May 18, 1901. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
607 
The sepals are chocolate-brown with bright yellow 
tips. The dark colour is more cut up on the petals, 
which are netted with yellow. The lip is of unusual 
size, being square-oblong with two large chestnut 
blotches in front of the much fingered crest, and many 
small ones round the sides. (First class Certificate.) 
H. T. Pitt, Esq. 
Odontoglossum Adrianae cobbianum.—T he 
varieties of O. Adrianae have turned up in great 
numbers lately, but this is the darkest one we have 
seen. The round flowers are of a rich dark choco¬ 
late-brown with a few yellow markings at the base. 
The colour on the petals is more broken up into 
blotches on a creamy ground colour. The lip has 
one large blotch in front and numerous small ones 
round the sides. (First-class Certificate.) Walter 
Cobb, Esq. (gardener, Mr. J. Howes), Dulcote, 
Tunbridge Wells. 
Odontoglossum crispum Raymond Crawshay. 
—Here we have a large round flower with broad, 
overlapping segments. The sepals are elliptic, 
silvery-rose and blotched in the centre. The petals 
are broadly ovate, and the blotches are more 
decidedly purple. The lip is white with a yellow 
disc, and one large chestnut-red blotch in front of 
the crest, with many small ones at the sides. (Award 
of Merit.) de Barri Crawshay, Esq. (gardener, Mr. 
W. J. Stables), Rosefield, Sevenoaks. 
Cattleya Mendelii Queen Alexandra.— The 
sepals and broadly ovate petals are blush, with a 
pale purple blotch at the apex of the latter. The lip 
has a rich purple lamina and side lobes, and is 
beautifully lined with purple and white in the tube. 
(Award of Merit.) Mr. H. A. Tracey, Orchid Nur¬ 
sery, Twickenham. 
Odontoglossum crispum Domino. —The flowers 
of this variety are large, and boldly blotched with 
brown-purple on a white ground. (Award of Merit.) 
J. Leeman, Esq. 
Odontoglossum crispum Countess of Derby. 
—The flowers in this case are suffused with rose on 
a white ground and thickly marked with brown- 
purple blotches. (Award of Merit.) J. Leeman, 
Esq. 
Sobralia Ruckeri.— The general aspect of this 
species recalls S. macrantha, but the flowers are 
smaller, with pale rosy-purple sepals and petals. 
The lamina of the lip is rich purple, with a dark 
yellow band along the centre. (Award of Merit.) 
Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart, (grower, Mr. W. H. 
White), Burford, Dorking. 
Oncidium stramineum. — The small flowers of 
this species are spotted and marked with purple 
on a straw-coloured ground. (Botanical Certificate.) 
Frau Ida Brandt (gardener Mr. Schlecht), Brunnen- 
hof, Zurich. 
Floral Committee. 
Tulip Brunhilde. — The flowers of this single 
variety are amongst the largest we have in the 
broad, blunt petalled section, of which Tulipa 
gesneriana is the type. They are white with a 
yellow base which runs out in a flamed form on both 
surfaces. (Award of Merit.) Messrs. Barr & Sons, 
King Street, Covent Garden. 
Tulip William III —Here again the flowers are 
of enormous size but double, like a Chinese Paeony, 
and of a shining crimson-scarlet. For pot work or 
bedding purposes it should become a favourite with 
those who like something bold and showy. (Award 
of Merit.) Messrs. Barr & Sons. 
Bunch Primrose Sultan.— We may describe 
this as a garden Polyanthus of extraordinary vigour, 
with large leaves, trusses and flowers, the latter 
being golden yellow, with a bold orange centre and 
about the finest of this colour which we have seen. 
(Award of Merit.) Miss Gertrude Jekyll (gardener, 
Mr. D. Harris), Munstead House, Godaiming. 
Auricula Leonora (Turner).—This may be de¬ 
scribed as one of the best white-centred alpine 
Auriculas we have seen, as the white remains 
constant as long as the edge. The ground is maroon 
and the edge purple. (Award of Merit.) Charles 
Turner, Slough. 
Mule Pink Lady Dixon may be described as a 
hybrid between a Sweet William and a Carnation. 
It has large, fully double flowers with crisped petals, 
and recalls Napoleon III., except that the flowers 
are carmine. (Award of Merit.) Mr. P. D. Williams, 
Lanartb, St. Keverne. 
Borecole Albino.— This is the nearest approach 
to a white Borecole which we have seen. The leaves 
of most of a large number of plants were white, with 
narrow green edges, the green almost disappearing 
in some cases. It is stated to be perfectly hardy 
without protection in the open, and that 95 per cent, 
come true to the strain from seed. (Award of Merit.) 
Messrs. Storrie & Storrie, Dundee. 
Narcissus Committee. 
Narcissus Moonbeam is a beautiful hybrid between 
N. poeticus recurvus and a Leedsii variety. The 
segments are white, and the short cup creamy-white. 
(First-class Certificate.) Mrs. R. O. Backhouse, 
Sutton Court, Hereford. 
Narcissus Elaine.— N. poeticus has also had a 
share in the production of this lovely variety, which 
has creamy-white segments, and a cup about the size 
of that of N. Barrii, but of the palest creamy-white. 
Practically the flower may be described as wholly 
white, as in Moonbeam mentioned above, a very 
unusual circumstance amongst Narcissi. (First- 
class Certificate.) Miss Willmott, V.M.H., Warley 
Place, Great Warley, Essex. 
Narcissus Corydon. —This may be described as 
N. triandrus seedling, but many times magnified, 
and widely different from anything in general culti¬ 
vation. The creamy-white segments have the 
breadth of Empress, but shorter; and the lemon 
cup is nearly as long as the segments. (Award of 
Merit.) Miss Wilmott. 
Narcissus Amber. —The segments of this fine 
variety are ovate and white, but the trumpet is 
golden-yellow deepening to orange. (Award of 
Merit.) Miss Willmott. 
Narcissus D. E. Wemyss.— The cup of this 
variety is yellow, edged with orange, and in shape it 
strongly recalls N. Barrii, but the segments are 
white. (Award of Merit.) Miss Willmott. 
Narcissus Aftermath. —The cup of this shows 
something between N. poeticus and Burbidgei as to 
size, and is yellow with an orange-searlet edge. The 
segments are cream. (Award of Merit.) Rev. G. 
H. Engleheart, Appleshaw, Andover. 
Narcissus Sf.a Bird.— The segments are in¬ 
curved at the sides like poeticus recurvus, of great 
size, and white. The cup is much plaited and 
yellow, edged gold. (Award of Merit.) Rev. G. H. 
Engleheart. 
Narcissus Spenser. —This is a poeticus with 
large, pure white segments, and a much flattened 
cup, orange-crimson at the edge. (Award of Merit.) 
Rev. G. H. Engleheart. 
Narcissus Day Star.— The creamy-white seg¬ 
ments overlap one another like a form of Barrii, but 
they are broader, and the cup is bright yellow. 
(Award of Merit.) Rev. G. H. Engleheart. 
Narcissus Rear Guard.— The segments here are 
ovate, overlapping and creamy-white. The cup is 
of a uniform bright yellow, and about half as long as 
the segments. (Award of Merit.) Rev. G. H. 
Engleheart. 
-—- 
RAIN AND DEW. 
Certainly rain is one of the gardener's best friends 
when it comes in the proper season. It is of such a 
common occurrence, that when it does come he 
never troubles where it came from, why it came, or 
how. It came out of the air and benefited or ruined 
his crops, and is gratifying or otherwise, as the case 
may be. By the heat of the sun a large amount of 
water is taken up into the air by the transpiration of 
plants and evaporation from rivers, lakes, seas, &c. 
This rises as an invisible vapour so long as the air is 
warm ; when it reaches an altitude where the air is 
cooler it condenses into tiny particles of water and 
forms clouds. Clouds form and disappear in the air 
according to the warmth of it. 
Often it appears to be raining high up in the air, 
but none reaches the ground. This is caused by the 
small drops evaporating before they have time to 
reach the earth, and then ascending again and form¬ 
ing clouds. This explains why more rain falls at 
night than in the daytime. The air is not so warm 
at night, thus allowing the drops to reach the ground. 
Rain is formed by the small particles falling and 
joining as thay do so to form drops. Snow is formed 
in the same way, only the tiny particles are frozen. 
Hail is a phenomenon which is not yet thoroughly 
understood, but is believed to be caused by electric 
disturbances. 
Warm air can hold a large amount of water in 
suspension, but as it cools it liberates it. This then 
accounts for the clouds of mist that encircle many 
high mountains. The rocks are cooler than the 
moisture laden atmosphere, and cool a layer of air in 
the vicinity, causing it to precipitate its moisture 
according to the degree of coldness experienced. 
The mists after sunset, which bang close to the 
surface of meadows, &c., are caused in the same way. 
The earth radiates out its heat very quickly, and if 
still, the air near to it becomes cooled, and can no 
longer hold its moisture in the form of steam, but 
precipitates it as vapour which condenses on all cold 
objects, forming dew. When the temperature falls 
below freezing point, if there is any moisture in the 
air it is deposited as hoar frost. 
The reason for Ireland's large rainfall is because 
the moisture saturated winds coming off the Atlantic 
are suddenly cooled when passing over the moun¬ 
tains, &c., and cannot hold the large amount of 
moisture which they have collected. The farther a 
place is away from the sea the less its rainfall 
becomes Thus in the great Sahara little or no rain 
falls, while at a place at the foot of the Himalaya 
Mountains, about 100 miles from Calcutta, the 
annual rainfall is over 500 in. This is caused by the 
excess of moisture collected by the hot winds coming 
over the Pacific, meeting the cold air surrounding 
the mountains. The magnitude of this rainfall can 
be better understood when taken in comparison with 
the average of 25 in., which annually falls along our 
Eastern shores. As rain passes through the air it 
collects small quantities of matter which are very 
useful to plants, such as oxygen, nitric acid, and 
ammonia. For this reason rain water should 
always be used for watering in preference to that 
obtained from springs. 
THE APIARY. 
The long spell of fine dry weather has enabled weak 
stocks to pull up very rapidly, and strong ones are 
covering nine and ten frames in districts where there 
is plenty of fruit blossom. A sharp eye should be 
kept on all stocks that have none too much food, 
more especially if the weather breaks down. A very 
good plan is to keep the slow feeder going constantly, 
giving one hole in good weather and two when a 
change occurs. It shows very indifferent bee-keep¬ 
ing to allow a stock to die now after bringing it 
through the winter, still there are hundreds that do 
so ; more is the shame, when a few pence would do 
all that was necessary, and save thousands of 
lives. 
In a few weeks from now, swarms will become 
general, and it is for the bee-keeper to see that he 
has hives ready for them in time, and that he will 
not require to push them into any odd box through 
want of a proper receptacle to hold them. Where 
swarms are not wanted, see that the bees have room 
a little in advance of their requirements. When 
brood chambers are filled give a rack of sections or 
rack of shallow frames, as the case may be, which¬ 
ever the bee-keeper makes up his mind to go in for. 
See also that they have plenty of ventilation, full 
width of entrance. When the season is advanced 
the front of hive could be wedged up | in. to the 
benefit of the colony. Where they are exposed to 
the full blaze of sun all day a little shade might be 
afforded with advantage, these little matters being 
carefully attended to, and with the addition of young 
queens swarming can be reduced to a minimum. 
However, in spite of all these measures the bees 
will sometimes swarm. In that case if we remove 
two combs of brood from centre of brood nest, and 
give two frames filled wiih foundation in their place, 
returning the swarm, after removing all queen cells 
from rest of frames, they rarely issue a second 
time. We may give the two frames of brood to a 
weaker lot, or raise a youDg queen for re-queening 
at end of season. In that case we will have to add 
the bees from other two frames. Also see that they 
have a good queen cell attached ; place them in an 
empty hive, place feeder over them, and pack up 
warmly. Give a look next day to see that there are 
enough bees left to keep the brood warm, because all 
the old working bees will go back to their old stance. 
In about three weeks after you may expect your 
young queen to commence laying, and it will make 
a splendid lot for joining on to another stock, before 
sending to the Heather, after killing the old queen. 
Where swarms are wanted we have just to do the 
opposite from the above, confine in smaller compass, 
narrow entrance, little ventilation, extra quilts, and 
feed continually, but slowly, until the desired end is 
attained. Sometimes we cannot wait until the bees 
come off naturally, and in that case we can artificially 
swarm them, which I will describe in another issue. 
— Doonfoot. 
