June 18 , 1898. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
663 
be advisable to pot up a quantity of such things as 
Heliotropes and Lobelias, which will then be ready 
to hand for filling in. Should they not be required, 
so much the better, but it is well to take the pre¬ 
caution. 
The employment of the Dutch Hoe amongst beds 
and borders of all descriptions is at this season of 
the year of the utmost importance. A day’s hot 
sun alter rain will bake and harden the surface of the 
soil to a serious degree, more particularly where it is 
inclined to be heavy. In order to assist aeration, 
therefore, as well as to keep down weeds, the hoe 
should be kept going whenever there is oppor¬ 
tunity. 
Carnations. —The staking of border Carnations 
should be completed at an early date. A supply of 
light Bamboos, say about 3 ft. in length is really a 
good investment, for not only do they look much 
better than the sticks cut from plantations and 
copses, but with care they will last for a number of 
years. In tying do not bunch the flower stems too 
much together, although there is a great temptation 
to do this when " work is plenty ” and labour is 
scarce. Keep a sharp look-out for fly, and tackle it 
with dustings of tobacco powder, which may be 
washed off by the syringe an hour or two afterwards. 
We notice that some of our plants are infested with 
fly, and this in spite of heavy rains, so that those 
who know how quickly the pest multiplies will hold 
the warning seasonable. As soon as the present 
unsettled weather improves a good mulching should 
be given the Carnation beds, and for the purpose 
there is nothing better than old Mushroom-bed 
manure. 
Flowers for Cutting. —In most establishments 
there is a great demand for cut flowers, and while 
the herbaceous borders will stand a good deal of the 
strain, something should be done to relieve them by 
planting auxiliary breaks of such subjects as are 
likely to be useful. Chinese Asters, particularly 
white varieties, are wonderfully useful at the latter 
end of the summer, whilst Sweet Sultan, both white 
and yellow, Coriopses, double Scabiouses, annual 
Chrysanthemums, Marguerite Carnations, Mignon¬ 
ette, etc., are all of the greatest service in this 
direction. Of Sweet Peas it would be difficult to 
have too many, for not only do they admit of 
cutting and coming again to an almost unlimited 
extent, but they are great adornments to the flower 
garden as they stand, and may be employed to mask 
objects that it is desired to keep out of sight. There 
are no more beautiful flowers than the Aquilegias, 
and their value for the filling of vases and epergnes 
is well-nigh phenomenal. It will be advisable to 
supplement those grown in the herbaceous borders 
by a quantity of plants grown specially for cutting. 
For.the purpose there is nothing better than the 
mixed or selected hybrids amongst which there is a 
wonderful range and variety of colour. A packet of 
seed will furnish all that is required. 
Dahlias. —As earwigs are now, beginning to be 
plentiful again it will be necessary to. set to work to 
trap them, and thus keep down their numbers, other¬ 
wise, by the time the flower buds are formed there 
will be a plague of the little creatures to deal with. 
Attend to the staking of the plants where this was 
not done when they were put out, and the further 
tying of others already staked. Where it is possible 
to do so a good mulching of short well-decayed 
stable manure should be given, particularly where 
the Dahlias are growing in borders bounding 
shrubberies, for in such places the soil is poor in 
proportion to the age of the shrubbery, and naturally, 
where the latter has been planted some time there is 
very little goodness left in it.— A. S. G. 
Tne Orcfiid Grower’s calendar. 
Shading.— This is of the utmost importance. We 
use the cotton shading as recommended by Messrs. 
B. S. Williams. But when new it is scarcely enough 
should the house be fully exposed, so that an 
additional shade should be supplied by lightly 
whitening the glass. Where convenient the blinds 
should be elevated above the glass some six inches. 
This allows the air to play between the blind and the 
glass, which has the desired effect of keeping down 
the temperature in very bright weather. 
The air should be given through ventilators let 
into the wall opposite, and in a line with the hot 
water pipes, and at the top of the house, but not too 
freely, as a through current dries them up too 
quickly. 
Potting. —With imported plants we use as small 
pots as it is possible to get them into, plenty of 
drainage, and good peat and sphagnum moss in 
about equal parts. The watering is done during the 
summer months wholly and solely with the syringe, 
giving them a good shower bath morning and night- 
Under such conditions the moss grows like mad and 
the plants too. In twelve months you will have 
some good stuff, some of which will require a shift 
into 5-in. pots. The compost will not be sour, so 
that they can be potted on without disturbing the 
ball, setting the plant back so that the young growth 
coming up and the roots from it may have the full 
benefit of the new compost. It is from these second 
growths that you will get good spikes, although 
plenty will show the first season if good plants are 
procured—I am, of course, thinking now of Odonto- 
glossum crispum—but they do not show themselves 
properly ; and what would be a good variety when 
grown is as often as not discarded. It requires a bit 
of nerve, I know, to pull the spikes out, especially the 
first time of flowering, but it pays in the end. 
Cool Orchids. —I am very pleased to find that a 
great number of amateurs are taking up the culture 
of cool house Orchids as a recreation after the 
bustle and go of a busy day in the City; and what 
is there more beautiful or more healthful than the 
study of Nature ? To such amateurs that have but 
little room the cool kinds have a decided charm, as 
they do not require a great amount of fire-heat even 
in winter, and, besides, take up but very little room, 
being for the most part dwarf and small growing, 
which is a consideration. Anyone possessing a 
greenhouse sufficiently heated so that the night 
temperature in winter can be kept up to 45° in 
severe weather without having to drive very hard 
could grow such varieties or species as are found 
under the heading of cool Orchids. There is one 
thing, however, I would mention : that to attempt to 
grow Odontoglossums, &c., in the same house with 
Pelargoniums, Begonias, and the like, would most 
likely end in failure with all, because cool house 
Orchids must have shade and moisture to do them 
well. 
Assuming then that you have decided to turn your 
greenhouse into an Orchid house, I would suggest 
that the open lattice stages be covered over with 
ordinary roofiDg tiles. These we have used for years 
with marked success. Each tile will absorb a good 
quantity of water, which is given off by degrees as 
the temperature rises, thus making the conditions of 
the house as nearly as possible perfect. 
In the next calendar I will give a list and cultural 
directions of some of the most suitable kinds for 
' amateurs to grow.— C. 
- -*«-— 
©leanings fijunt fire IDtnrlii 
of Srieitrq. 
Symblepharis, a genus of Mosses.—At the 
meeting of the Linnean Society of London, on June 
2nd, Mr. E. S. Salmon read a paper entitled “ A Re¬ 
vision of the Genus Symblepharis.” This genus of 
Mosses, he said, as founded by Montagne in 1839, 
had proved too narrow, through the limits imposed 
by certain peristome characters, and he was of 
opinion that Mitten’s later emended description 
should be accepted. Montagne had founded the 
genus for the Mexican S. helicophylla, and to this 
species Mr. Salmon would refer the Indian moss S. 
himalayanum, Mitten (Didymodon vaginatum, 
Hook.), as well as S. Chrismari, C. Mull., and S. 
asiatica, Besch., which were found not to possess 
the characters by which they had been separated 
from S. helicophylla, Mont. S. microcarpa, C. 
Mull., he considered to be a variety of S. helico¬ 
phylla. Mont., and two new varieties of that species 
were described—vars. tenuis and macrospora—the 
latter remarkable for its large spores, 35-45 y. 
In the course of his remarks on other species of 
the genus, Mr. Salmon observed that S. fragilis, 
Mitt., is peculiar in the bistratose structure of the 
leaf, and S. socotrana, Mitt, (doubtfully included in 
the genus in the absence of fruit), in the papillose 
cells. S. circinata, Besch., and S. usambarica, 
Broth., he would exclude from the genus, and 
pointed out that the former species, from Grande 
Comore and La Reunion, comprises two distinct 
mosses. Mr. Charles Henry Wright, A.L.S., offered 
some critical remarks. 
The food of the Springtails — Surgeon-Capt. 
Cummins, F.L.S., read a paper “ On the Food of 
the Uropoda The nature of the food of these 
mites, which belong to a highly specialised genus of 
the Gamasinae, had long been a puzzle even to those 
who have paid particular attention to their organisa¬ 
tion. From careful experiments and observation, 
the author of the paper had come to the conclusion 
that amongst the organisms on which the Uropoda 
live were many species of bacilli, including the 
Potato bacillus and the earth bacillus. Wild yeast- 
cells were rapidly devoured, as also were Micrococci. 
He had little doubt that they consumed the gonidia 
of Fungi, for species of Penicilium and Mucor never 
appeared in the boxes which contained mites in 
large numbers; otherwise, they were commonly 
present. 
Mr. A. D. Michael, in critising the paper, pointed 
out the distinguishing characters of the Uropoda as 
compared with others of the Gamasinae, and especi¬ 
ally the peculiar form of the mandibles, which sug¬ 
gested a different mode of feeding to that adopted by 
other mites. He considered Surgeon Capt. Cum¬ 
mins s observations on the subject a useful contribu¬ 
tion to knowledge. 
[This account of original observations on the food 
of the SpriDgtails (Uropoda) should interest those of 
our readers who have blamed these mites for eating 
their newly germinated seedling Orchids. It is now 
made plain that their food consists of vegetable 
matter, but whether they could eat young seedling 
Orchids does Dot yet seem to have been investigated 
either to blame or exculpate the Springtails. —Ed.] 
Fasciated Primula japonica.—A specimen of 
this well-known Japanese Primula reached us last 
week, showing remarkable vigour and fasciation. 
The cut base of the flower scape gave indication of 
the union of four stems, but above the middle the 
mass had separated into five, bearing the usual tiers 
of crimson-red flowers. Instances of this kind may 
not be uncommon, but a more unusual phenomenon 
presented itself in the imprisonment of one of the 
radical leaves by the united stems. One longitudi¬ 
nal half of the leaf was grasped by the stems, while 
the other half up to the midrib was free, and of the 
normal colour. It must have got imprisoned when 
both stems and leaves were in a rudimentary stage 
in the bud. It was sent by Mr. C. B. Green, Acton. 
Twin Vine Leaves.—A curious instance of the 
union of two Vine leaves was supplied us by Mr. 
James Gibson, Devonhurst, Chiswick. The petioles 
of the leaves were united by their upper faces almost 
to the top, and one would have expected that the 
leaves would have been brought in contact by their 
faces. They spontaneously objected to this, and 
when fully developed had their upper and green 
faces turned outwards. The phenomenon that pre¬ 
sented itself was that two leaves had grown together 
back to back. The short portion of free petiole at 
the apex had enabled the leaves to turn round as a 
response to the influence of light on their green sur¬ 
faces. 
Vagaries of Tulips.—In our small collection of 
the English florists' Tulip there has been evidence 
that the sunless winter and spring has not been at 
all unfavourable even to Tulips of this race. The 
flowers of most of the varieties were larger'than 
they were last year and more durable, lasting 
about five weeks. The rectified form of Annie 
Macgregor threw u p two flowers of large size on one 
scape. The bybloemen Princess Royal threw up 
two flower stems from one bulb, one carrying the 
usual complement, and the other bearing four 
flowers all of which opened in due course. The 
terminal one was of average size, the other three 
being smaller, as might be supposed seeing that all 
were axillary buds on one stem. Each of the th>-ee 
leaves had thus a flower stalk from its axil, but all 
three were united with the primary stem, so that 
they were carried three or more inches above the 
leaves to which they belonged, above which all had 
free stalks, one about 1 ft. m length. Another variety 
named Aglaia has produced a bulb about 1 in. in 
length in the axil of the lowest leaf, but perfectly 
exposed to light and air. A fourth variety produced 
a bract towards the top of the stem, partly green 
and partly coloured in stripes, like a rectified Tulip. 
