March 21, 1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
463 
THE PLANT HOUSES. 
The Conservatory. 
Here the necessity for the use of fire-heat is now 
reduced to a minimum. Plenty of air must be given 
during the day, and the house should not be shut up 
entirely until the last thing at night. It is yet too 
early, however, tc leave air on all night. The task 
of watering will now be somewhat augmented, and, 
as many of the plants dry up rather rapidly, it will 
be advisable to give them an additional " look over ” 
about 3 p.m. The main watering may still be given 
in the mornings for a week or two longer. 
Blinds. —It is now quite time that the blinds were 
fixed in position, for the flowers of many plants are 
extremely sensitive to the direct rays of the sun. It 
will be best, therefore, to shade for a few hours in the 
middle of bright days. In fixing the blinds for the 
season the wheels of the pulleys in which the ropes 
work should be oiled, so as to insure proper working, 
for nothing is more trying to the patience than to see 
a blind sticking half-way up the roof and obstinately 
resisting all efforts to coax it down, and this perhaps 
while the sun is shining its brightest. 
Berried Solanums. —As soon as the berries have 
dropped from these they may be pruned nicely back 
so as to insure symmetry of shape for another season, 
and removed to cold frames. Here they may be kept 
rather close, and syringed occasionally. Treated thus 
they will have made nice growth by planting out 
time. 
Azaleas. —-The bulk of the plants are now in 
flower, and a brave show they make. Those from 
which the flowers have fallen, should have the seed 
vessels carefully picked off and be removed to a pit 
to finish their growth. Here the syringe may be 
plied amongst them regularly night and morning, an 
attention that it is impossible to give them in the 
show-house. 
Epacrises. —Although these will grow well enough 
in the conservatory the whole of the year, it is better 
to give them a little more kindly treatment now. As 
soon as they are out of flower, the plants should be 
cut well back to the old wood and removed to a pit 
or frame where they can be kept close and syringed 
occasionally to promote rapid and vigorous growth. 
As soon as the plants have made shoots i in. or 2 in. 
in length, those that require it may be potted, using 
a compost of good fibrous peat, and plenty of sand, 
with the addition of a few nodules of charcoal. 
Pits and Frames. 
The busy season is now in full swing in this depart¬ 
ment, for numbers of jobs on all hands are calling 
for attention. Cuttings of such bedding plants as 
zonal Pelargoniums, Heliotropes, and Iresines, which 
were put in a few weeks ago will now have rooted 
sufficiently to warrant their being potted off, and the 
stock of clean pots will become rapidly less. If the 
pits in which the potted-off plants are to be placed 
are rather deep, temporary stages must be erected so 
that they may be brought up close to the glass. 
Continue to take off cuttings of all bedding plants 
of which it is desired to increase the stock. The 
sooner this kind of work is completed the better, so 
as to allow the young stuff time to make good plants 
by the end of Mayor beginning of June. All the 
flower buds must be kept picked off zonal Pelar¬ 
goniums, for if these are suffered to be developed the 
plants are greatly weakened to no purpose. Such 
individuals as are getting straggly, or are showing a 
tendency to bolt, must be pinched back in order to 
induce a more compact and bushy habit. The same 
remarks will apply to shrubby Calceolarias. These, 
having had little or no frost to check them, have been 
growing more or less the whole winter through and are 
now presenting a marked contrast to similar batches 
of plants at this time last year. 
Seed Sowing. —No time should be lost in making 
sowings of the following :—Asters and Stocks in 
variety, Perillas, Lobelias, Phlox Drummondii, Dian- 
thus Heddewigi, Amaranthus, French and African 
Marigolds, Tagetes, Verbenas, and Pyrethrum 
Golden Feather. A temperature by night of between 
6o° and 65° Fahr. will insure speedy germination. 
Each of the seed pans must be covered with a piece 
of glass, and the whole should be shaded very care¬ 
fully on bright days. 
Tuberous.Begonias. —As soon as the seedlings 
resulting from the earlier sowings are fit to handle 
pricking off must commence in earnest, For the 
smallest plants it may be necessary to use a finely 
split stick in order to pick them up, but if the seed 
has not been sown too thickly—a mistake that we 
have previously warned our readers against — the 
fingers should be delicate enough to do all that is 
wanted. Let the young seed leaves just rest upon 
the surface of the soil, covering up the tender roots 
as carefully as possible with the point of a very 
fine dibber. Watering afterwards must only be 
confided to the charge of a competent workman, 
otherwise mischief will be done. Shading also must 
be well looked after, for a few minutes' exposure to 
bright sunshine will do the delicate plants untold 
damage. 
Tree Carnations — The present is a very suitable 
time for propagating these. The cuttings may be 
inserted five or six in a small 60 pot using light sandy 
soil. If placed in a propagating frame, where they 
can enjoy a nice bottom heat, and an atmospheric 
temperature of about 6o° Fahr., they scon root. 
Quite 80 per cent, of the cuttings should strike if 
treated thus. 
Border Carnations in Pots. —If a number of 
young plants of these are potted up now and grown 
on in cold frames, they will come into flower a few 
weeks earlier than the out-door plants. 8-in. pots 
will be large enough. The compost may consist of 
two parts of good loam, one part of leaf soil, and 
one of dried cow manure, with a liberal admixture 
of crushed bricks and sharp sand. The watering 
can must be very carefully used after potting has 
been performed, until sufficient time has elapsed for 
the plants to make new roots. A sharp look-out 
must be kept for the appearance of green fly, which 
is very fond of the Carnation and usually makes its 
appearance about this time of the year. The 
affected parts should be dusted with tobacco-powder, 
washing this off within a couple of hours of its first 
application. 
Pelargoniums. —These should now be moving 
apace and attention must be paid to giving extra 
space as growth progresses. Keep a bright look-out 
for the green fly, which is almost sure to affect the 
plants to a greater or less degree. Light fumigations 
at short intervals, assisted by good syringings on 
bright days, will serve to keep the pest in check and 
prevent it from gaining a hold.— A. S. G. 
ORCHID NOTES & GLEANINGS. 
The undermentioned awards were made by the 
Royal Horticultural Society on the 10th inst. 
Epidendrum elegantulum, Nov. hyb.— The seed- 
bearer of this hybrid was E. Wallisii and the pollen- 
bearer E. Endresio-Wallisii, itself a hybrid. We 
have no hesitation in saying that this is the most 
distinct and beautiful of all this group. The sepals 
and petals are rich brown, mottled with yellow, and 
pass into soft yellow at the base, so that the centre 
of the flower is of that hue. The lip is white, more 
or less marked with purple. First-class Certificate. 
Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea. 
Cymbidium lowio-eburneum, Nov. hyb .—The 
flowers of this hybrid are of great size and hand¬ 
some, with creamy-white sepals and petals. The 
lip is of the same hue, but has a red horse-shoe¬ 
shaped blotch at the apex, and some red spots on 
the side lobes. It is the reverse cross of C. eburneo- 
lowianum. First-class CertiBcate. Sir Trevor 
Lawrence, Bart, (grower, Mr. White), Burford 
Lodge, Dorking. 
Miltonia blenana aurea, Nov. hyb .—The dis¬ 
tinguishing feature of this variety is the large orange 
blotch at the base of the lip with three crimson 
lines. The base of the petals is rosy-mauve, but all 
the rest of the large flowers is white. First-class 
Certificate. Mons. A. A. Peeters, Saint Gilles, 
Brussels. 
Odontoglossum crispum arthurianum, Nov. 
var . —The flowers of this splendid variety are notable 
for the size of the blotches. The sepals are blush- 
white with a few brownish-purple blotches towards 
the sides. The petals are jagged with one to three 
large crimson-purple blotches in the centre. The 
lip has only a few brown spots. First-class Certifi¬ 
cate. W.Vanner, Esq. (gardener, Mr. W. H. Robbie), 
Camden Wood, Chislehurst. 
Zygopetalum Perremondi.— The scape of this 
plant is about 2 ft. high, and bears about six flowers. 
The sepals and petals are chocolate-brown. The 
lip is rich, dark bluish-purple and handsome ; and 
the column is dark purple. Award of Merit. Mons. 
A. A. Peeters. 
Cattleya Trianaei crawshayana, Nov. var .— 
The flowers of this Cattleya are of huge size, with 
soft rosy sepals and petals. The lip is the most 
handsome part of the flower, and has an intense 
crimson-purple lamina with an orange throat. 
Award of Merit. Da B. Crawshay, Esq. (gardener, 
Mr. S. Cooke), Rosefield, Sevenoaks. 
Laeliocattleya Doris, Nov. hyb. bigen. —The 
parents of this bigeneric hybrid were L. harpophylla 
and Cattleya Trianaei, the latter being the pollen- 
bearer. The oblong sepals and elliptic petals are 
deep orange. The lip, on the contrary, has a soft 
orange tube, and is purple on either side of the bifid 
apex. This latter character, and the size of the 
blooms, show the influence of the pollen parent. 
Award of Merit. Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons and N. 
C. Cookson, Esq. (gardener, Mr. Wm. Murray), 
Oakwood, Wylam-on-Tyne. 
Dendrobium Doris, Nov. hyb. —Though of 
moderate size, the blooms of this variety are chaste 
and pretty, being pure white with a light purple 
blotch on the lip. The parents were D. leechianum 
(itself a hybrid), and D. japonicum, the latter being 
the pollen-bearer. Award of Merit. N. C. Cook- 
son, Esq. 
D. Cassiope virginalis, Nov. var. —The origin of 
this variety was D. japonicum crossed with D. 
nobile album. The linear-oblong sepals and the 
petals, which are three times as broad, are pure 
white. The lip is white, with a rich purple blotch 
at the base. Award of Merit. N. C. Cookson, 
Esq. 
Dendrobium Kenneth, Nov. hyb. —D. Bensoniae 
crossed with D. MacCarthiae were responsible for 
this chaste and beautiful hybrid. The sepals are 
linear, the petals lanceolate, elongate, and all pure 
white. The lip is also greatly elongated, and white, 
with a crimson blotch in the throat. The elongated 
character of the segments is due to the pollen 
parent. Award of Merit. N. C. Cookson, Esq. 
Dendrobium Dulcea Oakwood var., Nov. var. 
—The sepals and wavy petals of this Dendrobe are 
rosy, and the lip has a white band between the 
purple base and the rosy apex. On the whole it is a 
pretty variety. Award of Merit. N. C. Cookson, 
Esq. 
Dendrobium glomeriflorum, Nov. sp . — The 
stems of this species are about 2J ft. long, and bear 
dense, lateral clusters of small white flowers, tinted 
with lilac externally. Botanical Certificate. Messrs. 
F. Sander & Co., St. Albans. 
Dendrobium specioso-kingianum. — The 
flowers of this form are white, mottled all over with 
purple. Botanical Certificate. Sir Trevor Lawrence, 
Bart. 
Dendrobium kingianum.— A well-grown plant 
of a beautiful variety of this Dendrobe, bearing 
three to five bright rosy-purple flowers on a scape, 
and having a well-striped lip was exhibited by C. 
Lucas, Esq. (gardener, Mr. G. Duncan), Warnham 
Court, Horsham. Cultural Commendation and 
Botanical Certificate. 
Dendrobium Velutinum. — The stems of this 
species are only 3 in. to 4 in. long, and have subter¬ 
minal clusters of two to three flowers. The sepals 
and petals are glossy golden-yellow, and the pale 
yellow lip has a green velvety cushion almost cover¬ 
ing it. Botanical Certificate. W. Vanner, Esq. 
Dendrobium nobile Falkland’s Giant. —The 
flowers of this variety are of greart size, and in some 
respects remind one of D. wardianum—namely, in 
the broad petals, amply rounded lip, and the dis¬ 
position of the colours. The tips olf the sepals and 
petals are very bright, and the lip of a creamy- 
white, with a large and rich blotch in the interior. 
Amongst an importation of D. nobile are several 
very fine forms, besides the above. No. 1 has even 
larger flowers than the above, and the lip is more 
pointed; all the segments are tipped with rich 
purple, but the petals most intensely so. 
New Homes In the “ Sunshine State” of America.— 
Exceptional opportunity to join Fruit and Vine growing 
Colony in U.S.A. Only small capital required. Land on ten 
years’ time. Experienced local adviser. Income first year 
Large profits. Superior market and railway facilities ; 1,500 
miles nearer than California to Chicago and New York. Four 
to seven weeks earlier fruiting season. Ideal climate for weak 
lungs. Splendid shooting. For free illustrated pamphlet and 
full particulars, address—Mesilla Valley Irrigation Colony, 34. 
Victoria Street, London, S.W. 
