calculations made out for him by a scientific 
engineer, who assured him that about 2,000 tons of 
water fell on the 800 acres of Bisley Common. The 
rain was accompanied by a blustering and driving 
wind from the west. Early on Wednesday morning 
the storm was renewed with even greater force, and 
must have done considerable damage in gardens, 
especially to tender improperly secured plants, and 
in the fields to the standing crops of Corn, which is 
still very green even in the south. 
Hardiness of Disporium Leschenaultianum. —Several 
species of this Liliaceous genus are natives of North 
America and hardy in this country. D. Leschen¬ 
aultianum is a native of the mountains of Ceylon and 
Southern India, and having been recently intro¬ 
duced to this country was grown for some years as a 
greenhouse plant. Latterly it was transferred to the 
open ground in the rockery at Kew, where without 
any other than the natural protection afforded it by 
the shelter of its surroundings, it withstood the 
inclemency of last winter and has been flowering for 
the past month or more. The stems are about a 
foot in height, with ovate, ribbed, and deep green 
leaves, and drooping, bell-shaped white flowers, 
generally produced in pairs. 
A biennial E'-yngiuin —The cultivated species of 
Eryngium are mostly perennial, but E. giganteum 
proves to be only of biennial duration. At all events 
the plant dies after having flowered and perfected 
seeds. This it does freely, and the seeds germinate 
readily whether they are gathered and sown under 
cover or allowed to fall of their own accord, and 
come up where they may. In the latter case the 
seedlings have only to be lifted and transferred to 
their permanent positions, where they may be 
encouraged to make a vigorous growth. 
The Beddington an J Carshalton Horticultural Society 
will hold its annual show and fete on Monday, 
August 1st. One of the special features will be a 
flower stall, conducted in aid of the Gardeners' 
Orphan Fund. 
G rdeners’ Orphan Fund.— At the recent Croydon 
Rose Show, the sum of £8 Gs. was realised by the 
sale of flowers in aid of this fund. 
The Spikenard o’ the Ancients.—The roots and lower 
portion of the stems of the species of Nardostachys 
are powerfully fragrant and those of N. Jatamansi 
are believed by Dr. Royle to have furnished the 
Spikenard of the ancients. If it is that of ancient 
Palestine it must, like the spices we read of, have 
been carried overland by the caravans or mounted 
and itinerant merchantmen of those days. A flower¬ 
ing specimen of this plant may be seen on the rock¬ 
ery at Kew. It is about 6 in. to 10 in. high with 
spathulate and lanceolate, distantly serrate leaves 
and small pale pink flowers in dense cymosa heads. 
In a Spring Meadow. — Butter Cup—Well, 1 never! 
That man with spectacles called me a Ranunculus 
bulbosus. Such an insult! how dare he ? 
Dandelion—Insult, indeed ! what would you think 
if he’d said you were a Taraxacum Densleonis ? 
Butter Cup—Did he say that of you ? 
Dandelion—Yes, he did; just this minute ! 
Butter Cup—Let’s sue him for defamation of 
character. 
Dandelion—Let’s ! — Puck. 
