Febuary 4, 1893. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
857 
THE USES OF LIME. 
This, one of the most valuable substances we have 
in connection with horticulture, is often used far too 
frequently. It is a grand purifier of the soil, and 
renders it sweet and fit for future crops. One of the 
best and safest ways of applying it is to turn over 
the refuse heap of weeds, leaves, vegetable matter, 
etc., and incorporate a good lot of lime among this 
during the process. 
It is also important not to add lime too long before 
cropping the ground, or much of the manurial pro¬ 
perties will be distributed in the air in the form of 
ammonia, and thus be lost to the plants. Simply 
because a dressing of lime produced such satisfactory 
results one season is no reason why it should be 
used on the same ground the following year. 
Indeed, it is quite suicidal to do so, and probably 
there is no agent that would exhaust ground sooner 
than lime. Its good qualities lie in its power to 
release the manurial constituents already present 
in the soil, and render them fit for plant life to feed 
upon. Once in five years should be quite often 
enough to apply lime as a dressing. It may, of 
course, be used as a slight dressing to kill slugs and 
other insect pests in the meantime, but not as a 
heavy dressing in the or linary sense of the term. 
Be very cautious about using lime on light sandy 
soil. Here it is harmful unless used seldom and in 
small quantities. Stiff soils, on the other hand, are 
rendered more fertile and easily worked, because the 
lime absorbs the moisture and makes them less close 
and stiff.-— Experience. 
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VARIETIES OF L^LIA 
ANCEPS. 
L.elia anceps has justly been termed the Queen of 
Laelias, and this may be readily accepted if we take 
indiscriminately. It may do a considerable amount 
of good one season, and positive harm the next. 
Let us look at the reasons of this. Take for example 
a garden that is rich in humus from frequent 
applications of farm-yard manure, much of which 
has not been assimilated by the growing crops. To 
give further dressings of manure is not of full benefit 
to any future crop, in fact, this only serves to make 
the soil too rich in the very constituents it is already 
overcharged with, and the natural consequences are 
an inferior crop, or else some of the many diseases 
peculiar to plant life. Had a slight dressing of lime 
been given to such soil, instead of another dressing 
of manure, the stagnant nature caused by so much 
animal and vegetable matter still remaining 
unabsorbed would be remedied. 
The lime would hasten the complete decay of this, 
and release the ammonia and make it easily soluble, 
so that any crop might assimilate the inert fertilizing 
properties that were contained in the soil. Almost 
any crop, especially vegetables, will grow well upon 
c. L.elia anceps Veitchiana. 
b. L^lia anceps alba. 
ground so treated. But it must be borne in mind 
that lime so completely releases the manurial 
properties from soil, that it is not well to use it too 
into consideration the great number of fine varieties 
of it which have found their way into cultivation, 
and the fact that they all flower in winter, during 
December and January as a rule. It is not our 
purpose to mention all the varieties which have been 
described from time to time since L. anceps was 
introduced in 1835, as it would occupy a great 
amount of space. Besides, it is possible that som e 
of them may have become lost. The more distinct 
of them will be preserved as long as Orchids meet 
with public favour. The other day a bloom of the 
true L. anceps Percivaliana was sent us by Mr. R. 
Hinde, gardener to W. Wells, Esq., Broomfield, 
Sale. The sepals and petals were of a delicate 
rosy-pink, tinted with white. The side lubes on 
both surfaces and the apex of the lip were of a rich 
amethyst purple, the latter being darkest. The 
lower part of the lamina was white, and the interior 
of the tube pale yellow striped with deep purple. 
There is a figure of it in Sander’s Reiclienbachia , t. 36, 
but it depreciates rather than does justice to tie 
original, as it would be difficult to reproduce the 
delicacy of the sepals and petals faithfully. 
We give an illustration of the type (fig. e) showing 
how marked is the contrast between it and L. a. 
alba, also known as virginalis (fig. b). The latter is 
pure white with exception of the pale yellow disc of 
the labellum. A large number of plants of this 
variety have been introduced from time to time, but 
it is still much sought after. One of the most highly 
coloured and popular ’is L. a. Barkeriana (fig. d). 
which was introduced by Messrs. Hugh Low & Co , 
Clapton, from the Orizaba district of Mexico. The 
petals are narrower than usual, pointed like the 
sepals, and of a rich purple colour. The lip also 
exhibits the same elongated character. L. a. 
Dawsoni we figured recently; it is one of the 
choicest and most admired of the varieties. The 
ovate-elliptic petals are very broad, and they, like 
the sepals, are pure white. The terminal lobe of 
the lip is rich purple, margined with white, and the 
interior of the side lobes is richly striped with purple 
on a white ground. 
Another very choice variety is L. a. Veitchiina, 
also known as Veitch's variety (fig. c). The sepals 
and petals are white, and the side lobes of the lip 
streaked and spotted with pale rose, but the terminal 
lobe is of a mauve-purple with deeper markings. 
In these respects the lip has some resemblance to 
that of L a. Percivaliana, but the other parts are 
entirely different. Another well-marked variety is 
L. a. Williamsii (fig. a), which has large flowers with 
elongated sepals and petals, all pure white and 
nearly equal. The lip is also white with exception 
of the purple lines on the interior of the side lobes 
and the yellow disc. It was introduced by Messrs. 
F. Sander & Co., St. Albans, from the Pacific coast 
side of Mexico, while the same firm introduced 
‘hliiiiiiiitliiiiiHiiiii-iiiiiiiiiiiiiii-iii'Hltiiirliiii'iiMii : i- 
E. L.ELIA ANCEPS. 
L. a. Veitchiana, L. a. Percivaliana, and others from 
Orizaba and other districts on the Atlantic side of 
Mexico. 
