THE GARDENING WORLD. 
January l3, 1894. 
siO 
Gooseberry was concerned in our own locality, was 
purely domestic. Now, season after season, tons 
upon tons of Whinhams fruit are sent from Morpeth 
alone to preserving houses in Glasgow, Dundee, 
Sunderland, Newcastle, North Shields, &c., &c. The 
principal part of the crop is, of course, sent by rail 
and it is from the railway authorities that the most 
reliable and accurate statistics are obtainable upon 
this head. Through the courtesy of the head official 
of the Goods Department at Morpeth, we are enabled 
to supply the exact figures for an average year, viz., 
i88g. During that year, in the short season, there 
were ninety-three tons, two hundredweights, de¬ 
spatched, to which must be added the quantity sent 
to market by road. The railway people use the 
utmost care in handling and packing in despatch of 
the berries, so that they are placed in the most dis¬ 
tant markets in a state of creditable freshness. 
Besides this as large a quantity is sent by road, and 
sold in the market to dealers from the colliery 
villages and seaside towns. One who has abundant 
opportunities for knowing tbe real state of the 
market, estimates that, taking season with season, 
an average of 200 tons of berries of the Whinham 
variety is sold from Morpeth yearly.” 
" The chief interest, however, so far as Morpeth 
and the North of England is concerned, centres, not 
in the berry, but in the propagation of the young 
plants. 
"There, in the garden plot of almost every 
working man, one sees small patches of ground 
closely planted with Gooseberry cuttings. On 
turning to the gardens of nurserymen and market 
gardeners, where there are similar but larger plots, 
the impression gains upon you that this must be one 
of the gardening industries of the place. And so it 
turns out. As in China every cottager has his plot 
of Tea trees, so in Morpeth every working man who 
has a garden may be said to have his corner for 
Gooseberry slips. These, however, are small com¬ 
pared with the area and quantity raised by the large 
nurseryman or seedsman. Their cultivation is to 
the latter one of his main sources of trade. This 
trade is now of no mean extent. Of late years the 
demand has invariably exceeded the supply, hence 
the cultivation by the smaller growers to eke it out.” 
Mr. Leo Grindon assures us that the Greeks and 
Romans would seem to have had no knowledge of 
the Gooseberry, and if known was disregarded, and 
that doubtless because in Southern and South- 
Eastern Europe the berries are small and tasteless, 
which circumstance explains the neglect of the 
Gooseberry, not only in the past, but at present, in 
the south-west. "Even in France it is little cared 
for. The climate which suits it is precisely that 
which is best loved by the scented Rose, the humid 
one of Britain, and in this last-named happy land 
the perfection attained by the one is reached in a 
corresponding degree by the other. No country in 
the world excels Britain in regard to its Gooseberries. 
They ripen delightfully in every part—and for the 
poor man as well as the rich. To say where the 
best are produced is not easy. The district pre¬ 
eminently favourable is reputed to be that one 
distinguished as the Lothians. 
Which was the original form—the hairy or the 
hairless ? for both types are in’ cultivation. Mr. 
Grindon appears to think the hairy one was the 
original type—"the Uva Crispa of renowned old 
Fuchsius, who gives a drawing of it on page 187 of 
his “ Historia,” published in the time of Henry 
VIII. The colour of the original Gooseberry is a 
matter of conjecture, but one fact appears to be 
certain, that our varieties of the Gooseberry were 
all derived from one type—as if seed of any one 
fruit be sown all colours will appear among the 
progeny, and hairless varieties as well as hairy types. 
Whinham’s Industry is certainly a hairy variety. 
Another characteristic of the Gooseberry is that it is 
never destitute of prickles; these prickles, by the 
way, compared with the thorns and spines of 
prickly plants in general, are very curiously excep¬ 
tional, coming of a remarkable development of the 
pulvinus, which means a kind of little cushion. 
Anyone who has had experience of seedling Goose¬ 
berries will know that the seedlings are often very 
spiny, the main shoots especially, but when pro¬ 
pagated some modification of this characteristic 
takes place. 
Another important fact in connection with the 
Gooseberry—as to its dietetic virtue—is thus put for¬ 
ward by Mr. Grindon. He is dwelling on the im¬ 
portance of the Gooseberry for culinary purposes, 
and in relation to these the value of the Gooseberry 
can hardly be over-estimated : — 
" To those classes in particular of the working 
community whose occupations keep them much 
within doors, in shops and manufactories. Nature in 
early summer supplies few things more healthful. 
Indoor workers require a larger amount of the 
description of acid such as fruits contain, than is 
needed by people who get plenty of fresh air, and 
for them the green Gooseberry comes in abundantly 
and cheaply.” 
More, a great deal more, might be said about this 
valuable fruit, but I content myself for the present 
with what I have set down in the afore-mentioned 
passages.— R. D. 
- mfm. - 
ORCHIDS AND THEIR CULTIVATION.* 
By H. C. Prinsep, F.R.H.S. 
No class of plants has become so popular in recent 
years as this. Most people who have a greenhouse 
are desirous of making an attempt at the cultivation 
of some branch of the genus. A great many fail, 
however, because of their insufficient knowledge of 
the plant’s requirements. I would, therefore, at the 
outset, like to give a word of warning to those who 
are about to make a start, not to expect all the 
species of the different genera to thrive under the 
same unvarying conditions. For if he goes to work 
on this supposition, certain loss and disappointment 
will be the result of the labour in many instances. 
It was thought formerly that all Orchids required to 
be grown in a high temperature, but experience 
teaches us that some species when grown under 
glass cannot be kept too cool in summer, while in 
winter the mean temperature may be allowed to fall 
as low as 45° F. without injury. A great amount of 
skill and time has been spent by Orchid growers in 
making experiments in hybridising, in subjecting 
plants to different modes of treatment, and by the 
use of various structures. As a result of their 
labours, the would-be cultivator may go to work with 
such an amount of knowledge as will make the 
management of the plants less difficult to under¬ 
stand, and the risk of failure less frequent. E'er 
this reason we see many, even among amateurs in a 
very small way, with their collections. 
The whole of the genera Orchidaceae, are inter¬ 
esting, ranging from the Spiranthis Autumnalis, and 
Orchis maculata, that are found in our meadows, to 
the more gorgeous Dendrobiums or lovely Phalaen- 
opsis from far-off lands. This is one of the most 
extensive orders of the world’s flora, for we And 
that it is represented in all the tropical and temperate 
parts of the globe. This being so, it is very evident 
that we cannot cultivate all under similar climatic 
conditions. Each genus must be considered and 
treated separately, and often the various species of a 
genus will require special attention, with respect to 
its growth under natural conditions. We will not 
take up more time with preliminaries, but go straight 
to the point and enumerate some of the most popular 
of this extensive order, and their mode of treatment. 
Odontoglossum. 
For amateurs and others with a limited amount of 
space, this genus will be found the most serviceable. 
It includes a number of species with a great variety 
of different forms. The flowers of no other single 
species have such a diversity of markings as Odonto¬ 
glossum crispum. These plants coming from such 
high altitudes (The Andes), require but little heat, 
therefore as an amateur’s Orchid the palm of 
superiority and fitness must be awarded them. The 
beauty of the flowers, together with the long 
pendulous racemes produced, which follow each 
other in uninterrupted succession for the greater 
part of the year, make them alike useful and inte¬ 
resting. Apart from their merits as floral beauties, 
they are popular from a market point of view, the 
flowers lasting so long in a perfect state. This genus 
includes from 60 to 70 species, of which we may take 
the various forms of Crispum as the most popular. 
The geographical distribution of the Odontoglossums 
is confined to the mountain regions of tropical 
America, extending from latitude 15° S to latitude 
20° N. Their southern limit is said to be where the 
great Cordilleras of the Andes begin to draw closer 
together after enclosing the lofty plateau of Peru, and 
Bolivia, and where a change in the atmospheric 
conditions of the Andean region becomes perceptible. 
* A paper read at a meeting of the Brighton and Sussex 
New Horticultural Improvement Association, 1893. 
Throughout Central America there extends a series 
of these table lands, the average elevation of which 
is between 7,000 and 8,000 ft. On these elevated 
places the Odontoglossums are found, so that we 
may judge somewhat of their natural habitats. 
The climate of this zone, by reason of its elevation, is 
decidedly temperate, the mean annual temperature 
being about 57° Fab., while the lowest is about 40° 
F. for a short time at night. The temperature also 
at this altitude is always moist with the vapour 
rising from below, and condensing as it becomes 
cooled by the lower temperature of the elevated 
ground. 
From the foregoing it will be evident that to 
imitate such a climate in this country needs fore¬ 
thought. Most of us know what kind of a climate 
we have on a warm summer morning when climbing 
a mountain side before the sun is hign. This is such 
as the Odontoglossums delight in. They seem at 
home in a house that is charged with moisture, and 
permeated by a gentle breeze, and whose tempera¬ 
ture varies between 45*^ to 50'' in winter, and 50° to 
70° in summer. 
When potting only sufficient earth is needed to 
keep the plant steady. The pot should be filled 
three parts full with clean crocks broken small 
for the lesser sized ones, and larger in proportion 
to the size of the plants. The roots should be 
placed on the top of these, and the remaining space 
filled up with rough peat. Small pieces of livdng 
sphagnum are then dibbed on the top of the peat to 
assist in retaining the moisture and keeping the 
plants fresh. On warm sunny days the plants 
should be syringed over two or three times a day if 
not in bloom, and during hot weather in summer 
frequent damping down is necessary, so that the 
atmosphere may be always saturated with moisture. 
Shade should always be used while the sun is 
bright to prevent evaporation, and to keep the 
house of a more even temperature. The enemies of 
this genus are not numerous, especially if the con¬ 
ditions of the house in which the plants are growing 
be suitable to their requirements. At the same 
time both snails and thrip are troublesome and 
must be guarded against. All the species, except 
citrosmum, may be grown in a cool house, but this 
kind requires rather a warmer temperature. 
Oncidium. 
We will now turn our attention to the Oncidium, 
as this genus is so nearly allied to the former that 
those not well versed in Orchidology often mistake 
one for the other. Of the numerous species this 
genus embraces, some are very beautiful while 
others are scarcely worth the trouble of growing. 
Some require great heat to bring them to perfec¬ 
tion, while others will thrive in the same house with 
the Odontoglossums. Taking the genus collectively, 
it is the hardest of all to manage, and few orchid 
growers are able to keep the plants of some of the 
species healthy for long. The delicate perfume of 
some kinds is delightful, while the gorgeous flowers 
of others induce all lovers of Orchids to do their 
utmost to maintain them in a flourishing state. As 
they vary so much in their habitat, it would not 
be possible in so short a space to do them all 
justice. So I will name only a few which will grow 
with the Odontoglossums—Oncidium crispum, O. 
Forbesii, O. ornithorhynchum, O. sarcodes, and O. 
tigrinum. 
Miltonia. 
Our next genus is the Miltonia. Who has not 
been charmed with M. vexillarium, M. Roezlii, M. 
Moreliana, and others ? Their cultivation, however, 
like that of Oncidium, is not easy, for they do not 
very readily accommodate themselves to treatment 
under glass. Truly some of the species thrive 
better than others, but few besides the well-known 
vexillarium seem to make themselves at home under 
cultivation. They like an even temperature, and 
must be shaded from the sun. Pots suit them best, 
for they should never be allowed to become dry at 
the roots. 
Cypripedium. 
For peculiarity of flowers none are more remarkable 
and interesting than those belonging to this group. 
The plants have been found sparingly distributed 
over most of the equatorial regions, from the west 
coast of South America to the far east of Japan. 
But by far the greatest number of species in culti¬ 
vation are hybrids, for no genus so adapts itself to 
fertilisation as this, and none so easily habituate 
themselves to the glass structures of the more 
