May  10,  1900 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
391 
friend  the  late  Mr.  Charles  Leach  of  Claoham.  The  plant  had  been 
well  known  as  having  only  one  habitat  in  the  world,  Table  Mountain 
in  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  whence  it  was  introduced  in  1825,  but  no 
one  seemed  to  succeed  with  its  culture.  Mr.  Leach  had  correspondents 
at  the  Cape,  and  from  them  he  obtained  such  information  as  led  him 
to  achieve  a  great  success.  It  had  been  the  habit  of  cultivators  to  dry 
off  the  bulbs,  and  thus  to  insure  their  failure.  As  'fable  Mountain 
is  mostly  enveloped  in  fog  and  mist  there  is  a  continual  moisture  kept 
up,  in  which  the  plants  luxuriate.  Mr.  Leach  observed  that  when  the 
flowering  stem  died  off  a  new  shoot  had  been  formed  at  its  base,  which 
was  in  fact  the  bulb  for  the  future  plant.  It  v.as  no  wonder  then 
that  those  who  were  interested  in  new  and  rare  plants  clustered 
around  this  group,  and  I  shall  never  forget  the  exultation  of 
that  good  gardener,  Donald  Beaton,  how  he  kept  calling  people 
to  come  and  admire  them,  and  how  he  praised  the  beauty  ot  the 
plants. 
The  Government  of  Cape  Colony,  seeing  how  the  plants  were 
Being  carried  off,  has  forbidden  its  exportation  now.  It  is  a  somewhat 
remarkable  thing  that  many  of  our  very  largest  Orchid  nurserymen 
Orchids  at  Wellesbourne  House. 
There  is  usually  something  good  to  be  seen  in  the  gardens  con¬ 
nected  with  the  above  Warwickshire  mansion,  as  W.  M.  Low,  Esq., 
I  is  thoroughly  interested  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  gardening,  and 
his  able  gardener,  Mr.  H.  Liney,  spares  no  effort  to  provide  special 
I  features,  of  which  his  employer  may  be  justly  proud.  Three  years 
!  ago  Orchid  culture  was  taken  up  in  earnest.  A  range  of  houses  fitted 
i  with  every  modern  appliance  was  erected,  and  large  numbers  of 
Orchids  were  obtained  from  various  sources,  the  majority  of  them 
Fig.  106.— DENDROBIUMS  AT  WELLESBOURNE  HOUSE. 
are'obliged  to  confess  they  can  do  nothing  with  Disa  grandiflora  ;  and 
that  while  they  can  show  you  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
•Cattleyas,  Odontoglossums,  and  Cypripediums,  they  are  obliged  to 
confess,  if  you  ask  them  about  Disas,  that  they  can  do  nothing  with 
them.  I  had  this  answer  lately  from  two  very  eminent  London  firms, 
and  yet  I  know  of  others  who  succeed  with  them.  A  good  many 
seedlings  have  been  raised,  but  many  of  them  lack  the  lustrous  beauty 
of  the  typical  plant. 
It  was  a  long  and  dreary  time  through  which  the  Society  passed; 
members  were  eheted  on  the  council  who  knew  nothing  of  horti¬ 
culture  and  cared  less,  and  the  charter  clung  round  the  neck  of  the 
Society  like  a  millstone,  while  no  possible  outlet  from  the  imbroglio 
seemed  likely.  However,  at  last  deliverance  came,  and  those  only  who 
felt  the  bondage  of  those  miserable  years  can  realise  the  security  and 
peacefulness  of  the  Society  in  its  present  state.  A  great  deal  of  this 
is  owing  to  the  resourceful  energy  of  its  present  accomplished  secretary 
the  Rev.  W.  Wilks.  Larger  schemes  are  in  contemplation,  but  at  the 
present  juncture  it  would  be  unwise  to  speak  of  them  until  they  are 
more  fully  developed.  If  the  new  movement  should  prove  as  prosperous 
as  the  last,  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  may  yet  realise  the  hopes  of 
half  a  century  of  enthusiasts. — D.,  Deal. 
being  newly  imported.  These  were  started  in  crocks  in  the  usual 
way,  and  afterwards  potted  in  a  mixture  of  peat  and  sphagnum.  A 
year  after,  when  I  saw  them,  the  plants  looked  extremely  promising, 
but  rapid  strides  have  been  made  since  then,  and  the  accompanying 
illustration  (fig.  106)  will  convey  some  idea  of  the  wealth  of  flowers 
with  which  the  Dendrobes  were  studded.  A  finer  display  of  these 
brilliant  spring  flowering  Orchids  it  has  never  been  my  lot  to  see. 
Some  of  the  growths  on  D.  Wardianum  were  upwards  of  3  feet  in 
length,  carrying  as  many  as  thirty-five  finely  developed  flowers.  The 
old,  yet  still  popular,  D.  nobile  was  strongly  represented,  some  of 
the  forms  being  exceptionally  good,  far  in  advance  of  many  of  the 
varieties  still  grown.  Plants  which  show  a  decide  1  improvement  in 
the  form  or  markings  of  their  flowers  unfortunately  do  not  always 
grow  and  flower  so  freely  as  inferior  varieties,  but  in  this  case  the 
dual  good  qualities  were  combined.  A  single  plant  in  one  instance 
carried  no  less  than  227  flowers,  and  several  others  must  have  pro¬ 
duced  almost  as  many. 
Other  species  in*  flower  were  D.  thyrsiflorum,  D.  phalsenopsis, 
D.  Ainsworthi,  D.  crassinode,  and  many  others  A  few  Cattleya 
flowers  were  already  expanding,  and  healthy  plants  and  flower 
sheaths  gave  promise  of  beautiful  things  to  come.  The  hard,  strong 
