278 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
December 29, 1894, 
matter that appears to me of the utmost importance, 
should, I think, have very full reconsideration and 
discussion, and be decided by the officials of the 
National Chrysanthemum Society, supported by a 
specially selected committee. 
I will not conclude without expressing the sincere 
hope that my remarks, suggestions, or propositions 
will not be taken amiss by anyone, more especially 
by my friends on the Catalogue Committee of the 
National Chrysanthemum Society, as I particularly 
desire them to understand that it is not only in the 
interests of the Chrysanthemum that I write, but 
also to endeavour to minimise (unsuccessful though 
I may be) the difficulties of the work which they so 
generously undertake. I trust, therefore, that those 
interested will enter into a discussion on the matter 
which I have raised. 
And now, Sir, it remains for me to apologise for 
troubling you with such a very long epistle, and I thank 
you in anticipating the hope that you will allow your 
journal to be made use of for this subject,, the 
importance of which may be the more appreciated 
when it is considered that the catalogue of the 
National Chrysanthemum Society practically governs 
almost the whole of the Chrysanthemum world, and 
the few experts, renowned as they are, who compile 
this estimable and most valuable work have the 
somewhat unique position of not having their 
opinions disputed (or only to a certain extent), or 
governed by a second chamber.— Burgess Hill, 
Sussex, i jth December, 1894. 
_ ) ♦ _ __ 
ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 
By John Fraser, F.L.S., Kew. 
Catasetum macrocarpum Shipwayi, Nov. 
var. —The typical C. macrocarpum is fairly common 
in cultivation, but is said to be getting rare in its 
native habitats in Guiana. It has greenish-yellow 
sepals, heavily spotted with brown upon the inner 
face, while the petals are without markings. The lip 
is yellow on both surfaces, but darkest internally, 
spotted there with crimson, and very deeply concave 
with a rather narrow opening. It is also three-lobed, 
although the middle lobe is much reduced. The 
sepals of C. m. Shipwayi are oblong-acuminate, and 
pale greenish-yellow, but soon fade to a straw-colour. 
The petals are very much broader, slightly longer, 
ovate-elliptic, and pink, slightly spotted with purple 
all over ; but as the flowers are shrivelling up with 
age the spotting disappears from the apex down¬ 
wards. The lip is golden-yellow, but darkest 
internally and wholly unspotted. It has a wide, 
squarish opening, minutely crenate on the edges, or 
sometimes entire, and the terminal lobe (if such it 
may be called) is continuous with the side lobes 
without any signs whatever. On the inner face 
there is an acute rim or knee, where the terminal 
lobe may be said to commence, otherwise there is no 
indication of it. The column is yellowish, fading 
almost to white. The variety C. M. Lindeni differs 
by its distinct squarish terminal lobe, a distinctly 
toothed edge, and a deep red blotch round the sides 
and at the base of the lip. C. m. Shipwayi comes 
from the same locality as C. Bungerothii, towards 
which it seems to have more affinity than the type, 
and is named in compliment to Colonel Robert 
Shipway, of Cricklewood, London, N. 
Catasetum imperiale, Nov. sp. —This name has 
been applied by M. M. Linden and Cogniaux to a 
remarkable Catasetum, which has appeared amongst 
an importation of C. Bungerothii in the nursery 
of L'Horticulture Internationale, Parc Leopold, 
Brussels, where it is now flowering for the first 
time, and bears a fine spike of fourteen flowers. A 
flower before us shows it to be closely allied to C. 
Bungerothii, from which, however, it differs 
remarkably in colour and in some botanical points. 
The sepals are white, or nearly so, and the ground 
colour of the much broader, ovate-elliptic petals is 
similar but densely spotted with crimson on the 
lower half, while the veins there are raised into 
ridges more or less interrupted. The orbicular, 
concave lip is slightly dentate at the edges, and 
almost wholly of a dark crimson, deepening to 
blackish crimson on each at the base. There is a 
white blotch at the apex and another in front of the 
short, conical, saccate spur. The whole of it is 
fleshy and very endurable, lasting in good condition 
till the sepals and petals are fairly shrivelled up. 
The front of the column below the large stigmatic 
cavity is blackish crimson, and this colour on the 
back extends beyond the middle, while the rest is 
white thinly dotted with purple ; the whole of it is 
polished and shining. The veins of the lip are so 
raised into interlacing ridges, forming a reticulation 
not seen in C. Bungerothii, and the concave portion 
in front of the opening to the spur is raised into 
numerous, tooth-like tubercles. We have little 
hesitation in saying that it is the grandest Catasetum 
in cultivation, and that it holds the same position in 
the genus as Maxillaria Sanderiana does in that 
genus. 
Odontoglossum Pescatorei Prince of 
Orange. —O. Pescatorei as we are accustomed to 
see it has white flowers more or less spotted and 
marked with purple. Those exhibiting yellow 
colours are usually classed with O. excellens, or are 
considered natural hybrids, but that under notice is 
regarded as a true variety of O. Pescatorei. The 
flowers are of large size with broad segments of an 
orange-yellow, with several rich brown blotches in 
the centre of each, but as a rule one of the blotches 
is of large size, consisting in fact of a number of 
them run together while the rest are considerably 
smaller. There is a fine plate of it in the Lindenia 
PI. 439, and which was prepared from an inflor¬ 
escence sent by Sir Trevor Lawrence from his fine 
collection at Burford Lodge, Dorking. 
Cattleya Mossiae Treyeranae.— The sepals 
and petals of this beautiful variety are bright rose 
with a deeper shade in some places. The lip, how¬ 
ever, is the most distinctive and striking feature of 
the variety ; the terminal lobe is of large size and 
golden yellow with numerous purple lines passing 
into a maroon tint. All the colours give place, how¬ 
ever, to a white margin, which being much undulated 
or wavy gives the variety a most attractive effect. 
The variety has been named in compliment to 
Madame D. Treyeran the wife of a distinguished 
orchidist at Bordeaux, and there is a handsomely 
coloured illustration of it in the Lindenia PI. 438. 
Mormodes Cogniauxii. —Numerous species of 
Mormodes are known to science, but they are rather 
sparingly cultivated. The range of colour is con¬ 
siderable and in some cases quite attractive. The 
species under notice was recently iutroduced from 
Columbia by the Society L'Horticulture Internationale 
of Brussels, in whose establishment it flowered about 
the beginning of June last. The plants were of course 
barely well established, but served to show the charac¬ 
ter of the flowers which appear very distinct in colour 
from other species of Mormodes we have seen in culti¬ 
vation. The oblong-lanceolate sepals spread widely 
and are rich orange-brown with nine darker nerves. 
The petals are somewhat shorter; but otherwise 
similar. The lip is fleshy, strongly revolute or folded 
back at the sides until the edges of the two sides 
actually touch, and stands in the same position with 
regard to the curved column as that of other species 
in cultivation do. It as well as the column is of a 
soft rosy colour, thus offering a strong contrast to 
the other parts of the flower. The species is allied 
to and similar in appearance to M. Rolfeanum ; but 
the latter has smaller flowers with more abruptly 
pointed segments. The petals are only half as long 
as the sepals, and have more numerous nerves. The 
lip is thicker, less folded and of a blood red. There 
Is a fine plate of M. Cogniauxii in the Lindenia PI. 
444 - 
Odontoglossums from Bird Hill. —Flowers of 
two very attractive Odontoglots come to us from 
Captain Robert Twiss, Bird Hill House, Bird Hill, 
Ireland. One of them is a variety of O. Rossii 
named O. R. albens and comes nearest O. R. asper- 
sum, to which it is undoubtably allied but differs in 
the colour of the crest and column as well as the lip 
generally. The latter is liable to change, however, 
according to age. The sepals of O. R. albens are 
yellow but so heavily blotched with rich chesnut 
brown as to leave only a yellow netting. The petals 
are primrose yellow with the usual rich blotches on 
the lower half. The lip and column as far as the 
light will allow us to see are pure white. The crest 
of the lip is pale yellow with crimson lines on the 
inner face. The other sent us is a raceme of O. 
mirandum whose quaint and beautiful flowers are 
always welcome though far from common. The 
sepals are dark chocolate brown with a bright yellow 
margin and tip. The petals are similar in colour but 
broader with a pale yellow band along the middle of 
the base and then a chocolate stripe in the centre of 
this. The whole of the lip in front of the crest is 
dark brown and stands out in bold contrast to the 
two, long, diverging, twice curved and white horns of 
the crest. In the size of the flower and the form of 
the segments O. mirandum carries us back to O. 
Lindleyanum, of which it is indeed a variety, but in 
our opinion the strange and beautiful contrast of 
colours renders it the most distinct and handsome of 
all the forms of that species. 
FRUIT UNDER GLASS, 
Late Vineries. —The cleaning of these in the 
manner suggested in a previous issue should be pro¬ 
secuted as vigorously as circumstances permit with 
a view to getting the work well in hand by the first 
two or three weeks in the new year, as after that 
things begin to move apace. Care should be taken, 
however, that the soap used in washing the houses 
be rinsed off the glass as soon as possible, or its 
transparency will be affected. In the case of out¬ 
side borders, before proceeding to force it is advis¬ 
able to cover with a good layer of fermenting 
material to protect the roots. Any heavy snowfall 
should be consistently removed from such borders, 
for when a thaw takes place the tender, fibrous roots 
are extremely likely to sustain injury from the 
deluge of cold snow-water. It is a good plan to 
afford outside borders some protection against 
heavy cold rains also, and if a few boards or sheets 
of galvanized iron are obtainable they may be with 
great advantage utilised for this purpose. 
Early Vinery.— As soon as the shoots have 
reached a sufficient length, tying down should be 
commenced. This is an operation that requires a 
great deal of care and trouble, practised fingers as 
a rule being necessary. The bringing down of the 
shoots should be gradually performed, and on no 
account must undue pressure be brought to bear 
upon them or they will break out from the base, 
leaving the spur blind. Sufficient growths should 
be left to furnish the allotted space, thus, in some 
cases one will be sufficient, whilst in others two will 
be necessary. It is a good plan to tie the ligatures 
holding down the young growths to the wires in a 
running knot, as this allows them to be tightened or 
loosened as occasion may require. The regular 
syringing may be conducted as before, using soft 
water at the same temperature as the house until 
the vines are in rough leaf, when it should be dis¬ 
continued. Let the night temperature be kept 
gradually on the increase at the rate of about i a 
a week, the heat during the day rising in proportion. 
Early Peach House.— The night temperature 
here should now be about 49° Fahr., rising to 65^ 
upon sunny days. Plenty of air should, however, 
be given upon such occasions. Until the trees are 
in flower a moist atmosphere must be maintained by 
the liberal use of the syringe and the damping of 
paths, pipes, &c. When the flower buds commence 
to open the syringing must be stopped for a time, 
and a drier atmosphere maintained throughout. 
Fig House. — The earlier supplies of this 
favourite fruit will of course be furnished by plants 
in pots which were plunged in fermenting materials 
in the early vinery about the commencement of the 
present month. Preparations should be made with¬ 
out delay for starting the Fig house, so as to form a 
suitable succession to the fruit contributed by the 
pot plants. The house must of course be cleaned, 
the walls whitewashed, and the trees pruned and 
painted with the same mixture as were the vines. 
A moist, even temperature of about 50° Fahr. by 
night, rising to a trifle over 6o Q by day must be 
maintained, regular svringings and dampings also 
being essential, as in the case of vines.— A. S. G. 
Continue the rough digging of all vacant beds or 
plots during favourable weather, and any planting 
which was commenced at the latter end of November, 
as previously recommended, should be completed as 
soon as possible, ahvays supposing the soil to be in 
fit condition for working on. The grass edges should 
also be neatly trimmed. By getting work of this 
kind forward during this comparatively slack part of 
the year a great deal of worry may be saved at a 
time when the advancing season calls for a multitude 
of operations to be performed all at once, and as a 
result the gardener is at his wits’ end to know which 
