814 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
December 28, 1907. 
dusted on both sides of the leaves is a stan¬ 
dard remedy, but I have also found it very 
helpful to shift >the plants to warmer and 
drier quarters. If this is impossible, stand 
each plant on an inverted 6in. pot, and see 
that no cold draughts from a ventilator 
reach it. 
Camellias and Bud Dropping. 
I doubt if there is a more sickening sound 
in greenhouse gardening than the dull thud 
of Camellia buds falling on to the soil when 
the bush is touched. So common is this 
trouble with some- growers that they come to 
look upon it as a matter of course, and ex¬ 
pect it every season. But it is one of those 
troubles which no cultivator need have unless 
he likes, and I have grown Camellias from 
which 80 to 100 dozens of fine blooms were cut 
per week for several weeks without losing 
more than an infinitesimal number of buds 
from dropping. The matter simply resolves 
itself into one of watering, a dust dry 
or a saturated soil both favouring the 
trouble. I have also known buds to fall 
through the plants being kept too warm, the 
heat causing growth shoots to develop, and 
these pushing off the flower buds. The 
Camellia is hardy in many parts of the 
country, and should be treated accordingly. 
Primulas in Flower. 
These must be kept nicely warm if new 
flower spikes are to develop and successive 
tiers of bloom produced on those stems now 
flowering. A temperature of 45 deg. by 
night and 50 deg. to 55 deg. in the daytime 
will keep the plants nicely moving. They 
should have a light and airy position, and 
excessive care should be taken in watering 
to avoid wetting the base of the stems. I 
have found it a good plan when instructing 
novices, in watering Primulas to make them 
give the water required by a plant in two 
operations instead of one; viz., give enough 
to half fill the pot, allow that to drain away, 
and then give another lot. This keeps the 
stems dry and ensures the plants getting 
enough water. 
Matting * 1 a Cold Frame. 
Some people’s idea of matting a cold 
frame is to lay a mat, sack, or piece of car¬ 
pet on the glass and leave it; others go fur¬ 
ther, and tuck the ends in under the light. 
But this is of little use; frost generally 
makes its ingress through the chinks at the 
sides or ends of the light, and these should 
be securely covered to keep it out. One of 
the best plans I have tried is to tie a stout 
string to each of the four corners of a mat, 
and then fasten these to nails at the ends of 
the frame. A little, more trouble, but one 
knows that the mat cannot blow off. 
“ Sunny side.” 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
Seasonable Notes. 
Where an extensive collection of Orchids 
is grown it is considered desirable to have 
a succession of flowers at all seasons of the 
year. To provide this some consideration is 
necessary, for a great deal depends on the 
forethought of the grower as to the manner 
in which he uses the material at his com¬ 
mand. As I have for many years advocated 
in the pages of The Gardening World the 
desirability of amateur Orchid growers pay- 
ing special attention to the cultivation of 
the w_inter flowering section of Cypripe- 
diums, I feel that these must still have the 
first claim to attention. Those who have 
been privileged to see the extensive exhibi¬ 
tions made, and others who may have read 
of the prominent part Cypripediums have 
held in the large shows of the last two 
months, in London and Manchester, will, T 
am sure, feel that they have had no cause 
for regret, and have had every encourage¬ 
ment to persevere in their cultivation. 
Where I have been privileged to see for my¬ 
self I have been principally struck by the 
superior quality of the flowers, and alto¬ 
gether better examples of good cultivation, to 
be seen among the specimens. The newer 
kinds and those of quite recent introduction 
have been in most cases desirable additions, 
and will displace the commoner kinds in 
the near future. 
With the Cypripediums there is practically 
no difficulty in having a succession of flowers 
from September to the end of March. The 
early flowering kinds I have previously al¬ 
luded to, and now that the season of C. 
insigne is at any rate past its best, we 
should pay some attention to the kinds that 
may help us to retain a succession. Where 
C. leeanum is grown extensively these will 
fill up a considerable period, as many of 
them are still in the bud stage. To these 
we may add such desirable kinds as C. 
Calypso, C. lathamianum, C. Ceres in its 
numerous forms, which are, like almost all 
other hybrids with C. hirsutissimum as one 
of its parents, among the most desirable of 
the late winter flowering kinds. Then 
also those hybrids and secondary hybrids 
with C. Boxallii and C. villosum blood such 
as the various forms of C. nitens, and the 
secondary hybrids of the aureum section are 
a host in themselves. These all have 
vigorous constitutions, are quite as easily 
cultivated, and may be grown under the 
same conditions as C. insigne, and being ex¬ 
ceedingly durable they last in perfection for 
several weeks. 
As I am dealing with the cool intermediate 
section of Orchids I would like to draw at¬ 
tention to the genus Cymbidium. Here we 
have an exceedingly attractive section of 
easily grown terrestrial Orchids, procurable 
at reasonable prices, which produce their 
flowers in the winter and during the spring 
months, and which are exceedingly useful 
where a succession of Orchid flowers is de¬ 
sirable. The plants grow well either with 
the Cypripediums above mentioned or even 
under cooler conditions. The most useful 
kinds are C. giganteum, C. tracyanum, C. 
lowianum, C. eburneum, and C. grandi- 
florum. Of the numerous hybrids some of 
the best are C. I’Ansonii, C. Eburneo- 
lowianum, and C. holfordianum. These 
come into flower in the order in which they 
are named. 
Lycastes are another class of plant, use¬ 
ful for winter and spring flowering pur¬ 
poses, but of late years they have become so 
unpopular with Orchid specialists that they 
are very little grown, and it is rare indeed 
that one sees a finely, flowered specimen of 
that fine Orchid L. Skinnerii. They are in 
every way worthy of the amateur’s attention. 
They require a temperature of about 50 to 
55 degrees normal. It is useless for me to 
enumerate special varieties for the amateur; 
the whole of the members of this genus are 
interesting, and many of them useful and 
beautiful. 
H. J. Chapman. 
STOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 
247 5. Name and Treatment of Plant. 
Will you kindly inform me with regard 
to the enclosed, giving name, stating whether 
it is hardy and what the bloom is like, if 
any? (C. B., Sussex.) 
The specimen you sent us is that of Sedum 
spathulifolium, a plant that requires a 
heated greenhouse, not being hardy. The 
flowers are yellow. You will have to grow 
it in a sunny greenhouse to get it in proper 
form for flowering. If kept in a shady 
place it would, of course, grow freely 
enough, but it probably would not produce 
any flowers at all. Water it fairly freely 
in summer and keep it on the dry side in 
winter. A night temperature of 40 degs. 
to 45 degs. would be quite sufficient 
during the winter time, and of course it 
will rise much higher in summer. This will 
afford the conditions suitable for flovyering if 
you manage it properly. 
2476. Old Marguerites. 
I had a nice batch of Marguerite Carna¬ 
tions that came into bloom about the end of 
October, but are now mostly over. Is it any 
good saving these for another year, or will 
I have to get a fresh lot of seed? Some of 
them are getting leggy at the base. (H. 
Bell, Monmouthshire.) 
Most of your plants will get more or less 
straggling by another year if you keep them, 
and they would require a shift in the spring. 
You could not, therefore, get such nice 
plants for another year. They might not 
break very freely or regularly after you cut 
them down. They are not exactly annuals, 
but they do best when raised from seeds 
afresh every year. If you have room for 
them in the greenhouse keep them as long 
as they show any flowers. If in good form 
you will probably get some blooms from 
them between this and March, after which 
you could throw them away. 
247 7. Forcing Dwarf Beans. 
I notice the answers to questions asked last 
week and names of plants are not in this 
week. I presume it is owing to pressure on 
space. I also sent you last week P.O. 
value gd. for Pocket Diary, along with 
coupon signed. When may I expect it ? I 
shall be obliged to you if you can furnish 
answer to last week’s questions in next week’s 
paper. Will you also furnish me with par¬ 
ticulars of the best way to force dwarf 
French Beans to be ready by Easter. I have 
seen them grown in large pots, which I am 
thinking of doing, and supported with twigs. 
Give the quantity of seed for ioin. to i2in. 
pots. (G., Blackpool, Lancs.) 
The questions you sent us last were for¬ 
warded at the end of the week, and conse¬ 
quently too late to be inserted in the paper 
published on Tuesday and Wednesday. To 
get such questions answered in the forth¬ 
coming issue, they should be sent in the be¬ 
ginning of the week, and certainly not later 
than Wednesday morning. You will see by 
the issue of the 21st inst. that all your ques¬ 
tions have been answered. Drain the pots 
well and plant seeds of the Dwarf Beans 
about 4in. apart round the sides of ioin. or 
i2in. pots, and put about three seeds in the 
centre, giving them plenty of space. Place 
the pots in a house, commencing 'with a tern- 
