582 
rHE GARDENING WORLD. 
May 1-5, 1897 
STRAWBERRY PRESIDENT. 
Notwithstanding the introduction of many grand 
varieties in recent years, this will loDg continue to 
hold an important position in the garden. It is one 
of the best flavoured Strawberries in cultivation, 
indeed, there are some who look upon it as the best. 
Others dilate upon the excellent quality of British 
Queen and Dr. Hogg, and while we admit their 
refined and delicate flavour, we regard them as 
varieties which relatively few gardeners can grow 
successfully. They are poor croppers in many 
gardens, and in some soils they practically die out 
before giving any adequate return for the labour 
spent upon them. Even bad and practically taste¬ 
less varieties that have once been boomed for some 
quality or other, such as Noble for its earliness, long 
continue to be recommended by some one or other, 
after they have been superseded by others both in 
earliness, flavour, and size. 
Not only is President an excellent and easily 
grown Strawberry for outdoor culture, but it is 
admirably adapted for forcing. This has been re¬ 
called by a sample sent us by Mr. J. Mayne, The 
Gardens, Bicton, who uses Royal Sovereign for his 
earliest gathering and President later on. The fruits 
are firm to the centre, juicy, and almost as rich in 
flavour as they would be later on in the open. The 
sunshine has no doubt been more plentiful in Devon 
than in London during the past spring, for it is only 
recently that we have been favoured with a fair 
share of that inconstant commodity. Many culti¬ 
vators continue to use Vicomtesse Hericart de 
Thury as a forcing Strawberry, and it has the 
qualities that recommend it ; but as far 
as appearance, size, and flavour are concerned, 
it is hardly equal to President for use in April 
and May. Mr. Mayne thinks that there is nothing 
better than President, at this time of the year, together 
with the special brand of Devonshire cream, and we 
think there is much to be said in favour of that 
view. 
--- 
ORCHID NOTES & GLEANINGS. 
By The Editor. 
Cattleya Mossiae Lucienne, Nov. var.— We ry 
dark and very light coloured varieties of most of the 
Cattleyas, including C. Mossiae, meet with most 
favour as they turn up amongst importations That 
under notice is a light variety, the sepals and petals 
being white, lightly washed with rose. The ground 
colour of the lip is also white, beautifully mottled 
and marbled with dark rosy-purple. The orange 
blotch extends well on to the base of the expanded 
lamina. There is a coloured figure of it in the 
Lindtnia, t. 544. A dark variety, named C. M. John 
Schulz, is shown upon the same page, and indicates 
by contrast the wide range of colour in this type of 
Cattleya. The sepals and petals are rich rose- 
purple; but the lamina is intensified to a rich 
crimson-purple, very little broken up, but giving 
place to a broad, white margin. The orange band 
encircling the base of the tube of the lip externally is 
rather curious, being much more intensified than 
usual. 
Cattleya Wanneri. —A magnificently coloured 
variety of this old but now uncommon Cattleya 
appears in the Orchid Album, PI 521 . The sepals and 
petals are nearly of a uniform dark rose-purple. The 
lip is the darkest, most conspicuous and handsome 
feature of the flower, for it is nearly of a uniform 
crimson-purple, slightly paler at the margins. The 
rich colouring is, however, carried round the edges 
of the lateral lobes, where it joins the highly coloured 
tube. The dark orange blotch in the throat is rela¬ 
tively narrow, giving place to creamy-white which 
covers the greater area of the sides lobes. A whole 
plant is represented in this illustration, five of the 
pseudobulbs bearing a leaf, and two more being leaf¬ 
less. Three flowers are borne upon a scape, all being 
well displayed. The illustration was prepared from 
a plant which flowered in the collection of Lady 
Piggott, Wexham Park, Slough, under the care of 
Mr. Capp. This type is closely allied to the autumn 
flowering C. labiata, but differs by flowering in spring 
and early summer, with C. Mendelii and C. 
"Mossiae. 
Cymbidium TigHnum.'—The dwarf habit ofthis 
species should commend itself to those who are 
hampered for want of room to grow the better 
known and tall growing species with their hybrids, 
A nice little piece is now flowering in the fine col¬ 
lection of R. I. Measures, Esq., Cambridge Lodge, 
Camberwell. The pseudobulbs are short and un¬ 
covered as in an Oncidium, and bear the best leaves 
on the top. The few-flowered racemes are grace¬ 
fully drooping, so that the blooms are seen to best 
advantage when the plant is suspended or stood on a 
shelf so as to be on a level with the eye. The sepals 
are of a light olive-brown on the ianer face with 
yellow edges, and the latter colour is more abundant 
on the petals. The lip is white, conspicuously 
spotted all over with purple, suggesting the specific 
name, and the side lobes are dark brownish-red or 
purple. A specimen which flowered in the collection 
of H. S. Leon, Esq., Bletchley Park, Bucks., has 
recently been figured in the Orchid Album, PI. 523. 
In this instance the sepals and petals are much 
darker on the back than the face, which is olive 
green. This variety is also pretty, though different 
from the first-named. 
Odontoglossum hunnewellianum grandi- 
fiorum. — The typical form of this plant bears 
small, but very prettily marked flowers. The variety 
here named and figured in the Lindenia PL 545 has 
flowers as large as those of O. luteo-purpureum 
sceptrum. The sepals and petals are lanceolate- 
elliptic and of a rich, dark, chocolate-brown, the 
colouring being more or less broken up towards the 
base, showing a yellow ground colour. The edges 
and tips are also yellow, but the dark colours are 
more or less directed towards the circumference of 
the flower, leaving the lighter yellow hues in the 
centre. The lip is several shades paler and beauti¬ 
fully marbled with chocolate spots and specks round 
the white edges. The typical O. hunnewellianum 
places the species amongst the smaller-flowered 
forms of the genus, but the variety under notice lifts 
the species into a higher plane. Botanically it is 
allied to.O. luteo-purpureum, but more nearly so to 
O. schillerianum, another little-known Odontoglot. 
This large-flowered variety turned up in the collec¬ 
tion of Messrs. Lucien Linden & Co., at Moortebeek, 
in an importation frum Colombia. 
Cypripedium Chapmani.—This is one of the 
finest of the hybrids which have been raised from C. 
Curtisii crossed with some other species. In this 
case C. bellatulum w as the pollen parent, and its 
influence is most apparent in the progeny. As far 
as the flower is concerned, the seed bearer is most 
apparent in the upper sepal which is creamy white, 
shading to green at the base, and lined and spotted 
with purple. The broadly oblong, declinate petals 
are densely spotted all over with crimson-purple on 
a rosy ground. The lip is of great size, and of a 
dark or blackish-purple in front. The habit of the 
plant is all that could be desired, and excellent, for 
the scape is about 9 in. high, bearing a huge, solitary 
flower. The leaves are broad, spreading near the 
surface of the pot aod of a light green, tessellated 
with a lighter colour. The speediness with which it 
was raised and brought iDto bloom is quite a record 
in its way, for from the time that the pollen was 
applied to C. Curtisii until the plants came into 
bloom, only four years have elapsed. It is now 
flowering for the second time in the splendid collec¬ 
tion of R. I. Measures, Esq., Cambridge Lodge, 
Camberwell, where it was raised by Mr. Henry 
James Chapman, the gardener, after whom it is 
named. 
Cattleya Mendelii Cambridge L.odge var. 
Nov. var .— The sepals and petals of this variety are 
white, while the lip is also white with the exception 
of a small soft purple blotch on the centre of the 
lamina, and the customary Yellow blotch in the 
throat, but which is very much reduced in size, and 
pale in colour. It has been flowering for the last 
month or more on a newly imported piece in the 
collection of R I. Measures, Esq., but when it has 
been established and got into vigorous growth the 
flowers will be much larger than they are at present. 
It holds the same relation to C. Mendelii as C. 
Mossiae reineckeana does to C. Mostiae. The 
delicacy of its colouring makes it a choice thing, for in 
our opinion many pale varieties of Cattleya are just 
as charming in their way as the dark varieties are 
splendid. 
Cattleya Schroderae — There can be no doubt 
but that this Cattleya maintains its popularity 
equally as well as the other'types in cultivation. 
This is due to the size of the flowers, the delicacy of 
their colouring and the large rich orange blotch in 
the throat which gives character to the whole flower, 
and reminds us of what occurs in C Eldorada 
crocea. A batch of plants from the grand importa¬ 
tion recently made by Messrs J. Veitch & Sons, 
Limited, has been flowering for weeks past in the 
collection of R. I. Measures, Esq., Cambridge 
Lodge, Camberwell, under the care of Mr. Chap¬ 
man A dark variety has been in fine condition for 
the past five weeks. The sepals, petals, and lip are 
rose, with a large rich orange blotch in the throat of 
the lip. Close by is auother with flowers of delicate 
hue, so pale, indeed, that the sepals and petals are 
almost white. The lamina of the lip is of a soft rosy 
lilac, but the intensity of the dark oraDge blotch, and 
its size serve to make the variety conspicuous. 
A large Cattleya Mossiae.— At one time 8 in. 
across the petals was considered large for C Mossiae, 
but naturally large flowered varieties under good 
treatment can exceed even this. A dark variety 
flowering in Mr. J. Seeger’s Nursery, at Bandon 
Hill, Croydon, measures in. across the petals, 
and the lip is close upon 4 in. in length. The sepals 
and petals are of a uniform rich rose, and show up 
to great advantage under artificial light, the colour 
appearing to be intensified. 
- 
Til FLOWER GARDEN. 
At this time the preparations for the summer bedding- 
out naturally absorb a good deal of attention, for in 
most localities a start may be made towards the end 
of the month, and when May proves a hot and dry- 
time there is often a great temptation to start to work 
even earlier, as the watering of so many plants in 
pots and boxes is a lengthy operation. Meanwhile 
the hardier plants are being daily turned out of 
doors and thus various frames are set at liberty. A 
“ protection ground ” at this season is a great boon, 
for it admits of the necessary shelter being given 
quickly and easily should frost intervene, and the 
plants are therefore as safe as they would be out of 
doors. Zonal Pelargoniums should now be all out 
of doors, and such things as Dahlias the tops of 
which rapidly get too tall for the depth of the frames 
will also be better if stood out of doors, although it 
will not be safe to plant the latter out yet. Coleus 
Verschaffeltii, Iresines, Heliotropes, Alternantheras, 
and other tender subjects should be kept in frames 
for the present as the commencement of June will be 
here before it will be advisable to trust them to the 
mercies of the weather. 
The Preparation of the Beds is another point 
that must be seen to. Of course Tulips and Narcissi 
must be left as long as possible in order to get the 
bulbs as far forward towards maturation as possible 
but there will not be time for them to finish com¬ 
pletely. They should therefore be lifted and laid in 
carefully in ashes in a suDny part of the frameyard. 
Here they will ripen off as well as they would in the 
beds, and the check will not do them any damage 
Wallflowers. —The value of these in spring 
bedding arrangements can scarcely be over-estimated. 
They are certainly well worth the taking of a little 
extra pains in order to have them in good condition. 
Not a few people sow the seed too late and thus the 
plants have dot time enough to make good stuff 
before winter sets in. A sowing of seed should 
therefore be made now. Choose a sunny border, 
one facing to the west will answer admirably. The 
soil should not be too rich, but must be sweet Sow 
thinly in shallow drills and transplant the seedliDgs 
as soon as they are large enough to handle easily. A 
good position for the nursery beds is a border with a 
northern or an eastern aspect, for then the seedlings 
are sheltered from the fiercest rays of the sun. 
Dahlias. —These require a deep, rich, and well- 
worked soil, although the application of manure so 
late in the season is not to be recommended. The 
sites upon which it is proposed to plant Dahlias 
should have been well manured and deeply dug last 
autumn. If this has been omitted a good digging of 
the soil will suffice if the latter is in fairly good con¬ 
dition and increased stores of nourishment must be 
given by means of mulchings of short stable manure 
and occasional applications of such fertilizers as 
Guano when the plants are in full growth. Dahlias 
can "be' used in a great variety of positions and 
always with good effect; arid although the show’ and 
