364 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
February 8, 1900. 
and full flowers being rose and tinted with salmon. 
James Macdonald is a rose variety, more or less 
tinted with yellow in the centre. Lady Middleton 
produces pyramidal spikes of large, purple-crimson 
flowers, and is striking in its way. Mrs. Inglis is 
new or at least not very old, and is characterised by 
large, dark purple flowers. A bright crimson is met 
with in Memnon Improved, having beautifully wavy 
or undulated petals. Another good, standard 
variety is Mrs. Elliott, the flowers of which are light 
salmon, tinted with cream. The above are but a 
few of the large number of named varieties grown. 
--« < « ■ -- 
VIOLA AMOENA AT HOME. 
Very rarely do the botanical books condescend to 
mention this beautiful wild Viola, although it 
appears in a few gardening books, and occasionally 
in gardening literature. The name, translated, 
means pleasing, and a pleasing little flower it is. 
Well might it have been " the little western flower ” 
of Shakespeare, except for the fact that he had 
little chance of seeing it. For many years it has been 
recorded in books as one of the parents of the gar¬ 
den race of Violas, and more recently it had been 
gathered on the Pentland Hills for the same pur¬ 
pose. 
It is really a lovely rich blue-purple variety of 
Viola lutea, from which it differs merely in colour as 
far as I can see. The stems have the same slender, 
wiry habit, pushing out suckers or underground 
shoots from the crown of the plant. The lower 
p ortion lies on the grass amongst which it grows, 
while the flowering part is upright, and the long 
stalks carry the cheerful blooms aloft. It inhabits 
hilly and mountainous districts, even ascending 
above 2,000 ft., but it also grows in the bottom of the 
valleys. On the banks of the River Dochart it comes 
into bloom in May, before the snow has entirely dis¬ 
appeared from the tops of the mountains, when the 
melting snow, sleet, and rain have swollen the rills 
to mountain torrents that come down in a fleecy 
spray, and long, continuous cascades that roll and 
leap from rock to rock and ledge to ledge, reversing 
as it were the order of things, for the rivers then 
seem to be running over the mountain tops to the 
eye of one beholding them from the bottom of the 
valley. This they do by virtue of their feeding 
ground above and beyond the line of vision. All 
this time Viola amoena is blooming placidly amongst 
the fresh young grass on the bank of the main river 
above mentioned. It likes undisturbed ground, being 
a perennial, and blooms, more or less, till September. 
Alchemilla. 
- . -rtf - 
PLANTS RECENTLY CERTIFICATED. 
The undermentioned awards were made by the 
Royal Horticultural Society on the 23rd ult. 
Orchid Committee. 
Cypripedium sanderiano-Curtisii.— The par¬ 
entage here is indicated by the name, and the seed- 
bearer was C. Curtisii. The leaves are large, broad, 
and without markings. The upper sepal has heavy 
purple veins on a yellow ground. The drooping, 
twisted petals are 6 in. long, brownish-purple, and 
spotted with crimson, The large lip is of a deep, 
dull purple. The plant is of great vigour, and the 
flowers (of which there were three on a scape) 2re a 
great advance on eithei parent, both in size and 
colour. (B'irst Class Certificate.) Norman C. 
Cookson, Esq. (gardener, Mr. Wm. Murray), Oak, 
wood, Wylam-on-Tyne. 
Epidendrum Wallisio ciliare superbum —The 
flowers of this hybrid are very large and handsome. 
The sepals and petals are golden-yellow, fleshy, 
waxy, and shining. The lip is reflexed at the sides, 
and white, lined with purple on the lower half, with 
a yellow disc. It is a great acquisition to its class- 
(First Class Certificate.) Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons. 
Ltd , Chelsea. 
Cypripedium Actaeus langleyense. — The 
parents here were C. leeanum (female) and C. insigne 
Sanderae (male). The dorsal sepal is orbicular, 
white, and spotted with light purple along the 
middle, with a green area at the base. The wavy, 
spreading yellow petals have a pale brown midrib, 
The lip is yellow, and marbled with purple internally, 
(Award of Merit.) Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, 
Ltd. 
Laelia Mrs. M. Gratrix superba. — L. 
cinnabarina (female) and L. digbyana (male) were 
the parents. The lanceolate, accuminate petals are 
golden-gellow. The light yellow lip is deeply and 
sharply toothed and friDged round the margins of all 
the lobes, the hybrid being a very pretty one. (Award 
of merit). Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Ltd. 
Phalaenopsis schilleriano-stuartiana.— The 
name indicates the origin of this hybrid, which is 
quite intermediate. The dorsal sepal is white, shaded 
with purple on the lower half, the lateral ones being 
spotted on the middle like P. stuartiana. The 
suborbicular petals are shaded and mottled with 
purple at the base. The three-lobed lip is also white 
and spotted more or less with purple. The leaves 
are marbled with gray. (First-class Certificate.) 
Messrs. Hugh Low & Co., Bush Hill Park, Enfield. 
Phalaenopsis intermedia brymeriana. —The 
supposed parents here are P. Aphrodite and P. rosea 
The sepals and petals are white, shaded with purple 
at the base. The side lobes of the lip are light 
purple, the middle lobe being intense purple, and 
handsome. The flowers are larger than those of 
P. rosea, and crowded in a short raceme. (Award 
of Merit.) Messrs. Hugh Low & Co. 
Laeliocattleya Fanny Leon. —This is the pro¬ 
duct of Lc. exoniensis &nd C. labiata, the result 
being a large and handsome flower, particularly the 
lip which is of an intense crimson-purple, including 
the side lobes, all being beautifully laced with white. 
The throat and tube are lined with crimson and 
orange. The sepals and petals are rich purple. 
(Award of Merit.) H. S. Leon, Esq. (gardener, Mr. 
A. Hislop), Bletchley Park, Bletchley. 
Laeliocattleya callistoglossa Prince of 
Wales. —The sepals are loDg, and the wavy petals 
are of the palest silvery lilac. Theliphasa white tube, 
orbicular lamina, and crisped edges, shaded with 
purple on a white ground, the colour being darkest at 
the base. The throat is white and yellow. (Award 
of Merit.) Sir F. Wigan (grower, Mr. W. H. Young), 
Clare Lawn, East Sheen. 
Laeliocattleya Charlesworthii. —The par¬ 
entage of this bigeneric hybrid was Laelia cinna¬ 
barina x Cattleya dowiana aurea, the flowers bsing 
intermediate. The sepals are oraDge, and the petals 
a shade or two darker. The lip is larger than that 
of L. cinnabarina, crisped and crimson. The plant 
stands about i 3 in. high. (Award of Merit.) Messrs. 
Charlesworth & Co., Heaton, Bradford. 
Laeliocattleya Sunray. —This is the product 
of L. cinnabarina x Cattleya superba. The sepals 
are of a rich orange, but the petals in addition are 
shaded with red. The lip is maroon-crimson, with 
long side lobes. The plant is yet only about 10 in. 
high, and handsome. (Award of Merit.) Messrs. 
Charlesworth & Co. 
Tainia penangiana. —The sepals and petals of 
this graceful plant are fuscous yellow. The triangu¬ 
lar lamina of the lip is pink. (Botanical Certificate ) 
Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart, (grower, Mr. W. H. 
White), Burford Lodge, Dorking. 
Maxillaria arachnites. —The incurved sepals 
and petals of this species are yellow, while the lip is 
spotted with red. (Botanical Certificate.) Sir 
Trevor Lawrence, Bart. 
Maxillaria leptosepala. The long, white 
sepals are tinted with brown on the back ; but the 
petals are white. The lip has a broad median band 
of yellow. (Botanical Certificate.) Sir Trevor 
Lawrence, Bart. 
Calanthe Regnieri iiololeuca. —The flowers 
of this chaste and choice variety are wholly pure 
white. (Award of Merit.) Sir Trevor Lawrence, 
Bart. 
Dendrobium Madonnae.— This is the Madonna's 
Dendrobe, if the name is translated. Short racemes 
of medium sized, white flowers are produced near 
the apex of the stems. The lip alone is edged with 
purple, and folded up, forming a hood. (Botanical 
Certificate.) Messrs. F. Sander & Co., St. Albans. 
Floral Committee. 
Rhododendron multicolor Triton. — The 
flowers of this new variety are a great improvement 
upon the original R. multicolor in size, being widely 
expanded, and salmon-rose, with a pale yellow 
throat, and produced in great abundance. It belongs 
to the hybrid greenhouse section of Rhododendrons. 
(Award of Merit.) Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Ltd. 
Fruit and Vegetable Committee. 
Apple Hormead'b Pearmain. — An Award of 
Merit was accorded this well-known Apple for its 
merits as a cooking variety that keeps from Novem¬ 
ber till April. Messrs. George Bunyard & Co., The 
Royal Nurseries, Maidstone. 
Apple Norman's Pippin. —The origin of this Apple 
is unknown. It is of medium size, green, and slightly 
tinted with a russety shade. It is of fairly good 
flavour, and received an Award of Merit as a dessert 
variety. Messrs. George Bunyard & Co. 
--o**~--■ 
EARLY MELONS. 
If not already done, seeds should be sown at once 
in order to provide ripe fruit toward the end of May 
or beginning of June. The seeds should be inserted 
singly in 72-size pots, and if possible the pots 
plunged in a gentle bottom heat. If the soil is 
moderately moist, no water will be needed until 
germination takes place. A night temperature of 
65° to 70° should be maintained. 
As soon as the plants begin to make the second 
rough leaf they may be shifted into 54-size, care 
being taken not to damage the seed leaves. Pot 
firmly, and use a little mortar rubble with the loam 
to keep it opeD, and plunge the pots again. 
Where possible, and many plants are wanted, and 
the remaining space can be utilised for propagating, 
etc., it is a good plan to raise them on a hot bed in 
the house, as they grow much sturdier under such 
conditions than where much fire heat is needed to 
keep the requisite temperature. A good plant in the 
first instance goes a long way toward success in 
Melon culture. A bad one is never worth troubling 
with. Before the roots get matted in the pots, pre¬ 
parations should be made for planting, the house 
first being thoroughly washed down and the walls 
white-limed. 
In my experience, I have found nothing answer so 
well as the old-fashioned plan of planting on a good 
hot bed of leaves aDd manure. It should be trodden 
firmly all over to prevent irregular subsidence and 
consequent breakage of roots. Unless very wide, 
the bed may be covered all over with turves, which 
will keep the roots more in the surface soil, instead 
of striking straight down into the manure. It will, 
in a measure, as well, help to retain the heat. 
The bulk of the compost for planting may consist 
of loam, eight barrows (if heavy so much the better), 
wood ashes and mortar rubble, one barrow of each, 
and a 32-potful each of soot and bone meal to each 
barrow load of the mixture. Where the loam is 
good it will be advisable to use less soot and bone 
at planting time, or to leave them out altogether, as 
rank growth may result, and a difficulty experienced 
either in getting sufficient fruit to show, or in fertilis¬ 
ing them afterwards. Technically, I know, they are 
not fruits really, until fertilisation has taken place. 
After mixing the compost thoroughly, a fair size 
ridge should be made along the front of the house—a 
board being placed against the pipes to prevent ex¬ 
cessive drying—the soil well rammed previous to 
planting. As soon as the heat of the bed has 
declined sufficiently to make planting safe, the plants 
may be put out at two feet apart, lowering them 
until the seedleaves stand about half an inch clear 
of the soil, pressing the latter around the ball, rais¬ 
ing it around the collar of the plant somewhat 
higher than the surrounding surface. Do not make 
the side of the mound so steep that watering is a 
difficult operation. Any plants showing signs of 
spotting on leaf or stem should be discarded. It is 
the incipient stage of the flagging disease, for which 
I know no remedy. Secure with a stake to the 
trellis, and settle the soil about the roots with a rosed 
can. Shade from bright sunshine for a day or so 
and syringe overhead twice on fine days. Keep all 
surfaces moist, and maintain a minimum night 
temperature of 65® (This last injunction would be 
somewhat difficult to carry out in the sense that I 
first put it.) 
Only one stem should be carried up, which, except 
the trellis is very wide, should have its point rubbed 
out so as to place the last pair of lateral shoots on 
the top wire. All shoots below the bottom one 
must be rubbed out. A slight top-dressing may be 
given as soon as roots show through the soil. 
The first three or four laterals may be stopped at 
the first leaf, and at the first leaf beyond the fruit 
at each leaf made after that. Avoid having to use 
the knife, although a little thinning of the leaves 
may be necessary later on. Ventilate carefully and 
close early. As soon as there area sufficient number 
