774 
December 7, 1907. 
THE GARDEN I NO WORLD. 
and where one possesses a good _ greenhouse 
and can control one’s predilection for the 
■water-can, it is by no means a difficult plant 
to grow. Just now, however, in some houses, 
one needs—as an amateur friend put it—‘ ‘ to 
hold an umbrella over the brutes whenever 
it rains or thaws.” This statement contains 
a certain amount of fact, fox if a cold drip 
from the roof finds its way to the heart of 
the plant, that plant will collapse in an un- 
mistakeable and not-to-be-prevented manner. 
The best thing to do is to make sure that 
no drip can reach any of the Pandanuses; 
the next best thing is to detect the presence 
of drip on the plant immediately and take 
measures to circumvent it as far as possible. 
To do this, give any suspected plant a good 
and sudden tug at the apex, grasping just 
the central two or three leaves. If these 
come away and show decay at their base, at 
once cut the plant down until the brown, 
decayed patch in the centre of the stem gives 
place to a clear and uniform whiteness. If 
kept dry, such cut-down plants will give lots 
of nice little off-cuts for propagating next 
spring. 
Tea Roses in Pots. 
Where there is a nice lot of these estab¬ 
lished in pots and plunged in ashes outdoors 
or in a cold frame, a few plants should now 
be brought in to give early flowers. If not 
top-dressed this autumn, this should be done 
as soon as they are brought in, using good, 
lumpy, new loam with a liberal mixture of 
artificial manure. I have found bone flour 
excellent. Afterwards prune the plants, cut¬ 
ting strong shoots back to six buds, and 
weaker ones to four buds. Quite short and 
weak wood should be cut clean away, and 
all other which is obviously superfluous by 
crowding better shoots. Keep the plants cool 
for the present, and do not over-water them. 
Those remaining in the cold frame should 
have dry, dead leaves heaped over and 
among the pots. 
Parsley in a Pot or Box. 
I have previously pointed out the advan¬ 
tages of having a root or two of Parsley 
somewhere at hand where the good, wife can 
pick it without going “mud-punching” 
down the garden. Roots from the last sum¬ 
mer sowing should be selected, as they will 
be young and vigorous. One individual who 
read my note on this last year potted up a 
patriarchal -root, and had flowers rather than 
leaves. However, he said ’twas a pretty pot 
plant, so we are still friendly. Too much 
heat brings green fly, so does drought. Hav¬ 
ing pointed this out, I can safely leave it 
to the intelligence of readers whether they 
have clean Parsley. 
Arums for Christmas. 
Though not exactly ideal buttonhole 
flowers, there is no denying the “classy” 
effect nice pots of Arum Lilies give to a 
room when the time of turkeys and plum 
puddings is here. There is still time to get 
flowers open if the buds can be seen in the 
sheaths of the leaves. The plants put into a 
temperature of 55 degs. to 60 degs., as ad¬ 
vocated some three weeks ago, may now go 
into a corner where a temperature of 65 degs. 
to 70 degs. can be kept up. In some houses 
it may be necessary to shut off a corner with 
an old door or boards in order to get enough 
heat, but this will generally do the trick. 
Early Dutch Hyacinths. 
The earliest potted of the large-flowered 
or Dutch Hyacinths should now be ready for 
the greenhouse if they have passed an 
intermediate stage in a col-d frame after leav¬ 
ing the plunging ashes. If not, and early 
flowers are wanted, still bring the plants 
into the house, but cover each potful for a 
week with an empty inverted flower pot; this 
will accustom them to the change. Water 
carefully at first, until the leaves are about 
2 in. long, then be very liberal with the 
water-can, and do not overlook the fact that 
these Hyacinths revel in weak liquid manure. 
SUNNYSIDE. 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
Winter Flowering: Oncidiums. 
The Brazilian section of Oncidiums, which 
include such free flowering species and natu¬ 
ral hybrids as Oncidium crispum, O out¬ 
turn, 0 . Forbesii, 0 . Gardnerii, O. Mantinii, 
etc., are all worthy of attention by amateurs. 
Orchids of this section are annually imported 
in large quantities, and are procurable at 
the auction .sales or from the nurseryman 
at a modest outlay of a few shillings. In 
fact, as regards price, they are about the 
most reasonable of any Orchids sold at the 
present day. These plants do very well in a 
normal temperature of from 55 to 60 degrees 
throughout the year. Being in all cases of 
dwarf structure, they are suitable subjects 
to be grown in shallow pans or baskets, so 
that they may be suspended near the roof 
glass, where they may obtain the full benefit 
of the procurable light that may with safety 
be afforded, having regard to the scorching 
of the leaves. These plants do not require 
an abundance of root room. The receptacles 
selected in which to grow them should be 
just sufficiently large to contain the pseudo¬ 
bulbs comfortably. This will prevent excess 
of potting compost about the base of the 
plants and will facilitate the quicker evapo¬ 
ration of moisture when applied to the roots, 
and thus to a great extent prevent stagna¬ 
tion. It is always a difficult matter to apply 
root moisture to plants that are in active 
growth or flowering in winter. When we 
have a great bulk of potting compost and un¬ 
favourable conditions prevailing outside, 
the compost takes so long to dry during the 
dull season of the year that there is always 
a great danger of chill and destruction of 
root action, which must of necessity prove 
detrimental to the well-being of the plants. 
It will thus be seen Vvhy small pots are 
advocated and used for the cultivation of so 
many kinds of Orchids. 
The pots or pans, etc., should, further¬ 
more, be well drained by filling them to 
about one-half their depth with clean broken 
crocks or, if bracken fern roots are available, 
these should have the preference. 
Tihe potting compost may consist of about 
equal portions of chopped sphagnum moss, 
fibrous peat, and Oak or Beech leaves, dried 
and rubbed through a half-inch sieve. To 
this should be added sufficient sand or broken 
crocks to render the compost porous. This 
compost should be pressed moderately firm 
about the base of the plants. The best time 
to attend to ne-potting is when the new roots 
make their appearance, but this should not 
be done oftener than is absolutely necessary, 
as the whole of this section of Oncidiums 
resent being disturbed when they have once 
become established. A great deal can be 
done by annually picking out any decaying 
material and replenishing with new compost. 
The plants commence growing in latie 
spring and through the summer, so that any¬ 
one who can retain the temperatures above- 
mentioned can depend on the assistance of 
the summer . months, in which the plants 
make moist of their growth, to complete their 
P'seudOi-bulbs and throw up' their flower 
stalks by autumn. During the active season 
of growth these plants require an abundance 
of water and moisture about them. Where 
a light shading is used, the plants may be 
syringed overhead in bright weather several 
times a day. As the bulb becomes matured 
and the spikes are advancing, overhead 
watering should be dispensed with, but active 
conditions should be maintained until the 
flowering has passed. From the time the 
plants finish flowering until they show signs 
of commencing new growth in the spring, 
only sufficient root moisture will be necessary 
to retain the pseudo-bulbs in a plump state. 
H. J. Chapman. 
-- 
Horticultural Societies’ 
Diary 
of Forthcoming Events. 
Abbreviations used. 
A. —Association 
Am.—Amateurs 
Ohy.—Ohrysanthemum 
0 . 111 .—Committee meeting 
Oott.—Cottage or Cottagers 
D.—District 
G.—Gardening or gardener 
Thus :—The Templeton G. Am. and Oott. M.I.H.8, 
Gardeners, Amateurs’ and Oottagers’ Mutual Improve¬ 
ment Horticultural Society. 
H.—Horticultural 
M.I.—Mutual Improve¬ 
ment 
m.m.—Monthly meeting 
S.—Society 
w.m.—Weekly meeting 
December. 
9th.—Horsforth G.M.I.S. (w.m.); Sutton- 
in-Ashfield H.S. (m.m.); Hastings, 
St. Leonards and D.H.M.I.S. 
(m.m). 
10th. — R.H.S. (Exhibition of flowers and 
fruit, 1 to 5); Crawley and 
D.G.M.I.A. (m.m.); Milton and 
Sittingbourne H.S. (m.m.); Society 
of Jersey Gardeners (m.m.); Bid- 
denden Cott. G.M.I.S. (m.m.). 
nth.—N.C.S. (Exhibition of Chrysanthe¬ 
mums as grown for market, in the 
Foreign Flower Market, Covent 
Garden); East Anglian H. Club 
(m.m.); Nottingham and Notts 
Chy. S. (m.m.); Sheffield Chy. S. 
(m.m.). 
12th.—N.R.S. (Annual General Meeting 
3.30 at the Westminster Palace 
Hotel); Woking H.A. (m.m.); 
Studley H.S. (m.m.). 
13th. — Beckenham H.S. (w.m.); Amber- 
gate Cott. G.S. (m.m.); Weybridge 
and D.H.S. (m.m.). 
14th. — Leeds Paxton S. (w.m.); Thornton 
Heath and D.H.S. (m.m.). 
-- 
New Flower Cure. 
A series of novel experiments are being 
conducted in an American institution for 
the insane. A profusion of sweet-smelling 
flowers is maintained in rooms, corridors, 
etc., and the fragrance it is maintained 
have a mysterious beneficial influence 
upon the minds of the patients. 
Chrysanthemum Foxhunter. 
The bright chestnut-scarlet of the florets 
of this decorative variety are very striking 
indeed, and the old gold reverse shown 
by some of the florets serves to show off 
the colour of the face. When disbudded 
as if for market work, it makes “a bloom 
3^ in. to 6 in. in diameter. Award of 
Merit b” the R.H.S. on November 12th, 
when shown by Messrs. W. Wells and Co., 
Merstham. 
National Rose Society. 
Mr. Edward Mawley (Rosebank, Berk- 
hamsted), hon. secretary of the Na¬ 
tional Rose Society, writes:—“The an¬ 
nual general meeting of the National 
Rose Society will be held at the West¬ 
minster Palace Hotel, Victoria Street, 
S.WC, on Thursday, December 12th, at 
3.30 p.m. This meeting will be followed 
at six p.m. by the annual dinner of the 
society, which will take place at the Hotel 
Windsor, Victoria Street, S.W. Mrs. 
Hole and her son, Mr. Hugh Hole, have 
very kindly promised to attend the 
dinner.” 
