January 20, 1900. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
327 
PROPAGATION BY THE AID OF 
WATER. 
It is seldom one reads in the gardening periodicals 
that plants (flowering and foliage) can be easily in¬ 
creased by the above method, but such is an un¬ 
doubted fact, especially among stove occupants, and 
to those who may not possess a very suitable propa¬ 
gating pit or frame this water assistant may prove 
of some service. 
Half-pint glass bottles, with the neck broken off, 
and one or two pound jam or marmalade pots make 
capital recipients to hold from one to two inches of 
water to place the shoots or cuttings in. The jar or 
bottle should be emptied and rinsed out once a week, 
as the water soon gets foul in a warm house. I have 
been successful in rooting Crotons, Ixoras, Diefen- 
bachias, Begonia Gloire de Sceaux, and Dracaenas 
in variety; in fact, I find this the most expedi¬ 
tious way in rooting the latter, either the side shoot, 
after being cut down, or tops of plants that have got 
leafless at the bottom, considering that one can place 
fair sized tops in a jar or bottle that would be rather 
inconvenient to get in cases, which are usually more 
or less shallow. 
Care must be exercised in potting those plants up, 
as the roots are rather tender, and should be taken 
in hand when the said roots are about half an inch 
long, using rather fine soil, and not pressing too 
firmly. A little bottom heat given afterwards soon 
establishes them.— J. Maytte, Bicton. 
PLANTS RECENTLY CERTIFICATED. 
The undermentioned awards were made by the Royal 
Horticultural Society on the gth inst.:— 
Orchid Committee. 
Cypripedium Sir R. Buller. —In this we have a 
magnificent hybrid of which the parentage is said to 
be C. Smithii x insigne, the latter being pretty 
certainly one of the parents. The dorsal sepal is 
very large, orbicular, and richly blotched with 
crimson-brown, particularly along the course of the 
nerves, on a greenish yellow ground, while the broad 
margin is white, spotted and marked with dark 
purple. The petals are spathulate and blotched 
with black on a yellowish ground, while the t p is 
pale purple. The large lip is pale purple. (First- 
class Certificate.) W. M. Appleton, Esq., Tyn-y- 
Code, Weston-super-Mare. 
Mormodes buccinator Rolfei. —The ordinary or 
typical form of this Mormodes has pale reddish- 
brown flowers mottled with a darker colour ; but the 
sepals and petals of the variety under notice are of 
a rich cinnamon-brown and unspotted. The half 
funnel-shaped lip is intense purple, and the curved 
claw is shaded with brown. (Botanical Certificate.) 
Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart, (grower, Mr. W. H. 
White), Burford Lodge, Dorking. 
Zygocolax leopardinus Wigan's var. —This 
beautiful, bigeneric hybrid was derived from 
Zygopetalum Gautieri x Colax jugosus. The sepals 
and petals are richly banded with brown on a 
pale yellow ground. The lip is rich blue, and the 
half cup-shaped crest is violet. It is quite a gem or 
a pet of a plant in its way. (Award of Merit.) Sir 
Frederick Wigan, Bart, (grower, Mr. W. H. Young), 
Clare Lawn, East Sheen. 
Zygocolax wiganiana was derived from Zygope¬ 
talum intermedium x Colax jugosus. The sepals 
and petals in this case are heavily blotched with 
brown, and transversely banded with greenish- 
yellow. The lip is larger than that of the previously 
named hybrid, and richly lined and netted with 
violet-blue on a white ground. (Award of Merit.) 
Sir Frederick Wigan, Bart. 
Laelia anceps leeana. —The flowers of this 
chaste and beautiful variety are of great size and 
good substance. The sepals and oblong petals are 
white. The lip is white and yellow in the tune, and 
lined with purple on the side lobes, while the 
median crest is golden-yellow. 
Floral Committee. 
Primula sinensis General French. —This 
belongs to the plain-leaved or ordinary type ; and is 
of robust habit with deep red petioles. The flowers 
are semi-double, and of a rich fiery-crimson. It is 
raised from seeds, comes true to name, and is a great 
acquisition to the dark varieties. (Award of Merit.) 
Messrs. Sutton & Sons, Reading. 
Primula sinensis The Duchess. —The Award of 
Merit in this case was given for the strain of single 
varieties of which a number were shown ; but The 
Duchess well merited the award for itself, (o: it is 
the most distinct break which has appeared amongst 
Chinese Primulas for many a year. The flowers are 
silvery-white, with a rosy-purple zone round the 
greenish-yellow angled eye. It comes true from 
seeds, and is bound to become popular. Others 
shown were Crimson-King, intense, glowing crimson ; 
Maud, rich dark blue; The Sirdar, carmine, and 
white edges; and Lord Roberts, salmon-scarlet. 
Messrs. Sutton & Sons. 
-» 1 —- - 
tub Drctiifl Glower's calendar. 
It is early days to talk about repotting Orchids, yet 
it is very important with these as with other things 
to take time by the forelock by getting things ready; 
for it is half the battle to be prepared, a statement, 
the moral of which is just now only too apparent. 
We would advise the getting ready of plenty of 
sphagnum moss by having the same thoroughly 
washed so as to get rid of as many slugs and their 
eggs as possible, and by picking out all the refuse, 
&c. Peat, too, may be pulled to pieces, saving the 
bracken rhizomes to be used instead of crocks for 
Odontoglossums. In mentioning the use of bracken 
rhizomes instead of crocks, I ought to say that the 
idea originated with my friend, Mr. J. Howes, “ Dul- 
cote,” Tunbridge Wells, who has used it for several 
years with good results. He recommends that the 
roots or rhizomes be thoroughly dried before use by 
putting it on the top of the stoke-hole furnace, 
otherwise if used in a green or live state there would 
sure to be some fungus spring up which would soon 
permeate the whole of the compost, causing no end 
of trouble. 
The advantages derived from its use is lightness, a 
consideration when the plants are suspended when 
in spike. It is warmer, too, than crocks, and the 
roots show their appreciation of its use by running 
down through the bottom of the pot. 
The fine dust that is sifted out of the fibre comes 
in finely for bedding in single bulbs of imported 
Odontoglossums or plants that do not appear to have 
a chance of making a growth. You will be sur¬ 
prised to find what a lot of apparently useless pieces 
will push a growth and make plants, it is from these 
scraps, too, that you sometimes get hundred guinea 
plants. For convenience sake we make shallow 
trays in which to bed the doubtful pieces, putting 
them as thick together as possible. 
Take advantage of frosty or wet weather when 
outside operations are at a standstill for cleaning 
pots and pans, also potsherds for crocks, this saves 
time later on when there are a hundred and one jobs 
that require immediate attention. 
The peat, too, will most likely require looking 
after, for oftentimes through being stored in ware¬ 
houses for a considerablejiime it has become too dry 
for use. In cases like this we always soak the 
turves for a short time and then lay them on the top 
of the furnace. As they become warmed the 
moisture will penetrate the whole mass so that when 
picked it is nice and moist, without being wet, and in 
just the right state for use. With the sphagnum 
moss an opposite course should be adopted, for we 
never use it very wet. To get it dry at this season 
it is a good plan to shake it thinly over the floors of 
the warm division at night. This not only dries it 
but makes it of the same temperature as the house, 
and therefore ready for use.—S. C. 
The Stove. 
Reidia glaucescens. —This is a neat little stove 
member, taking after the Mimosa in appearance, and 
easy to cultivate. The habit and growth may also 
be set down as being like that of Aralia gracillima, 
A. Veitchii and others of this stamp. Though the 
flowers themselves are insignificant, they yet pro¬ 
duce a peculiar and charming effect on the plants. 
Whenever the plants gain more than 15 in. or 18 in. 
in height, they may then be dealt with, as are other 
like subjects, that is, cut down and made into 
cuttings. A 5-in. pot is a nice size. After the 
cutting stage, the plants in all respects may receive 
the same treatment as stove Aralias. 
Ouvrirandra fenestralis — The Lattice Leaf 
plants are fairly well known, yet not at all frequently 
grown in gardens. Yet to those who are visited 
times and again by friends whose knowledge of and 
liking for flowers or plants is of that order which 
fixes only on the " curiosities ” of plant life, the pre¬ 
sence of a number of “ peculiar plants " in garden 
collections, represents to their minds its value and 
interest. Therefore, even for others' sakes it would 
be advisable to have, and to be able to explain the 
points of novelty in lesser grown or known plants. 
Being a native of Madagascar, the Ouvrirandras er joy 
water of a medium temperature, for they grow always 
submerged. The water must be perfectly clean, and 
should always be renewed or renewing itself. The 
net-like leaves, which are the attraction, must be 
kept clean. A small tub or tank can be made to 
suit them ; 2-ft. tubs are deep enough. Into the 
bottom place a goodly mound of loam and insert the 
plant. A few inches from the surface of the water 
is quite deep enough for their successful growth. 
Place the tub in a very warm corner, carefully filling 
it with water at 8o°. Clean, warm water may 
repeatedly be added. Little more than constant 
seeing to is afterwards required. 
The Greenhouse, 
Hydrangeas —Though Hydrangeas are everybody's 
plant, and on that account may be limited in their ad¬ 
mittance to first-rate gardens where indoor space is 
valuable, still,aresume on theirneeds may be service¬ 
able to a few. Down in the south coast of Devon we 
learn from Mr. J. Mayne of how flourishingly the H. 
hortensis grows, without more protection than a 
wall, in a warm position. In such winters as that 
of five years ago protection, as a matter of course, 
had to be afforded them. I have seen the H. hor¬ 
tensis growing for a number of winters out of doors 
in a garden at Edinburgh, but the plants never 
flowered. Whether the wood required more 
thorough annual ripening, or what the cause really 
was, would be beyond me to state. Where plants 
receive a liberal supply of sulphate of iron, this has 
the effect of producing that beautiful pale blue 
colour of the flower heads. This certainly is not 
the only cause, but I believe the chief one in develop¬ 
ing this tint. The soft pink heads are much to be 
preferred, however, and these are gained by a care¬ 
ful selection of soil compost, and the use of soft 
water for watering. A good compost to use is three 
parts dark brown, mellow loam of the kind that 
easily crumbles between the fingers when squeezed ; 
one part of hen-house sweepiDgs in the dry state, 
slightly over one part of leaf mould and a fourth of 
sand. Cuttings can be taken after the flowering 
period and when rooted kept either on shelves of a 
cool greenhouse durmg the winter, or near to the 
glass in cold frames. They grow moderately the 
first year. The treatment should be such that the 
season's growth becomes thoroughly firmed, and 
with young plants it is well to let them carry one 
good head. Plants in 6-in. pots can do this. After 
resting for some time during the autumn and winter, 
they should be potted on in February and grown for 
a while in a cool house, where they ultimately 
develop fine heads. They must be fed when their 
roots are confined. Another plan is to take cuttings 
in August, from shoots which may have, or may not 
have, formed flower buds. These may be struck in 
small pots, in close cases, with gentle bottom heat. 
In the springtime they may be potted on for flower¬ 
ing during the summer. Should large bush speci¬ 
mens be desired, cut back the single stemmed plants 
after flowering, to about five good buds. Rest ihe 
plants, pot them on in spring, treat them liberally, 
and allow them a cool, somewhat moist atmosphere, 
by shading in the height of summer, care being 
taken to train up the shoots in a regular fashion. 
The wood must be well ripened in the autumn and 
pruned back, thinned out and regulated always after 
the flowering. A process described last spring in 
The Gardening World by Mr. Angus, late of 
Aberdeen, was on how to obtain a number of fine 
trusses from one short stem. After cutting off ih: 
withered corymbs of flowers, he notches the stems 
about 8 in. down. This leaves space above the base 
for a number of shoots to develop, each of which 
carries a flower head. Thus he obtains very dwarf, 
busby, well-flowered plants. Hydrangeas are at 
times troubled by green flies.— J- H. D. 
