236 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Dee. 13th, 1884. 
THE 
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Vanda coerulea.—By common consent this plant 
is acknowledged to be one of the best of the genus to 
which it belongs, in fact, I think that many Orchid 
growers consider it should hold the foremost place, for 
whether we consider its all but unique colour, its 
floriferous character, the season at which it blooms ; 
and the length of time that the blooms remain fresh, 
we shall not easily find its equal, yet in private 
collections we seldom find it grown in quantity. On 
looking through one or two large collections quite 
recently, I was disappointed to find it so scantily 
represented. I can scarcely think that this is 
altogether to be attributed to any real difficulty in 
its cultivation, as I find it to be very easily suited in 
this respect. 
For some years I have grown them in teak 
baskets, suspended near the roof of the Cattleya- 
house, in such a position as will enable them to get a 
good amount of light, without being exposed to bright 
sun. As regards moisture it is treated precisely the 
same as the other Vandas, in fact, ours hang partly 
over the pthers. And with this treatment we never 
fail to get a good return for our labour, in the way of 
a profusion of flowers at a dull time of year. We 
have one plant that has been under my care for about 
fourteen years (from a small imported bit with six of 
eight leaves), which has this autumn produced fifty- 
nine blooms on four spikes, the greatest number on 
one spike being seventeen, and last year the same 
plant had on one spike twenty-two blooms. This 
autumn we have had over one hundred blooms from 
six plants, which I think may be considered a proof 
that with rational treatment this plant will amply 
repay one for all pains taken in its cultivation.— 
J. Jaques, Malvern. 
The Orchid Album.—The current number of this 
admirable publication contains beautiful plates of 
Dendrobium moschatum cupreum (generally known as 
D. Calceolus), Cattleya calummata, Odontoglossum 
Cervantesii and Vanda Cathcartii. Cattleya calum¬ 
mata is a garden hybrid raised by M. Alfred Bleu, of 
Paris, between Cattleya Acklandite and C. intermedia, 
and partaking more of the characteristics of C. 
Acklandise in its manner of growth and in the size of 
its flowers, but appears to be more free in its develop¬ 
ment. The plant is of dwarf-growing habit, and is 
also free-blooming. It produces slender club-shaped 
stems, from 4 ins. to 6 ins. high, surmounted by two 
leaves of a light green colour, from between which the 
flowers proceed at the time the plants are making 
their growth. The sepals and petals are white, 
heavily blotched with rosy purple, and the lip is a 
bright magenta, in shape similar to that of C. 
Acklandise. The plant requires the same kind of 
treatment as C. Acklandise. 
Phalsenopsis Stuartiana. — This charming 
Orchid is supposed to be a natural hybrid, and is 
closely allied to P. Schilleriana and P. amabilis. 
The young leaves are transversely marbled with 
greyish-brown. The flowers are nearly 3 ins. in 
diameter, pure white, except the lower half of the 
lateral sepals and the lip, which are densely spotted 
with cinnamon red. It succeeds well in the East 
Indian house, under similar treatment to P. Schilleriana. 
The plant should never be allowed to get dry, and the 
Sphagnum should be kept growing. There is an 
excellent figure of it in the November number of The 
Illustration Horticole. 
Odontoglossum Londesboroughianum.—It is 
surprising the length of tune this Odontoglossum will 
remain in flower. A plant here has been in bloom 
for fully two months, and has yet some buds to 
open, which will, by the time the last flower fades, 
extend its season of flowering to nearly four months. 
The rich brown and bright yellow flowers are very 
telling at this season of the year, and find many 
admirers.— E. Dumper, Summerville, Limericlc. 
FLORICULTURE. 
New English Roses.—Amongst the novelties 
announced for distribution next year, we note two 
new Roses raised by Mr. Thomas Laxton, and which 
he states are the first outcome of the last six years’ 
work, and the bravest survivors of upwards of 1,000 
seedlings, raised from some hundreds of crosses 
effected during that period. 
Bedfoed Belle is described as a hybrid tea-scented 
variety, from Gloire'de Dijon, fertilized by Souvenir de 
Comte Cavour (dark H. P.). “ The flower is of a 
lovely blush white, in colour approaching nearly to 
that of La France, but sometimes tinted rose externally, 
of good size, cup-shaped, and most beautifully formed, 
very full, but every bud coming perfect in form, and 
opening well, even in bad weather, a qualification not 
present in all the hybrid Teas. The plant is a very 
early and persistent flowerer, commencing in May and 
June, whence for several weeks it continues a mass of 
bloom, and again flowering intermittently until 
October. The tree is very hardy and vigorous, with a 
tendency to climb or become pendulous, branches 
somewhat thickly set with blackish thorns, on dark 
tinted stems, foliage composed of numerous leaflets of 
a bluish-green colour, giving this variety a most 
distinct appearance from all others. It is a splendid 
Rose for the florist for cutting, and will probably also, 
on account of its beauty and distinctness, take a place 
on the exhibition table.” 
Gipsy is “ another beautiful but smaller Rose from 
the same source, partaking more of the H.P. type. 
Colour dark velvety red, every bloom coming perfect 
like a miniature Chas. Lefebvre. Plant vigorous, 
hardy, and a most perpetual bloomer, one of the best 
dark Roses yet introduced for the florist.” 
DAPHNE INDICA. 
The deliciously fragrant Daphne deserves to hold a 
more important place in our greenhouses and con¬ 
servatories than it does at present, and perhaps it 
would, were it not for the difficulty of obtaining 
healthy and good-looking plants, which is generally 
due to the want of a proper knowledge of their culture. 
Experience has proved the method of propagation and 
culture given below to be attended with the best 
results, and the gardener who wishes to increase his 
stock of these plants cannot do better than adopt it. 
The Daphne can be grafted or obtained from cuttings. 
In the selection of cuttings, ripe wood of inter¬ 
mediate growth, well finished up at the points, should 
be taken, making each cutting about 3 ins. long. The 
bottom of the cuttings should be cut off with a sharp 
knife, this will leave a fresh and smooth surface, 
which is favourable to the better production of roots ; 
and the cuttings should immediately be potted into 
long thump pots, taking care to press the soil in very 
firmly. They should be placed upon a slight bottom 
heat in a case or frame situated in a house of inter¬ 
mediate temperature; if, however, too much heat is 
given they often not only start into an unnatural 
growth, but do not put forth any roots. 
They will require careful treatment while in the 
frame. Each morning the light or glasses must be 
removed for an hour, and any cuttings that are dry 
must be watered, but it is only necessary to water the 
whole case every other morning, which should be 
gently done with a fine rose pot. Occasionally the 
cuttings must be looked through, and any dead leaves 
should be removed, as also must any pieces of flower 
in the centre of the cuttings, and thus prevent their 
decay. They should also be sheltered from the sun. 
As soon as they have well rooted, they can be placed 
outside the frame, and there be allowed to remain 
until they have become somewhat hardy. The young 
plants should then be firmly potted into large GO-sized 
pots, and after watering they require to be placed 
in the intermediate-house. When the plants have 
put forth sufficiently developed roots they should be 
potted into large 48’s, and should be replaced in the 
intermediate-house, but they should be well supplied 
with water, and be occasionally syringed. 
As the season advances, say in April, these plants 
must be removed to a cold pit to receive the same 
treatment as they did in the intermediate-house ; but 
here great care must be taken both to protect them 
from the frost, and to shade them from the hot sun. 
As the weather gives opportunities, the plants should 
receive a good supply of fresh air, and when the 
season has so far advanced that the frost is no longer 
to be feared, the lights should be taken off altogether 
during fine nights. This mode of treatment is 
recommended because, as a rule, Daphnes grown in 
houses turn out so sickly, and soon get their foliage 
spotted with disease. 
During the flowering period the plants should, of 
course, be removed to the conservatory, or to a cold, 
airy greenhouse; but they should be taken back to 
the cold frame as soon as they have ceased to flower. 
The soil for the cuttings should be composed of 
three-fourths of peat and one-fourth sand, to which 
should be added a small quantity of finely-broken 
pot shreds, the whole to be well mixed together and 
sifted through a pin. sieve. For the stronger 
plants, however, the proportions are varied thus:— 
Half turfy yellow loam, one quarter of peat, and 
another of sand, mixed together with the finely- 
broken pot-shreds or ballast. The pots used both for 
plants and cuttings should be well drained. 
For grafting, the common purple and white 
D. Mezereum is used as a stock, and the grafts unite 
very freely with it, and in the course of a few months 
develop into nice plants. The stock must be cut 
down, leaving only M ins. of the stem above the soil. 
The top of the stem should be made smooth and level, 
and a piece an inch long and V-shaped must be cut 
out of the side of the stem, leaving a groove or hollow 
into which the graft must be made to fit. After 
having bound the grafts securely with Russian 
matting, they should be placed upon a very slight 
bottom heat in a cutting case or frame. Here they 
must be ventilated for half-an-hour each morning for 
the first week, but after that time the period should 
be increased to an hour; the dry plants must be 
watered, but great care must be taken not to wet the 
centre of the stock or even the matting, and when the 
sun shines they must be shaded from its rays. When 
the grafts have thoroughly united, an increased 
quantity of ah should be given them daily, until at 
length they are sufficiently hardened to be stood out 
in the open part of the house. As soon as they are 
strong enough they should be pottqd into large 60’s, 
and be replaced in the intermediate-house ; and after 
the plants have well rooted through the new soil they 
may be potted into large 48’s. The plants should be 
watered when they become dry, and occasionally a 
good syringing should be given them, but this should 
not be done until they have well rooted. They should 
then be removed to a cold pit to be treated in the 
same manner as those raised from cuttings.— T. U. 
POTATOS AT BINGLEY HALL. 
As a successful exhibitor of Potatos myself I was 
very much pleased with the article on “ Exhibition 
Potatos” which appeared in The Gardening Woeld of 
September 13th, and I came to the conclusion that it 
was written by one who knew what he was writing 
about. In the Midlands Potatos form one of the 
leading features at all autumnal exhibitions, reaching 
the climax at the great Cattle Show annually held at 
Birmingham the first week in December. The prizes 
ranging in value from 10s. to £10 10s., and divided 
into fifteen separate classes, with such eminent judges as 
Mr. A. F. Barron, of the Royal Horticultural Society’s 
Gardens, and Mr. Thomas, of Chatsworth, invariably 
secures keen competition from the best growers in all 
parts of the Kingdom. This being so a few notes 
derived from a closer inspection of this year’s exhibits 
may not be uninteresting to some of the many readers 
of The Gardening Woeld, who, like myself, strive to 
keep pace with the times. The exhibits at Birming¬ 
ham, taken as a whole, clearly showed that the past 
season had been a favourable one for the growth of 
Potatos, this was clearly evidenced by the very large 
number of dishes staged, and the size and even quality 
of the tubers, being decidedly in advance of the 
display of the previous three years. 
In white rounds Schoolmaster fairly held its own, 
being somewhat closely run by Porter’s Excelsior and 
First and Best. Some good examples of Prime 
Minister and Bedfont Prolific were likewise shown, 
and among varieties not generally known and staged 
