February 24, 1900. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
411 
The evening was further enlivened with some 
musical items given by the Misses Turner, Miss 
Norah Pearson and her friend, Mr. Morgan Veitch, 
Mr. Albert Snow, and Mr. Harry Turner, whilst 
Mr. Charles T. Druery, V.M.H , was well received 
for two comic recitations. 
--- 8 -- 
DECIDUOUS CALANTHES. 
These, having been treated properly since flowering, 
that is, placed in a light position free from drip, in a 
warm house, will soon need attention in the way of 
repotting. 
The bulbs are in fit condition for potting when the 
young growths are an inch or so long, and pushing 
roots strongly. At this stage they are very likely to 
be attacked by cockroaches where these pests are 
troublesome, and should be watched accordingly. 
Where space is a consideration, the bulbs may be 
shaken out after flowering, the roots slightly 
shortened and laid in boxes on sphagnum moss until 
the time arrives for repotting. 
In some places Calanthesof the vestita section are 
one of the easiest subjects to cultivate ; while in 
others the best of attention is needed to keep them 
free from spot. 
Occasionally one finds them revelling in overhead 
spraying, whilst, with another grower, the least 
wetting of the foliage soon causes spot. Each one 
must find out for himself what treatment suits his 
plants, and, speaking broadly, I think Orchid grow¬ 
ing in general is a subject one has to learn over 
again in each place in which one may be placed. 
Certain it is, however, that nothing is much more 
beautiful or useful in mid-winter than well grown 
spikes of C. Veitchii. Of this there are two forms, 
one with long " wasp-waisted ” bulbs, and a long, 
loose spike with brightly coloured flowers ; the other, 
with shorter bulbs and less pronounced " waist," 
and a shorter, denser spike, with flowers of a 
lighter shade. 
The potting material should consist of gcod 
fibrous loam, from which the finer particles have 
been removed, mixed with a good proportion of dried 
cow manure, first rubbing it through an half-inch 
sieve ; and clean leaf-soil or chopped sphagnum, 
adding sufficient finely broken crocks to keep the 
whole open. If scale has infested the plants, the 
bulbs should be cleaned previous to potting. 
Where it is wished to increase the stock (not of 
scale !) the old bulbs may be laid aside to break, and 
potted up later on. They will produce full-sized 
bulbs in two or three years. Some growers pot each 
bulb separately, but the best effect is obtained, beside 
economising space, by potting the bulbs of such 
strong growers as C. Veitchii, C. Regnierii, C. 
bella, six or eight together in deep pans, or 
three or four together in 32 size pots. # The 
latter plan is the best for the weaker growing vestita 
varieties. 
In potting, the young growths must be turned out¬ 
ward, and the soil pressed sufficiently firm to hold 
the bulbs erect. Very large bulbs may need a small 
stake. 
Great care must be taken with watering for some 
weeks after potting, an occasional moistening of the 
surface being sufficient until it is seen that the roots 
are getting well hold of the compost. 
A night temperature of 65° to 70° suits them best 
at starting, with plenty of atmospheric moisture. 
Yellow thrips have a liking for the young growths, 
and must be kept down with periodical fumigation 
of XL All, or tobacco juice may be dropped in the 
growths with a camel-hair brush, taking care to blow it 
out again. 
As growth advances more water will be reeded 
until, by the time the bulbs begin to form, it is 
almost impossible to over-water them. Sheep 
manure water is of great assistance to them at this 
stage, and may be given two or three times a 
week. 
Shading must be used in bright weather during 
the hot months of the growing season, but at the 
same time no more than is sufficient to keep the 
foliage from scorching. Calanthes, of the deciduous 
section, will stand a great deal of sunshine after the 
house is closed with the atmosphere at saturation 
point. 
Like most East Indian Orchids they are very sus¬ 
ceptible to chills from cold draughts, and direct air 
should be avoided at all times. As soon as the 
foliage begins to show signs of maturing, water 
should be gradually withheld until, by the time the 
last few flowers of the spike are opening, the soil 
should be kept perfectly dry. If the atmosphere, 
too, is kept somewhat dry, the flowers will last much 
longer. 
Much has been done in the way of hybridising 
amoDg these lovely Orchids by both amateur and 
professional hy bridists. Besides those species and 
hybrids enumerated, there are many more; and of 
the newer ones C. Bryan and C. Wm. Murray are 
well worth growing — Practical. 
r ag— — 
PLANTS RECENTLY CERTIFICATED. 
The undermentioned awards were made by the Royal 
Horticultural Society on the 13th inst. 
Orchid Committee. 
Odontoglossum crispum Mundyanum. —The ovate 
sepals of this grand variety are shaded with rose on 
a white ground, and furnished with several large and 
bold brownish-purple blotches. The broad, 
triangular, and imbricate petals are similarly 
coloured. The lip is richly ornamented with 
large lobed blotches in front of and around the 
crest. (First-class Certificate ) Norman C. Cook- 
son, Esq. (gardener, Mr. Wm. Murray), Oakwood, 
Wylam-on-Tyne. 
Laeliocattleya Bertha Fournier splendida. 
—The sepals and long elliptic petals of this bigeneric 
hybrid are of a rich, dark rose. The lip is of an in¬ 
tense crimson all over the base of the lamina, the 
colour extending over the side lobes ; but the apex 
of the lamina shades off to purple simply. The 
throat and interior of the tube are crimson, 
finely lined with gold. This was, indeed, the 
boldest and most showy of the new hjbrid Orchids 
shown on this occasion. (E r irst class Certificate.) 
M. Ch. Maron, Brunoy, France. 
Dendrobium macrophyllum Richardii. —The 
most striking feature of D. macrophyllum is the 
dense, moss-like covering of short and coarse hairs 
or bristles on the back of the sepals and on the 
flower stalks. The variety under notice has yellow 
sepals, spotted on the back. The petals are of a 
much deeper yellow, and spotted with violet on the 
back. The three-lobed lip is greenish, lined with 
violet, and the apex is spotted with violet. (Botani¬ 
cal Certificate ) C. J. Lucas, Esq. (gardener, Mr. 
G. Duncan), Warnham Court, Horsham. 
Zygopetalum murrayanum.— The sepals and 
petals of this curious little species are green. The 
lip and crest are white with a few purple lines in 
front of the crest. The flowers are fragrant. 
Fruit and Vegetable Committee. 
Rhubarb Daw’s Champion.— This is the progeny 
of a cross between the varieties Victoria and Cham¬ 
pagne. It is as early as Champagne, but much 
finer. The stalks are 20 in. to 24 in. long, by ij in. 
to ij in. wide. Forced specimens are of a dark and 
beautiful red, fading to rose at the apex. The 
stalks are intermediate in size between the two 
parents. (Award of Merit ) Mr. W. Poupart, 
Marsh Farm, Twickenham. 
CHEMISTRY FOR THE GARDEN. . 
V. —Ammonia. 
(i Continued from p. 395). 
We saw that the organic acids formed in dung-heaps 
by the action of slow combustion fix much of the 
ammonia at the time generated by the same process. 
An interesting experiment shows this can be made 
by any gardener who is anxious to prove the fact. A 
heap of rubbish (vegetable refuse) is made with a 
layer of caustic lime here and there. This is then 
watered liberally with the dark liquid which oozes 
from the dung-heaps, and the whole heap occasion¬ 
ally turned to help decay by the action of the oxygen 
of the air having free access throughout the mass. 
In process of time, part of this decomposed earthy 
heap can be taken and washed in hot water, which 
is afterwards either decantered or filtered according 
to the quality of purity the results are aimed at. This 
water is then evaporated, and the residue will be the 
clear crystals of saltpetre or nitrate of potash. Thus 
the humates, ulmates, &c., of ammonia have been 
converted into nitrate of potash, an essential plant 
food, and, moreover, the plants’ natural food. A 
similar process is continually taking place in the soil, 
and when any salt of ammonia is added io a soil 
having body enough to retain it the same conversion 
takes place. The action of the lime evidently has 
much to do in accomplishing this desirable change, 
Plants seem to take up nitrate of potash in great 
quantities without suffering decomposition in their 
structure. Many gardeners will have often observed 
how Gloxinia leaves, if fed liberally during their 
season of growth, when withered and dry sputter 
sparks of nitre when burned Several other plants 
grossly grown show the same material to be in their 
constitution. Some kinds of pipe tobacco, most 
smokers will be aware, have also a good deal of this 
salt in the leaves. We have also been informed by 
a Chrysanthemum grower of note, and who had been 
in the habit of feeding heavily with sulphate of 
ammonia, that a fine salt had often shown itself on 
the petals of the blooms. Our friend maintained it 
was the sulphate, but, of course, it was nitrate of 
potash. This caused great devastation among his 
show flowers. They decayed away by damp, pre¬ 
maturely, into a peculiar soapy state. The parts 
only on which the excrescence appeared behaved in 
this way. 
In rich, argillaceous soils there is yet another 
agent or a set of agents which are of great value 
and importance in the preparation and storage of 
plant food; these are the double silicates, and we 
only intend to speak of them here in relation to their 
seemingly great affinity for ammonia. These double 
silicates, though of undoubted value, appear to be 
enveloped, as yet, in a good deal of mystery, especially 
with regard to the inceptive stage of their formation, 
They consist of silicic acid, alumina, and one of the 
following alkalies, viz., soda, lime, potash, and 
ammonia. The silicic acid and alumina, that is 
silicate of alumina, may be considered as insepar¬ 
able, and by some means or other (some say by 
the agency of lime) this silicate takes soda, for in¬ 
stance, into company, and becomes a double silicate. 
If lime is presented to this new silicate the soda is 
turned out, and so on in the order above noted, 
ammonia taking the highest in the quartette. The 
ammonia evidently remains safely locked up in this 
company till such time as the soil conditions will 
admit of its being oxidised into nitric acid and 
nitrates similarly as any salt of ammonia when 
directly applied. In recent years bacteria are said to 
act an important part in this preparation of plant 
food We, however, always considered bacteria 
an effect rather than a cause of certain chemical 
actions on organic matter. The very essence of the 
existence of the bacteria implies, if anything at all, 
that instead of being plant food producers they would 
appear to devour much of that food for their own 
sustenance. A few years ago we heard a lecturer 
give strict injunctions to his class with regard to 
adding hot or hydrate of lime to the land. Gar¬ 
deners and farmers were called upon to exercise great 
j udgment and caution when doing so, he said, in case 
that the economical little workers, viz., bacteria, 
would be annihilated! He advocated the application of 
lime in the form of carbonate, that is, old plaster or 
wall lime. Yet there is a strong presumption in 
favour of hot or caustic lime having to act a very 
necessary part in the process of the formation of 
nitric acid and nitrates in general. The salts of 
ammonia are occasionally very disappointing in their 
results. Not infrequently the sulphate of soda or 
potash give equally good results as the sulphate of 
ammonia. In such cases the soil is evidently not in 
a fit state to retain the ammonia, or it has not the 
power to convert it into plant food.— Oxygen. 
(To be continued.) 
PUBLIC PARKS AND GARDENS, 
(Concluded from p. 394 ) 
Southwark Park.— The position of this place is 
worse than Victoria Park, as it is like a pretty child 
with a very dirty face. Even the grass has a sooty 
appearance; but under these depressing circum¬ 
stances some things do fairly well. The Chrys¬ 
anthemums here are grown much better than one 
would expect to find. The small lake has some nice 
little bits of scenery round it; but here, as in Vic¬ 
toria and Kennington Park, appearances have been 
sacrificed for the conveniences of the masses, as 
public roads have been cut through all three of these 
park', a sacrifice which might have been prevented. 
Battersea Park. —The chief feature of this park 
is the twenty acres which have been set aside as a 
sub tropical garden. Undoubtedly this is one of the 
