December 1, 1900. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
215 
fruit ground as possible. Burn all rubbish and 
apply the residue to the roots of fruit trees as a 
fertiliser. Fruits should not be gathered unless they 
are ready to sever without force. For dessert 
Apples, Mr. Bunyard advised that clean straw be 
strewn beneath the trees so that the fruits might fall 
when ready. 
Attention was directed to the nourishing of trees 
in orchards. The practice cf feeding fat sheep in 
such places was commended. Old labels should be 
replaced before they become obliterated, or before 
their fastenings cut into the bough upon which they 
are. In conclusion, trees should be bought only 
from the best nurseries and a good price is cheapest 
in the long run. 
ORCHID NOTES & GLEANINGS, 
By the Editor. 
A yellow Oncidium macranthum.—A distinct 
and beautiful variety of this species finds its way to 
us through Mr. Geo. Russell, from Mr. Robert 
Hetherington, Westmount, Newmilns, Ayrshire. 
The usual brown colour, with which the sepals 
should be shaded, has almost disappeared, leaving 
them of a golden yellow, with the faintest suspicion 
of brown, and a faint green tint in the veins. The 
petals are nearly orbicular, with a cordate base, 
beautifully crisped at the margins, and of a clear 
lemon-yellow colour. The lip is also^ much more 
yellow than is usually the case. The basal lobes 
are pale violet-purple, and the two short horns near 
them are brownish, but all the rest of the lip and the 
bold six-horned crest are yellow. In the ordinary 
form, a large portion of the lip is white, and bordered 
with violet-purple. Mr. Hetherington may well be 
proud of this variety of a species not very much 
given to variation. 
Odontoglossum crispum Griavei.—About a 
clozen years ago, Mr. Geo. Russell, gardener to J. B. 
Mirrlees, Esq., Redlands, Glasgow, bought a plant 
of O. crispum from Mr. James Grieve, of Edinburgh, 
and it turned out to be a beautifully spotted one. 
Mr. Russell and others were so pleased with it that 
he named it as above by way of a souvenir. There 
are six to eight circular, brownish-purple spots on 
the centre of each sepal, the colour being so rich 
that it is almost as conspicuous on the back of the 
sepals as the front, The petals are pure white, and 
so is the lip, with the exception of the yellow disc 
and the markings on the crest. A long arching 
spike of the variety is very pretty. 
-- I --- 
PLANTS AND THEIR FOOD. 
TRe interesting extract from Knowledge in The 
Gardening World, November 24th, on "Plants 
and their Food,” shows a condition of plant life that 
tire purely practical horticulturist is never able to 
discover for himself. That the majority of plants 
took in their food by root hairs, although common 
knowledge now to practical horticulturists, it is but 
recently that they did know, and but for scientific 
research it is hardly possible they ever would have 
known anything about these slender, short-lived 
hairs. 
We are again favoured as practical men by the 
information that some species of fungus take the 
place of root hairs in some plants that are devoid of 
root hairs—" the fungus establishes itself in the 
external cells of the root, whence it sends out into 
the soil free filaments which serve the purpose of 
root hairs.” 
The benefits from a union of this kind will be 
mutual. The fungus receives organic food which 
(for want of chlorophyll) it could not obtain for itself ; 
and the higher plant receiving plant food which it 
could not take up for the want of root hairs. 
The question of "fungus root ” is not sufficiently 
explained yet to be of practical benefit to horticul¬ 
turists. In fact it is safe to assume that the scienti¬ 
fic knowledge of plant life is not complete enough 
to enable us to build up a knowledge from science 
alone, sufficient to produce results equal to the 
highest practical results we see at our horticultural 
exhibitions. Yet to scientific research we, as 
practical men, are greatly indebted for the elucid¬ 
ation of many questions that would remain unsolved. 
TT -W.K. 
HARDY FRUIT BUBO. 
Soils and Planting.—S o long as the present open 
weather continues a great deal of planting can be 
performed on light soils, at least. Where heavier 
ground exists the recent rains will have retarded 
operations. The land required a good deal of soak¬ 
ing, however, and does not take long to become 
workable. In very light soils it is generally advis¬ 
able to incorporate about as much fresh loamy soil 
as half the quantity that is taken out when making 
the holes. The half that is added stands in lieu of 
one-half of the light soil which may be taken away, 
or simply spread about. I have even seen soils so 
gravelly and light that the bottom of the holes 
excavated for the trees had to be puddled with 
adhesive clay, and not a spadeful of the old soil (the 
gravel and sand) was put back when filling up during 
the planting. New soil was entirely employed. 
Puddling the bottom in this manner may seem an 
outrage on all laws of drainage and planting, but it 
must be remembered that such holes were over 3 ft. 
deep, and as wide, while all around was the gravelly 
soil which would take off any amount of water. If 
the bottom of the holes in such soils was not pud¬ 
dled to form a " pan,” all the goodness of the fresh 
soil and that of the top-dressings would pass right 
away down, and be lost. As a rule, Apples do well 
on light soils, especially when they are mulched. 
They are not liable to make luxuriant wood growth, 
but what they do make is firm and fruitful. If I 
had my choice I should always prefer a moderately 
light to a moderately heavy soil. 
While touching the question of soils the practice 
of liming them comes up. Certainly heavy soils are 
benefited by and fitted to receive far greater quan¬ 
tities than light soils. We do not fully appreciate 
the value of lime, or far greater quantities would be 
applied. Many a broad acre in Old England could 
be made most productive by deeper tillage and by 
adding a few dressings of quicklime. There is a 
theory afloat (and is cleverly argued, too) that lime 
makes heavy soils lighter, and light soils heavier; 
that is, more porous in the one case and firmer in 
the other. The argument is that each of the par¬ 
ticles of lime glue together a quantity of the exces¬ 
sively fine grains of sand which compose clay and 
heavy loams, and so act in making these grains of 
larger dimensions and, of course, leaving greater 
interstices between them. On the other hand, the 
too porous character of the sandy soil is remedied 
by the solidifying power of the lime, which also, in 
this case, binds the sand grains and lessens tha 
spaces between them. Both lines of reasoning seem 
good, though in the latter case the effects are less 
convincing. Stone fruits receive more lime than 
that for other kinds of fruit trees. Avoid doing 
damage to the roots either by exposing them or by 
coarse treatment. To plant when the ground is very 
damp is bad practice. The soil is sure to shrink 
when it dries, and will settle considerably. There 
is the liability also to tread damp soil too firmly, to 
the detriment of the roots. Moderate treading is at 
all times safest. Young trees in the orchard should 
at once be fastened, but must again be refastened in 
the spring. 
Raspberries, Pljms, Apples, Pears, Cherries, 
Gooseberries, and Currants, may all be planted now. 
—J. H. D. 
THe orcHlH Growers’ calendar. 
Bolleas. —Now that the rank and file of the more 
popular kinds of Orchids such as Odontoglossum cris¬ 
pum and Cattleya labiata, are at a discount, it would 
be profitable to the collector, and the grower for sale 
to turn their attention to the culture of some of the 
more quaint kinds which, when brought before the 
public, in flower very rarely fail to fetch good prices. 
At present there seems to be a craze for kinds that 
produce many flowered scapes of the most striking 
colours to the exclusion of the more modest but 
quietly beautiful species of which Bolleas are one. 
True, there are not many species, and, in conse¬ 
quence, the chances of anything new turning up are 
not so great; yet we think they should be included 
in every collection of average pretentions. 
Their culture—which, of course, most concerns 
your readers—is somewat easy if you have a nice 
warm division in which to place them. Pots and 
pans are suitable receptacles in which to grow them, 
providing they are elevated well above the rim, so 
that the spikes,which are in some varieties pendulous, 
may have a chance to develop without interference. 
They enjoy plenty of moisture at the roots, therefore 
the compost, which should consist of peat and moss 
in about equal parts, should not be pressed too 
tightly about the roots, or the water would not pass 
freely away. 
Shade is essential or the foliage will suffer, as will 
all plants of a similar construction if exposed to the 
sun’s rays. B. coelestfs is, perhaps, the more 
generally known and grown, but the one we prefer is 
B. lawrenceana, a lovely delicately coloured species. 
B. Lalindei and B. Patinii resemble each other very 
much, the lip in Lalindei being of a deeper yellow, 
otherwise they are identical. 
Pescatoreas. —These are much like the Bolleas 
in the manner of growth, and the treatment differs 
but very little, as, having no pseudo-bulb to speak 
of, they must not be allowed to get too dry at any 
season of the year. The flowers are very quaint- 
looking, besides being sweet scented. Some prefer 
to grow them on blocks where they do well for a 
time, but to keep them in good health year in and 
year out pots and pans are the best. The shift from 
the old block to the new is not so easily dona without 
injury to the roots, as it is to repot or repan as the 
case may be. 
There are a dozen or more species and varieties 
that will give pleasure to the grower who bestows 
ordinary care on them. P. Klabochorum, P. bella, 
P. dayana and varieties, P. backhousiana, P. cerina, 
and P. Wallisii are amongst some of the best. The 
coolest and shadiest end of the warm division suits 
them admirably.—S. C. 
■I» ■ — 
©leanings fqtmtf fee Dmtlh 
of Science. 
The undermentioned subjects were discussed at a 
meeting of the Scientific Committee of the Royal 
Horticultural Society on the 20th ult. : — 
Oak leaves. —Rev. W. Wilks showed additional 
specimens illustrating the great diversity in the 
lobing of the leaves. One specimen was pectinate, 
like the frond of a Blechnum. 
Dimorphic Orchid.—-Mr. Harry J. Veitch 
showed a spike bearing flowers like those of Odonto¬ 
glossum crispum above and blooms of O. wilckea- 
num beneath. The specimen came from Mrs. 
Briggs-Bury, Bank House, Accrington. The infer¬ 
ence is that the two-fold character is due to the 
dissociation of hybrid characters. The plant was 
referred by Mr. Rolfe to Odontoglossum Denisonae. 
Diseased Peas from Broughty Ferry. —Dr. 
William Smith reported that "the specimens sent 
were attacked by the Pea-mildew, which showed as 
a white mould on all parts; later, after the material 
dried up, numerous black winter fruits of the Erysi- 
pheae group of fungi confirmed the earlier observa¬ 
tions. The species is probably Eiysiphe Martii, 
Lev., although an almost similar species is also said 
to attack Peas. In the summer of 1899, I found the 
same disease, accompanied by the same fungus, on 
garden Peas in the Lothians, near Edinburgh. 
Flowers of sulphur, thoroughly dusted on with a 
sulphur puff or bellows, would check it. Spraying 
with Bordeaux mixture will be more effective, but 
the low value of the crop raises the question whether 
it would pay to spray the plants several limes each 
season.” It was stated that in some districts the 
cultivation of late varieties was given up owing to 
the excessive prevalence of mildew. 
Fruits of Pyrus japonica.—Mr. Divers brought 
from the Duke of Rutland's gardens, at Belvoir, 
fruits of this species. Mr. Hudson remarked that 
they made very good jelly. Dr. Masters said that 
the fruits of P. Maulei were even better for that 
purpose. 
Pea with a double plumule. —Mr. Cuthbert- 
son sent a germinating Pea in which there were two 
cotyledons, and a radicle as usual, but the plumule, 
instead of being single, was double. Whether that 
doubling arose from the formation of two distinct 
plumules or from the branching of one, was not 
obvious. Dr. Masters showed a drawing illustrative 
of the peculiarity, upon which he made some com¬ 
ments. 
