THE GARDENING WORLD. 
183 
November '20, 189?. 
mums' generally are getting scarce. L. Canning is 
the latest variety to bloom with Mr. Bones. The 
above will serve to_give_some idea of the varieties 
that are popular for market work. White and 
yellow axe always in demand/"and the former more 
particularly during the winter. 
'’Amongst other subjects we noted in Heaton 
(Gardens was a large batch of Pelargonium King of 
Denmark, of dwarf habit, with large salmon flowers. 
One house was filled with Tomatos, being smooth, 
iried;um-sized, and useful. A very useful Carnation 
named Queen of the Yellows was raised by Mr. 
Bones, who also grows border varieties largely. 
Two frames were filled with Cypripedium insigne 
for the sake of cut flowers. Coelogyne cristata and 
Dendrobium nobile are grown in some quantity. 
Ore house contained a quantity Epiphyllum grown 
as standards, and fine plants they were, having well- 
balanced heads. 
- «l> 
PLANTS RECENTLY CERTIFICATED. 
Awards according to merit were accorded the under¬ 
mentioned subjects by the Royal Horticultural 
Society on the gth inst. 
Orchid Committee. 
Cattleya Fabia. Nov. hyb:— The seed parent of this 
fine hybrid was C. labiata, the pollen bearer being 
C. dowiana aurea. The sepals and petals are of a 
soft roSe, faintly tinged with yellow. The large lip 
is of a rich crimson-purple, lined with crimson and 
orange in the throat and tube as might be expected 
from the pollen bearer. First-class Certificate. The 
Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain (grower, Mr. 
Srhifh), Highbury, Birmingham. 
Cattleya labiata Lewisii. Nov. var. —In this we 
have a beautifully chaste variety, having a clear 
violet-purple lip, bordered with white. The sepals 
and petals are also purs white, so that the variety is 
ad acquisition to its class. Award of Merit. Messrs. 
W. L. Lewis & Co., Southgate, N. 
Calanthe Veitchi alba. Nov. var. —The value of 
the typical C. Veitchi and its variety C. V. superba 
is fvell known; so that if the pure white variety 
responds to the art of the cultivator with equal free¬ 
dom it will indeed be an acquisition to its class. 
First-Class Certificate. Messrs. Hugh Low & Co., 
Clapton, N. 
'Cypripedium leeanum magnificum. Nov. var .— 
The flowers of this variety are of great size, and the 
the richly blotched upper sepal is very handsome, 
the purple markings making a fine contrast to the 
white ground. Award of Merit. G. Shorland-Ball, 
Esq., (gardener, Mr. A. Hay), Ashford, Wilmslow, 
Cheshire. 
Floral Committee. 
* 
Sqnerilla longif.olia Lady Burton.— The leaves 
of this beautiful variety are of a bronzy hue, thickly 
studded all over with pearly white spots, with larger 
blotches in the spaces between the veins. Award of 
Merit. Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., (gardener, Mr. 
W. Bain), Burford Lodge, Dorking. 
Wallflower Parisian Early— This fragrant 
and beautiful variety is usually treated as an annual, 
and may be had in bloom at various periods of the 
summer and autumn from seeds raised under glass 
early in the year and later on in the open. The 
flowers are, individually, of large size, and of a 
beautiful orange-brown and yellow. Award of 
Rierit for the strain. Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, 
Ltd., Chelsea. 
Chrysanthemum Admiral Ito.— This new 
Japanese variety has been giving a good account of 
itself. The florets are of great substance, narrow, 
twisted and of a rich yellow. Award of Merit. Mr, 
W. J. Godfrey, Exmouth, Devon. 
Bouvardia Humboldtii grandiflora. — The 
large white flowers of this variety are chaste, beauti¬ 
ful and bold. The leaves are larger than those of 
most other species, and the plant altogether more 
vigorous. Award of Merit. Messrs. Crane & Clarke, 
March, Cambridgeshire. 
Dracaena albo lineata.— The long, arching, 
leaves of this variety are striated with white lines. 
The habit of the plant is very graceful. Award of 
Merit. Mr. R. Gulzow, Melbourne Nurseries, 
Bexley Heath, Kent. 
Dracaena indivisa Burtoni. —The leaves of this 
variety are broader than those of the previous one 
and bronzy-green, more or less tinted with red along 
the veins. Award of Merit. Mr. R. Gulzow. 
* 
Cabbages. —The unusual mildness of the present 
autumn has forced this crop into such a forward 
state of growth as to render it liable to serious injury 
should a spell of severe weather suddenly set in. To 
guard against this as much as possible the earliest 
plants may be earthed up when the ground is dry 
and friable. Previous to doing this a good dressing 
of soot between the rows will be of great beuefit to 
the plants when spring growth commences. Any 
plants left in the seed bed or that have been pricked 
out should be carefully preserved, and if lifted at the 
present time and relaid in by the heels would act as 
a check and render them sturdy plants for filling up 
gaps or for forming a late bed in spring. 
Artichokes. —These should be put in order and 
some protection given at the present time. All 
the large outer leaves should be removed and the 
centre of the plants left open. Place some light 
material such as fern or well-trodden straw around 
the plants, forming it into a cone. Six inches thick 
of soil placed around this will keep them safe over 
the winter. A dozen or two healthy suckers potted 
up at this reason and placed under cover during 
winter, and planted out early in spring come into 
use a month earlier than from the protected beds. 
After the plants are protected the ground between 
the rows may be roughly dug to expose it to the 
weather and make it mere easily worked with the 
hoe in spring and early summer. 
Celery. —-The late crops of this should be 
earthed up without delay, as a serious risk will be 
run by exposing it after the present month. 
Some light material should also be in readiness for 
placing over the centres of the plants should a 
sudden frost occur. A few stout stakes placed at 
intervals of a few feet apart, and at an angle the 
same as the sides of the rows, so as to form a rest 
for a horizontal piece along the centre of the rows to 
catch the weight of the protecting material will 
greatly help in saving the plants from getting 
injured through the weight of the covering material. 
Mushrooms.— -Succession beds must be made up 
to meet a regular demand. It is sometimes difficult 
to get the manure sweetened and dried at this season, 
unless an open shed or some place under cover is to 
be had. Where such is not the case, some fine loam 
may be dried over a furnace or in a dry bouse. This 
may be mixed with the droppings and frequently 
turned, when the whole may be made up at once, 
with the most satisfactory result as the dry loam 
absorbs the ammonia quickly and retains it to a 
greater extent than if the manure had undergone 
fermentation. Dry cow manure may be used in a 
similar way with good results. Beds that are pro¬ 
ducing heavy crops, will be benefited by a watering 
with some rather strong salt water, alternately with 
liquid from cow sheds.—/. R. 
TUB Orcrjid Grower’s Calendar. 
Orchid Flowers for Christmas. —There is no 
better class of Orchids grown for this purpose than 
the deciduous Calanthes ; and as they are fast 
approaching their flowering stage care should be 
taken not to allow any water to touch the spikes 
when damping other occupants of the stove, or the 
bracts will turn black and the flowers become 
spotted. Too much moisture at the roots should be 
guarded against also. A light, airy place near the 
glass, and a temperature of about 65°, to open their 
flowers in is what they require. C. Veitchii, C. 
vestita rubro-oculata and C. v. luteo-oculata are the 
most serviceable kinds to grow. 
Another valuable winter flowering Orchid is 
Coelogyne cristata and its varieties, and one that 
requires carefully watering at this season, for whilst 
it would never do to let them get very dry at the 
roots, it is very necessary that watering overhead 
must be discontinued if the flowering spikes are to 
develop properly. We find that the best results are 
obtained with plants grown in shallow pans, 6 and 7 
ins. in diameter. These can be suspended near the 
glass when they are coming into bloom. There is 
then no fear of their damping off, as they do some¬ 
times when down on the stage. With a few dozen 
plants of the size mentioned you can have a nice 
succession. Most of the plants are grown cool 
during the summer months, but a few are kept in the 
Cattleya house all the season, and these give the 
earliest flowers, 
Dendrobiums, too, can be depended on for supply¬ 
ing an abundance of cut flowers for the new year. 
D. Phalaenopsis seems to be a perpetual flowerer, 
and as it has long flower stems with the flowers 
arranged with the spray-like regularity of Odonto- 
glossum crispum, it is justly prized by florists. But 
for all round excellence and wear and tear work 
there is no better than the grand old D. nobile. A 
few of this variety should be put into the stove, as it 
is not advisable to have them all in flower at one 
time. 
Work in the Houses. —The damping dowD, 
giving air, &c., must to a great extent be regulated 
by the outside temperature. During foggy and mild 
weather such as we have been having, very little 
damping down has been necessary. Consequently 
the heating apparatus has not been hard pressed to 
keep the atmosphere from becoming too damp and 
stuffy. 
Leaves. —We have most seasons called attention 
to the value of leaves when placed underneath the 
stages, there is, however, one great and serious draw, 
back, and that is they harbour woodlice and slugs, 
and on that account we have been reluctantly obliged 
to discontinue their use. In their stead we have 
covered the whole of the staging with tiles, which 
we find to be excellent, preventing, as they do, the 
plants from drying up so quickly in the winter time 
from hard firing, and in the summer time from the 
heat of the sun. The little ammonia, &c., given off 
by the heating and decomposition of the leaves, can 
be supplied by pouring weak manure water on the 
said tiles. I know this is objectionable to some 
growers who are content to jog along in the old ruts, 
and we think in the end suffer by being outdistanced 
by those who believe in its judicious use.—C. 
- 
®leanings frumtljg iDurlb 
of Science, 
The under-mentioned subjects were brought up at 
the meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society on 
the 26th ult. 
Galls on Oak Roots. -With reference to the 
specimens exhibited at the last meeting, Mr. 
McLachlan observed that the name of the insect 
was now Biorhiza aptera, and that only one sex (the 
female) was known as occurring in the root-galls. 
As soon as it was hatched, the insect climbed to the 
terminal shoots and laid i s eggs in the buds, The 
result was the common spongy gall, known as the 
Oak Apple. In this both male and female insects 
were produed, and were formerly thought to be a 
distinct genus, under the name Teras terminalis. 
The females fall down to the foot of the Oak, and 
lay their eggs in the roots underground, and so 
reproduce the root-galls. This dimorphism is 
characteristic of other gall insects on the Oak. 
Cattleyas sub-Pelorian.—Mr. Vietch exhibited 
two sprays, carrying several flowers of Cattleya 
labiata autumnalis, having the two front sepals 
assuming the form of lips. He observed that the 
same plant had repeated the peculiarity both last 
year and this, but the lip markings are now more 
pronounced. The specimens were received from 
Mr. F. R. Lloyd, of Coombe House, Croydon. 
Carnation Leaves, Malformed—Mr. Douglas 
exhibited leaves with peculiar horn-like excrescences 
on the margins. It was suggested that they might 
be caused by acari. They were forwarded to Mr. 
Michael for investigation. Dr. Masters observed 
that a Yucca in the Botanic Gardens, Dublin, pro¬ 
duced very similar structures every year. 
Cauliflower, Malformed.—Mr. Henslow ex¬ 
hibited a branch bearing a cluster of short 
Asparagus-like shoots, the leaves being reduced to a 
bracteate form, suggestive of the name of Broccoli — 
viz., Brassica oleracea, var. Botrytis asparagoides. 
Dr. Masters observed that it bore a very unusual 
appearance, and was really intermediate between a 
Cauliflower and Broccoli. 
