700 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 4th, 1885. 
THE 
dhxlntr (Srofaers’ Calendar. 
Summer Ventilation of Orchid-houses.— 
One of the best steps that can be taken in Orchid- 
culture is to unhesitatingly admit air from outside the 
houses at all seasons of the year, but in order that the 
proper amount of benefit may be obtained it is neces¬ 
sary to regulate the ventilators carefully according 
to the season. With a view to this at all times it is 
best to open every ventilator a little rather than open 
half of them wide, as we too often see done. If alt 
the ventilators be opened a little a gentle inlet of pure 
air is provided for without causing a current, but if 
only a few be opened wide, the draught from the 
points at which the air enters to those where it 
passes out causes excessive evaporation, induces a 
harsh, dry atmosphere in the house, and a consequent 
injury to the plants. 
In the hot weather in summer injury to the plants 
from this cause is very rife, the ventilators often being 
thoughtlessly thrown wide open from a notion that that 
is the best means of keeping the temperature down. 
Those who have studied the matter, however, know 
that such is not the case, and that Orchid-houses, 
carefully shaded and kept moist, are cooler and 
have a better growing atmosphere with each of the 
ventilators open but 2 ins. or 3 ins. than they would 
be if they were open a foot. It is the balancing of the 
top and bottom ventilation so that the air is renewed 
without currents being set up that is the important 
point to be observed. In houses so regulated the 
plants keep healthy and clean, whereas in ill-venti¬ 
lated dry houses the insect pests thrive better than 
the plants. 
In spring and early autumn, when the air outside 
is cool and moist, the ventilators may be more 
unguardedly thrown open, but in summer, when the 
air outside is very dry, the effect of its admission into 
the house necessitates careful watching and regu¬ 
lating accordingly, for in this respect, as in many 
others, there is a great difference in the effect 
produced in different houses. Whenever it is sus¬ 
pected that, by reason of the construction of the 
house or from any other cause, sufficient bottom 
ventilation has not been provided, I would advise 
others at once to do the same as I have frequently 
done myself, if no better means suggests itself :— 
take a hammer and chisel and knock out as many 
bricks as may be necessary about three courses above 
the ground-line. 
A special class of Orchids should be noted as being 
very susceptible to damage from over ventilation in 
summer. This comprises Odontoglossum Roezlii, 
O. vexillarium, 0. Warscewiczii, all the Bolleas, 
Pescatoreas, Batemannias, Paphinias, Coryanthes, 
and Phaltenopsis. All these, while demanding a good 
supply of pure air, require a still, moist house, and are 
so easily affected by currents of dry air in summer 
that I have often seen a few days’ careless ventilating 
utterly ruin them. By the same rule they are often 
destroyed by being placed in bad situations in houses 
in which they would grow very well if a moist, close 
corner had been selected for them. The Bolleas, 
Pescatoreas, and Batemannias are just now, perhaps, 
the worst done of any of our showy Orchids, and yet 
those who can grow Odontoglossum Boezlii well 
should be able to manage them, for they like a 
similarly moist, still, warm situation. 
I always found them do well in pots or baskets with 
only a very thin layer of sphagnum about them, and 
placed in a shady situation and kept moist all the 
year round. In one place I know they are all grown 
well on blocks suspended beneath the shade of the 
other plants in the house, and here they are kept 
moist at all times. Bain-water is very essential for 
all Orchids, but more particularly for this class ; the 
supply should therefore be husbanded, and not a drop 
used to waste. That required for moistening the 
walks and washing down should be got from some 
other source, and the rain-water used for watering the 
plants only. 
The Temperatures foe July should be:— 
East India oe Warm House.— 75 degs. to 85 degs. 
by day ; 70 degs. at night. 
Cattleya or Intermediate House.— 70 degs. to 
80 degs. by day ; 65 degs. at night. 
Cool or Odontoglossum House.— 60 degs. to 
70 degs. by day ; 55 degs. at night. Degrees Fahren¬ 
heit .—James O’Brien. 
Galeandra nivalis. -— This beautiful Orchid, 
which flowered for the first time in the collection of 
Sir Trevor Lawrence, is figured in the April number 
of The Illustration Horticole. The flowers are borne in 
racemes, the sepals and petals are of an ochreous- 
brown colour, and the large lip is white with a purple 
blotch near the apex. The leaves are grass-like, and 
about half an inch broad. It requires warm treat¬ 
ment and a copious supply of water during the 
growing season. 
- -iX > ^i — o — 
CUPRESSUS MACROCA.RPA. 
An Irish Forester writing recently to Forestry says : 
—I had recently occasion to cut down a magnificent 
Cupressus macrocarpa, and the many remarkable 
qualities it exhibited leads me to believe that it is a 
species worthy of a much more extensive cultivation 
than it has hitherto received. The tree was planted 
about twenty-eight years ago, and considering the 
quality of the soil in which it grew, and the bleak, 
exposed character of this part of the country, it 
attained to wonderful dimensions in this limited 
time. At 2 ft. from the ground it girthed exactly 
7 ft., and was as near as possible 50 ft. in height. 
Its timber, too, is exceedingly close-grained, and is 
particularly rich in resinous matter, which is well 
known to be an indispensable requisite to Fir and other 
timber of this class where durability, exemption from 
insect attacks, fungi, &c, are deemed important. 
I have not the slightest doubt, had this tree been 
allowed to stand until it reached maturity, its limber 
could not have been surpassed. This tree, however, 
does not succeed so well when planted in close 
proximity to the sea as some imagine. On an 
adjoining property, which is distant about 14 miles 
from the sea, and where it has been extensively 
planted during the last thirty years, comparatively 
few good specimens exist; which are generally in posi¬ 
tions from which they have derived considerable shelter 
from trees surrounding them. Those that are fully 
exposed to the sea-blast present that weather-beaten, 
one-sided appearance which characterizes most of 
our forest trees in that region. 
LAWNS, WALKS, AND ROADS. 
A lawn is, and will always continue to be, the most 
attractive and fascinating feature in landscape garden¬ 
ing, and to harmonize its trim, clean, and velvety 
appearance with the more rugged and unbroken 
foliage of the Evergreens which border it, is the most 
gratifying success of the garden architect. To some 
people any bit of Grass is a lawn, and one kind 
of Grass looks as well as any other, only it would 
seem as if the coarser the Grass and the rougher 
the surface the more natural it appears to them. 
The principle which should guide people in the treat¬ 
ment of the lawn is very different from that which 
directs all other attempts to beautify and adorn 
grounds, for this reason, that when the ornamenta¬ 
tion sought is by the introduction of trees, we select 
the most perfect types of their species, so that the 
copse or plantation will assume a truly natural 
appearance. A weeping tree seems to me to be as 
much out of place in a conspicuous position on a 
lawn as would a Fir tree beside a fountain ; but some 
people have a passon for weeping trees. On the other 
hand, a lawn in its perfection is purely artificial in 
everything that marks its distinguishing characteristics. 
The surface must be made as smooth as it can possibly 
be ; in the most brilliant rays of a midsummer sun it 
must not sear or blanch ; it must be simply a velvety 
carpet of living green from early springtime until the 
coming of frost and snow. Besides, the designer 
must have the art to conceal its truly artificial 
character and make it appear that this elegant, 
emerald surface, which should be soft and delicate 
enough for a fairy dance, is the most natural 
thing to expect to find set right in the midst of 
fringing plantations of Evergreens. The first thing 
to do after having determined to make a lawn 
is to consider its size. There are lawns, and there 
are simply Grass plots which their owners fondly 
dignify by that name. Hen strive to magnify 
the importance of everything now-a-days. They 
buy a country house, with a couple of acres of 
land, and at once it becomes an “ estate.” Every 
little pond is a lake. Xow when we attempt the 
decoration of nature we must leave false-heartedness 
alone. A lawn must necessarily be of such a size 
that the proper treatment in harmonizing its sur¬ 
roundings will not dwarf its appearance and cause it 
to look like an opening in some wood. 
It is well to border a lawn with a plantation of trees. 
The manner of doing this is to be determined by the 
views to be obtained from the house, which control 
every other consideration; but if views of distant 
scenery or of water cannot be incorporated into the 
vistas of our lawn, then it is better to make bordering 
plantations of Evergreens, planting them with an 
irregular margin of smaller trees and shrubs, forming 
inviting nooks, which are delightful for their sunny 
warmth in the chilly days of spring and autumn. If 
the trees are well grown, so that they throw out their 
branches close to the ground, the surface of the lawn 
will seem to merge in the foliage of the trees with a 
delightful illusion. Some have a great fancy to plant 
irregular beds of flowers on the lawn. This of course 
is a matter of taste, but it destroys the beauty of an 
unbroken carpet of green. 
Statuary, Vases, and Rockwork.— There is a great 
difference in taste as to the introduction of statuary 
upon the lawn ; in fact, tastes are often a matter of 
fashion or of cultivation any way ; just as one learns 
the use of unnatural things or becomes addicted to 
any habit, so taste may be educated, but, at the same 
time, not elevated or purified. The Greeks and 
Romans introduced statues into their gardens, and 
therefore some will always maintain that it is correct 
for us to do the same, making no account of the great 
difference and unsuitableness of our climate for the 
introduction of statuary into ornamental gardens. 
Downing has quoted very aptly in this connection 
some appropriate lines from Pope in sarcastic allusion 
to the same freaks of fancy in his day : — 
Statues growing that noble place in, 
All heathen goddesses most rare, 
Homer, Plutarch, and Nebuchadnezzar, 
Standing naked in the open air ! 
Works of art are very difficult things to harmonize 
in ornamental grounds. A well-designel fountain is 
a pleasing feature in the centre of a lawn, that is, if it 
is a fountain designed for water and not to show the 
skill of the artist, the stone-cutter, or the ironfounder ; 
or an abject thing in a drizzle, like that in some public 
gardens. It requires a great deal of skill to handle 
water properly in the form of fountains for purposes 
of decoration. 
The most famous jet in the world is the Emperor 
fountain, at Chatsworth, which plays 195 ft. in a solid 
stream. The volume of water required is so vast that 
it can be used only upon perfectly calm days, or the 
wind would blow the masses of spray over the sur¬ 
rounding lawn and do a great deal of damage ; it gives 
one an idea of immense power, but not of beauty. 
There are many forms in which a much less volume 
of water would produce finer effects for decoration. 
If excessive quantities of water fill us with a sense 
of force and power, so a diminutive or inadequate 
supply seems to me altogether trifling and puerile. 
Choice vases, judiciously disposed about grounds in 
chosen spots, are not only ornamental, but useful 
when filled with tender or trailing plants that cannot 
well be set out in the border, and aid to heighten the 
effect sought to be produced. If you have a passion 
for rockwork, beware that you do not make an imita¬ 
tion of a rubbish heap. Use natural Moss-grown 
boulders, in irregular masses, with Ferns and trailing 
plants, and do not be too ambitious. 
Avenues and Paths. —These are located and con¬ 
structed either for utility or ornament. When for use 
entirely they should be as direct as possible, without 
unnecessary windings or detours. When either is 
made as an adjunct to ornamental grounds, some 
people fall into the error, that because a great artist 
once said “ the line of beauty is a curve,” consequently 
all things crooked must be pleasing and therefore 
ornamental; so they proceed to lay out their avenues 
upon this principle, and introduce their curves with 
