January 28, 1893. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
343 
coloured margin. Accompanying the above were 
some flowers of Dendrobium nobile Sanderianum, 
with the sepals and petals of a deep rose purple, 
half way to the base. The lip was rounded, well 
formed, and highly coloured, especially the large, 
maroon-purple blotch at the base. 
Cattleya iabiata alba. 
It is with great reluctance that I refer to this matter 
again. I assure M. Linden I did not know at the 
time I wrote who was the owner or the introducer of 
the white lahiata that was shown at the Drill Hall 
on Dec. 13th last; and I further beg to assure him 
that I was equally surprised with him by my letter 
appearing at the same time as Mr. Hinde’s, but it 
was a mere coincidence, as explained by the Editor. 
I can assure M. Linden, further, that we still have 
the identical plant in the identical teak basket, and 
with the same identical continental label that came 
to us as C. Warocqueana alba. It will flower again 
shortly, and I will exhibit it at the Drill Hall, where 
anyone interested in the matter may see it. I 
wanted it very much to turn out a white variety of 
Iabiata, and for that reason I placed it in a position 
to bring it, if possible, into bloom at the usual time 
of flowering of the autumn Iabiata ; and although 
we have flowered C. Trianae earlier than this, yet the 
plant in question will not flower for another two or 
three weeks. I have nothing whatever to do in this 
controversy with the natural habitat of the plant; 
all I maintain is that the plant we have here is not 
the autumn-flowering Iabiata alba, but beyond all 
doubt Cattleya Triana alba.— T. W. Bond, Elstead, 
Godaiming. 
In reference to M. Linden’s statement that our 
plant has been in cultivation more than two years, 
Mr. Wells thinks it only fair to Mr. Sander, the 
importer, to state that any man who knows Orchids 
can see that it has only made one bulb in this 
country, and that is the one wnich flowered for the 
first time when Mr. Sander exhibited it for us at the 
Drill Hall. It was the property of Mr. Wells then 
and before it was shown, and if anyone is sufficiently 
interested in the matter to wish to see it, Mr. Wells 
will be pleased at any time to show it to them.— 
R. Hinde, Gardener, Broomfield, Sale, Cheshire. 
| Our descriptive notes of the new Orchids certifi¬ 
cated by the Orchid Committee last week, are un¬ 
avoidably held over until next week.] 
SOCIETIES. 
Brighton and Sussex New Horticultural, January 
19 th .—The annual meeting of this vigorous young 
society was held on the above date under circum¬ 
stances of an unusual though exceedingly gratifying 
character. The retiring president, C. W. Catt, Esq , 
occupied the chair, and the special business feature 
of the meeting was the amalgamation of the Brighton 
and Hove Chrysanthemum Society with the new 
society, which was unanimously resolved upon.— 
After the alteration of the rules, Mr. Miller, who 
was chairman of the Chrysanthemum Society, 
observed that during the ten years in which the 
society had been carried on it had been a great 
success. When they wound up their accounts last 
year they had a balance in hand of /142 15s. 5d., 
out of which they granted £10 to the Gardeners’ 
Orphan Fund, and a sum of £20 to be given in 
testimonials to various officers of the society, leaving 
a balance of £112 15s. sd. to be handed over to the 
new society.—On behalf of the “ new ” society, the 
chairman tendered Mr. Miller and his committee a 
hearty vote of thanks for the sum which they had 
handed over. The "new” society had held two 
shows, and had a deficit of £28 8s. 4d., but with the 
balance which had been handed over to them they 
would be able to start the year with ^84 7s. id. to 
the good.—The vote was unanimously agreed to, 
and Mr. Miller briefly acknowledged the compliment 
on behalf of the committee of the old society. 
The next business was the election of officers._ 
Mr. T. Billing, in proposing the election of Mr. 
C. W. Catt as president for the ensuing year, said 
they could not have a better president than that 
gentleman, who had the interests of the society at 
heart, and gave his personal attention to it. They 
all knew how interested Mr. Catt was in horticulture, 
and they'could not find a better man to fill the 
presidential chair if they searched throughout the 
town of Brighton and neighbourhood,—Mr. G. 
Bunny seconded the motion, which was carried by 
acclamation. — Mr. G. King next proposed that Mr. 
W. Balchin, jun., should be elected chairman of the 
society.—In seconding, Mr. Lewis observed that Mr. 
Balchin had always been indefatigable in working on 
behalf of the society, and he had been most regular 
in his attendance at the meetings.—Mr. T. Spottis- 
wood supported the motion, which was carried non. 
con .—The President proposed the election of Mr. 
R. Miller as vice-chairman. They all were aware of 
the way in which he steered the Chrysanthemum 
Society to such a successful ending. — Mr. Thorpe 
seconded, and the proposition was unanimously 
agreed to. — Mr. W. Balchin, jun., then proposed 
that Mr. Billing be asked to fill the office of treasurer 
He was an amateur gardener, and took a pride in 
every phase of horticulture. Moreover, during the 
past year, in which he filled that office, he met the 
deficit on their account.—Mr. G. Miles seconded the 
proposition, to which unanimous assent was given. — 
Mr. G. Bunny proposed, and Mr. Miller seconded, 
the appointment of Mr. Mark Longhurst as secre¬ 
tary, and the proposition was carried unanimously. 
A committee of twelve gardeners and three 
amateurs was next elected by ballot, the names of 
the successful candidates being as follows:—- 
Gardeners, Messrs. J. Bunney, Turner, E. Bunney, 
Cheal, Spottiswood, Richardson, Fry, House, Miles, 
Netley, Wickham, Hill. Amateurs : Messrs. Cole¬ 
man, Lewis, and Thorpe. 
-- 
©bituar\>. 
Death of Mr. J. Sheppard.— There are many 
hundreds of gardeners who will have learned of the 
untimely death on the 16th inst. of this excellent 
gardener with deep concern and regret. It is 
distressing enough that a man should be removed 
at so early an age as sixty, for practically it is early 
for many ; but that distress is much increased on 
learning that so terrible a disease as cancer in the 
stomach was the cause of death. There is something 
to add to this distress in the knowledge of the 
sufferer that his end was so near. A good honest, 
straightforward, and yet we might almost say old- 
fashioned gardener was Mr. Sheppard. He had 
been associated with Woolverstone for the unusually 
long period of thirty years, and so long a residence 
in one place, and that place so isolated as Woolver¬ 
stone on the banks of the Orwell between Ipswich 
and Harwich, hardly helped to render a gardener 
broad or modern in his methods or ideas. Yet our old 
friend, for we enjoyed the pleasure of his acquaintance 
for nearly a quarter of a century, was in no sense 
narrow or bigoted in his opinions. If sometimes a 
little suspicious of new ideas, he yet regarded them 
as worthy of all consideration because so apprecia¬ 
tive of what is inevitable in gardening progress. 
Mr. Sheppard was one of the oldest contributors to 
periodical gardening literature, and his writings 
were always characteristically plain, sound common 
sense. He was a good all round man, who strove to 
have as full a knowledge as could be obtained of 
every department of gardening. Men who spend 
the best years of their lives in one place are apt to 
find themselves in time somewhat behind the age, 
and that there is much going on in the world in a 
garden sense from which they are debarred. On 
the other hand men who are less isolated and have 
frequent opportunities of attending exhibitions or 
garden gatherings have openings to obtain know¬ 
ledge of contemporary facts, such as give them 
undoubted advantages. Our sympathies therefore 
rather lie with the isolated man who finds it harder 
work to keep abreast of the times, and who in doing 
his best to that end jmerits our warmest regard and 
admiration. 
Mr. Sheppard's earliest experiences in gardening 
were gained in the nurseries of Messrs. Garroway & 
Co., at Durdham Down, near Bristol, and in the 
gardens at Longleat and Bowood. At the latter 
place he had the great advantage of serving as fore¬ 
man under Mr. Spencer, one of the most accom¬ 
plished gardeners of his day, and who was for some 
time one of the proprietors and conductors of the old 
Florist and Pomologist. As was to be expected from such 
a training Mr. Sheppard was an excellent fruitgrower, 
and a good pomologist, and his services were in fre¬ 
quent request as a judge at horticultural shows in 
the Eastern Counties. During his career, at Wool¬ 
verstone he carried out many improvements, includ¬ 
ing the planning and planting of the grounds sur¬ 
rounding the Model Dairy, which are a very pleasing 
feature of the place. The kitchen and flower gardens 
were always models of forethought and good manage¬ 
ment. Mr. Sheppard was one of the first to advocate 
the extension system in the culture of young trained 
fruit trees, and the gardens at Woolverstone contain 
many examples of his skill. Those who have had 
the pleasure of seeing the beautiful conservatory 
attached to the mansion will not soon forget the 
specimen Camellias which it contains, and which 
cannot be surpassed. A very pleasing feature in 
Mr. Sheppard's character was the warm interest he 
took in every young man who was faithful in duty to 
him, and many rare good gardeners he has turnedout. 
--*«- 
WHAT TO DO IN THE GARDEN, 
The Stove. —No advantage will be gained by rais¬ 
ing the night temperature at this early period of the 
year. The days do indeed begin to lengthen, but the 
sky is not yet very clear, and we cannot yet reckon 
upon much sunshine. Indeed during the prevalence 
of cold and frosty weather it would be more advan¬ 
tageous to the plants if the temperature were allowed 
to drop a few degrees below 6o° rather than press 
the boiler too hard. As a result of much firing there 
may already be an increase of thrips or red spider, 
especially near the hot-water pipes. Fumigation 
will destroy the former, and the latter will be kept in 
check by occasionally syringing the plants with 
water taken from a tank in which a bag of soot 
is kept. 
Gymnogrammes. — The so-called golden and 
silver Ferns should be kept in the driest and warmest 
parts of the stove, and not wetted with the syringe, 
otherwise many of them will damp off before the re¬ 
turn of more genial weather, and the resumption of 
growth. Avoid removing green fronds from the 
plants, even if not very clean, as they serve to keep 
up the vigour of the crowns till fresh growth has 
been made. 
Adiantums. — Where Maidenhair fronds are 
largely used in a cut state for mixing with flowers, 
the old plants, or a part of them, may be turned out and 
repotted. Large pieces may be broken up and put 
in smaller sized pots. This has generally been 
found the best practice with A. Farleyense, that is, 
when large crowns get in a bad way, to break them 
up. Formerly this class of Ferns was mostly potted 
in peat; good fibrous loam in well-drained pots gives 
better results and more durable fronds. 
Statices. —Large plants of Statice profusa, and 
other species and garden varieties, are useful for ex¬ 
hibition purposes, but smaller pieces are more ser¬ 
viceable for greenhouse and conservatory work. For 
this purpose a few plants should be propagated 
annually from cuttings, and grown on to keep up a 
stock of vigorous young plants. Place the old plants 
in a moderately warm house for a short time pre¬ 
viously to the taking of the cuttings, and the latter 
will root all the more freely. 
Bouvardias. —Where plants are wanted to flower 
early a batch of cuttings should be put into the pro¬ 
pagating frame at once, kept rather close and moist 
to induce rooting. They will be ready to grow' away 
freely when the weather becomes warm in spring, 
and should be encouraged to become bushy by 
pinching in the early stages. 
Lachenalias. —Some of the earliest batches of 
Lachenalias are already in flower, but later kinds or 
batches are only showing their flower spikes, and 
should be encouraged to make vigorous growth by 
applications of liquid manure. Keep the pots as 
near the glass as possible, to prevent the foliage 
from getting drawn. 
Vines. —With the continuance of severe weather, 
alternately freezing and thawing, it is unadvisable to 
force the early vines very hard. Even those that were 
started in November need not be kept higher than 
558 at night, with a rise of io° early in the day. 
When they come into flower keep the atmosphere a 
little warmer, and tap the rods about the middle of 
the day,or a little earlier, to assist in the dispersal 
the pollen. 
Figs. —The difficulty with forced Figs at present 
is the impossibility of admitting a sufficient quantity 
of fresh air without reducing the temperature to a 
degree which w r ould injuriously check the growth of 
the plants. If the plants are plunged in fermenting 
material a bottom heat of 75° to 8o° will be neces¬ 
sary. While relatively rapid growth is being made a 
liberal supply of tepid water at the roots is impera- 
