January  28,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
69 
sepals  and  petals  are  pale  greenish  yellow  blotched  with  chocolate. 
The  short,  nearly  flat,  and  very  broad  lip  is  pale  lilac  veined  with 
rosy  purple  and  margined  with  the  same  colour.  The  habit  is 
dwarf,  the  pseudo-bulbs  short  and  blunt,  the  leaves,  as  shown,  long 
and  narrow.  There  is  a  strong  suggestion  of  the  Zygopetalum 
parentage  about  the  hybrid,  but  it  is,  as  it  were,  modified  and  toned 
down,  the  contour  of  the  flower  being  improved  by  the  “  Colax 
blood.”  In  every  respect  Zygocolax  Veitchi  is  a  beautiful  and 
charming  Orchid,  and  a  distinct  triumph  of  the  hybridiser. 
Saccolabium  giganteum. 
This  is  the  brightest  and  most  effective  of  all  the  distichous¬ 
leaved  section,  flowering  during  winter,  and  an  Orchid  worthy  a 
place  in  the  most  select  collections.  Its  great  fleshy  leaves  and 
apparently  vigorous  habit  hold  out  hopes  of  a  robust  and  healthy 
constitution,  which  unfortunately  it  does  not  possess.  Newly 
imported  plants,  it  is  true,  are  easily  established,  and  for  the  first 
few  seasons  no  fault  can  be  found  with  its  behaviour ;  but,  as  a 
rule,  after  this  time  a  backward  tendency  becomes  apparent  that  is 
difficult  indeed  to  resist.  Often  the  plants  will  go  on  well  until  it 
becomes  necessary  to  give  them  new  material  at  the  roots,  then 
when  they  are  once  disturbed  it  is  difficult  to  get  them  to  take  a 
good  hold  on  the  new  material. 
The  symptoms  of  this  unsatisfactory  state  vary  somewhat  in 
individual  plants,  but  as  a  rule  the  foliage  begins  to  shrivel  con¬ 
siderably,  gets  loose  at  the  axils,  and  eventually  drops  off,  lessening 
the  size  of  the  plant,  and  o*:  course  in  a  like  measure  its  vigour. 
This  is  occasionally  the  result,  too,  of  allowing  weaker  or  un¬ 
established  specimens  to  flower  freely,  their  blooming  season  being, 
as  before  mentioned,  the  middle  of  winter,  when  the  energies  of 
the  plant  are  at  their  lowest  ebb.  But  this  alone  would  not  cause 
so  many  fine  plants  to  be  lost  annually,  and  the  secret  really  lies  in 
our  artificial  atmosphere.  Too  many  Orchid  houses  are  built  now¬ 
adays  very  narrow  and  low,  and  admirable  as  these  are  for  a  great 
many  Orchids,  they  are  not  quite  the  thing  for  this  class,  which 
above  all  others  need  plenty  of  head  and  elbow  room. 
Given  a  large  roomy  structure,  where  the  plants  may  be 
arranged  at  least  a  yard  from  the  glass,  and  where  owing  to  the 
capacity  of  the  house  the  atmosphere  is  not  liable  to  sudden 
alternations  of  drought  and  moisture,  these  plants  are  far  more 
likely  to  be  satisfactory  than  in  the  class  of  house  aforesaid.  I 
have  an  idea,  too,  that  the  proximity  of  larger  specimens  of 
vegetation,  such  as  big  Palms,  Tree  Ferns,  Musas,  and  other 
things  frequently  seen  in  large  stove  conservatories,  is  helpful 
in  providing  the  right  kind  of  atmosphere,  and  certainly  the 
broken  light  coming  between  the  foliage  of  such  plants  is  better 
than  that  caused  by  the  close  shading  practised  in  Orchid  houses 
generally. 
As  a  rule,  this  class  of  house  is  not  at  command,  and  growers 
must  do  the  best  they  can  with  those  they  have.  Provide  them  an 
atmosphere  quickened  by  plenty  of  heat,  yet  not  stuffy,  and  let  air 
and  moisture  be  as  nicely  balanced  as  outside  conditions  will  allow. 
Shade  as  little  as  possible,  but  never  allow  the  foliage  to  feel  hot 
to  the  touch  of  a  person  in  the  same  house.  This  must  be  kept 
up  the  whole  year  r<  und,  for  S.  giganteum  is  a  restless  species, 
and  is  frequently  in  growth  again  almost  before  the  flowers  are 
past.  If  they  seem  inclined  to  rest  awhile  do  not  try  to  force 
them  into  growth ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  when  once  root  action 
commences  a  deal  of  harm  may  be  done  if  any  attempt  to  check 
this  is  made. 
Imported  plants  usually  arrive  in  fairly  good  order,  and  in 
many  cases  they  may  be  potted  up  at  once  in  clean  crocks,  or 
placed  in  baskets  in  the  same  material  if  these  are  preferred. 
Roots  will  be  emitted  in  due  course,  and  when  these  are  seen  to 
be  starting  lay  a  surfacing  of  sphagnum  moss  over  the  crocks,  this 
protecting  the  young  roots  and  husbanding  the  moisture.  In  a 
warm  house  they  will  require  frequent  watering,  and  owing  to  the 
nature  of  the  material  the  roots  are  not  in  the  least  likely  to  be 
surfeited  with  ordinary  care.  Should  the  plants,  on  the  other 
hand,  be  much  shrivelled  when  they  arrive,  suspend  them  upside 
down  in  a  warm  moist  house  until  they  are  plumped  up,  and  ready 
to  pot  as  described. 
Established  plants,  as  mentioned  above,  dislike  disturbance  at 
the  roots,  but  if  it  becomes  really  necessary  it  must  be  gone  about 
in  a  careful  and  judicious  manner.  The  best  time  to  repot  is  after 
the  fliwers  are  past,  and  just  as  the  plants  commence  to  grow,  they 
being  allowed  a  little  more  warmth  afterwards,  and  carefully 
watered.  I  have  advised  the  use  of  pots,  as  I  believe  the  roots  of 
all  distichous  species  have  a  great  liking  for  the  hard,  yet  porous 
earthenware,  but  they  should  in  all  cases  be  suspended  if  convenient. 
They  must  never  hang  direct  from  a  rafter  unless  this  is  provided 
with  a  drip  groove,  for  cold  drops  in  the  centre  of  the  plant  at 
midwinter  will  kill  it  as  surely  as  if  it  was  exposed  to  frost. — 
H.  R.  R. 
NOTES  FROM  THE  RIVIERA, 
Having  spent  a  period  of  twelve  months  in  this  charming  part 
of  the  Continent,  perhaps  a  few  notes  made  during  my  sojourn 
there  may  be  of  some  interest  to  readers  of  the  Journal.  The 
chief  towns  in  the  Riviera — Nice,  Cannes,  Monaco,  and  Mentone — 
are  all  well-known  winter  resorts,  the  population  of  which  during 
this  season  is  almost  doubled  by  the  influx  of  visitors.  A  large 
number  of  these  are  English,  who  no  doubt  are  very  glad  to  be  able 
to  leave  their  foggy  island  home  for  the  almost  unbroken  sunshine 
of  the  South  of  France.  It  is  seldom  that  much  frost  is  expe¬ 
rienced,  4°  or  5°  Fahr.  being  the  most  registered  in  ordinary 
seasons.  The  winter  of  1894  was  exceptionally  severe.  We  then 
had  as  many  as  12°  of  frost  and  a  heavy  fall  of  snow,  which  did  a 
great  deal  of  damage  to  the  vegetation  of  the  gardens.  The 
summer  is  hot  and  dry  ;  sometimes  the  thermometer  in  the  shade 
reaches  100°  Fahr.  Little  if  any  rain  falls  from  the  end  of  April 
to  the  beginning  of  October.  The  scenery  of  the  Riviera  is  most 
charming  ;  indeed,  Monte  Carlo  has  been  described  as  the  “  most 
FIG.  19 — ZYGOCOLAX  VEITCHI. 
beautiful  spot  on  earth.”  All  the  previously  mentioned  towns 
have  a  fine  situation,  and  each  is  well  sheltered  on  the  north  by 
the  Eslerel  Mountains,  running  parallel  with  the  sea  coast. 
Nestling  on  their  well-wooded  slopes,  with  the  blue  Mediterranean 
stretching  away  in  front  and  a  cloudless  sky  above,  these  towns 
present  an  ideal  picture. 
Without  further  enlarging  upon  the  beauty  of  this  neighbour¬ 
hood,  I  will  turn  for  a  short  time  to  its  horticultural  aspect.  The 
commonest  trees  which  flourish  here  are  the  Pine.  Olive,  Orange, 
Eucalyptus,  Plane,  and  Acacia.  The  Olive  tree  is  very  useful,  for 
besides  withstanding  well  the  summer  drought,  it  seldom  fails  to 
yield  a  large  crop  of  fruit,  ehiefly  used  for  making  oil.  Cooked 
Olives  are  also  largely  consumed  by  the  French  and  Italians.  The 
under  side  of  the  leaves  of  the  Olive  is  much  lighter  than  the  upper 
surface,  in  fact  almost  white,  and  in  a  rough  wind  the  constant 
changing  of  colour  produces  a  pretty  undulating  effect.  The 
Eucalyptus  (E.  globulus)  attains  a  great  height,  almost  as  high  as 
our  English  Elms,  but  although  a  handsome  tree  it  is  not  a 
favourite  with  gardeners  here,  as  its  strong  roots  travel  a  long 
distance,  and  deprive  the  soil  of  much  nourishment.  I  have  seen 
instances  where  nothing  would  grow  within  many  yards  of  this 
tree.  The  Plane  (Platanus  orientalis)  is  largely  used  for  planting 
avenues  and  boulevards  in  towns,  where  its  shade  is  very  accept¬ 
able  during  the  hot  summer  days.  Both  at  Nice  and  Cannes  there 
are  splendid  avenues. 
I  think  one  of  the  prettiest  sights  to  be  seen  here  in  the  months 
