t)ecember l6, 1893. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
243 
ORCHID HOTES AND GLEANINGS, 
The Orchid Growers' Calendar. 
East India House.— Considerable amount of care 
must be exercised in the watering of all occupants 
of this division during the dull winter months; not 
that we can complain of the weather we are now 
getting, which is most favourable to Orchid culture, 
allowing as it does the free admission of air without 
having to unduly tax the powers of the heating 
apparatus to keep the temperature right. Phalae- 
nopsis spikes are making good headway, and 
promise to be fine should the fog fiend keep away. 
The moisture at the roots must be reduced some¬ 
what according to weather and the general state of 
the plants. Those carrying large spikes will require 
more than those not so burdened. Saccolabiurr.s, 
Aerides, etc., will recfuire but very little moisture at 
the roots during the next two months, giving only 
just enough to keep the leaves from shrinking. If 
kept wet the leaves are sure to spot, especially those 
of the Saccolabiums. These should be placed close 
to the glass so as to get all the light possible during 
winter. Basket culture seems to suit them best. 
The winter blooming kinds include P. giganteum 
and its variety illustre, which should be coming into 
flower. When well grown there is nothing to beat 
them amongst East Indian Orchids. 
Cattleya House. —Cattleya Trianae is just 
pushing up spikes and will be all the better if given 
the warmth of the stove wherein to open its flowers ; 
at least that is our experience, as with the extra 
warmth the spikes do not go off in the sheaths, as is 
sometimes the case with this Cattleya when kept in 
the Cattleya house proper. 
Laelia harpophylla. —This is a lovely Orchid 
when well grown, and on account of its colour should 
be in every collection. Pot culture seems to suit it 
best, with very little material to root into, but that 
must be the best fibrous peat with a few crocks 
amongst it. Water should be given sparingly even 
when the plants are in active growth. 
Looking Ahead.— We are now getting in a stock 
of Peat, Sphagnum moss. Pots, &c., so that we shall 
not have to stand still for materials when the time 
comes for commencing operations. It is most 
annoying to the grower if when he wants to com¬ 
mence potting he finds that Jack Frost has got a 
firm hold preventing the collectors from getting the 
moss, and the dealer from executing his orders. If 
the moss is picked clean and spread out thinly in an 
open shed it will keep fresh for a long time, and can 
be easily brought into the warmth a few days before 
being used. This latter remark applies to the peat 
also. A good supply of crocks too should be got 
ready. When these run short we have found 
clinkers a very good substitute ; in fact some of our 
Odontoglossums have nothing else for drainage.—C. 
Twin-Flowered Cypripedium, 
For some years past, it has been amply demonstrated 
by good cultivators that a considerable number of 
species, which usually bear only one flower on a scape, 
may be made to produce two. Some time ago, Mr. 
Peter Whitton, The Gardens, Methven Castle, Perth, 
sent us specimens of C. barbatum in this condition, 
and now he sends some of C. insigne, showing the 
results of good cultivation. Both flowers in each 
case were perfect though slightly unequal in size. 
The upper or supernumerary flower was the smaller, 
but curiously enough the spotting on the upper 
sepal was denser and not quite the same. The 
petals and lip were rather darker than usual, and of 
a glossy lustre. The great substance of all parts of 
the flower would indicate a clear and pure atmos¬ 
phere. The flowers, furthermore, serve as another 
instance of the wide-spread popularity of C. insigne, 
for probably no other species or hybrid can claim 
such a strong constituency in the matter of cultiva¬ 
tors. The value of the species for cut flowers either 
for home embellishment or for sending to market, is 
well known and requires no comment on that score. 
A batch of plants in the cool Orchid house is a 
feature of many establishments at this time of the 
year. 
Lycaste cinnabarina. 
Many of the species of Lycaste, although bold in 
appearance from the size of their flowers, are often 
not very showy. That under notice, however, is 
described as handsome, and judging from the 
coloured illustration in the Lindtnia, PI. 394, it is 
indeed a striking and showy plant when in flower. 
It is allied to L. mesochlaena and L. gigantea, and 
has large flowers with light yellowish-green, almost 
white sepals and petals. The lip is quite different, 
however, being of a deep apricot or light orange- 
brown, and more or less deeply toothed on the' 
margin. The side lobes are rounded and very much 
reduced in size compared with those of other species 
in cultivation. It was discovered as long ago as 
1853 near the source of the Maranon River in Peru, 
and was named Maxillaria cinnabarina by Lindley, 
who saw the dried specimens in the collection of 
Warscewicz. It has now been introduced by Messrs. 
Linden, L’Horticulture Internationale, Brussels, 
with whom it has recently flowered. 
Zygopetulum grandiflorum. 
The appearance of this plant is very different from 
that of other species in cultivation. It is relegated 
to the section Huntleya, but differs from others of 
that group by having well developed pseudo-bulbs, 
and two to five flowers on each scape. It is a very 
little known plant, although originally flowered in 
this country as long ago as 1865. The flowers 
measure about 3 in. in diameter. The sepals and 
petals are light green, but heavily lined with reddish- 
brown, recalling to some extent those of Cymbidium 
giganteum. The lip, however, is very different, with 
an ovate, pointed lamina, toothed at the edges; it is 
white, with broad, elevated, reddish-purple lines 
running along the whole length of it. The orange- 
yellow, semi-circular crest is orange-yellow, with 
numerous reddish-brown ridges up it.— Lindenia, 
P^- 393- 
Maxillaria picta. 
When the right plant has been obtained this is a 
most interesting and desirable Orchid, even if not 
particularly showy. The species most liable to be 
confused with it is M. puncta, which has smaller and 
paler flowers, more abundantly produced. The 
sepals and petals of M. picta are incurved at the 
tips—a feature by which the plant may most readily 
be recognised. The inner face is creamy-white, 
suffused with a tawny-brown hue, but the outer face 
is more or less heavily blotched with brownish 
purple, and to this the name refers. The lip is 
similar, but less decided, perhaps, in its markings. The 
column is of a dark purple or chocolate, and offers a 
strong contrast to the segments around it. The 
flowers are strongly fragrant, aromatic according to 
some, or smelling of Hawthorn according to others; 
but in our opinion they smell of Almonds highly 
intensified. A considerable number of scapes, each 
bearing a single flower, are produced from one 
pseudo-bulb, so that a pot containing a good-sized 
piece of the plant carries a large number of flowers. 
The species has been flowering for some time past in 
the nursery of Messrs. J. Laing & Sons, Forest 
Hill. 
Odontoglossum grande. 
Of late years this plant has been becoming more 
and more common as it deserves to be. The flowers 
are the largest of any of the cultivated Odonto¬ 
glossums—a fact which shows that something else is 
needed than mere size to insure popularity, 
especially when we compare this species with O. 
crispum which is the most popular of all. Never¬ 
theless, when well grown, O. grande is a conspicuous 
and handsome plant. We noted a large piece in the 
nursery of Messrs. J. Laing & Sons, Forest Hill, 
bearing twelve flower scapes with an average of six 
flowers each. The specimen is grown in a large pan 
which is well furnished with pseudo-bulbi, which 
are much longer than those we usually see. The 
sepals are shining and heavily barred with rich 
chestnut-red all over, while the petals are nearly of 
a uniform chestnut-red on the lower half only. The 
yellow lip has some pale brown zones at the base. 
-- 
©leanings Jcmn Ih^ Mlutlb 
of SttEtlC^. 
The Codlin Moth. —It is remarkable how widely 
diverse ideas prevail regarding the destruction of 
this moth now so widely dispersed all over the earth, 
both in the old and new worlds, and north and south 
of the equator, even at the antipodes. A New 
Zealand contemporary says that the Codlin Moth, 
when understood, is the easiest to exterminate of 
any species, and that this can be done ‘‘either by 
searching for, and whenever found, properly destroy¬ 
ing the larvae in the comparatively limited and 
easily accessible areas already referred to, or (while 
they are in affected fruit) by pulling all such off.” 
Surely the moth in question is sufficiently well 
known both in Europe and in America, where 
abundant means have been taken with the view of 
holding it in check or limiting its numbers, while 
little hope is entertained of absolutely exterminating 
it. Searching for the larvae in fruits showing 
evidence of containing a tenant, or hunting for the 
pupae while laid up in their cocoons attached to 
trees or other objects in the vicinity, are tedious 
operations, and althongh effective, could hardly be 
tarried out on any extensive scale with the view of 
being remunerative. They are means to an end 
certainly, and should never be overlo oked in com¬ 
bating the moth; but a more comprehensive and 
wholesale method of destruction must be devised in 
the case of extensive orchards, otherwise the labour 
entailed would comsume the whole of the profits and 
something more. 
Natural enemies.—The same writer scouts the 
idea of natural enemies being any advantage 
in checking or exterminating the moth, and 
considers it merely as a ‘‘ newspaper entomo¬ 
logist’s favourite natural enemy devouring theory.” 
He would be a sanguine but brainless entomo¬ 
logist, who would for a moment promulgate the 
theory that natural enemies would or could exter¬ 
minate any species on which they preyed, in any 
given and limiTed period. As far as the Codlin 
Moth is concerned, its natural enemies, as far as we 
know, have had an opportunity of some thousands 
of years duration, in which to exterminate it. 
Nature has amply provided against that contingency. 
That natural enemies do hold insects in check there 
can be no question ; for if all the eggs that are laid 
were ultimately to reach the imago or perfect state, 
the world would soon be overwhelmed with Codlin 
Moths wherever an Apple could grow. We cannot 
therefore acquiesce in the view that man is the only 
enemy the moth in question has to fear. The 
reason why the moth is brought into such pro¬ 
minence, is because we have largely increased its 
natural food by the planting of orchards in various 
parts of the world. In disseminating fruit trees, 
we also disseminate the motti which no doubt gets 
transported while resting in the pupa state upon the 
trees in winter. It is but right and proper, how¬ 
ever, that we should look after our interests, and 
subdue the pest by whatever resources we may have 
at command ; but whether even man can exterminate 
the Codlin Moth remains to be seen. It is a pro¬ 
blem that will take many years yet to solve, unless 
unforeseen discoveries come to our assistance. 
Spraying.—According to our contemporary, 
" spraying is an almost totally useless and dangerous 
process.” Certainly, spraying is not so extensively 
conducted in this country as in America, but the 
results hitherto in the latter country have given 
satisfactory results so far, otherwise the process 
would have been given up ere now as hopeless and 
useless. Nor have any fears of danger been realised, 
where the experiments have been carried on with the 
necessary skill and intelligence. Surely the experi¬ 
ments that have been carried on extensively for a 
number of years, are sufficient proof in themselves 
to ward off any fears which may originally have been 
entertained. The writer continues :—” How anyone 
can imagine it possible that larvae, snug in the interior 
of fruit, can be successfully poisoned by a momen¬ 
tary application of an evanescent, watery liquid to 
the outside thereof, passeth my comprehension.” 
Eggs are not laid in the interior, but on the outside 
of the fruit, and the tender young grub has to eat 
its way inside at a period when very little poison is 
necessary to undo the delicate organism. Spraying 
is expressly meant to arrest its progress at this stage, 
and not to destroy it after it is safely harboured in 
the interior. If, when the grub is newly hatched, 
the trees including the fruit have been recently 
sprayed, the chances are that the insect gets 
poisoned, and can proceed no further beyond its 
first meal. But the eggs are laid inside the calyx it 
is affirmed. In the early part of the season the calyx 
is upright and receives the poisonous liquid from the 
spray. Later in the season it hangs down as the 
fruit increases in weight and size. The spraying 
might then seem useless, and in some cases, no 
doubt, its object is frustrated. But the grubs of 
later broods may not always be hatched out in the 
calyx. At all events, we know that they sometimes 
enter the fruit at the opposite end from the calyx. 
