60 
THE GARDEN ALBUM AND REVIEW. 
should be re-dug and if necessary lightly 
manured, so as to be ready for Savoy and 
other winter Cabbages, Kale, Turnips, etc. 
When the mid-season and late Potatos have 
been dug, the ground is then ready again for 
Cole worts, Onions, Winter Spinach, Turnips. 
It will be understood of course that catch 
crops like Lettuces, Radishes, and Dwarf 
Beans, may be grown in almost any part of 
the garden without strict adherence to the 
rules of rotation. As a rule, however, it will 
be found good practice to change the crops 
from one part of the garden to another each 
year. In this way the soil will retain its fertility 
for a much longer period, which of course means 
a corresponding reduction in the manure bill. 
The crops enumerated above if properly 
grown, will produce material for which the 
greengrocer would charge about £10. By 
continuing with successive crops, however, the 
value of an allotment garden might be 
increased another £3 or £\ in the course of the 
year. But it requires careful management to do 
this, in conjunction with the frequent use of the 
hoe between the crops during the growing period. 
Apart from the actual labour of digging, 
hoeing, planting and watering, the expenses of 
an allotment are not great. They may include 
say, manure 10/-, seeds 5/-, potatos, 4/-, rent 
10/-, miscellaneous 10/-, making a total of 
£1 19s. od. altogether—which leaves a fair 
balance on the right side for the man who 
takes the trouble to work an allotment on 
intelligent lines. A. H. 
REVIEWS. 
SANDERS’ LIST OF ORCHID HYBRIDS. 
Messrs. Sander & Sons, St. Albans, have 
recently issued a complete and up-to-date list, 
in the form of a handsomely bound volume, of 
Orchid Hybrids, containing the names and 
parentage of all known hybrid orchids, whether 
introduced or artificially raised. The work 
has been divided into three distinct parts or 
tables. Table I. gives the names of the 
hybrids arranged in alphabetical order, with 
the seed and pollen parents. Table II. records 
in the first column those plants which have 
been used as seed parents, also arranged 
alphabetically, the name of the hybrid obtained 
being given in the third column. Table III. 
is similar to the second, but gives the names 
of the pollen parents in the first column. It 
will thus be seen that in the hands of anyone 
interested in raising orchids from seed—and 
there must be thousands in these days—this 
volume ought to be of the greatest value. It 
represents an enormous amount of labour, and 
will save the enquirer much valuable time 
when in search of the name, seed, or pollen 
parent of any particular hybrid. 
Nearly 50 different genera have been utilised 
by the orchid hybridist of late years to produce 
new and striking forms that can no longer be 
discovered in a state of nature. Bi-generic 
hybrids such as Laelio-Cattleyas, Epi-Cattleyas, 
Sophro-Laelias, are now becoming numerous, 
and one can hardly imagine what would be the 
feeling of the older botanists who used to draw 
an imaginary fence round genera, and marking 
them off as containing plants which could not 
possibly be crossed with each other. Messrs. 
Sanders’ Orchid list will show how these fences 
have been broken down, and it becomes 
increasingly more difficult to say what con¬ 
stitutes a genus or even a species amongst plants. 
There is no falling off in the number of 
Cypripedium crosses, and the list shows an 
enormous number. The hybrid Dendrobiums, 
however, are now a very large group, and as 
times goes on, no doubt other genera will yield 
up freely some fine hybrids. We have tested 
the list in many instances, using the three 
tables, and in every case have found it to be 
reliable. Such a work should be in the hands 
of every Orchid-grower whether amateur or 
professional. 
Select Dahlias. —At an appropriate time 
the “Gardening World” has issued an excellent 
little handbook on these charming and easily 
grown garden flowers. Mr. J. Fraser, the 
author, tell us that the Dahlia first reached our 
shores in 1789, and since then has undergone 
a remarkable transformation. The Cactus 
Dahlia—at present the most popular of all 
sections—has been created within the past 26 
years, and has been evolved from the flat 
petalled type known as D. Juarezi. A Dahlia 
will produce from 30 to 200 flowers during the 
season according to the way it is treated. 
Apart from earwigs there are no particular 
insect or fungoid pests, so that almost anyone 
can grow the Dahlia well enough for garden 
decoration. The handbook deals with soil, 
situation, propagation, manures, selection of 
varieties, etc., and can be recommended to all 
Dahlia growers. 
Irish Gardening. —This is a new edu¬ 
cational journal devoted to the advancement 
of Horticulture in Ireland. It is about the 
same size as the Garden Album, and is 
published monthly at the price of twopence. 
The first number is well got up, and contains 
a good deal of interesting information contri¬ 
buted by various County Council Lecturers in 
Ireland. The paper receives the good wishes 
and a donation from Sir Horace Plunkett, of 
the Irish Department of Agriculture and 
Technical Instruction, and we wish our con¬ 
temporary success in the career it has mapped 
out for itself in Ireland. Irishmen are keen 
gardeners, but in the past they have not had 
the opportunities for making the same progress 
in Horticulture as have been afforded to their 
Scottish and English brethren. With the 
publication of “ Irish Gardening,” which we 
understand is under the able editorship of Mr. 
David Houston, we feel sure that horticulture 
in all its phases, practical as well as theoreti¬ 
cal, will be placed in a most interesting and 
instructive form before our friends in Erin’s 
Green Isle. 
