June 18,1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
653 
Printing ink is made of lampblack, linseed oil, 
resin, and soap. 
Technical instruction in Ireland —A deputation con¬ 
sisting of the Duchess of Abercorn, the Marchioness 
of Londonderry, Lord Duncannon, and Mr. Alan 
Cole, recently waited upon the Chief Secretary for 
Ireland, with the object of urging the desirability of 
grants in aid to encourage technical instruction 
amongst cottagers in Ireland ; and that gentleman 
promised to give the subject his early consideration. 
Rapid transit of fruit.—Apples ripened this year in 
Tasmania were shipped to London by way of the 
Suez Canal, thence to Southampton, and from there 
to New York by the American liner New York, and 
were finally conveyed to Providence, U.S.A, where 
they are now on exhibition. The distance of 30,000 
miles was accomplished in fifty days from the time 
the Apples were picked from the trees. This is con¬ 
sidered a champion record for the shipment of 
Apples. 
Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Institution.—We are 
asked to acknowledge the following contributions 
which were omitted in former lists, making the total 
amount received as a result of the festival dinner, 
£ 2,200 :—Mr. Geo. Monro’s list, £25 (including his 
and Mrs. Geo. Monro’s donation of £5 5s. each), per 
Mr. Sherwood; Messrs. Haage and Schmidt, 
£1 is. 9d. ; Mr. E. F. Fitch, £1 is.; Mr. David 
Smith, £3 3s,; Mr. Jamieson, £3 3s.; Messrs. 
Dippe Bros., £1 ; Thames Bank Iron Company (per 
Mr. W. Y. Baker, £17 17s. ; per Mr. H. J. Cutbush), 
£11 ns. 
Orchids at the Sale Rooms.—OnFriday the 5thinst., 
flowering Orchids were fairly numerous at the 
Central Sale Rooms of Messrs. Protheroe and 
Morris, Cheapside, but the Cattleyas and Odonto- 
glossums were the most conspicuous and finest. 
Cattleya Mossiae, C. Mendelii, and C. gigas, with 
the beautiful C. dolosa were in many cases very fine. 
A variety of C. Mossiae was notable for its soft pink 
sepals and petals and its large richly marbled purple 
lip. Another had a decidedly lemon-coloured instead 
of an orange blotch in the throat. A third had the 
orange throat heavily lined and barred with purple 
in a very distinct way. A fine variety went for four 
guineas, and an ether sold at the same price was 
notable for the great size of its flowers and the rich 
dark rose colour of the sepals and petals. The 
enormous lip had a dark centre with a broad and 
very wavy soft'lilac margin. All these came out of 
one of the recent importations made by Mr. P. Me 
Arthur, 4, Maida Vale, W. A choice bit of C. 
Mossiae Wageneri, bearing four massive blooms, 
was bought by John W. Porter, Esq., Sligachan, 
Park Hill Road, Croydon, for twenty guineas. It 
came from a different source. Good things were 
therefore in demand. 
Culture of the Auricula.—The Rev. Dr. Horner 
delivered a lecture on this subject to the mem¬ 
bers of the Bradford Paxton Association, at its 
recent meeting. He became familiar with the 
Auricula almost as soon as he could walk, for his 
father had cultivated this old florist flower for many 
years before the lecturer was born. If the seed was 
sown as soon as ripe, some of it would germinate in 
three weeks, and the rest (it might be) in three 
months or three years. The best he ever raised 
took the last named time to germinate. Precocious 
seedlings were seldom of much value, but slowly 
developing ones were generally the best. It was 
hardly safe to throw away seedlings after flowering 
for the first time. Good ones generally show their 
true character the second year. An Auricula seven 
years of age would have reached the natural duration 
of its life, so that individuals required renewing. 
Strains and varieties waxed and waned with the lapse 
of time, and the choice varieties of his youth had 
ceased to exist. While coddling killed Auriculas, 
somewhat rough treatment benefited them as much 
as whipping did a naughty child. Young roots 
develop from the necks of the plants, so that in 
potting the plants, the older portion of the rootstock 
should be cut away to let the remainder deeper into 
the soil. Cats were the worst enemies of the Auri¬ 
cula, as they are fond of sleeping amongst them 
during the day. Mealy aphis could be removed with 
a stiff brush, and thrips by placing the plants on a 
northern aspect. Humble-bees were also a nuisance 
when the plants were in bloom. 
Cannasare coming flowers for bedding purposes, in 
the opinion of some gardeners ; but we do not think 
they will displace tuberous Begonias for the same 
purpose. 
Flower stealing.—From various quarters we hear 
of the ruthless spoliation of gardens, mostly by 
youthful depredators. A Kilmarnock man says that 
again the time of the singing of birds has come, and 
the blooming of flowers, but that the stealing of the 
latter has become a “ blooming ” nuisance. 
The Oldest Rose-bush.—Hindesheim, a small city 
in Hanover, is said to possess the oldest rose-bush in 
the world. According to tradition it was planted by 
Charlemagne in 833. It is growing against the walls 
of an old church, its branches covering a space of 
40 ft. in height, and the same in width. Although 
the church in question was burnt down in the 
eleventh century the patriarchal rose remained un¬ 
injured, and is to-day still amongst the living. 
Rain, welcome rain.—Last Sunday morning and 
again at night, as well as early on Monday morning, 
rain fell heavily in the London and surrounding 
districts. Correspondents also tell us of heavy rain¬ 
falls over other counties as far, at least, as Somerset. 
Though the ground has not yet been moistened to 
any great depth, yet the change from the long con¬ 
tinued drought has been highly beneficial. Gar¬ 
deners everywhere should take the advantage of the 
more congenial state of the soil to plant out large 
breadths of winter greens and other late crops. The 
plants will soon get established with the heat and 
moisture. The main crop of Celery should also be 
put in without delay. 
Culture of the Calceolaria.—On the evening of the 
23rd ult., a large audience assembled at the meeting 
of the Paxton Society at the Woolpacks Hotel, 
Wakefield, under the presidency of Mr. Thomas, to 
hear a paper on “ The Culture of the Calceolaria,” 
by Mr. G. Hudson, Wooley. Mr. Hudson said that 
after an experience of twenty-five years, he con¬ 
sidered that the best situation for germinating 
Calceolarias was under a north wall. The seed 
should be sown in the second week of July or from 
that time till the first week in August. It should 
just be covered with a fine compost consisting of 
fibrous loam, leaf-soil and sand, and never allowed 
to get dry. A hand glass should be placed over the 
seed pan. Under this treatment the seedlings are 
hardy from the first. They should be pricked off 
into other pans as soon as they are large enough to 
handle, and must be kept growing without check 
from the time they germinate till they come into 
bloom. Plants once badly infested with green fly 
should be thrown away, but he found no difficulty in 
keeping them clean by light fumigation once a week 
or fortnight from the time they are placed in thumb 
pots. Small shifts should be given them each time 
the roots reach the side of the pots. The best com¬ 
post consists of fibrous loam, leaf soil, small pieces 
of charcoal, and a small quantity of Mushroom-bed 
manure and coarse sand. The material should be 
used in a lumpy condition for the last shift. The 
plants should be kept in a cool frame till autumn 
when they should be transferred to a cool green¬ 
house, and kept as near the glass as possible. They 
should never be allowed to get dry at the roots, as 
they enjoyed a large supply of water after the soil 
got permeated with roots. 
ORCHID NOTES * & GLEANINGS. 
By The Editor. 
Odontoglossum citrosmum van.—A beautifully 
spotted variety of this sweetly-scented Odontoglot 
has been flowering for some time past with Mr. H. 
Clark, 76, Stanstead Road, Forest Hill, S.E. The 
sepals are heavily suffused with rose on the back, 
especially when they first expand, and the inner face 
is also heavily tinted and marked with darker spots. 
The petals are paler but more heavily blotched with 
purple. All these colours fade as the flower gets 
old and practically past its best, but the ground 
colour of the petals then becomes white showing off 
the markings more clearly, The lip itself is of a 
pale rosy hue, thinly spotted with purple, but its 
ridged claw is yellow, and the basal area is very 
conspicuous owing to the numerous scarlet spots 
with which it is heavily marked. Altogether the 
variety is very pretty. 
CRICKET. 
Hurst & Son v . Sutton & Sons. 
This annual cricket match was played at Streatham 
and won by Hurst & Son on the first innings by 75 
runs. A large number of visitors were present, and 
much enjoyed the lunch and tea which were provided 
by N. N-> Sherwood, Esq. The following is full 
score; 
Played at Streatham, Wednesday, June yd. 
Hurst & Son First Innings. 
Sampson, 1 . b. w. b. Bennett 
4 
Cochrane, b. Austen .. 
0 
Swinfen, b. Bennett .. 
60 
Portch, b. Bennett .. 
5 
Squire, c. Barratt b. Austen 
53 
Delacourt, b. Austen.. 
10 
Main, b. Austen 
0 
Laker, b. Bennett 
4 
Bruce, b. Austen 
14 
Day, not out .. 
3 
Thake, 1 . b. w. b. Austen 
0 
Extras. 
23 
176 
Sutton & Sons. 
1st Innings. 
2nd Innings. 
Allum, b. Main 
12 
not out 
5 
Hawes, c Cochrane b. Main 
3 
not out 
47 
May, c. Squire b. Swinfen .. 
3 
Bennett, b. Swinfen .. 
3 
Barratt, not out 
32 
b. Main 
22 
Austen, c. Sampson b. Swinfen 
0 
Grant, b. Swinfen 
21 
b. Main 
11 
Bartlett, b. Sampson .. 
I 
Knight, b. Sampson 
O 
Curtis, c. Day b. Swinfen 
0 
Luxton, 1 . b. w. b. Swinfen .. 
0 
Extras 
13 
Extras 
6 
IOI 
9 i 
MESSRS. LEWIS’ ORCHIDS. 
Last week found us hurrying northward by the 
Great Northern Railway to inspect the collection of 
Orchids in the establishment of Messrs. W. L. Lewis 
& Co., Southgate, N. From King's Cross it was only 
half an hour’s ride, and then we were in the midst 
of rural surroundings that from appearances might 
have been a hundred miles from London. The way 
from Palmer’s Green to the goal of our journey, led 
through the straggling but beautiful village of South- 
gate, the cottage and villa gardens of which were 
teeming with Roses everywhere, the clayey soil being 
most favourable to both Tea and hybrid perpetuals. 
A bush of La France, over 6 ft. in height and laden 
with Roses, was a sight worth going a long way to 
see, for we have never seen a taller. 
Turning into Messrs. Lewis’ nursery, we found 
that Orchids were both imported and grown, as the 
firm represent them to be. The old portion of the 
nursery is packed to overflowing, both above and 
under the benches. Less than a stone's throw from 
here, a larger portion of ground has been acquired 
and a commencement made to build new houses for 
the reception of Orchids, which are truly the favour¬ 
ites with every member of the establishment. The 
first house we entered was mostly devoted to imported 
Orchids, the larger proportion of which happened to 
be Mexican. Here we noted the largest and finest 
importation of Odontoglossum londesboroughianum 
we have ever seen. Every piece of it almost was in 
excellent condition. The same may be said of 
Odontoglossum madrense, the long, finger-like, 
pseudo-bulbs of which are very curious. No doubt 
it is the finest lot which has ever been imported at 
one time. O. Rossii majus, over and under the 
benches both in this and other houses may be seen 
by the thousand. There are pieces of all sizes and 
in all stages of growth, but the~greater proportion, 
having been recently imported, are just starting. It 
meets with a large sale amongst those who are now 
cultivating it for the sake of ctit flowers only. Onci- 
dium crispum grandiflorum with its large, glossy, rich 
brown flowers may be noted in great quantities, 
mostly newly imported. Cattleya crispa, C. 
Skinneri, Laelia peduncularis, an uncommon 
Mexican species in fine pieces, and Laelia dayana 
may also be noted. The foliage of the last-named is 
in remarkably fine condition, being of a glossy dark 
green as if the plants had been collected from their 
native wilds but yesterday. Some pieces are notable 
for their size, and will make respectable sized speci¬ 
mens at once. A fine lot of a Barkeria supposed to 
be B. elegans, is just commencing to develop its buds. 
A quantity of Orchids in bloom, including 
Cattleyas and Laelias, is placed here for the time 
being to keep them cool. Some forms of Laelia pur- 
