518 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
April 13, 1895. 
the result of our efforts, taking fourprizes out of five 
entries in very strong competition. The modus 
operandi which led to so creditable a result may be 
explained. In that fine old garden previously men¬ 
tioned the gardener was a practical man ; and, what 
was more, had his place, and could carry out his own 
ideas with credit to himself and satisfaction to his 
employer, who was one of the good old school, a 
lover of good things produced in his garden, at the 
some time giving his gardener every encouragement 
to prove himself “ another Richmond in the field of 
exhibitors. 
I can well remember that piece of ground on‘ 
which were cultivated over a dozen varieties that 
played an important part in that first International 
Potato Show. It was walled on three sides, and as it 
was situated near the Mushroom house it had often 
been the receptacle of the old worn-out beds. In the 
winter it was double dug, some well-rotted manure 
being worked in at the bottom, charred refuse and 
old Mushroom bed material being mixed with the 
top staple. The ground so remained until the first 
week in April, when it was lightly forked over ; in a 
few days when it became dry and crumbling drills 
were drawn 6 in. deep and a yard apart, a good 
sprinkling of wood ashes was scattered in the drills, 
and the sets—which had been prepared as I have 
before mentioned—were carefully planted i ft. apart. 
Fortunately the weather proved very favourable that 
season, the Potatos were moulded up as required, 
the last time before they got too forward, so as to 
avoid injury to the haulm or fibres. They had 
sufficient space to grow strong, and were nicely pro¬ 
tected by the walls, but they were neither over¬ 
shadowed by trees, nor was that reprehensible 
practice necessary, planting any of the Brassica tribe 
between the rows. 
They were lifted a while before the show, and 
proved of fine size with clear skins. In the sorting 
equality in size and shape w 7 as aimed at, washing in 
clear water and wiping them with a cloth. The 
tubers were wrapped separately in paper to prevent 
injury to the skins, and conveyed to the Palace in a 
strong made hamper, one that we had for packing 
vegetables for the London mansion during the 
season. Let me add in conclusion that the quality 
of a Potato varies greatly in different localities; 
varieties that I have found inferior on one soil have 
been excellent in ihe next county. It is difficult to 
calculate the merits of a variety for all gardens, just 
the same as it is to form an opinion from the position 
they hold at an exhibition, that cannot be accepted 
as a criterion always, any more than can the showing 
of beasts at BiDgley and Agricultural Halls, for there 
we often find positions reversed for the Champion 
Plate.— Pathfinder. 
—-—*«- 
THE CINERARIA. 
As there is nottiing that brightens up the greenhouse 
in the winter and spring months of the year so much 
as the Cineraria, a few words on my method of 
cultivating them may not be out of place, now that 
the time for sowing them is coming round. When 
wanted to flower in the winter months sow in April, 
and again in June for a spring batch. For sowing 
the seed I prepare a light compost consisting of one 
part loam and two parts of leaf soil, adding enough 
sharp sand to make the whole porous. I use shallow 
pans and sow the seed rather thinly, as I find when 
sown thick the young plants are apt to get drawn 
and rendered liable to damp off when the necessary 
water is given. Place the pans in a cool house, and 
when the seedlings are ready prick them off into 
boxes (some gardeners pot them into thumbs, but I 
prefer to put them into boxes) in a compost similar 
to that used for the seed, only [ don’t break it up so 
fine. I next pot them into 4-in. pots, and stand 
them in a cool frame, shading them on bright sunny 
days. 
For the final shift I use a compost of two parts of 
good loam, broken rather roughly, one part of leaf 
soil, and one of old Mushroom bed manure, adding 
sand and charcoal with a little artificial manure, and 
I pot them into 32’s or 28’s. When frost sets in I 
remove them to a cool greenhouse where heat may 
be turned on at will. Gardeners have sometimes a 
difficulty in getting a good strain of the Cineraria, 
and it is rather annoying to find after a summer's 
labour that the strain is worthless. I have been 
growing a strain obtained from Mr. John Downie, 
144, Princes Street, Edinburgh, for several years, 
and it is an excellent one.— Diosma. 
ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 
By John Fraser, F.L.S., Kew. 
Dendrodium Hildebrandtii. —Amongst Dendro- 
biums of recent introduction, this is sufficiently 
conspicuous and noteworthy to merit a place in a 
collection. The flowers are much larger than those 
of many species that are more or less extensively 
grown, and find favour with a considerable number of 
growers. The stems are about a foot long or over, 
somewhat compressed, and ribbed, and bear their 
flowers in lateral clusters, like those of D. nobile. 
The sepals are revolute at the tips and white, faintly 
tinted with greenish-yellow. The petals are 
narrowly ovate and similar in colour to the sepals, 
but if anything they are whiter. The lip is greenish- 
yellow, with two purple spots in the tube, and white 
or nearly so towards the apex. Although the colours 
are neither rich nor highly conspicuous, yet the size of 
the flowers, the neat habit of the plant, and the small 
amount of house-room the plant requires are all 
points in its favour. It requires the temperature of 
the East Indian house, and has been flowering for 
some time in the nursery of Messrs. J. Veitch & 
Sons, Chelsea. 
Cypripedium Lathamianum. —The parents of 
this Cypripedium were C. Spicerianum and C. 
villosum, the former being the seed bearer, flowering 
in autumn and early winter, whereas that under 
notice flowers in spring and onwards. It is greatly 
superior to C. Spicerianum in size, and the colours 
vary to some extent, owing to the seedlings of the 
cross having differed to some extent from one 
another, as was proved when they came into bloom. 
There is a large batch of the best form in the 
nursery of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea, and 
which has been flowering freely for some time past. 
The upper sepal is large, orbicular, and white, with 
the broad, claret midrib of C. Spicerianum. The 
shining brown petals are much darker on the upper, 
longitudinal half, and the lip is yellowish-brown. 
The plant is of vigorous growth, easy cultivation, 
and can, therefore, be readily increased. For this 
reason it should make an excellent substitute for C. 
insigne and C. Spicerianum, which flower in autumn, 
and are often grown in quantity for the sake of cut 
flowers, but particularly C. insigne. A good batch 
of it would supply cut flowers all through the spring 
months when the other popular sorts are resting. 
Lycaste Rossiana. —The leaves of this species 
are deciduous, so that the flowers are unaccompanied 
by foliage, as in the case of L. aromatica. The 
flowers in this case are similar in general aspect, 
but larger and very effective, on account of their 
rich yellow colour. The sepals are rather pale, 
being greenish-yellow, but the petals are ovate and 
orange or golden-yellow. The lip is similar in hue 
and marked transversely with streaks and spots of 
crimson on the lower half. The face of the column 
is also crimson. It flowers freely under the same treat¬ 
ment accorded to other deciduous Lycastes, and is 
both showy and conspicuous. We noted it in the 
nursery of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea. 
Dendrobium Brymerianum from Kings 
Knowes. —Usually the flowers of this striking and 
remarkable Dendrobe are borne simply from the 
sides of the stems, or in few-flowered racemes. The 
finest raceme we have seen, comes from Mr. Hunter, 
at King's Knowes, Galashiels, N.B. for it bore five 
of its magnificent flowers. The plant is a good one 
and carries several clusters of bloom, though none of 
the rest equal the one sent in point of numbers. 
The golden yellow and shining sepals and petals are 
nearly of equal size, but the lip is decidedly the 
most conspicuous feature of the flower owing to the 
enormous length of the much branched fringes; 
those at the apex are close upon an inch in length, 
while those at the sides are f in. long and spread 
horizontally. All are coarsely downy or irregularly 
feathered, while the undivided portion of the lip is 
downy and marked with red on the side towards the 
base. The grower and owner alike are to be con¬ 
gratulated upon the flowering of so fine a specimen. 
The flowers possess a faint but pleasing scent. 
Accompanying the above was a bloom of Dendrobium 
W T ardianum measuring 4 in. across the petals; the 
latter were very broad, being nearly ijin in diameter. 
Catasetum macrocarpum Mrs. Shipway, 
Nov. var .—This may be regarded as the sister to 
C. m. Shipwayi, described in the issue of The 
Gardening World for the 29th December last. 
The size and structure of the flowers are precisely 
similar to those of that variety, so that it appears to 
have some affinity with C. Bungerothii, or, in other 
words, to be a hybrid between C. macrccarpum and 
the last named. C. macrocarpum is known, however, 
to be extremely variable in a state of nature The 
variety under notice has oblong and very pale green 
sepals. The petals are broadly elliptic, much 
imbricate, and pale straw yellow or almost white, 
and finely dotted with purple for three parts of their 
length. The lip is very large, with a widely open, 
sack-like, fleshy, and pure white lip. The margins 
are slightly toothed towards the base, but otherwise 
the lip is perfectly entire and the terminal lobe 
amalgamated with the side ones, or practically 
obsolete, the shoulder or ledge below the apex being 
the only evidence of a terminal lobe. The short 
spur is orange internally and greenish externally. 
The column, like the main body of the lip, is white. 
The variety is named in compliment to Mrs. 
Shipway, the wife of Colonel Robert Shipway, 
Grove House, Chiswick. I received the specimens, 
from which the description was taken, from Mr. P. 
McArthur, The London Nursery, 4, Maida Vale, W. 
--*»- 
THE PLANT HOUSES, 
The Stove. 
The temperature here should now not be allowed to 
fall below 70° Fahr. by night, and may rise to Sy® 
by day, without fear of injury. Most stove plants 
delight in an abundance of heat, and a corresponding 
amount of moisture both at the root and in the 
atmosphere. Shading must now be carefully looked 
after, as the sun's rays are very hot when they do 
break through, and would soon scorch much of the 
tender foliage. The blinds may still be pulled up 
early in the afternoon, say about 2.30 or 3 p.m., 
giving a good syringing and shutting the house up at 
the same time, with the exception of a little chink of 
air, which should be left on the bottom ventilators. 
Continue to tie in the growths of Stephanotis, 
Aristolochias, Allamandas, and other stove climbers, 
as growth proceeds. If desired, the shoots may be 
loosened and allowed to hang down when the plants 
are in flower, but for the present they should be 
neatly tied up. 
Cycas. —If these have been properly treated during 
the winter months they should now be throwing up 
their new fronds. As mealy bug is very partial to 
the different species of Cycas, Zamia, Macrozamia. 
Encephalartos, etc., which find a place in our plant 
houses, and which comprise so many handsome de¬ 
corative plants, it is imperatively necessary that a 
sharp eye should be kept upon its movements if the 
plants are to be kept clean, for once bug effects a 
lodgment in the scales of the stem it is exceedingly 
difficult to get rid of. Should the use of insecticides 
be necessary, a weak mixture of " Swift and Sure," 
in the proportions of about a gill to one and a half 
gallons of water will be found very efficacious, 
although it should be syringed off again after the 
lapse of about ten minutes. It is also important to 
see that none of it penetrates to the roots of the 
plants, and thus, when applying it to large plants, 
they should be turned over on their sides for awhile 
to drip. 
Caladiums. —The batch of tubers that were 
started early in the year will have made nice plants 
by this time, and as the pots will be pretty well filled 
with roots, weak liquid manure may be applied, for 
Caladiums are rich feeding subjects and like 
generous treatment. If the leaves are large and 
heavy it will be necessary to afford them some 
support, or during syringing the petioles of the 
leaves will be likely to get broken. The stakes used, 
however, should be of as light and neat a character 
as possible, and care must be taken when inserting 
them in the pot that the tuber of the plant is 
not injured. 
Greenhouse and Cool Conservatory. 
The season of the year has now sufficiently advanced 
to warrant us in expecting sufficiently warm weather 
to enable us to discontinue the use of fire heat in 
keeping up the temperature at night, unless on 
especially cold occasions which may or may not 
occur. If the evenings are warm, air should be left 
on both top and bottom ventilators until the last 
thing, when they should be shut up for the night. 
