690 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
May 16, 1896. 
Pits and Frames. 
Naturally enough the Chrysanthemums are taking 
up a good d^al of room here now, and we may also 
add a good deal of attention. Vigorous plants even 
when in 32-sized pots are rather thirsty subjects 
under ordinary circumstances, and both wind and 
sun have combined of late to render the watering 
a heavier item than usual. In most cases the plants 
will be standing out-doors now, especially where 
there is not a sufficiency of the roomy airy frames 
that suit chrysanthemums at this stage so well. A 
light frame work of thin wooden strips will have 
been erected about the plants in order to afford 
facilities for speedy covering up should occasion call 
for it. Attend to staking where this is neccessary, 
but avoid inserting the stake too cDse to the stem 
for fear of injuring some of the more important roots. 
Green flv is very fond of attacking the tender points 
of the stems at this stage, and as it spreads with such 
marvel ous rapidity it is well to keep strict watch 
and ward against its attacks. Dust the affected 
stems with Fowler's Tobacco powder, and after 
allowing this an hour or so to affect its purpose wash 
it well off with clear water or the tender leaves will 
sustain injury. 
Potting Soil. — Bearing in mind the fact that 
it will not be long before the strongest Chrysanthe¬ 
mums will want to be transferred to their fl iwering 
pots, it will be well to make some preparations now, 
so as to relieve the crush presently. It sometimes 
happens that the loam used is infested with wire 
w orms, &c.,and as such soil must be looked over care¬ 
fully and the intruders removed before it is safe to 
use it, some trouble is occasioned if things are left 
till the last moment. A sufficiency of loam may 
therefore be selected and chopped up nicely with 
the spade, in readiness for use when required. 
Violets in frames. — If these have not been 
divided up, no more time should be lost in getting it 
done, or the divisions will have but a short growing 
season wherein to make good sturdy plants by early 
autumn. The strongest of the young crowns should 
be selected and after a sufficent stock has been 
obtained, the old plants may be straightway 
consigned to the rubbish heap, and the frame thus 
set at liberty for Melons or Cucumbers if desired. 
The young Violet crowns should be dibbled into a 
prepared border ; one facing either east or west will 
answer admirably. About 9 in. between the plants 
and 1 ft. between the rows will be sufficient room to 
allow. A good watering should follow the planting, 
and if the weather still keeps dry, other waterings 
at intervals will be required. 
Double Primulas. —Plants which were earthed 
or mosstd up some three or four weeks ago will now 
have produced roots freely within the area of the 
stems covered by the top dressing. They may there¬ 
fore be divided without delay and potted up. The 
size of the pot will of course depend upon the size of 
the divisions, but as a rule a large forty-eight is 
roomy enough for ordinary purposes. Should the 
young plants be rather weak at the collars and 
inclined to •' wobble," two or three small wooden 
pegs may be inserted close to the collars to give a 
little support. For a week or so after potting a 
little more heat than usual may be given so as to 
give the plants a start, but afterwards they will do 
very well in an ordinary cold frame, if kept close to 
the glass and shaded. 
Zonal Pelargoniums. —As soon as the plants 
intended for flowering next winter have filled their 
cutting pots with roots they may be transferred into 
6 in. pots, in which they will flower. Use a com¬ 
post of three parts of good fibrous loam, one part of 
leaf soil not in a too advanced stage of decomposition 
and one part of dried cow manure or old horse 
droppings, with a sprinkling of coarse river sand. 
The soil may bs made rather firm about the plants, 
as this tends to the production of short-jointed 
growths. Subsequently all flower-buds must be 
picked out, and the too vigorous growths pinched 
before they have marred the symmetry of the plants, 
For the time being the p'ants will be best in a cold 
frame, but by the end of the month they may be 
stood out of doors in any light position. 
Balsams.— Where a few large specimens are 
looked for some of the strongest plants in 32’s may 
be given another shift into 8. in. pots. The lower 
lateral growths should be tied out slit:fatly but it will 
be of no use to attempt to defer the flowering season 
by pinching out the flower buds. Blooming will 
commence as soon as the plants have nearly filled 
their po's with roots, and the finest flowers are in¬ 
variably produced upon the main stem. The soil 
need not be too heavy but may be made pretty rich, 
as Balsams like a liberal supply of food.— A. S. G. 
■ --*■- 
VEGETABLE CALENDAR, 
A Few remarks on cropping may be useful to young 
beginners. Where ground is limited, some system of 
simultaneous cropping must be adopted to meet the 
demand upon it. Spinach may be grown between 
Peas; Dwarf Beans between Scarlet Runners; 
Lettuces between Brussels Sprouts and Celery 
trenches. Crops that have occupied the ground for 
any length of time, such as Strawberries, should 
always be followed by some quick maturing crop, as 
this gives facilities for thoroughly working the ground 
and getting it into good cropping order again. Where 
ground is heavily manured and frequently trenched, 
the necessity for change of crops is not so urgent as 
in poor land ; but as far as practicable plants of the 
same natural order should not succeed each other. 
Celery. —Trenches 4 fr. apart should be dug in 
readiness for the earliest crop. A liberal dressing of 
well-rotted dung should be dug into the trenches, lay¬ 
ing an inch or two of soil on the dung. The plants 
must be carefully lifted and all suckers removed, 
planting them about 9 in. apart, and water frequently 
in dry weather. The Sandringham Dwarf White is 
one of the best kinds for an early crop, being of 
moderate growth and quickly blanched. Two or 
three rows of Lettuce can be planted, or Turnips 
may be sown between the trenches. 
Cauliflowers. —Those sown early in the season 
and forwarded under glass should now be planted in 
moist greund, to form a succession to the autumn- 
sown plants. Veitch’s Autumn Giant and Eclipse 
should be included in these early sowings, as the 
foimer takes some time to come into use, and forms 
a succession to the latter. A sowing of Walcheren 
and Early London should now be made for autumn 
cutting. The earliest crop now forming flowers 
should be copiously watered during dry weather. 
Protect the heads from the sun by breaking a few 
leaves over them to insure whiteness in the curd. 
Beans. —Sow succession crops of Scarlet Runners, 
including The Czar. Trenches may with advantage 
be formed for this crop in the same way as lor 
Celery, blending the manure thoroughly with the 
sod in the trenches. Allow not less than 6 ft. from 
row to row and sow a crop of dwarf Ne Plus Ultra 
and Canadian Wonder between the rows. They will 
both give heavy crops, and the latter stands drought 
better than any other dwarf Beau. Plants of both 
Runners and Dwarfs brought forward in pots for the 
earliest crop, may now be planted in sheltered 
positions and protected should frost occur. 
Vegetable Marrows. —Plants of these raised 
and forwarded in pots, if properly hardened should 
be planted out in positions specially prepared for 
them by forking in a liberal allowance of dung 
and a dressing of soot to check wireworms. Where 
hand glasses are not available for covering them, a 
few rough boxes will answer the purpose of protec¬ 
tion from cold winds and slight frosts. A bed of 
half-spent leaves and soil about 2 ft. deep, with a 
layer of soil on the top will insure a good crop of 
Marrows in the hottest seasons. A few seeds may 
be sown outside at distances of 6 ft. apart to give a 
late supply ; place a square of glass over the seeds 
which will assist in giving quicker germination. The 
ground may then be planted with Lettuce, or sown 
with Spinach, which will be over before the Marrows 
need the whole ground. 
Herbs. — Basil, Sweet Marjoram, and other herbs 
raised from spring-sown seeds should be planted out 
in beds and kept well supplied with water until 
established. 
Thinning Crops. —It is important to thin such 
crops as Onions as early as possible to secure fine 
roots and also to keep them free from weeds while in 
a young state, otherwise they soon get weak and atten¬ 
uated. Damp weather is best for this operation, but 
it is better to water and then thin them than delay it 
too late. Asparagus beds in good soil and drained 
will be greatly benefited by a good soaking of liquid 
manure with a dash of salt in it.—/, R> 
ORCHID NOTES & GLEANINGS. 
Odontoglossum Edward i— This is one of the 
most distinct species of the genus and quite unlike 
any other in cultivation. It was discovered by Edward 
Claboch, a German traveller, in the Andes of 
Ecuador, and whose name it commemorates. Since 
its introduction to this country about 1879 it has 
proved very amenable to cultivation and turns up 
here and there in collections in fine condition. Two 
fine specimens have been flowering for some time 
past in the gardens of E. H. Watts, Esq., Devon- 
hurst, Chiswick, under the care of Mr. Gibson. One 
panicle is about 3 ft. long and bears a profusion cf 
purplish-mauve flowers, which are scentless. The 
other plant produced a panicle about 3^ ft. long and 
proved the best form or variety in more respects 
than one. The flo vers are violet-purple, very dark 
and sweetly scented. The fleshy, tuberculate and 
bifid orange crest upon the lip serves largely to set 
off the other colour and to enchance the effect of the 
flower as a whole. Relatively cool treatment suits 
this species admirably. 
Cattleya Skinneri oculata.—This beautiful 
variety and C. S. alba take premier positions as the 
best forms of a Cattleya that finds many admirers. 
The varietal name oculata means ocellate or eyed, 
an epithet which applies to the dark maroon-purple 
blotch in the throat of the lip. In front of this 
blotch is a white one which serves to define and set 
off the purple one. The sepals and petals are of a 
darker purple than in the type, and the lamina of 
the lip is intense purple. There is a beautiful plate 
of it in the Lindenia, pi. 490. 
Vanda spathulata. — The flowers of this species 
are golden-yellow and produced from ihe axils of the 
leaves in rather upright racemes. The underside of 
the leaves are stained with brown, and both their 
surfaces, as well as their sheaths, enclosing the stem 
and the peduncles are spotted with purple. Accord¬ 
ing to the illustration in the Lindenia, pi. 491, the 
flowers have an imposing appearance on account of 
their size, number, colour, and general distinctness 
from the other species already in cultivation. The 
lip is darker than the rest of the flower, and all the 
segments are tipped with brown on the outer face. 
In a wild state it extends along the ridge of the 
Mysore Hills to Ceylon, and is always found growing 
on the tops of the trees well exposed to light, so that 
those that intend cultivating it should bear that fact 
in mind. 
Spathoglottis gracilis—There are several 
yellow species of this genus, and three of them have 
often been confused with one another. These are S. 
aurea, S. gracilis, and S. kimballiana. S. gracilis is 
a terrestial species with small pseudo-bulbs springing 
from a creeping rhizome. The leaves are large 
and plaited, while the flower scape bears eight 10 
ten canary-yellow flowers. Their uniform hue is only 
broken by a few carmine spots on the base of the 
lip on its side lobes, and a band along the narrow 
claw of the curious middle lobe which is shaped like 
the tail of a fish. There is a beautiful illustration of 
it in the Orchid Album, pi. 520. This was at first 
thought to be S. aurea, but there is some doubt as 
to whether this species is in cultivation at the 
present time, S. gracilis often doing duty for it. 
The undermentioned certificates were accorded by 
the Royal Horticultural Society on the 5th inst. 
Vanda teres gigantea. Nov. var . —The massive 
flowers of the plant shown by Baron Schroder 
(gardener, Mr. H. Ballantine), The Dell, Egham, 
well earned the varietal name of gigantea. The 
sepals were soft lilac-purple, but the broad petals 
were several shades darker. Tne apical lobe of ihe 
lip was purple but all the rest was golden yellow, 
closely spotted with red in lines along the veins. 
First-class Certificate. 
Dendrobium thyrsiflorum Lowii. Nov. var .— 
With the exception of a yellow band along the 
centre of the lip and an orange spot on the face of 
the column, the flowers of ihis variety are white. In 
the type the lip is wholly orange yellow. A strange 
feature of the variety is the elongated character of 
the lip which is also inrolled at the sides in a curious 
way. A massive plant bearing eight spikes of bloom 
was exhibited by Baron Schroder. Award of Merit. 
Chysis langleyensis. Nov. hyb. —The seed 
bearer of this hybrid was C. bractescens and the 
pollen bearer C. Chelsoni, between which it is intef| 
