262 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
December 26, 1896. 
lights placed over them, tying them as needed 
covered to keep out frost. In this way we he IN 
have good Lettuces through the winter. 
I am old-fashioned enough to think there are no 
other Lettuces as good in flavour as this sort. Be 
this as it may, I am certain there is no variety that 
stands the winter like it. I am aware it wants to be 
tied up, but this is no objection to winter Lettuces— 
J. C., Chard. 
■ 8 » 
THE FUTURE OF THE BIRMINGHAM 
SHOW. 
Birmingham has so long been identified with a high 
degree of excellence in its flower shows, particu¬ 
larly with regard to the annual Chrysanthemum 
festival in the Town Hall, that usually there has 
been room for only one regret, and that is, that more 
space has not been at the disposal of the committee. 
With a greater area better justice might be done to 
the very beautiful displays of grouping and table 
decorative work ; besides which, the large numbers 
who visit these shows might with comfort see the 
exhibits. With only a narrow balcony space in 
which to arrange heavy entries of cut blooms, by far 
the larger portion of the visiting public probably go 
away without seeing half the beauty of the show. 
The use of a basement hall is also a most undesirable 
feature, both for exhibitors and public. 
It is with interest, therefore, we learn that a 
movement is afoot for the acquirement of the 
Bingley Hall on the occasion of the next show. 
Here there would be a grand opportunity of arranging 
the exhibition on a proper basis ; and we strongly 
recommend all well-wishers of the Birmingham and 
Midland Counties Chrysanthemum Society to use 
their influence in order to effect the departure thus 
indicated in the society’s shows. Everyone knows 
the suitability of the Waverley Market in Edin¬ 
burgh as a site for flower shows, and Bingley Hall 
would form a formidable rival in England to that 
famous show. 
— ■ - - i l — - — 
SUTTON S AMATEURS’ GUIDE. 
The new edition of this horticultural guide for 1897, 
issued by Messrs. Sutton & Sons, Reading, not only 
maintains its former high standard in the matter of 
comprehensiveness and finish, but we are perfectly 
convinced that it excels all its predecessors. In this 
view we have already been corroborated and 
supported from an independent source, notwith¬ 
standing the issue of the “ Guide” only last week. 
The photographic illustrations are decidedly superior 
to those of last year, excellent as they were. We 
scarcely know whether to admire most the illustra¬ 
tions of vegetables or flowers ; but we consider that 
the photographic representations of vegetables have 
been brought more on a par with those of the flowers 
on this occasion. 
Solid and massive products of the kitchen garden 
are more difficult to reproduce with any degree of 
satisfaction than the lighter and more graceful pro¬ 
ductions of the flower garden. We therefore call 
attention to such instances as the photographic repre¬ 
sentations of Tomato Sutton's Best of All, Sutton’s 
Improved Queen Onion, Sutton’s Mushroom Spawn, 
Brussels Sprouts, Sutton’s Ai Kale, Sutton’s Blood 
Red Beet, Sutton’s Earliest of All, and Excelsior 
Climbing French Beans, Sutton’s Ai Runner 
Beans, various garden Peas, and a view of a portion 
of their Gold Medal exhibit at the last Temple 
Show, as triumphs of the art of photography. It is 
almost invidious to single out one view more than 
another, for every one of them is certainly excellent. 
Sutton’s New Year Savoy (p. 38) looks almost real, 
so admirably is every wrinkle of the leaves brought 
out. 
The representations of Potatos are again of great 
excellence. Indeed, the noble tuber is the subject of 
special care and attention at Reading, as the 
numerous trials annually testify. Carefully and 
beautifully executed illustrations are those of 
Sutton’s Ninety-fold, Ringleader, Epicure, Ne Plus 
Ultra, Supreme, Windsor Castle, Reliance, Triumph, 
and The Sutton Flourball, Potatos all of the firm’s 
own introductions. It is difficult to see where 
further improvement could be effected, short of the 
natural colours, in photographic representations of 
such solid bodies as Potato tubers. 
Amongst the floral illustrations a large plantation 
of China Asters comes out remarkably well, showing 
the boundaries of different varieties by the gradua¬ 
tion of tones in black and white. In almost every 
case the meshes of the screen used by the artist to 
produce these pictures, have been extremely fine. 
The beds of Begonias as grown in the open are 
perfect pictures. The massive doubles grown under 
glass also come out remarkably clear, as do the 
Calceolarias, Marguerite Carnations, Cyclamens, 
Gloxinias, Pansies, Chinese Primulas, Saintpaulia, 
bedding and other Stocks, Cactus Dahlias, and many 
others of Messrs. Sutton's specialities. The crown¬ 
ing picture of all the flowers is the full page illustra¬ 
tion of Gloxinia flowers, which are remarkably life¬ 
like. Here also are some excellent woodcuts; and 
that the letterpress and general execution of the 
"Guide "are equal to the hundreds of illustrations, 
goes without saying. 
-—- 
ORCHID NOTES & GLEANINGS. 
By The Editor. 
Dendrobium nobile album Feddal Var, Nov. 
var .—I am in receipt of some flowers of two varieties 
of Dendrobium nobile from Mr. Jas. Thomson, The 
Gardens, Feddal Braco, Perthshire. The plants 
were bought out of a lot imported as Dendrobium 
nobile album. Now the latter was originally des¬ 
cribed in Le Moniteur and L'Orchidophile, two French 
papers, according to which the sepals and petals 
were pure white, and the lip yellowish-white, with 
the usual crimson-purple blotch in the throat. Now 
the variety under notice differs in having a light rose 
blotch in the throat, with a tint of red on the sides, 
and in this respect it is evidently sufficiently distinct 
from a garden point of view to receive a distinct 
name. The flowers are small, but pretty. The 
plant, on the contrary, is robust. The other variety 
sent had dark purple sepals and petals, recalling D. 
nobile wallichianum to some extent.— J. Fraser. 
-- 
DUNDEE CHRYSANTHEMUM SHOW. 
I would like to correct a mistake Mr. McDonald 
made in his criticism on the report of the Dundee 
Chrysanthemum Show (see p. 202). He says that 
in the open class for pot plants “ there has been no 
competition for two years, and only two three years 
ago.” Now the facts are that in 1894 there were 
three competitors—namely, Messrs. Kennedy, Collie, 
and Keillor ; in 1895 two, Kennedy and Keillor ; and 
1896 Kennedy—a gradually diminishing number, 
and bearing out Mr. Machar’s contention that the 
competitors have been frightened off the field. If 
Mr. McDonald has not been "fibbing” he must have 
been contracting “ just a wee bit.” Apropos of the 
specimen plants shown at Dundee, I noticed on 
p. 211 that Mr. Rushton, who was one of the judges 
at Dundee, had also been judging at Ayr, and he is 
reported to have said “ that he did not think there 
was anything in Scotland to equal the first prize 
exhibit. One of the plants of the exhibit stood 8 ft. 
high and the other three plants came closely behind 
it. Now a specimen plant could hardly have a 
greater defect than to be of the enormous height of 
8 ft. I would recommend to the cultivators about 
Ayr, for their next year's show, Mme. C. Audiguier 
on the authority of Mr. Molyneux (p. 217), who said 
it would grow 14 ft. high. It would be a great 
advance on this yeat’s show. The aim of both 
raisers and cultivators has been to reduce its 
ungainly height since ever the Chrysanthemum 
became a popular flower ; and an exhibit of the kind 
to be lauded by the judge, showed that he did not 
appreciate the constant effort of raisers and cultiva¬ 
tors in this direction. What constitutes a perfect 
specimen plant of the Chrysanthemum would be a 
good subject for some of the numerous corres¬ 
pondents of The Gardening World, to discuss or 
define.— Mum, December 15 th. 
TIE SIGHS IBISES. 
Lycastes. —For autumn and winter flowering this 
genus is a most valuable one. The individual 
flowers certainly are not so elegant as some kinds of 
Orchids, but well-grown specimens, with a couple of 
dozen flowers open at once, make grand objects. 
Their culture is very simple and easy, so that 
amateurs just forming a collection would do well to 
include them in a first selection, as in addition to their 
being easy to grow, they do not require a very high 
temperature. The heat of the intermediate division 
will grow them well; indeed, some people advise 
cool treatment for them. 
The compost should consist of two parts peat 
and one of leaf mould, not too much decayed, which 
must be chopped up and thoroughly mixed together, 
with a little silver sand thrown in to make it porous. 
The plants require an abundance of water when 
growing, and at no time of the year must they be 
allowed to get dust dry ; in consequence of this 
requirement the pots must be well drained. 
There are several species, of which C. Skinneri is 
the best and the most variable, there beiDg numerous 
varieties, some very dark, others delicate pink, and, 
of course, the peerless L. S. alba. Others there are 
that must not be despised, for if they are not quite 
so attractive they are quaint and free flowering. 
These include L Deppei, L. cruenta, L. aromatica, 
L. lanipes, etc. Then we have L. Harrisoniae, 
generally found under the name of Maxillaria 
Harrisoniae or Bifrenaria Harrisoniae. This species 
we find does best when a little more heat is afforded 
it, indeed, some of the best specimens we have seen 
have been grown in a stove temperature where they 
have been a good deal exposed to the sun. 
Odontoglossum crispum. —Plants that were 
potted in September will now have nearly made up 
their pseudo-bulbs, and are pushing spikes and roots 
simultaneously, so that every attention must be paid 
to them in respect to watering, or the spikes will not 
come strong. At no time during the season, perhaps, 
do they require more water at the roots than at the 
present time, for in addition to the extra strain on 
them when carrying large spikes there are the drying 
influences of the hot-water pipes to deal with. Of 
course a good deal depends on the kind of structure 
you have to grow them in and the amount of piping ; 
at any rate those immediately over the pipes will 
require careful attention, or undue shrivelling will 
ensue. 
Damping Down. —This should be done during the 
middle of the day when the pipes are not too warm, 
or the steam from them if made wet when hot will 
cause the open flowers to spot.—C. 
•fr 
Peas.— Owing to the saturated state of the ground, 
the season has not been a favourable one for sowing 
the earliest crop of Peas outside. This may not be 
a disadvantage if some of the earliest kinds are sown 
in pots and boxes at the present time, as these, if 
grown steadily, and carefully handled at planting 
time, generally surpass in earliness and productive¬ 
ness crops sown outside in November. Large 60- 
size pots are the most convenient for sowing in, and 
also for transplanting the crop when the Peas are 
sufficiently advanced. Next to pots, long narrow 
boxes, with movable bottoms, are very handy at 
planting time and take up less room than pots, during 
the time they remain under glass. Good sound friable 
loam is the best soil for sowing in, and the pots or 
boxes should be placed in a temperature of 45 0 to 55 0 
until germination takes place, when they should be 
placed near the glass in a cold house or frame where 
abundant ventilation can be given, but the tempera¬ 
ture should not be allowed to fall below the freezing 
point. 
Beans. —The forcing of dwarf Beans during the 
short days of late autumn is generally uphill work, but 
with the turn of the New Year regular successional 
crops may be obtained,where sufficient heat is at com¬ 
mand. Ne Plus Ultra is a favourite for forcing, but it 
is a tender Bean and very subject to red spider. Sir J. 
Paxton is a good forcing kind, and remains in bearing 
longer than Ne Plus Ultra: but the best of all is 
Canadian Wonder. The dwarf stocks of this are the 
best for sowing at this season, as it is of a hardier 
constitution, and will thrive in several degrees lower 
temperature thun other kinds. It is best sown singly 
in small 6o's and potted on into 32's and 24's, one 
plant in a pot. Firm potting is essential to this kind 
to keep it dwarf and branching. It is seldom 
attacked with red spider, and keeps in bearing three 
months, if given an occasional dose of nitrate of 
soda. Careful watering is necessary after sowing at 
this early season, otherwise the seed will decay. A 
temperature of 60® to 70® should be maintained to 
get satisfactory results. 
Saladings.— With the approach of severe weather 
