December 19, 1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
247 
TWO GOOD VEGETABLES. 
When cultivators meet with really good improved 
kinds of Vegetables, etc., they are doing their 
brethren in the craft a good turn by chronicling their 
results in the columns of The Gardening World. 
This has induced me to forward you the following 
notes on two of the best vegetables I have proved of 
late years. Webb’s Sensation Pea I have now 
grown for two years, and in both it has proved first- 
rate. It grows with me about 3 ft. high, is very 
strong growing, and crops close to the ground. 
The pods are produced most abundantly, being 
well filled, and the Peas of very good flavour. In the 
past unfavourable summer for Peas this proved to be 
amongst the best. I grew it beside several other new 
kinds, several of which I shall not have in my garden 
again, but hope to continue growing Sensation. I 
gave a cottager a few seeds to try and he was delighted 
with it. Tomatos are like Peas ; they are not lacking 
in number of kinds, and a good many of the so-called 
new ones we, as cultivators, could do without. But 
in Webb's Regina you have a really first-rate kind. 
I have been growing it for three years, and every 
season it has given me the best results. It is not 
a large sort, but very solid, and just the kind to 
weigh well. I remember Mr. Castle, when at 
Fordingbridge Vineyard, used to grow it most exten¬ 
sively, as I saw a grand lot of it when there one 
autumn. When speaking to a big vegetable exhibitor 
recently about it, he said it was amongst the very 
best kinds, but though not large enough for exhibition, 
he grew it mostly for supplying the kitchen.— J. C., 
Chard. 
— - 
THE CALANTHE AND ITS CULTURE. 
The treatment of the pseudobulbs has been so often 
given that one feels a bit shy in taking up your valuable 
space, unless one has something new to disclose ; but 
generally speaking each successful grower has a 
different method of cultivating these almost indis¬ 
pensable winter-flowering Orchids, so that it should 
not be out of place for one who considers himself 
fairly successful to give details to your many readers 
as to how that success is obtained. As these plants 
are about at their best just how they should be kept 
dry overhead, and in a temperature of about 6o° 
(see issue of December 5th). A little water should 
be afforded them until pretty well the last flowers 
open, say once a week. 
As soon as they have passed out of flower or have 
been all cut, the pots of pseudobulbs should be put 
together and given a fairly light position in the tem¬ 
peratures previously given and kept dry until potting 
time comes round again, which will be early in 
March, or as soon as the new growth is about half an 
inch in length, and before any new roots make much 
headway. They should then be shaken out clear of the 
old soil, great care being necessary now and in potting 
them not to bruise the young growth or decay will 
ensue. The two-year-old pseudobulbs, the old back 
growth can be dispensed with and the roots of the past 
flowering pseudobulb shortened to within an inch or so 
of the base. I like to preserve a few as they assist in 
keeping the pseudobulb in its place when potted. In 
the meanwhile pots and soils should have been pre¬ 
pared. Of the former I use 5 in. 6 in. and 7 in sizes. 
These must be perfectly clean and dry, and rather 
more than half filled with crocks, which should have 
been washed. Over this are placed a layer of spag- 
num and some lumpy pieces of the potting soil which 
should consist of three parts good fibrous loam to 
one of good peat, the heavier the loam the more peat 
should be added. A fair sprinkling of well-pounded 
dry cow manure, and some rough silver or river 
sand and a little broken pieces of charcoal should be 
added. 
All being thoroughly mixed and workable, not too 
wet nor too dry, a start should be made by filling 
your pot to an inch of the rim. This should be 
made firm, and I prefer to have it a trifle higher in 
the centre. I pick out the strongest of the pseudo¬ 
bulbs and place them singly in 5-in. pots, or three 
in a 7 in., and three of the smaller size in the 6 in. 
Each pseudobulb whether potted singly or not, must 
be made quite firm, an eye being kept, when three 
are potted together, that the new growths are kept 
as wide apart as possible, and away from the side of 
the pot, so that they may not get jammed before 
growth is nearly finished. 
Some of the largest pseudobulbs generally require a 
short stake, and to be tied to keep them in position ere 
the new roots have taken to the soil. After potting they 
should be put into the stove or forcing house that 
is kept about 70° through the night, placed near the 
glass and lightly shaded from the sun. They should 
get a dew overhead with the syringe twice daily if 
bright, but great care is necessary to see that they 
are not kept too moist or decay will set in. Very 
little water is required until you see that the new 
roots are fairly occupying the surface of the soil; 
but this must be increased as the pots get full of 
roots. At this latter stage they will take plenty of 
it, diluted with farmyard drainings, twice a week 
preferably from the cow sheds. 
As the growth extends more space should be given 
them, still keeping them fairly close to the glass, 
though not in touch with it. They must be lightly 
shaded from the sun up to 4 pm. through the 
summer months, decreasing it gradually towards the 
end of August and dispensing with it by the second 
week in September. Calanthes do not appreciate 
syringing overhead too much as the water is liable 
to run down the leaves into the centre and cause 
decay, A light syringing underneath the foliage and 
among the pots is beneficial. As soon as you can 
perceive the bloom spikes showing at the base of the 
new pseudobulbs then is the time to feed them, rather 
top-dress them with cow dung that has been collected 
and placed under cover some time previously. I 
find this assists them greatly. 
No manure water should be given them, and the 
quantity of water should be reduced when the 
foliage shows signs of turning yellow. Towards 
the end of October I have had a few in flower 
and have been able to keep up a succession 
until the end of January. My experience 
is limited to about four varieties,—namely, C. 
Veitchii, hybrid, C. vestita rubro-oculata, C. 
vestita lutea and C. Turneri, the last two being white 
with a yellow and rose eye. 
Calanthes are not much troubled with insects, scale 
being the worst enemy that I have had to contend 
with. These must be carefully removed with a soft 
sponge. Mealy bug will thrive on them if left alone ; 
it too must be served in like manner. 
A stock can soon be worked up by preserving the 
old back growths, these should be laid in fairly thick 
in a box with some soil around their base, and put in 
with the potted ones. Most of them will throw out 
a new growth, some of them two. These can be 
potted up before they get too far advanced. I have had 
as many as fifty flowers on a spike of C. Veitchii, and 
twenty six open at one time. I have read of some 
growers having as many as sixty to seventy on a spike, 
but it has not been my pleasure to have seen such.— 
TIE FLOWER GARSEN. 
The open weather, that we have up to the present 
been favoured with, has afforded an ample oppor¬ 
tunity for getting the work well forward. Autumn is 
a terribly untidy season, and there is usually plenty 
to do in tidying up. 
Vacant Beds that will remain so until next 
summer, should be dug over and thrown roughly up 
for the winter, wherever it is possible to do so, with¬ 
out offending the eye too near the mansion. Where 
the land is naturally heavy, this practice is an 
excellent one, for it facilitates the aeration of the soil 
to a vast extent. 
Shrubberies. —Where it is possible to do so, these 
should be dug lightly over as soon as time can be 
spared; the sooner the better, in fact, for this will 
get rid of some of the loose leaves lying about, and 
which would, after a spell of dry weather, be blowing 
about the place. 
The hardy fernery is not exactly the tidiest spot in 
the garden just now, and but little can be done to 
remedy this, for the dead fronds are better left on 
the crowns for the purposes of protection. A mulch¬ 
ing of leaf soil may be given with advantage. It 
should be from 2 in. to 3 in. in depth. This will also 
form an extra protection to any Snowdrops, Scillas, 
etc., that may have been planted amongst the Ferns 
during the latter part of the summer. 
Mulching Border Carnations. —Where these 
were transferred to their flowering quarters at the 
commencement of the autumn, they have made good 
progress. A top-dressing of about if in. in depth, 
should now be given. We have found the manure 
from a spent mushroom bed answer the purpose well. 
It is cleanly, and the Carnations seem to like it. 
Renovating old Gravel Paths. —Where gravel 
paths have been in constant use for several years, the 
surface is apt to get rather dirty and rotten. Such a 
surface wears badly in wet weather, and gives 
anything but a pleasant foothold. Accordingly a 
little labour spent upon them now and again, before 
they get very bad, is to be recommended. The top 
layer, to the depth of at least a couple of inches 
should be broken up by means of the pick, and a coat¬ 
ing of about 1 in. of clean new gravel laid on. Two 
or three good rollings with a heavy roller will send 
this down firmly, and the new material, incorporating 
and binding with the old path, will make it as good 
as new again. 
Covering up. —The frost up to the time of writing 
has been nothing to speak about, onlj a couple of 
sharp nights, but we must not argue from this that 
there is not more to follow. In localities where the 
winters are more severe than they usually are in the 
southern counties, it is a regular thing each year to 
cover up Roses and the tenderest of the climbers. 
For dwarf Rose bushes, whether of Teas or H.P.’s, a 
little dry bracken shaken around them is an easy 
method of giving the desired protection. For Roses 
and other climbers on walls the supply of mats has 
to be eked out with branches of evergreens, such as 
Conifers and Laurels. On most estates there are 
supplies of such material to cut from, and these are 
taken advantage of. 
Pruning Roses. — In the southern counties, some 
of the H.P.’s, particularly the standards, may be 
pruned now. Such plants, it will be found, will 
break rather sooner than those which are not pruned 
until spring, as the sap being distributed amongst 
fewer buds naturally exercises more power. 
Pruning Deciduous Hedges. —These may be 
dealt with as soon as circumstances permit. In 
trimming, take care to leave the hedge broadest near 
the ground line, and taper it gradually upwards. 
Continue the planting of deciduous trees and 
shrubs when the state of the weather will allow. 
The rainy spell has been rather a drawback of late to 
this kind of work. Newly planted subjects should 
receive a good mulching of half-decayed stable 
manure at once. Staking must likewise receive 
attention, for such trees, not having a gcod hold of the 
soil will be liable to be blown out of the perpendi¬ 
cular by rough winds. Three stout stakes placed 
pyramid fashion with the stem of the tree enclosed 
within the apex is a good way to afford support, and 
much safer than the plan of driving in one large 
stake close to the main stem of the tree. Bands of 
hay should be inserted to prevent the bark of the 
saplings from being chafed by the supports. — 
A.S.G. 
- *»*»—— - 
(Meanings from tip.; iPurlii 
of Science. 
Pterisanthes polita.— At a meeting of the 
Linnean Society of London, on November 191b, Mr. 
A. D. Michael, Vice-President, in the chair, Dr. D. 
Morris, C.M.G., exhibited from the Royal Gardens, 
Kew, the inflorescence of Pterisanthes polita, a 
singular species of the Vine Order (Ampelideae), 
received in 1894 from Mr. H. N. Ridley, F.L.S., of 
Singapore, and now in flower for the first time in 
Europe It is a slender plant, climbing 15 ft. to 
20 ft. over trees, native of the Malay Peninsula, 
Sumatra, and North Borneo. The cordate leaves 
are entire and spinose ; the tendrils bifurcated, with 
the lower branch bearing a pendulous, flat, fleshy 
receptacle, irregular in outline, reddish brown in 
colour, and varying from 4 in. to 6 in. in length and 
f in. to if in. in breadth. The flowers, embedded 
on both sides of the receptacle, are mostly herma¬ 
phrodite, while on its margins are ranged several 
unisexual or sterile flowers on slender pedicels f in. 
to 1 in. long. The fruits, where produced, are small 
flask-shaped berries with one to four seeds. 
Pterisanthes is closely allied to Vitis, but shows in a 
more interesting manner the true nature of the 
tendrils, and a special modification of the receptacle 
suggested only in Vitis macrostachya. Some supple¬ 
mentary remarks were made by Mr. C. B. Clarke, 
F.R.S., and Sir Hugh Low, G.C.M.G. 
A giant Drosera binata.—At the same meeting 
Dr. Morris also exhibited dried flower-stems of the 
Australasian twin-leaved Sundew (Drosera binata, 
Labill.), received at Kew from the Sheffield Botanic 
Garden. In this instance the stems were 3 ft. 6 in. 
high, bearing about thirty to fifty large pure white 
flowers, nearly 1 in. across. The plant grown in 
gardens in this country is seldom more than 9 in. to 
a foot high. Some comments were offered by Mr, 
Hiern and Mr. Thomas Christy. 
