1884.] 
the American garden. 
23S 
leti; 
OEOHIDS IN PARA. 
In a former letter when doseribii,(r the 
plants in Senhor Olinda's garden wo mu- 
posely omitted other than a more roforouce 
to Orchids. Of. those there are about five 
thousand plants in about four hundred and 
fifty species, all under name and number 
The collection is not confined to Brazilian 
Orchids, though in number of plants (but 
.not of species) they occupy the prominent 
place. For instance, of the beautiful CaUloya 
El Dorado there are at least three hundred 
plants, hardly any two of which are alike in 
bloom. Wo see Orchids from all parts of the 
world, and many of the East Indiab species, 
such as Vandas, Saccolabiums, Calanthes, 
Phajus, and Aerides, thrive wonderfully. 
Phatenopses, hungin baskets under the tree's, 
are in vigorous health, requiring little care, 
and that only to see that, if no rain comes, 
they do not dry up. 
Entering the gate, we are at once asked to 
look at the Orchids in the house, but apolo¬ 
getically, because, as the Senhor says, “it 
is not the season for Orchids.” The greater 
portion bloom from December to May, but in 
a large collection there must always be some¬ 
thing of interest. 
We enter the hall, which is lighted by a 
large window at the end, and the whole of 
the alcove so made is arranged as a place to 
show Orchids in bloom. Large Ferns and 
Dracontiums, growing on trunks of trees, 
furnish the green background, and all around 
the Orchids are hung, most being grown on 
blocks. 
At the time of our visit (August) the pre¬ 
vailing color was yellow, from the many 
species of Oncidium. We noticed especially 
Oncidiums Marshallianum, Juneifolium, Sar- 
■codes, Pubes, and the charming little Iridifo- 
lium, with leaves like an outspread fan, and 
more flowers than plant. Oncidium Sprucei, 
from the upper Rio Negi’o, is like a gigantic 
Juneifolium, the flowers golden yellow, in 
immense panicles, and the foliage rush-like, 
flrooping, and five feet in length. It is a 
very rare and beautiful species. Of Oncidium 
papilio, and the variety major, there were 
fine plants, which are seldom out of bloom, 
and the large butterfly-like flowers, which 
seem poised among some Ferns, were very 
attractive. Large plants of the delicate pink 
Ondidium ornithorynchum, in hanging baskets, 
filled the hall with perfume, and the lustrous 
copper-colored flowers of 0. crispum showed 
to great advantage. 
Plants of' Epidendrum bicornutim, the tree 
blooming Amazonian variety, were a mass of 
pure white flowers, deliciously fragrant, and 
as flne as Phalaenopsis grandijlora, which it 
much resembles. Some strange Catasetums 
■of the Monacanthus type, and a gi’otesque 
■Coryanthes were very curious, and Galean- 
dra Devoniana and nivea, the latter a litt e 
•gem of a plant, with shell-like, delicate, rosy 
white flowers, and glaucous foliage; e 
former, delightfuUy fragrant, and a large 
plant of a brilliant Cattleya sicperba com¬ 
pleted the group in the hall. 
Altogether, there were perhaps forty p an s 
in bloom, and but-few species, yet the e ec 
was very good. We can only imagine w a 
it must be when, as was the case from e 
■cember to February-last, the whole ous 
was filled with Callloyas El Dorado, luleola, 
and superha-some two hundred plants in 
bloom at once, from one to four spikes, of 
f om two to five llowcrs on each-every 
s ladc from pure white to deep purple, varied 
hy the soft yellow of CaUloya luleola. 
oiiig into the parlor, we saw on the table 
a beautiful specimen of Oncidium lonyipes. 
1 his species has loose panicles of light-yellow 
owors, not very brilliant, but very graceful 
and elegant. Close by was a well-bloomed 
plant of Jyycasle uromalica, dilfusing its rich 
Cinnamon fragrance, and in the dining-room 
were two plants of Oncidium sphacclalmn, 
with spikes five feet high, just opening their 
flowers. Between the windows hung a giant 
Orchid, probably a new species of Catase- 
tiim. The plant, from base of pseudo-bulbs 
to tips of leaves, measures five feet; the 
pseudo-bulbs are immense ; very thick, and 
of a silvery gray color; the flower spikes 
carried about fifty flowers each, very large, 
richly colored, black, purple, yellow, green 
and white, which filled the air with the fra¬ 
grance of Narcissus poeticus. This species, 
unlike most Catasetums, remains long in 
bloom, the flowers lasting in perfection about 
ten days. It also is fragrant all the time. 
E. S. RAifD. 
(To he continued.) 
A CITY OF FLOWERS, 
Kingston, the capital of the Island of 
Jamaica, is a city of flowers. It is situated 
on a gentle slope of the Blue Mountains, 
close to the water of a delightful bay, and is 
one of the cheapest places in which to live, 
I believe, says U. D. Wood, in the Tribune 
and Farmer, that the world contains. Every¬ 
thing grows spontaneously and in abundance. 
I have seen large baskets, containing at least 
two bushels of Oranges, Lemons, Pine-apples, 
Cocoa-nuts, Custard-apples, and other fruits, 
never seen North, after being carried on the 
head from flve to fifteen miles, and delivered 
at daylight for ten cents. 
The pride of Kingston is in its splendid 
houses and magnificent gardens. A descrip¬ 
tion of one will answer for the whole. The 
houses are built on the cover-all-the-ground- 
you-ean-get principle, and every residence is 
surrounded by a garden,—a block or half 
block fenced in with a brick wall, or walled 
in with a board fence, about eight feet high; 
the ground inclosed is kept in a state of cul¬ 
tivation, planted with choice flowers and 
shrubbery, and all exquisitely arranged. 
The houses are two-story, and the rooms 
generally thirty feet square, -with ceilings 
twenty feet high; flushings of mahogany, 
laurel, and ebony. The houses are not sided 
as in northern climates, but have broad 
double verandas and Venetian blinds, so 
that the' whole side of the house can be 
thrown open to admit am in the heat of the 
day. But the greatest curiosity to a Northern 
man are the beds ; they stand in the center 
of the room, are six feet high and eight feet 
square, without head or foot boards; the 
legs are of polished mahogany. I was told 
they were made so to prevent snakes and 
other reptiles froni crawling up. A short 
ladder stands against the wall to climb into 
bed with. 
But, after all, the great attraction of Kings¬ 
ton is in its numerous and magnificent gar¬ 
dens ; it has long borne the name of the 
Flower Garden of the South, and this name 
it is, without doubt, justly entitled to. 
At the North a garden is a place for raising 
Potatoes, Cabbage, Onions, and other useful 
vegetables; but here it is a different thing 
altogether. It is an inclosure, varying in 
size according to the man’s “pile,” with a 
glass house near one comer for such delicate 
plants as are not partial to the weather to 
live in, a gi-eat variety of flowers and curi¬ 
ous-smelling weeds and strange bushes. 
What ground is vacant is laid off into fancy 
paths and walks. 
Then there are thick bunches of Grape¬ 
vines running over arbors loaded with hang¬ 
ing clusters of Grapes, and Fig-trees more 
than thirty feet high loaded with ripening 
fruit. Then there are profu.sions of Plums, 
Apricots, Pears, Peaches, Oranges, Nectar¬ 
ines, etc., all delicious. 
There are the Cedar of Lebanon, Mag¬ 
nolia, Olive, Laurel, Hibiscus, Gardenia, 
Oleander, and Palmetto, locked in each 
other’s embrace, and gayly holding blossoms 
in their hands; and creeping up among them 
are the Cactus, the Jasmine, the PassionVine, 
the Honeysuckle, the Bignonia, the-Lantana, 
and the “ Plumbago,” unfolding their tinted 
and sweet-scented buds to entice, while they 
stealthily entwine their long tendrils around 
the arms and bodies of the flowering trees, 
binding them into arbors that exclude the 
rays of the sun and the gaze of the world, 
where a poetic young man and a romantic 
young woman might repose on a green, 
mossy bank, and forgetting the world, fancy 
they were in the Garden of Eden. 
MARKET-GARDENS OF HOLLAND. 
In the neighborhood of Amsterdam, Hol¬ 
land, writes a correspondent of the London 
Garden, there are over one hundred and fifty 
market-gardens, in the greater portion of 
which such kinds of vegetables as it is usual 
to forward under glass are grown, while 
some are devoted exclusively to Beans,- Cab¬ 
bages, and other things commonly cultivated 
as field crops. The Dutch market-gardeners 
are a laborious, painstaking class, but, sel¬ 
dom journeying far from home, are wedded 
to old ways, some of their appliances being 
of a very primitive description. 
Thus, for instance, the sashes of their 
frames are glazed with small squares bed¬ 
ded in lead, just like the old-fashioned case¬ 
ment windows, a fact which seems most 
strange, seeing that that style of glazing 
garden frames has for many years been 
quite obsolete in European gardens gener¬ 
ally. The frames themselves are of a rough 
description, being formed of thick boards, 
being generally some eighty feet long and 
divided into compartments at need. 
■ii^ere ground is so valuable, space is 
natm'ally economized as much as possible, 
there being but about one and a half feet 
between each row of frames. Each market- 
garden is siurounded by hedges, and divided 
into two or several portions by screens or 
transverse hedges. In a level coimtry like 
Holland, where there are but few natural 
breaks to the fury of the winds, some such 
Mud of artificial protection is almost indis¬ 
pensable, and especially where a large num¬ 
ber of glass frames are employed. One or 
more of these compartments are occupied 
by the dwelling-house, sheds, cellars for 
vegetables, and frames; the remainder are 
devoted to the various kinds of crops which 
may be made a specialty of. 
