188 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
Nov. 22nd, 1884. 
THE 
(frdntr (Stokers Cdmtmr. 
Wire injurious to Orchids. —There is no doubt 
that wherever wire comes in contact either with the leaf, 
stem, or flower-spike of an Orchid for any length of time, 
injury of a very unsightly character is certain to take 
place, and remain to bear evidence of the fact so long 
as the portion of the plant injured remains a part 
of it. As a means of suspending blocks, baskets, and 
ferns, wire of course cannot be done away with, but 
as copper wire is not so quick in injuring plants coming 
into contact with it as galvanized iron, it should be 
used where practicable, and in all cases where either 
copper or galvanized wire is used, great care should be 
taken to watch growung leaves, and either guide them 
away from the wires by placing a smooth stick between 
them and it, or if it is impossible to avert contact, to 
bind the part of the wire against which the leaf or 
growth is coming with cotton wool, or tie a strip of 
thin wood to that side against which the plant is 
growing, and by this means, in most cases, injury may 
be averted. 
Whether the action of the wire on the plant be 
galvanic, or whether it is caused by corrosive 
exhudations, I cannot say, but it certainly appears 
to me that in many cases, where I have seen the 
stems of Dendrobiums and other Orchids injured by 
contact with galvanized iron wire they looked as 
though they had been struck with lightning, their 
stems for some inches at the point of contact being 
blackened, swollen and twisted; common prudence, 
therefore, should suggest the necessity of keeping the 
plants away from the wires. 
In many collections I find wire is most unnecessarily 
used for making pegs for securing plants in their pots, 
and often they are used to a most ridiculous extent 
for securing the lumps of peat on the surface of the 
pots, or pieces of cork, which is very puzzling to an 
unpractised hand, but which is so simple to the skilled 
practitioner. Recently I saw a Coelogyne cristata with 
over one hundred wire pegs about it. The question 
admits of no argument, as wherever the metal is 
brought into contact with the plant injury is certain, 
even though its effect may not be immediately visible. 
It is needless, therefore, to point out that wire should 
never be used for such purposes, indeed, pegs of any 
kind are unnecessary, and the sooner the cultivator 
accustoms himself by practice to securing the plant 
and the material used in potting it while the process 
of potting is going on the better .—James O'Brien. 
ORCHID NOTES. 
Miltonia speetahilis radians is an evergreen 
plant, and grows about 8 ins. in height, with short 
thin pseudobulbs of a light green colour. The foliage 
is also pale green, and the flowers are produced each 
on a scape about 6 ins. high, springing from the side 
of the pseudobulbs. The sepals and petals are of a 
creamy white, and the lip is pure white, with seven 
or eight radiating blotches of crimson-purple at the 
base. It blooms during July and August, and lasts 
four or five weeks in beauty. 
We find this plant does well grown in pots or 
baskets, and will also thrive on blocks of wood, but 
we prefer the two former modes. The compost 
should consist of rough fibrous peat or live sphagnum 
moss. These plants have a sort of creeping stem or 
rhizome, and, of course, require more pot room for 
the plant to ramble over; but they require very little 
material to grow in. The pot should be nearly filled 
with drainage, and moss or peat placed on the top of 
it, being raised to about 2 ins. over the rim of the 
pots; then set the plant cn the top, and peg it down 
securely, when it will quick root into the fresh 
compost. A few lumps of charcoal should be put 
between the roots. The plants require a good supply 
of water when they are in vigorous growth, but after 
that is completed less will suffice. The pseudobulbs 
should always be kept plump, and the roots never 
allowed to get dry, as the bulbs are then apt to 
shrivel, which is injurious to them. 
We find the shadiest part of the East Indian house 
to suit them best; in this position the foliage keeps 
of a better colour. We often hear people complain 
of them turning a sickly yellow-green, but we 
attribute this to giving them too much sun. These 
plants are best potted when they are starting into 
growth.— B. S. Williams in the Orchid Album. 
Zygopetalum Mackayi.— We have just now in 
flower two large plants of this useful and pretty 
Orchid bearing twenty-five spikes of bloom, and most 
of them with seven flowers on a spike. It is sweetly- 
scented, and will last in perfection for a month or 
six weeks. Associated in the conservatory with 
Eucharis, Chrysanthemums, Primulas and Cyclamens, 
it has a very pretty effect, and is a great favourite 
with the ladies. We grow it in a mixture of loam, 
peat, and old rotten cow-manure, with plenty of 
drainage. No amateur need hesitate to grow this 
Orchid, for its cultivation is as simple as that of 
a Pelargonium.— W. Driver, Longfords, Mincliin- 
lmmpton. 
Orchids at Kew. —In looking through the Orchid 
houses at Ivew the other day, several interesting plants 
were observed, including a good plant of Cypripedium 
Spicerianum, though not a twin-flowered variety like 
the one figured in these columns last week. C. pur- 
puratum is very similar, except that the olive-green of 
the last is replaced by. purple and the flowers are 
somewhat smaller. Liparis Sanderiana,is an interesting 
species from Jamaica, with ovate bright green leaves 
and racemes bearing from twelve to twenty dull purple 
flowers, J in. in diameter. The plant bore ten 
racemes. Goodyera pubescens is a curious little 
plant from North America, the ovate leaves are dull 
dark green, with silvery-grey nerves, it bears spikes of 
small white flowers of no beauty. Polystachya 
pubescens, is a small Cape Orchid, with racemes of 
bright yellow flowers. Masdevallia velifera is a very 
curious plant, the flowers are 3 ins. long, yellowish- 
green outside, and looking as if varnished, and marked 
with various shades of sepia-brown inside. The 
lateral sepals are united for a considerable distance, 
and strongly bent back at the base. A number of 
well-known species may also be seen in flower.— 
Orchis. 
Cattleya exoniensis.— At the Chrysanthemum 
Show of the Royal Botanical Society of Manchester, held 
on Wednesday and Thursday last, Mr. George Hardy, 
Pickering Lodge, Timperley, exhibited a cut spike of 
Cattleya exoniensis, with seven perfect blooms, a most 
beautiful and highly creditable production. It is 
doubtful if more flowers on a spike were ever seen 
before. 
—<3=-^iSO=^-=E>— 
FLORICULTURE. 
Chrysanthemums at Messrs. Veitch’s.— The 
Royal Exotic Nursery, King’s Road, Chelsea, is one of 
the centres to which all lovers of the plant are annually 
drawn with the certainty of finding in addition to a very 
fine general collection, a number of new varieties of 
sterling merit. The display of the present year is 
well calculated to keep up the fame of the estab¬ 
lishment in this particular, for the large house 
devoted to the plants is one mass of flower, and the 
conveniently arranged collection standing in single 
rows on each side of the walk in the long house at 
the entrance, most interesting for comparison of the 
different flowers, and useful for making selections. 
There it will be seen that on the whole, the old 
favourites hold their own, but still in the new ones 
there are plenty worthy and even desirable to add to 
the collection. Among the 
Best Varieties of 1884, are large-flowered : Madame 
Feral, a fine white; Mrs. Todman, rosy-mauve, in¬ 
curved petals with silvery reverse ; Ville de Toulouse, 
deep carmine, incurved; Carmen, deep red, with 
yellow centre. Fringed flowers : Etincelant, chestnut 
crimson; Diamant, bright crimson-red; Elise Layellon, 
glowing red. Japanese : Mastic, buff-yellow ; L’or du 
Rhin, bright gamboge yellow; Annie Holborn, white 
and lilac ; Mons. Astorg, fine white; Roseum Superbum; 
satiny-rose ; Comet, reddish-rose passing to yellow, 
Saltern, deep red, scarlet shaded carmine; Gloria 
Solis, bright golden yellow; Henri Jacotot, red with 
yellow centre ; this seems at present the most distinct 
of the new varieties. Of the 
Old Favourites, a good selection, as seen at Messrs. 
Yeitch’s, includes Large-flowered: Virgin Queen, 
snow-white; George Glenny, light yellow; Mrs. 
Dixon, golden yellow ; Barbara, bronze ; Dr. Sharpe, 
crimson; Lord Alcester, sulphur; Progne, claret- 
crimson ; Prince of Vales, dark claret; Duchess of 
Manchester, white and rose; St. Patrick, ruby-red; 
Mrs. G. Rundle, white; Golden Beverley, canary 
yellow ; Jardin des Plantes, fine yellow; Refulgens, 
purple - maroon ; Lady Talfourd, rosy-lilac ; Julia 
Lagraviere, crimson; Miss Mary Morgan, delicate 
pink. Japanese and half-bred Japanese : Criterion, 
bronzy-yellow; Comte de Germiny, bright nankeen 
and astonishingly fine ; Safrans, primrose ; Eclatante, 
red and yellow ; Source d’Or, grand dark gold ; Etoile 
du Midi, bright crimson; Gloire de Toulouse, deep 
rose ; Peter the Great, lemon yellow ; Soleil Levant, 
canary yellow; James Salter, clear lilac, incurved petal; 
Lord Beaconsfield, salmon red, in the way of James 
Salter; Bouquet fait, delicate rosy-claret; Fair Maid 
of Guernsey, white; Elaine, snow-white, one of the 
finest for cutting; Duchess of Albany, white to blush ; 
Mr. Richd. Lariss, peach ; Rose Mignonne, yellow and 
brown ; Mons. Crousse, crimson and yellow. 
Among the Pompons, Madlle. Marthe, a lovely 
snow-white is very prominent, and the growers of 
Chrysanthemums for cutting think much of this and 
Elaine.—0. 
Dressing' Florists’ Flowers: the “Father” 
of the Art.—While the vexed question of dressing 
Florists’ Flowers for exhibition purposes is again 
under discussion in the gardening papers, some of 
our readers may be interested in the following extract 
from A Treatise on the Culture of the Carnation 
and other Florists’ Flowers, by Thomas Hogg, of Pad¬ 
dington Green, and which was published in 1823 : — 
“ One Christopher Nunn, of Enfield, a noted florist 
in his day, was eminent for his skill and dexterity in 
dressing Pinks and Carnations for prize exhibitions; 
some will even tell you that Kit was the father of the 
art. Upon such occasions he had as many applicr- 
tions to dress flowers as he had to dress wigs, for 1 e 
was a barber and friseur by trade, and withall a good- 
natured facetious prating barber, and could both 
shave and lay a Carnation with the greatest nicety. 
The novices of that day, who, being unacquainted 
with his secret art, trusted to Dame Nature to open, 
expand, and perfect their flowers, were no match for 
Nunn, for he began where she left off, and perfected 
what she had left imperfect. His arrangement and 
disposition of the petals were admirable, and aston¬ 
ished those norices. Kit’s art of dressing is still an 
enviable art, and attainable only by few. 
“Kit, as a florist, possessed other merits besides 
this; he could mix and temper soils with the same 
skill as he did his pomatum; he was a great experi¬ 
mentalist and compounder of manures ; it was all the 
same to him whether he snuffed up the odour of the 
roses or the less inviting fragrance of animal ordour ; 
it was he that first applied sugar-bakers’ scum as 
a surface-dressing to flowers, having witnessed its 
surprising effect upon the land of a neighbour of 
his from Goodman’s Fields; and he also had the 
credit of persuading and convincing Sir Somebody 
Tressilian or Trevannion, a Cornish Baronet, that 
old rags and old vugs, which contained so much 
grease and human fat, were a much warmer and 
richer manure for his land than the oily carcasses of 
his pilchards; and it is further said that Kit, as agent 
or factor, in one week bought up more than 2,000 
wigs in the neighbourhood of that celebrated mart, 
Rosemary Lane, which were sent down to try the 
experiment. Be not impatient, courteous reader, to 
get rid of poor Nunn ; remember he was a brother- 
florist and belonged to the fancy ; wait till you learn 
the result of one of his own experiments, and take 
this moral with it, though there be no fable here 
1 Other men’s mishaps should make us wary.’ 
“ In the early stage of his fancy, Kit upon mature 
reflection once concluded, that neat and genuine 
horse-dung, divested of all extraneous straw, must be 
better than much straw and little dung, as are usually 
put together. The resolution once taken, he hastened 
to the shop of a neighbouring blacksmith, and 
agreed for all the droppings that the horses, which 
came to be shod, should make in a twelvemonth, with 
