July 20, 1901. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
755 
the flowers. It was introduced from the East 
Indies in 1846 and is still a very popular Orchid, 
especially with those who do not possess houses 
specially devoted to Orchid culture, as it grows well 
in a cool, shady greenhouse, and requires much the 
same treatment as the other occupants of such a 
structure. Some people try to coddle it and grow it 
in a compost such as is used for most other Orchids, 
but there is nothing like loam fibre and good peat 
and broken crocks; sphagnum is not necessary. The 
roots are fleshy and do not like disturbing, so care 
must be exercised in watering to ensure that the 
soil remains sweet. The plants do not require 
mounding up, but should receive the same treatment 
as an ordinary greenhouse subject. They should 
never be allowed to get dry or they will lose many of 
their leaves, which is very undesirable, as they give 
the plant an ornamental appearance when out of 
bloom, a feature seldom met with in Orchids. They 
also have the distinctive feature of being very 
fragrant. The flowers are generally produced in the 
spring. At all times they should have plenty of 
room and fresh air, but not draughts, a thing which 
all plants object to. 
BEST TWELVE KINDS OF VEGETABLES 
FOR COMPETITION. 
(<Concluded from p. 722). 
Cucumbers. 
In growing Cucumbers for exhibition the first 
consideration is, which variety to grow. Nearly 
every gardener who exhibits has one he prefers 
before others, but whatever the sort, any good seeds¬ 
man may be depended upon to supply it. Among 
those I have grown successfully are the Improved 
Telegraph, Lockie's Perfection, and Matchless, all 
of them being very good and reliable. The next 
consideration is where they are to be grown. The 
best place, of course, is a Cucumber-house, but if 
that cannot be had, then they can be grown in a 
frame To do this you must make a nice sweet hot¬ 
bed and place the frame on it, relining the bed with 
manure as required to keep up the heat. But, when 
the Cucumbers are formed, you must use Cucumber 
glasses for the fruit, to keep them growing straight 
and long. If a Cucumber-house is available, it 
should run east and west, with a path down the 
centre and the beds on each side. There should be 
sufficient piping to keep up the temperature to 70 or 
75 degrees. I sow my Cucumbers ten weeks before 
the date of the show, or say, about the 24th of May, 
which gives long enough time to bring them to show 
form. If by any chance you get behind, it is easy, 
by adding a little more heat,to drive them on faster. 
Sow the seeds in 3^ in. pots—one in a pot—putting 
a few crocks in the bottom with a bit of moss over 
them. Take compost made of equal parts of loam, 
leaf soil, and sand, well mixed together, half filling 
the pot with it. Put the seed in the centre and cover 
with a little soil, plunging the pot in a frame with a 
bottom heat of about 70 degrees. Do not 
give any water the first day, but give them a slight 
sprinkling of tepid water the second day. Watering 
too freely at the time of sowing is a frequent cause 
of seeds rotting. As soon as the seedlings appear 
bring them gradually to the light and near the 
glass. When the second leaf appears, have some 
soil similar to the first, and with it fill the pot nearly 
to the rim. This saves potting off the plants when 
they are so young and tender. When the pots are 
filled with roots, shift the plant into a 5 in. pot, this 
time using two parts loam, one part leaf soil and 
weil-rotted manure, and a little sand. By the time 
these pots are full of roots, the beds ought to be 
ready. I put some fermenting material at the 
bottom, over the pipes, so as to get a good, strong 
bottom heat, and then I cover the bed all over with 
good turfy loam, so as to keep the rank steam down. 
The plant will now require a little heap of about a 
bushel and a half of compost to each plant. For 
this purpose, get some turves or top ‘ spit' of old 
pasture which has been allowed to lie grass down¬ 
wards in a heap to decay. Mix with this 
a little rotten manure and a few half-decayed leaves, 
working them well together. Put this down on a 
shelf and plant the Cucumber in the middle of the 
heap. The temperature should be from 65 to 70 at 
night and about 80 by day, allowing a rise of 5 to 10 
more by sun heat. Keep the plants well syringed 
and train them neatly to the trellis overhead, not 
allowing more shoots than can have plenty of light 
for each. As the plants grow, more soil must be 
added. In about 10 or 12 days after the flower sets, 
you should have fruit in perfection. You should 
allow about three or four fruits on each plant, about 
three-parts of the way up the trellis. I recommend 
the use of glasses for exhibition fruit for they tend to 
make them straight and handsome. A good 
temperature must be maintained, giving air at the 
top of the house early in the morning, before the 
sun shines too strongly on the house and perhaps 
burning the leaves. Close the house in the after¬ 
noon before the sun leaves, and damp down so as to 
raise the temperature. The plants should have 
manure water as soon as they begin to show their 
fruit. A little cow manure in solution—not too 
strong,—alternated with a little of Thomson's Vine 
Manure, is a good thing, and the motto in manuring 
should be "little and often," as large doses of manure 
do more harm than good. The water used in 
syringing must be of the same temperature as the 
house. When cutting the fruit, handle lightly and 
as little as possible, otherwise you may take off the 
“ bloom ” which sets off the fruit. 
Potatos. 
According to my experience, success and a good 
place in the prize list depends to a great extent on 
the proper storing and preparing of the sets before 
planting. A change of seed is very desirable, but it 
is a great mistake to delay ordering the seed until, 
perhaps the Potatos have made their first sprout. 
The first bud or shoot is always the strongest and 
the best, and early sorts especially should be given 
plenty of air and frequently turned over to prevent 
the Potato from sprouting until it is wanted and 
can soon be planted. The central sprout is always 
the most reliable. Potatos for seed should be 
placed on a shelf end-ways, the sprouting end up¬ 
wards and the narrower end or that which, when 
growing, was attached to the root of the plant, 
downwards. When the Potato begins to sprout, all 
the buds or eyes except the strong, central one 
should be rubbed off or picked [out with a knife. 
The produce from central buds is better every way, 
the crop greater and the individual Potatos larger 
and better for competition. The preservation of 
the first and central sprout is, in my opinion, not 
only desirable but positively essential to success 
where competition is keen and the competitors are 
experts in growing for exhibition. Even if the shoot 
has become far advanced, and is 1 or 2 in. long, I 
would sooner plant it and trust to it than to a 
Potato set with two or three side shoots. A fruit 
room or any similar dry place is suitable to store the 
seed in until planting time comes round, laying the 
tubers out singly. If you have not shelves to place 
them on, then lay them out on the floor, the great 
consideration being to keep them dry and cold, but 
perfectly free from frost, of course. In preparing 
the ground for this crop, the first consideration is to 
get the manure well dug into the ground, and an 
extra load or two will not hurt, for, remember, you 
are growing for exhibition and presumably on the 
single stem system as advised. The trenching 
should be done as early as convenient and as soon as 
the previous crop is cleared from the ground. Three 
or four days before planting get the lime on the 
ground, fresh from the lime kiln if you can get it, 
and unslaked. The limestones can then be slaked 
and spread equally over the ground and dug in 
hot. This helps to dry the ground, and make it 
work more easily. When this is done, you are ready 
for planting. The drills must then be taken out 4 
or 5 in. deep and 2 ft. from drill to drill. Plant the 
sets 18 in. apart, choosing those which have 
sprouted strongly, and seeing that all buds but the 
main one have been removed before planting. When 
covering in, pull about 2 in. of soil over the sets and 
see that this is done with great care so as not to 
injure the sprout. After this take a little Guano 
and sprinkle on the soil you have just drawn in, 
then pull on the remainder of the soil on the Guano 
and thus finish the drill. Should your soil have a 
tendency to produce scab in the tubers, as some 
soils unfortunately do, then, just before you expect 
the plants to come through, scatter a dressing of 
chimney soot on the surface aDd gently rake it in. 
This should be done say ten days or a fortnight 
before the leaves appear. Scabby tubers are quite 
unfit for exhibition. When the plants are dis¬ 
tinguishable in the rows, you may sprinkle a little 
nitrate of soda between each row, say about one 
pound to the land yard, hoeing it in for the double 
purpose of better mixing it with the soil and loosening 
the surface. In about a week or ten days after this 
they will require earthing up and the soil brought 
closer in about them. Let this be done lightly and 
carefully, so as not in any way to injure the foliage. 
From this stage onward to lifting time they will not 
require further attention. The crop should be dug 
a few days before the show, so as to get the skin 
nicely hardened. They should be lifted with great 
care, so as not in any way to bruise the skin. They 
are the better for being laid on the ground for two or 
three hours to dry. After that they should be 
wrapped separately in soft paper and packed in 
boxes, air-tight, against the day of the show. In 
choosing kinds to grow for this purpose, regard must 
be had to size, handsomeness of shape, and other 
points of excellence which take the judge’s eye and 
secure points. I have found Windsor Castle, Satis¬ 
faction, and Duke of York good sorts for exhibition. 
It is a mistake to grow two many varieties. Grow 
few, and grow them well. In showing Potatos, 
uniformity in size and shape is a telling point, and 
attention given to putting them up effectively is a 
great help towards securing premier honours. 
I have not gone into the question of arrangement 
on the show table, for that is a matter of taste and 
good judgment to be exercised by the exhibitor. It 
is, however, a most important thing that the very 
most should be made of each kind. A bed of Parsley 
is allowed to place the vegetables on, and there is no 
better setting. See that it is not too thick, for if it 
be, there is the danger of Potatos and Tomatos so 
sinking as to make them look smaller than they 
really are, whereas the object of the competitor 
should be to make such vegetables look large as well 
as handsome and uniform. In short, spare no pains 
to place your exhibits in the very best position to 
catch the eye of the judges, who quickly see small 
points of detail and merit and make their awards 
accordingly.— W. R, Baker. 
SOCIETIES. 
HANLEY HORTICULTURAL. —July 3 rd and 4th. 
The show, held in Hanley Park, was the fifth one 
held by this society, and like its predecessors proved 
an immense success. 
The classes for fruit brought some very good 
exhibits. For nine dishes,in not less than six kinds,’ 
Mr.Nicbolls, gardener to LadyBeaumont, was placed 
first. 
Mr. J. Mclndoe, V.M.H., gardener to Sir J. W. 
Pease, Bart., M.P., secured the first prize in the 
class for six dishes of not less than four varieties. 
A class known as the New Century Class made 
some keen competition. It was for the best arranged 
collection of British garden produce to occupy a 
table 15 ft. x 4 ft. The first prize of £12 and a 
special prize valued at 6 gns. was awarded to J. H. 
Goodacre, gardener to the Earl of Harrington. We 
were sorry to see that Mr. Mclndoe, V.M.H., was 
disqualified for including a dish of fruit beyond the 
scheduled number. The class of stuff exhibited was 
excellent, but this could not be said of the way in 
which it was arranged. Although Mr. Mclndoe 
was disqualified in the big class, he made up in the 
others, and amongst the prizes won was that offered 
by Messrs. Webb and Sons, Stourbridge. 
Messrs. Sutton and Sons, Reading, also offered 
prizes, the highest of which was awarded to Mr. A. 
H. Hall, gardener to C. Waterhouse, Esq..Maccles¬ 
field. The finest box of Roses was shown by Messrs. 
Alex Dickson & Sons, Ltd., Newtownards, Co. 
Down. This well-known firm also secured many of 
the other first prizes. 
Messrs. J. Townsend & Son, the Worcester firm 
of Rose growers, carried off the highest award for 
twelve Teas and Noisettes ; their blooms of 
Innocente Pirola were grand, also those of Maman 
Cochet. 
There seemed some dissatisfaction about the 
awarding of the prizes for twelve blooms of one 
variety, many people thinking that those exhibited 
by Messrs. Dickson & Sons, Ltd., were superior to 
those shown by Messrs. J. Townsend & Son. We 
do not know from what standpoint they were 
judged, but from a general view Messrs. Dickson & 
Sons’ Mildred Grant were far better blooms than 
those of Bessie Brown,which were much weathered, 
shown by Messrs. Townsend & Son. Sweet Peas 
were a conspicuous feature everywhere, and when 
