December 24, 1892. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
263 
leaning towards the plants, they are sure to be safe 
from any except a phenomenally severe frost. Many 
recommend dung among the plants as a winter pro¬ 
tection. This does not find favour in my sight, 
because such material retains the moisture to so 
great an extent. In fact, Roses mulched with 
manure are more susceptible to frost than if left en¬ 
tirely alone. This is from the great amount of wet 
contained in the dung and around the bole of the 
plants. Mulch with manure by all means, to enrich 
the soil, but do not place it close to the plant itself ; 
the ordinary soil drawn up towards them and cover¬ 
ing some six to nine inches of the base of the plants is 
much the best plan. This, and the twigs already 
spoken of, are all that dwarf plants require. 
In the case of standards, it is the Briar stem itself 
that suffers most from severe frost. At the first 
glance this may read somewhat strange, seeing that 
the Briar is a hardy native plant of this country. 
But we must remember that in a wild state the stems 
arc almost always protected by surrounding branches 
and brambles. A few boughs tied around them, and 
also around the tops, will give ample protection and 
not look so untidy as hay bands do. Nor will these 
retain the same amount of wet. Light can also reach 
the wood much better, and the plants will not be 
nearly so liable to break into premature growth in 
the spring, as when protected with hay or straw 
tied around them.— Experience. 
-- 
APPLES UNDER GLASS. 
It is well-known to most growers of hardy fruits 
that the better they are ripened before being re¬ 
moved from the trees, the better they will keep. Of 
course this applies to the late-keeping sorts. Early 
Apples if left for a day or two on the trees after 
being ripe get mealy, and Pears suffer the same fate, 
becoming dead and tasteless. Last summer a con¬ 
siderable number of varieties of Apples were grown 
in pots under glass in the gardens of the Royal 
Horticultural Society at Chiswick, and a set of each 
variety was stored in the fruit room alongside of 
those that were grown in the open air. The results, 
so far, are that indoor-ripened fruit keeps longer 
than that ripened under natural conditions. The 
inference would be that the indoor fruits have been 
more solidly matured, are less watery, and contain 
more solid substance. Their greater solidity would 
be due to a smaller amount of water in the tissues, 
and to a greater amount of starch and other reserve 
matter in the cells brought about by the drier atmo¬ 
sphere and the higher temperature which would 
make the chemical changes going on in the fruit 
during the ripening process more active. 
Many people are under the impression that Apples 
get more highly coloured under glass, but the idea 
is hardly correct in certain respects. For instance 
the amount of red, crimson, or bronzy-red, and green 
s liable to be considerably reduced or toned down. 
On the contrary, the yellow hues are brought out in 
much greater clearness, with the effect of giving re¬ 
markable clearness and apparent cleanness to the 
skin. Fruits affected or improved in this way have 
a more tempting and appetizing appearance, and 
doubtless they are really more mellow. Lady 
Sudely is in season during August and September, 
but some fruits of moderate size still remain sound, 
although they could hardly be expected to be so 
highly flavoured as in September. The Queen is in 
season during October and November, still some 
good samples remain. The same may be said of 
Worcester Pearmain, which is in season at the same 
time as Lady Sudeley. Both have retained their 
high colour wonderfully. The outdoor grown fruits 
of Ecklinville have all decayed some time ago, but 
there are still some sound specimens that had been 
grown under glass. Golden Noble keeps from 
September to December, so that it is less excep¬ 
tional. It is remarkable for its pale or soft yellow 
colour as well as the clearness of the skin. York¬ 
shire Beauty is almost of the same shade of yellow 
with a conspicuous absence of red. Hoary Morning 
on the contrary retains its characteristic high 
colouring. 
There are still some handsome fruits of Cellini, 
although usually out of season by the end of 
November. Another comparatively early Apple, 
ripening in September and October, is Kerry Pippin ; 
yet a quantity of fruits is still in fine condition, and 
some are of large for the variety. King of Pippins 
lasts from October to January, and the samples are 
still remarkably solid, well flavoured, and entirely 
devoid of that bitter taste experienced in the mouth 
when eaten in October, at all events in the case of 
outdoor-grown fruit. All the rest which we noted 
are decidedly late-keeping Apples, and even now 
contrast strongly with the same varieties ripened 
under different conditious. In the north of Scot¬ 
land, Ribston Pippin is a green fruit more or less 
obscured with russet; but in the more sunny south 
it is often more or less suffused with a bronzy-red, 
especially when it has been well finished. The skin, 
however, assumes a beautiful, clear, deep yellow 
when ripened under glass. The same may be said 
of Cox’s Orange Pippin, but it is more or less 
streaked with red. The glossy skin of Lane’s Prince 
Albert is of a pale green. Annie Elizabeth is liable 
to great variation of colour under different conditions, 
but the skin is always glossy. The fruits ripened 
indoors are of a peculiar soft salmon hue, reminding 
one of the Swedish Apple Akera in October. Not 
so common or well-known is Grange's Pearmain, 
good either for dessert or culinary purposes, and in 
season from November to February. It is pale 
green, pleasantly acid, and bakes well. Galloway 
Pippin or Croft-en-Reich is interesting from the fact 
that it has been grown near Wigton in Galloway for 
centuries, in fact, from time out of record. It is a 
culinary Apple and keeps till the end of January. 
--S*- 
Gardening Miscellany. 
APPLE WINTER GREENING 
Amongst the plethora of Apples ancient and modern 
that p^ess themselves upon the planter’s attention, 
the Winter Greening, known under various names, is 
worthy of notice. In the West of England it is 
known as John Apple, but there are two varieties of 
that name, and it is not retained in either case. 
Winter Greening is an Apple of medium to 
moderately large size, and although not particularly 
attractive is of excellent quality. The fruit is 
globose, narrowing slightly to the eye, which is 
closed and set in a shallow, slightly plaited basin. 
The skin, when the fruit is gathered, is of a dark 
green, suffused with pale red on the sunny side and 
dotted all over with russety specks, but before this 
time of the year it becomes greenish yellow, retain¬ 
ing the red flush and the russety markings. The 
flesh is of a greenish yellow, tender but crisp and by 
no means soft, and juicy with a decided and brisk 
acidity which proves very agreeable to some palates. 
Although reckoned a culinary Apple it may be eaten 
with relish by those who prefer or are not averse to 
brisk or pleasantly acid Apples. It comes into use 
during November and lasts for months in good con¬ 
dition if properly cared for. The tree is a good 
bearer and should not be lost sight of in the desire 
for modern kinds. 
APPLE FEARN’S PIPPIN. 
The fruit of this beautiful Apple is small and very 
much flattened at both ends, with an open eye set 
in a wide or narrow but shallow cavity. The skin 
is yellow on the shaded side, and sometimes this 
extends nearly all over the surface with a small red 
cheek and marbled with triangular, russety grey 
dots ; but more frequently the surface is bright red 
or crimson over the greater portion and speckled 
with russet. The flesh is white or pale yellow, 
tinted with green in places, tender, crisp, juicy, 
briskly aromatic, and most agreeable to eat. It is a 
dessert Apple really, but though of small size its 
firmness and brisk character renders it highly suit¬ 
able for culinary purposes. The tree bears well and 
frequently appears on the exhibition table in exhibits 
of dessert Apples, where it tells well on account of 
its handsome colour and beautiful shape. 
PLATYCER1UM ALCICORNE. 
The old Stag’s Horn is a more ornamental object, 
when properly treated, than is generally supposed. 
It is altogether a lost plant when grown in a pot, 
which retains the moisture about the barren fronds, 
and rots them long before their natural period of 
decay. A better plan is to grow them in Orchid 
baskets, or, on the other hand, those made up of 
virgin cork. Quite a different kind of basket has 
been adopted by Mr. Reynolds at Gunnersbury Park, 
Acton. Fie put his plant (not a very large one) into 
the centre of a wire basket some years ago. Now 
not a trace of the basket can be seen except the 
chains supporting it to the roof of the house. The 
plant has increased, forming numerous young crowns, 
and likewise its characteristic orbicular and shield¬ 
like barren leaves, which have grown over the basket 
everywhere. Numerous young plants have also 
become developed from the roots round the sides 
and the bottom *of the basket, making the plant 
an object quite in the Japanese style. The fertile 
fronds are not very tall, it is true, but this may arise 
from so many plants being supported on so small a 
ball of soil. The whole makes a capital basket fit 
to hang up in the conservatory cr any other cool 
house. 
MIMICRY AMONGST FERNS. 
Cases of remarkable similarity amongst F'erns be¬ 
longing to different genera occur just as in other 
families of plants. We noted a case in point in the 
nursery of Mr. H. B. May at Upper Edmonton 
recently. It .vas that of Acrostichum drynarioides 
and Aglaomorpha Meyenianum. The fronds of both 
are oblong, sessile on the root-stock or rhizome, and 
in each case bear the fructification at the top. The 
fronds of the Acrostichum are oblong and pinnatifid, 
with broad leafy pinnae, except those on the upper 
fifth of the frond, where they are linear and covered 
all over the under-surface with dark brown spore 
cases. In the case of the Aglaomorpha the fronds 
are pinnate, with the lower pinnae broad and leafy, 
and the upper ones linear, and contracted here and 
there, giving them a necklace appearance. The 
spore cases are here again confined to the narrow 
pinnae on the upper fourth of the fronds. The 
rhizomes are thick, and densely covered with soft 
reddish brown scales of great length. This Fern is 
on this account named the Bear’s Foot. 
ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS, 
Orchid Growers' Calendar. 
Cattleya House.— The first batch of Laelia anceps 
just now in flower will serve to keep this house gay 
during the festive season, or will come in very useful 
for the embellishment of the drawing-room in a cut 
state, and should the weather continue mild no harm 
will be done if the plants themselves are placed in 
the house for a day or two, providing they are not 
wet at the roots. Ours are flowering very freely this 
season, and although we have certainly had more 
flowers to a spike, they have never before been any¬ 
thing like it in size or substance. The petals of the 
largest measure ij in. across, with a proportionately 
large lip. It is not, however, a specially dark one 
which is rather unfortunate. 
Those imported under the varietal name of. " Mo- 
rada ” are, as the name implies, very rich in dark 
forms. They are distinguished when out of flower 
by their short round pseudo-bulbs, and thick leathery 
leaves, suggesting the idea that they are found 
growing in very much exposed positions. The white 
ones will be quite a month later than the earliest 
dark ones, but the spikes promise to be quite equal, 
if not better, than the dark ones. Most of them 
have four blooms to a spike, and a strong plant of 
L. a. Williamsii has a five-bloomed spike. These 
results we attribute to the judicious use of weak 
manure water, as advised in a previous calendar. 
The old L.elia superbiens, too, is just opening 
its flowers. This fine old Laelia is not often found 
looking 'or flowering too well; itrnever fails to flower 
with us, but perhaps ours is a free flowering variety. 
We give it a fair season of rest, and when it starts 
into growth treat it rather liberally as regards 
moisture ; it seems to do best when the roots are 
allowed to ramble at will outside of the pot, and 
kept well syringed. In this way the roots will 
attain a length of three feet or more. The only 
thing that can be said against it is that it takes up a 
good deal of room. 
Helcia sanguinolenta, now in flower, is a 
curious little Orchid from the Peruvian Andes not 
often met with. In growth it is something like a 
Trichopilia, but the flowers are quite different. The 
sepals and petals are light green in colour with 
brownish markings, whilst the lip is white veined with 
crimson; it produces two or three single flower stems 
to a bulb, it makes up well for button-hole bouquets, 
is of easy culture and takes up but little room. We 
