THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 22, 1905. 
324 
The Stove and Greenhouse. 
Camellias. —The majority of the plants will now be passing- 
out of bloom and commencing to make new growth, therefore 
any pruning, repotting, or top-dressing considered necessary 
should be done at once. Camellias succeed best in a cool 
house set apart for them or allied subjects, but it generally 
happens they hare to be accommodated in the conservatory or 
greenhouse among other miscellaneous plants. In such cases 
it is best to grow them in large pots or tubs; they may then 
be placed in a partially shaded position in the open for the 
summer, or as soon as new growth is completed. This proce^ 
dure ensures well-ripened wood and a wealth of blossoms in 
the ensuing winter. 
Specimens established in borders grow more vigorously but 
do not ripen their wood so well, owing to the shading that has 
to be applied during spring and summer for the other 
occupants. I do not advise hard pruning, but when large speci¬ 
mens are planted out it is necessary to prune somewhat 
severely in order to keep them within bounds, or they become 
bare at the base. 
Afford copious supplies of water to the roots and overhead 
from this time onwards, and shade lightly. Farmyard liquid 
manure is a safe stimulant to use during active growth. 
Genistas. —As these pass out of'flower, repot those that re>- 
quire it, using a compost of two parts loam to one each of 
leaf-soil and decomposed manure, adding sufficient sand to 
ensure porosity. 
Place the plants in a. genial warmth and syringe lightly to 
encourage new growth. When well re-established transfer to 
a cool pit or house until it is safe to remove to a sheltered site 
in the open. This remark applies to most plants of like char¬ 
acter that have been recently forced for making a display. Tooi 
often such plants are cast on one side owing to a pressure of 
work : consequently they fail to give satisfactory results in 
ensuing years. Having regard to the utility of these plants at 
a dull season, it is surprising that gardeners do> not devote more 
time to repotting and otherwise encouraging new, healthy 
growth which is so essential to success in years to come. 
Climbing Plants. —These will now be making free growth, 
and as this advances with the season, so must proper attention 
be paid to regulating the shoots. No matter whether the 
plants are trained to wires under the roof-glass, or on pillars, 
or balloon-shaped trellises, it is important that the new growths 
be duly tied before they become entangled. Later on, the 
flowering shoots may be allowed to depend in a natural manner. 
Established plants should now receive some assistance in the 
way of manurial waterings, especially those that have not been 
recently repotted. The majority of stove and greenhouse 
climbing plants require more liberal treatment than do non¬ 
climbing ones, and when once established regular applications 
of farmyard liquid manure, alternated with an approved arti¬ 
ficial fertiliser, should be given throughout the growing season. 
In my opinion we are apt to under-feed the majority of plants 
grown in pots and restricted borders. When once the roots 
have well permeated the soil, and are otherwise healthy, regular 
applications of some kind of manure should be afforded until 
flowering commences. Experience alone teaches the gardener 
which kind of manure is best, suited to the- different plants 
under his charge. 
Torenia Fournierii. —This is a pretty blue-flowering plant 
suitable alike for culture in pots or baskets for the greenhouse. 
They may be raised either from seeds or cuttings early in the 
year and grown on freely in a warm house until flowers show, 
when they may be removed to the conservatory. The season 
of flowering is midsummer and onwards. By sowing seed or 
striking cuttings at intervals of a few weeks a succession of 
flowere is ensured. 
Fumigation. —At this period of the year various insect 
pests known to infest pot plants are most active, and every 
means should be taken to- keep them in check by occasional 
fumigation with some good vaporiser. Having regard to the; 
rapidity with which the insects multiply at this season, the 
fumigations should be frequent, not waiting until they become 
so numerous as to necessitate drastic measures to exterminate 
them. yj 
Among the Orchids. 
Lycastes. —The species belonging to the Lycastes are a 
most interesting and desirable class of plants, of easy culture, 
and are particularly to be recommended for cultivation by 
amateurs. At one time they were extensively cultivated in all 
the large Orchid-growing trade and private establishments, 
hut like many other Orchids, in every -way deserving of cultivar 
tion, they have had to fall in the background for even less 
worthy plants that hold a particular fascination for the moment 
of prevailing fancies, or, in other words, fashion. One who 
feels a great interest in the whole section of a particular genus 
of plants cannot help regretting this narrowing down, as it 
were, of useful plants, as this will do a considerable amount of 
harm, for not only shall we miss the flowers in the year’s cycle 
of successive flowering plants in the Orchid houses, but also 
the experience which alone makes good cultivators among the 
rising generation. 
The most useful species is the variable and attractive L. 
Skinnerii. It is, perhaps 1 , one of the most desirable of all 
Orchids. It may be recommended to the beginner in Orchid 
culture, because it is one of the easiest plants to grow, and if 
treated in a proper manner never fails to reward us with an 
abundance of flowers. Requiring a ooo-l intermediate house 
treatment, it will do. best if grown in the cold house with the 
Odontoglossums through the warm months of the year. They 
produce their flowers during the winter and spring season— 
November to- May. The flowers last several weeks in perfec¬ 
tion after they are expanded, and are exceedingly serviceable 
for cut-flower purposes. This species, as well as the kinds 
mentioned below, may all be procured for a modest outlay well 
within the means, of all. 
L. aromatica is chiefly desirable on account of the aromatic 
odour of its flowers. Its yellow blooms are produced in spring, 
and form a cluster produced in profusion from the base of the 
last made pseudo-bulb. This species takes a prolonged rest 
during the greater part of the winter ; during this period only 
sufficient, moisture is necessary to retain the pseudo-bulbs in a 
normal condition. 
L. Deppei will do well under the same conditions as those 
afforded to L. Skinnerii. It is even more tractable to. cultiva¬ 
tion than the last mentioned. It flowers at various periods of 
the year, and is a desirable plant. 
L. macrophylla, a species better known in gardens as L. 
plana., is a most robust and attractive species with madder-red 
flowers. It. produces its flowers through the winter and spring 
season, and lasts a considerable time in perfection. L. 
measuresiana is a. variety of L. macrophylla, and lias reddish- 
brown sepals, tipped with green, the petals and lip being 
white. These form the bulk of the useful kinds among the 
Lycaste species. There are .others, such as the type repre¬ 
sented by L. gigantea, which are most interesting as botanical 
plants. There are, in addition to these, some useful hybrids 
which are particularly showy and attractive, but being scarce 
in cultivation, they are not so readily procurable as. the species. 
L. Balliae is perhaps one of the most desirable. This and the 
remaining kinds can be cultivated under the same conditions 
as Lycaste Skinnerii. 
Cultivation.— The plants do best in pots filled to one-half 
their depths with clean broken crocks. The pots selected must- 
be governed by the size of. the plant, and the amount of roots 
attached. The potting compost should consist of equal por- 
