January 27, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
339 
ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS, 
By John Fraser, P'.L.S,, Kew. 
The Orchids described below were exhibited at the 
meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society on the 
i6th inst., and received awards according to merit. 
Laelia anceps Ashworthiana. 
This may be described as a white form of the 
species, but possessed of some colouring on the 
interior of the lip, and which is quite a new shade 
from any which has yet appeared in the species. 
The sepals are white but the petals are even purer. 
The latter are ovate, and as broad as those of the 
highly popular and meritorious L. a. Dawsonii. 
The lip is white, with closely arranged, slaty blue 
lines on the inner face of the side lobes, and passing 
over the basal half of the crest; at the sides of the 
latter the blue deepens to violet. The upper half 
of the crest is pale yellow. The lamina has a 
sprinkling of pale violet dots over the centre. 
Altogether, it is distinct, handsome, and chaste, and 
a First-class Certificate was awarded it when shown 
by Messrs. F. Sander & Co., St. Albans. 
Phaio-Calanthe Apnoldiae. 
As exhibited, the two halves of the generic name 
occupied reversed positions, but the name in that 
form was both ungainly and anything but euphonious. 
The plant is a bigeneric hybrid, of which Phaius 
grandifolius was the seed parent, while Calanthe 
Regnieri was the pollen parent. The progeny is in¬ 
termediate in all respects, but unfortunately the 
plant does not retain its leaves till the flowering time. 
The scape grows about 2 ft. high, bearing a raceme 
of nine or ten flowers. The sepals are lanceolate 
and buff, fading to pink and white at the tips. The 
petals are narrower, but darker, being pale rosy 
pink. The base of the lip is tubular, as in the seed 
parent, rolled round the column, and of a very pale 
purple or pink. The lamina is much darker, but 
still of a soft rosy-purple, and in that respect 
attractive. It will doubtless find many admirers, for 
the flowers are pretty, and of appreciable size. An 
Award of Merit was accorded it when shown by 
Messrs. F. Sander & Co. 
Cypripedium Morganiae langleyense. 
The upper sepal of this variety is very pale, with 
eleven to thirteen deep purple veins radiating from 
the base, several of them running to the top. The 
petals are, however, very handsome, 4 in. to 5 in. 
long, deflexed, and spotted all over with crimson- 
purple on a clear, shining yellow ground. The spots 
are much less numerous than in C. M. burfordense, 
but the clearer yellow ground serves to show them 
off better. The lip is very dark purple, so that 
altogether this variety will serve to enhance the 
reputation of the prince of hybrid Cypripediums. 
A First-class Certificate was awarded it when shown 
by Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea. 
Cypripedium Adrastus. 
The seed parent of this hybrid was C. Leeanum 
crossed with C. villosum Boxalli as the pollen 
bearer. The oblong, leathery leaves are much 
broader than those of C. Leeanum, and deep green. 
The scape is only about 6 in. high, and one-flowered. 
The upper sepal is obovate and white, heavily 
spotted with purple except towards the margin, and 
shaded with pale green towards the base. The 
petals are obovate and heavily overlaid with 
brownish-purple on a yellow ground with a shiny 
lustre. The lip is remarkably short and wide, deep 
purple, shining, and mottled or streaked yellow, with 
a yellow edge. The staminode is obovate and 
yellow. On the whole it is a strikingly distinct and 
handsome hybrid. First-class Certificate. The 
exhibitors were Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons. 
Mopmodes Rolfei. 
In this we have a singular looking species as to 
colour independently of the peculiarities of structure, 
characteristic of all the members of the genus. 
The ovate sepals are concave, reflexed and of a rich 
brown with darker lines. The petals are elliptic and 
erect but otherwise similar to the sepals. The lip is 
also erect, curved over the column, reflexed or 
revolute at the sides, and of a uniform deep brown. 
The pale brown column is curiously twisted. The 
flower is possessed of a moderately strong but agree¬ 
able odour. Had the colour been brighter, the 
species would have been highly ornamental. Botani¬ 
cal Certificate. The exhibitor was Sir Trevor 
Lawrence, Bart., Burford Lodge, Dorking. 
Calanthe William Muppay. 
The sepals of this variety are lanceolate, the petals 
obovate, and all are creamy-white. The lip is four- 
lobed and crimson at the base and around the 
column, while the rest gradually fades to rose upon 
the lobes. The scapes were about 2J ft. high, and 
well flowered. An Award of Merit was accorded it 
when shown by Norman C.Cookson, Esq , Oakland, 
Wylam-on-Tyne. 
Calanthe Bryan. 
The sepals and petals in this case are similar to 
those of William Murray. The four-lobed lip is 
also creamy-white, except at the base, in the throat, 
and part of the column, all of which are crimson. 
Award of Merit. The exhibitor was Norman C. 
Cookson, Esq. 
Dendrobium Hebe. 
The parents of this hybrid were D. Findleyanum 
and D. Ainsworthii, the latter itself a hybrid and the 
pollen bearer. The sepals are oblong and white, 
lightly washed, and veined with pale purple. The 
broader oblong petals are creamy-white with a pale 
purple tip. The labellum is slightly hooded at the base, 
creamy-white, with a pale purple tip, and deepening 
to yellow at the base; it has also a purple blotch in 
front of the column and one each side of it. An 
Award of Merit was accorded it when shown by Sir 
Trevor Lawrence, Bart, (grower, Mr. H. White), 
Burford Lodge, Dorking. 
Dendrobium atroviolaceum. 
The flowers of this species are possessed of very 
singular colours. The sepals are oblong, slightly 
twisted or reflexed at the sides, yellow, tinted with 
green and spotted with violet. The petals are 
obovate, reflexed at the sides below the middle and 
similar in colour to the sepals. The three-lobed lip 
is intensely violet on the inner face and greenish 
externally, more or less spotted. A dwarf well- 
flowered plant was exhibited by F. Wigan, Esq. 
(grower, Mr. W. H. Young), Clare Lawn, East 
Sheen, when a First-class Certificate was accorded 
it. 
Epidendrum polybulbon. 
The pseudo-bulbs of this singular looking species are 
ovoid, small and very numerous, bearing a pair of 
lanceolate leaves about one and a half inches to two 
inches long. The sepals are linear, the petals nar¬ 
rower and all buff yellow, with a dark brown band 
along the centre. The lip is spathulate and white 
with a yellow claw. One flower only is produced 
from a pseudo-bulb, and rises just above the foliage. 
A pan of it, well flowered and shown by Sir Trevor 
Lawrence, Bart., was very pretty. Botanical Certifi¬ 
cate. 
Calanthe Florence. 
This hybrid has been raised from C. Bella crossed 
with C. Veitchi. The upper sepal and the petals 
are of a dark crimson red ; the lateral sepals are 
rosy. The lip is shallowly four-lobed and rose with 
a white throat. An Award of Merit was accorded 
it when exhibited by Mr. J. H. Fitt, gardener. The 
Frythe, Welwyn, Herts. 
The Orchid Growers’ Calendar. 
Potting. —Where Orchids are grown in quantity 
and hands to attend to them are limited, this work 
should be pushed forward as much as possible, so 
that each genus can receive atttention at the proper 
season, for in a month’s time there will be a hundred 
and one other things to see to. The best time to 
pot most kinds in my opinion is when the newly 
made up growths are beginning to make fresh roots. 
This cannot, I know, be done in all cases, because 
some plants flower as soon or before the growths 
reach maturity. Take Cattleya gigas for an example; 
with these our plan is to place some good fibrous 
peat for the new roots to work into. This we find 
is of great help to the plants whilst in bloom, and 
enables us to do the repotting after the flowering 
season is over, an advantage which will be apparent 
to most growers, as then there is very little, if any, 
check to the plant. Where there are roots outside 
the pots or baskets, and they have attained any 
length before they can be repotted, I find it a good 
plan to leave some of them outside of the new pot 
or basket, for if roots made in this way are covered 
with a lot of compost they are almost sure to die 
unless they are kept dry until they get accustomed 
to the new conditions. 
Laelia anceps. —As plants of these go out of 
flower they will be at once repotted, or rebasketted 
as the case may be. We put very little compost 
about the roots of this species, just a little on the 
surface of the crocks to hold the plants in position, 
and to retain the moisture about them during the 
hot weather. Peat and moss in about equal parts, 
grows them well. Very little water will be required 
for some little time, just enough only to keep the 
moss fresh. 
Cattleya labiata autumnalis will also require 
attention. Those in baskets should have all the old 
compost removed and replaced with fresh, inserting 
a piece of crock or charcoal here and there as the 
work proceeds ; whilst plants in pots will be repotted 
as it can be more easily done and is a much better 
plan than top-dressing, when grown in pots. 
Potting Material.— This should be neither too 
wet nor too dry, but pots and crocks must not be 
used when wet. We generally put up a bench in the 
same house in which the plants are growing, to do 
the potting on, and the compost crocks, &c., are 
placed in the warmth a day before being used. 
General Work.— Now that the weather has again 
set in mild, very little syringing will be necessary, 
for with the outside atmosphere charged wit 
moisture, and less fire heat being required, the 
plants do not shrivel so quickly. We shall not raise 
the temperature of either division yet, for we are 
not quite out of the wood.—C. 
♦ 
Leeks. 
In the northern part of the kingdom this vegetable 
is much in request and is much better grown than i 
the south. This to some extent may be accounted 
for by the greater amount of rainfall, for they are 
moisture loving subjects, but this is not all, for their 
cultivation is better understood in the north than 
elsewhere. We have usually been successful in 
obtaining good early roots in the following manner. 
A pan of seed is sown the first week in February and 
this being afterwards placed in a frame or house 
where a gentle heat is afforded, the seed soon germi- 
nate's. The pan should be kept near to the glass till 
the plants are large enough to handle, when they 
should be pricked off about two inches apart each 
way on a slight hot bed, where they can remain till 
the first week in April, by which time they are large 
enough for planting in the open ground. A trench 
is taken out as for Celery, into which about six inches 
of thoroughly decayed manure is put, and on the 
top of this about four or five inches of soil. The 
plants are there planted in a single row about a foot 
apart. 
When established, the chief object is to get a 
good length of stem, and to attain this end the 
plants must become somewhat drawn up as it were. 
There are several ways of accomplishing this, but 
the most simple and at the same time the least 
expensive mode is by the aid of two inch drain pipes. 
If these are put over the plants when they have got 
well-rooted and the foliage is of sufficient length to 
reach through the top, the stems will soon become 
somewhat elongated and may be blanched for a foot 
of their length. Leeks are gross feeders, but the food 
they most delight in is potash, superphosphate and 
nitrogen, therefore these must be supplied regularly 
if we would have the plants do well. If a little 
kainit and nitrate of soda be dissolved in water at the 
rate of two pounds of each to thirty-six gallons, and 
the sides of the rows watered with it once a week, the 
result is astonishing. Superphosphate may be 
sprinkled along the sides of the plants to be washed 
in with the watering, a little too may be mi,\ed with 
the soil in the trench before planting. 
For winter and late use, a sowing should be made 
in the open ground at the same time as the Onion 
seed is put in. If the plants are treated afterwards 
in trenches as recommended for the early sowings 
they will give a supply of fine crisp juicy stems till 
late in the spring. The late lot may be earthed up 
in the same way as Celery, but they need not be 
covered to protect them from the frost. We have 
seen Leeks in very hot weather suffer from the 
attacks of red spider, but this can be got rid of by 
frequently watering the plants over the foliage each 
evening. Mildew is also sometimes troublesome, 
but a dusting or two of sulphur or quick lime will 
usually put a stop to this pest. The chief thing is 
to transplant when small, feed well and keep the 
plants well moistened at the roots, then there will be 
but little fear of them not giving satisfaction.— 
Kitchen Giii'dener. 
