70 
October 3, 1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
departures are not the least interesting or the least 
instructive items in the society’s annual programme. 
We are indebted to Mr. Malcolm Dunn for our 
report.— Gyp. 
--r—- 
PATENT COIL STAKES. 
Mr. Porter, of Maidstone, who some few years ago 
brought out his patent invincible crock for plant pots, 
and which is too well known among plant growers to 
require any explanation from us, now sends us 
another of his inventions. This time it is a stake 
for Carnations and other flowers requiring support- 
Where many Carnations are grown, a great deal of 
time is taken up in tying the stems to the stakes ; the 
latter also want constantly renewing. This new 
patent coil stake does away with both these objec¬ 
tions. No tying is required, and the stakes are 
practically everlasting. They are made of stiff wire 
in the shape of a coil; the flower stems have simply 
to be placed in the coils, when they are at once 
secured from bottom to top. They also add greatly 
to the appearance of the plants. The coil stakes are 
also made for bulbous plants, the stem of the stake 
being bent so as not to touch the bulb. The stakes 
are not in commerce yet, but we strongly reccmmend 
all on the look out for a good thing to secure a supply 
when they are sent out. 
--- 
PEPPERMINT-OIL INDUSTRY IN 
JAPAN. 
“Kuhlow’s German Trade Review" says that Mr. 
G. Marx has communicated to the German Society 
in Tokio (a society which undertakes the study of the 
natural history, and of the inhabitants of the East) a 
paper dealing with the distillation of Peppermint-oil 
in Japan. From this it appears that the industry 
has not yet benefited by the introduction of European 
methods, although it is one of considerable impor¬ 
tance. It is th’e opinion of many that the substitution 
of an improved method for that now followed would 
benefit both the quantity and quality of the oil pro¬ 
duced. The apparatus universally adopted in Japan 
consists of cast iron broad-edged boilers, wooden vats, 
and a condenser. Generally there are three sets of 
stills, etc., combined in one battery, with a common 
furnace. They are arranged in steps so that the 
lowest is built into the ground. The process is begun 
by filling the boilers with water, then the vats, which 
have perforated bottoms, are placed on the broad 
edges, and surrounded with straw bands and soft 
clay. It is in these vats that Peppermint is placed. 
Next the inverted condenser is put on, and filled with 
water: the heat passes from below and disappears 
through the chimney, on which the distilling begins. 
The boilers are properly heated by the fumes as they 
pass, and sufficiently so, as one is smaller than the 
others. The steam penetrating the herbs, carries 
with it the essential oil, and condenses on the outer 
side of the condenser, being collected in the vessel 
hanging upon it, from which the co'ndensed water, 
containing the oil, passes through a bamboo reed 
inserted in a flask. Each of these consists of a little 
wooden container, in which a glass cylinder (an old 
bottle without bottom or neck) is inserted. In this, 
the water separated from the oil runs through a little 
pipe again into the boilers. As soon as the water in 
the condenser becomes hot, tbe workman replaces it 
with cold water. The emptying is effected by a 
bamboo syphon. The workman inserts the short 
arm in the inverted cooler, closes the lower open¬ 
ing, and sucks the syphon until the water flows into 
it .—Journal Society of Arts. 
--J*- 
COLEUS FROM STEVENAGE. 
From Messrs. Young and Dobinson, Holmesdale 
Nurseries, Stevenage, Herts, comes a boxful of 
leaves of seedlings of Coleus, showing a remarkable 
variety of colouration, and measuring from 3 in to 
g£ in. in length ; leaves of the latter size were 6J in. 
across. There were over five dozen of them, and all 
named, but space forbids mention of half of them. 
We are most pleased with Young's Gem, a velvety- 
crimson variety, with a carmine centre, and yellow, 
deeply-cut goffered edges. Princess Alice, Bride of 
Essex, and B. Wynne, were rich maroon-crimson sorts 
with a broad carmine centre of the same outline as the 
leaf. Duke of Wellington and Balmoral were 
somewhat paler bicolor varieties of the same type, 
and of good substance. The latter remark applies 
very forcibly to Prince Consort, a dark variety with 
maroon mixed in about equal proportions with 
brilliant red or crimson. Even more bizarre was 
Essex Rival, most intricately marked with blackish- 
maroon, carmine, yellow, green, and other shades. 
Smaller, but prettier in their way, were Duchess of 
Northumberland, with a pink centre; Trafalgar 
Square, with a mottled carmine centre ; and 
Battersea Park, yellow, blotched with maroon and 
carmine, and having a broad green margin. Many 
of the varieties were of different colours on the 
two surfaces. The varieties are to be sent out next 
spring. 
-- 
THE MOUNTAIN ASH, 
Pyrus Aucuparia. 
Though of no special value as a timber-producing 
tree, yet the Mountain Ash, Rowan, or Wild Service, 
under all of which names it is commonly known, 
whether in leafage, flower, or fruit must be considered 
as amongst the most valuable of small growing 
trees. 
It rarely attains to a greater height than 50 ft., the 
average size, however, being much smaller, with a 
well-rounded head of rich, green foliage somewhat 
after that of the common Ash. The leaves are 
pinnate, and the divisions or leaflets serrated at the 
edges and quite smooth. When laden with its large 
bunches of coral-red berries it forms a most con¬ 
spicuous object in the landscape. It is a native of 
Europe generally, from Iceland and Norway to the 
Mediterranean, North-west Asia, and North America. 
Throughout Britain it is widely dispersed, occurring 
in all situations, from sea level to almost the highest 
mountain top. The soil best suited for the Mountain 
Ash is that of a strong and damp nature, but it will 
also thrive luxuriantly on gravel or rock, while it can 
withstand the coldest and most exposed situation. 
Usually the finest specimens will be found in rather 
dampish, sheltered situations, such as in a mountain 
valley, or the margin of the woodland. 
The timber of the Mountain Ash is hard, fine 
grained, and easily polished. It is of a reddish- 
brown colour, and when obtainable of sufficient size 
is used in the making of carts, agricultural imple¬ 
ments, framing for machinery, lining for carts, 
shafts, and similar purposes. When small it is used 
largely in crate and basket making. 
The berries are made into a kind of flour in 
Northern Europe, while in Scotland a preserve is 
made from them.— A. D. Webster. 
ORCHID NOTES'^ GLEANINGS, 
By The Editor. 
Odontoglossum rubiginosum. —There seems no 
end to the beautiful forms of Odontoglossum, both 
varieties, and natural hybrids that may turn up in 
collections. That under notice is a supposed natural 
hybrid between O. crispum and O. sceptrum, which 
M.Lucien Linden considers a good species. In any 
case the flowers of the form under notice are exceed¬ 
ingly handsome, having one very large and a few 
smaller crimson purple blotches on the sepals and 
petals. The ground colour is yellow, fading almost 
to white at the base. The lip has a large brovnish- 
purple blotch in front of the crest, and a few smaller 
ones around the sides of the latter. In general 
contour, the flowers resemble those of O. wilckea- 
num, but the segments are much broader, and the 
colours darker and richer. This Odontoglot turned 
up in the collection of L’Horticulture Internationale, 
and the Lindenia, PI. 517 gives a beautifully executed 
plate of it. 
Odontoglossum crispum calos — This name 
has been Englished as Odontoglossum crispum, fine 
variety, but we should have translated tbe varietal 
name as "beautiful." In any case that is the 
epithet we should apply to it. The ground colour of 
the flower is pure white. On each of the sepals and 
petals is one large, roundish, lobed, blood-red blotch 
which shows itself off to great advantage. Some¬ 
times a smaller lobe or two accompany the large 
one. There are several blotches of moderate size 
upon the lip. while the central portion or disk is 
orange-yellow. This fine form came in for a con¬ 
siderable amount of attention at the meeting of the 
Orchideenne, on the 19th of April last. It is well 
represented in the Lindenia, PL 518. 
Vanda coerulea Lord Rothschild’s var.— 
Numerous very fine varieties of V. caerula turned up 
at the meetings of the Royal Horticultural Society 
during last autumn and winter. Still a finer thing 
turned up in the collection of Lord Rothschild 
(gardener, Mr. E. Hill), Tring Park, Tring. The 
sepals and petals are much broader than in the 
typical form and of greater substance. The flowers 
are of a rich cobalt-blue, netted along the course of 
the principal veins with ultramarine blue. The outer 
surface of the petals is even darker than the face, 
almost if not quite rivalling that of the lip in 
intensity. There is usually the greatest concentra¬ 
tion of colour on the lip of this species, and the sepals 
and petals of the type are very pale indeed. Such 
fine varieties as that under notice may well earn the 
title of " Queen of the East Indian Orchids ’’ some¬ 
times applied to the species. The variety flowered 
in Lord Rothschild’s collection and The Orchid Album, 
PI. 517 gives a beautiful illustration of a plant and a 
spike bearing five flowers. 
Laeliocattleya blessensis.—The parents of this 
bigeneric hybrid were Laelia pumila, and Cattleya 
Loddigesii, the latter btiDg the pollen bearer. In 
habit the progency is intermediate, but the form of 
the flowers takes largely after the mother 
plant. The sepals and petals are of a soft rosy- 
purple. The obreniform lamina is of a dark crimson- 
purple, the colour running down into the throat and 
separating two large yellow blotches on the side lobes. 
The hybrid was raised by Mr. Charles Maron while 
in charge of the gardens of M. Darblay, at Corbeil, 
near Paris. It is named after the French town of Blois, 
the native place of the raiser. The seeds were sown 
in February, 1887, and the first flowers opened in 
October, 1890. A flowering plant is figured in The 
Orchid Album PI. 519. 
- —*«-- 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS FOR EXHIBITION. 
The weather recently has warned us that the time 
has arrived for a change of quarters for the “ mums.” 
The weather generally has been very detrimental 
to success ; wind and wet appear to be the prevail¬ 
ing atmospheric conditions throughout the country. 
The wet sunless September will check the ripening 
of the wood, and feeding of the plants ; the latter to 
some extent can be overcome by sprinkling artificial 
manures on the surface. It will be requisite now to 
turn our attention to 
Housing 
the plants ; possibly in some exposed positions, that 
may already have been done ; but if the plants are 
somewhat screened from cold biting winds, they may 
be allowed out a few days longer ; the time must be 
judged by the frosts in the district ; if the locality is 
low lying and liable to early frosts, the plants are 
better and safer under cover ; but if the position is 
high, and well sheltered, and the weather promises 
to be fine, they can be left out until the 8th inst., in 
the north, and a day or two later in the south The 
selection and preparation of tbe position should 
receive immediate attention, if the roof of the house 
is thickly studded with climbers, the latter should be 
thinned, so as to afford the maximum of air and 
light to the plants. If necessary, this clearing out 
will afford an opportunity for a thorough cleansmg 
of the house and its contents, which will be better for 
the general health of the plants. If more than one 
structure can be allotted to the plants so much the 
better, as they can then be divided for the better 
security of timing the flowers. I be plants carrying 
the forwardest buds should be staged in the darkest 
a~.d coolest house. The later varieties should be given 
the lightest quarters and, if possible, a position where 
tbe temperature can be raised somewhat if necessary. 
Of course the time of the exhibition is an important 
factor ; if early, and the buds are somewhat late, a 
gentle rise in the temperature will be needful ; if 
the reverse is the position, then the house must be 
kept cool, and strong sunlight subdued. Many 
growers now place under tbe roofs of their houses 
light tiffany, to counteract tbe powerful rays of the sun, 
which they aver is the cause of damping, the rays of 
the sun beiDg intensified by the glass, means scalding 
the petals on which particles of moisture are resting, 
especially early in the day. This appears feasible, 
for it is only in warm muggy weather that damping 
becomes serious. As soon as the temperature gives 
indication of frost, fire heat can be turned on, which 
quickly dries up the excess of moisture, and reduces 
damping. If tiffany or shading is not at command, 
sheets of thin light paper can be placed over the 
more important flowers with the same advantage as 
shading the whole house. 
