April 11th, 1885. 
501 
temperature outside is nearly as high as that they have 
been enduring under glass. 
Now when we consider that the Carnation is nearly 
a hardy plant, demanding for its best growth a period 
of rest in winter, the wonder is that it has not re¬ 
belled long ago against such bad treatment; but the 
complaints are now so general that it is evident that 
unless some means are used to avert the trouble, it 
will soon be the exception to find a healthy stock of 
Carnations in winter. Some kinds seem to succumb 
sooner than others. La Purite was one of the first to 
give out, but there is hardly now a variety that has 
been grown for six years, but in some locality or 
another is failing. There are two ways in which the 
trouble may be prevented, the first of which we have 
been practising for a number of years with complete 
success with every variety except La Purite, and even 
FIG. 1 -L.T.LIA ANCEPS VEITCHIANA. 
that has much improved. Our plan is to take the 
cuttings off during November and December. They 
get rooted enough to fill 2-in. pots by about the 1st 
of February, when they are knocked out of the pots 
and the balls packed close in shallow flats, holding 
100 or so, and they are then put either into cold 
houses or the ordinary cold frames, and covered up 
with straw mats so as to keep them from being 
severely frozen. Kept in this way, they can be 
planted out just as soon as the ground is dry enough 
in the spring, usually about April 1st. 
The other plan, which we tried for the first time 
last winter, is to heel away our stock plants in cold 
frames, and take the cuttings from these any time 
from January to March. The object in both cases is 
the same—to rest the plants as their nature demands. 
Mr. John Murchie covers the whole ground, we think, 
when he says, “ Quit striking your plants from plants 
that have been forced.” Now, if it be true that the 
Carnation disease is a consequence of uninterrupted 
“ forcing ” from year to year, I think we need not look 
further to find the reason of many of the other ills 
that plant life is heir to. The “sickness” among 
Violets is so general now, that it is rare to find a 
healthy stock. They, too, like the Carnation, have 
been forced for a generation, and though at not quite 
so high a temperature as the Carnation, yet certainly 
at a higher temperature in winter than they would be 
in their natural habitat. If this is the cause, the 
remedy is obviously the same as in the Carnation— 
give the stock from which you propagate a rest in 
winter. That debility in vegetable life invites 
parasitical germs cannot be doubted. All experienced 
propagators know that excessive cutting of a new 
plant for stock, not only renders the original plant 
itself liable to parasitical attacks, but the weakness 
follows into the progeny for years. 
We have several cases in point this season. The 
new Heliotropes, Swanley Giant and King of Night, 
are both affected with black rust, while in over twenty 
other varieties in our stock not a sign of it is present. 
“Black Rust,” so termed, affects many species of 
plants, but is best known as affecting Verbenas and 
Heliotropes. When examined by a powerful micro¬ 
THE GARDENING- WORLD. 
scope it is found to be caused by a lobster-like insect 
which rarely attacks plants in health. In fact we 
have proved again and again that when plants such 
as Verbenas and Heliotropes have become pot-bound 
the insect attacks them, while those shifted at the 
proper time and stood alongside of them have been 
completely exempt from its ravages. But to return to 
Carnations. It is probably correct to say that we 
cannot combat with the disease when its attacks 
are made in the forcing benches. If, however, the 
debilitated state invites fungus there may be a 
temporary remedy in using lime water, made by using 
about half a pound of lump lime to each gallon of 
water and putting it on clear, when the soil is dry 
enough to require water. The best Rose growers 
in this vicinity use lime water in the same way 
whenever there are indications by paleness of the 
leaves that this insidious parasite may be sapping the 
roots. 
Another parasite of the Carnation that attacks the 
shoots is what, for want of a better name, has been 
called the “ Carnation Twitter.” The indication of its 
presence is a twisting or curling of the leaves, and on 
examination of plants in that state it can be seen 
with the naked eye. It is a quick-moving insect, like 
the point of a cambric needle, and about the twentieth 
part of an inch in length. In its different stages is 
green or black in colour. Whenever any of the 
Dianthus tribe is attacked by this insect they rarely 
recover. So far there seems to be no remedy for it, 
as it burrows down in the heart of the shoots, getting 
out of the reach of anything that might destroy it. 
It, however, does not seem to be always invited by 
debility of the plant. I remember several years ago, 
when we used to grow the hardy garden Carnations 
largely for summer flowers, that it once struck into a 
batch of nearly 20,000 plants that had stood unpro¬ 
tected in the open ground all winter. Its action 
was peculiar. Beginning seemingly with one plant it 
radiated sometimes to a diameter of 20 ft. in patches 
all over the bed, rendering utterly useless all that it 
attacked. The only consolation is that it seems to 
come only at long intervals.— Charles Henderson, New 
Jersey, in American Gardeners' Monthly. 
CULTIVATION OF CACTI. 
All the species of Cactus may be treated as follows : 
Pot them in loam and peat, or sandy loam mixed with 
about a fourth part of lime rubbish. Use always the 
smallest-sized pots they will go into; always give 
ample drainage, and never water till the plants require 
it, and then only sparingly. 
In summer turn the plants out-of-doors, shelter 
from wind but not from the sun, and stand them on 
slates or boards to keep out the worms. Here have 
a covering of some kind to break off heavy rains ; 
and also pack the pots round with moss or cocoa-nut 
fibre, or the pots may get hot and burn the tender 
roots. By the middle of September return the plants 
to the greenhouse, and place them where they will 
get the most light and air. Early in spring remove 
them to the warmest structure, and they will soon 
break into bloom and flower finely. They would 
flower without being stood outside in summer, but 
the flowers would not be so fine, and the reddish 
hue seen on the stems and foliage when grown in 
the open air, shows that they relish that treatment, 
and that the plants are in a high state of health. 
Propagate by cuttings, seed, and grafts ; cuttings or 
off-sets must lay for a week or ten days to dry and 
heal up before being potted, using the same compost 
as recommended for plants, smallest-sized pots, and 
as little water as possible. Place them on a shelf near 
the glass, and be sure not to flood them with water. 
In re-potting shake off a little of the old soil, and 
place in pots one size larger than before. 
Seeds must be sown as soon as ripe in equal parts 
of peat and sand. Plunge the seed-pans in a hotbed, 
shade lightly, and, if the seed is good, they will be up 
in a month. Have the soil in the seed-pan pretty wet, 
and do not water again till necessary, when it should 
be done through a cake of moss, so as not to float 
the seeds. 
Gkafts. —This is very simple; merely make an 
incision in the plant to be operated on, and fit in it 
a fresh cutting of another kind, rubbing a little clay 
over the wound to keep out the air. The union is 
soon effected, and the new branch grows freely. 
— Authcntes. 
L^ELIA ANCEPS VARIETIES. 
(Continued from p. 473.) 
L.llia ANCEPS Baekeriana (fig. 2).— This fine form 
was imported at the same time as the original L. 
anceps, and distinguished on account of the bright 
tint of its flowers, and the shining, velvety crimson 
of its lip. Since the original was named, many 
false L. a. Barkeriana have been named ; but that 
which Baron Schroder grows at The Dell, Egham, 
and from which our illustration was obtained, is the 
true plant. Arranged as Baron Schroder has it, 
among the fine white forms, its flowers have a cheerful 
glow, which is pleasing in the highest degree. 
L. anceps Percivaliana is a free-flowering form, 
with very pale pink sepals and petals, and clear rose 
lip, with sulphur disc. There is also a form of 
Percivaliana called pulcherrimum, which differs from 
the type in having the disc of the lip orange, and the 
coloured portion light mauve. Both are very pretty 
and distinct. 
L. anceps Hillii is much like Percivaliana, but its 
sepals and petals are white instead of pale pink or 
blush. Like all the rest of the L. anceps varieties, 
good culture works wonders with it, and when well 
grown it is very handsome. 
L. anceps Calvertiana.— This pretty form is allied 
to L. a. Dawsoni, but its petals are narrower than 
those of Dawsoni, and the lines in the labellum are 
not so distinct and clear as in that variety. It is, 
however, very pretty. 
L. anceps Veitchii (fig. 1).—This is a most charm¬ 
ing plant, with clear white sepals and petals and well- 
formed labellum, which is clearly marked with crimson 
lines and stained on the front lobe and on the wings 
fig. 2.—l^elia anceps barkeriana. 
which clip the column with purplish-blue. L. a. 
Veitchii is a worthy companion to Dawsoni. 
L. anceps Sanderiana has not yet flowered in this 
country, but the dried flowers show it to be one of 
the largest of the white L. anceps, as well as one of 
the most floriferous. Its labellum is very brightly 
coloured, and it is said to bear five or six flowers on a 
spike. 
L. anceps rosea.— This pretty variety has delicate 
blush sepals and petals, and clear pink front portion 
to the labellum, the upper part being yellow, with 
dark lines. 
L. anceps vestalis is a grand white variety which 
flowered with Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., M.P. Its 
petals are tinged with pale green, lip stained with 
sulphur and lightly marked with purple. Its flowers 
are wax-like, and very distinct. 
