118 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
February  11,  1897 
L.elio-Cattleya  Nysa  SUPERBA. 
When  Lgelio-Cattleya  Nysa  was  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Jas. 
Yeitch  &  Sons,  Ltd  ,  it  attracted,  by  its  distinct  and  charming 
beauty,  a  wonderful  amount  of  attention  amongst  orchidists,  and 
any  varieties  of  the  type  are  eagerly  sought  for.  One  of  these, 
named  L.-C.  N.  superba,  when  staged  at  the  Drill  Hall  by  the 
same  firm  on  November  10th  of  last  year,  was  promptly  accorded 
a  first-class  certificate  by  the  Orchid  Committee  of  the  Royal 
Horticultural  Society.  Such  a  recognition  was  thoroughly  deserved, 
for  in  it  the  many  excellent  points  of  the  type  are  intensified. 
Our  woodcut  (fig.  28)  will  convey  to  readers  the  form  of  the 
flower,  while  the  colour  of  the  sepals  and  petals  is  soft  rose,  and 
that  of  the  superb  lip  rich  velvety  crimson  with  golden  side  lobes. 
Potting  Orchids — Pseudo-bijlbs  Decaying. 
1,  In  potting  Orchids  that  have  not  increased  in  siz9  would  it 
be  preferable  to  clean  away  the  old  material  and  repot  in  the  same 
sized  pot  or  to  let  the  old  ball  remain  and  increase  the  size  of 
the  pot.  2,  Is  there  any  remedy  to  prevent  the  entire  decay  of 
Cattleya  labiata  pseudo-bulbs  when  attacked  with  mildew,  arising 
from  dampness  in  the  sheath  after  blooming,  and  what  treatment 
is  advisable,  besides  proper  ventilation  and  careful  watering,  to 
prevent  such  attacks  altogether  ? — 0. 
[Whether  or  not  a  plant  requires  a  larger  pot  when  renewing 
the  compost  depends  pait'y  upon  the  habit  of  the  species,  but 
more  upon  how  it  is  thriving.  In  every  case  it  is  advisable  to 
remove  as  much  of  the  old  material  as  possible  without  unduly  dis¬ 
turbing  the  roots.  We  have  just  been  repotting  some  large  plants 
of  Cymbidium  giganteum.  These  had  completely  filled  their  pots 
with  roots,  enwrapping  firmly  every  particle  of  both  compost  and 
drainage.  To  have  pulled  these  roots  about  would  have  been  very 
unwise,  as  a  check  to  the  plants  would  have  been  inevitable.  But 
these  are  exceptionally  vigorous  rooters,  and  therefore  come  in  for 
exceptional  treatment.  In  all  ordinary  cases  the  point  you  urge  is 
quite  right.  With  regard  to  the  sheaths  decaying  on  Cattleya 
labiata,  either  this  is  the  result  of  a  cold  drip  or  the  plants  have 
been  kept  too  moist  in  a  lower  temperature  than  they  require. 
Cutting  half  way  through  the  sheath  in  removing  the  flower  spikes 
tends  to  this  condition  of  things,  but  with  otherwise  healthy  plants 
in  a  suitable  atmosphere  it  would  not  occur.  The  only  remedy  at 
all  likely  to  be  successful  is  removing  the  sheath  entire  when  the 
decay  is  first  noticed,  carefully  avoiding  injury  to  the  pseudo-bulbs 
in  so  doing.  We  wish  you  every  success  in  your  laudable  effort  to 
excel  in  the  culture  of  this  beautiful  and  interesting  class  of 
plant.] 
EELWORM  ERADICATION. 
Information  Wanted.  > 
I  HOPE  now  the  Chrysanthemum  season  is  over  you  will  give 
space  in  the  Journal  for  Mr.  Abbey  to  make  clear  his  statements 
respecting  eelworm  in  Cucumbers  and  Tomatoes  and  proposed 
remedies.  Many  of  us  market  growers  will  soon  be  planting  our 
“Cues  and  Toms”  by  the  thousand.  In  these  days  of  keen 
competition  we  cannot  afford  to  do  much  experimenting,  and  then 
find  supposed  remedies  useless  as  in  the  case  of  the  10  per  cent,  of 
lime  treatment.  In  my  experience  Tomatoes  or  Cucumbers  could 
not  survive  such  treatment.  I  found  them  dead  in  twenty -four 
hours  after  applying  10  per  cent,  of  lime  to  soil  that  Professor 
Gilchrist  pronounced  deficient  in  lime  previous  to  using  it. 
I  hope  Mr.  Abbey  will  see  his  way  to  write  on  maladies  and 
remedies  in  a  way  that  we  can  all  understand.  Unfortunately 
we  were  born  too  soon  for  participating  in  the  advantages 
of  such  education  as  is  availab  e  now  in  any  art  or  science  that 
a  youth  may  wish  to  study,  so  kindly  assist  us  by  placing  infor¬ 
mation  before  us  in  plain  clear  terms  easily  to  be  comprehended 
— that  is  the  best  of  teaching  and  the  most  appreciated. 
When  are  we  to  be  favoured  with  Mr.  Iggulden’a  “little 
sensation  ”  that  he  promised  Mr.  Abbey  long  ago  ?  This  public 
promise  remains  unfulfilled.  We  are  anxiously  awaiting  the 
fulfilment,  and  hope  not  to  be  disappointed.  A  promise  made 
public  is  a  public  engagement.  We  want  to  hear  of  a  remedy 
which  will  speedily  annihilate  the  eelworm,  and  so  rid  us  of  this 
dreadful  pest. 
For  twelve  years  I  had  no  trouble  with  it,  as  at  that  time  I  uied 
Jensen's  fish  manure  1  part  to  100  of  soil,  with  1  part  each  of  lime 
and  soot ;  unfortunately,  I  cannot  obtain  it  now,  I  only  wish  I 
could.  Not  onlv  does  eelworm  attack  Cucumbers  and  Tomatoes, 
but  Cyclamens,  Primulas,  and  Carnations  suffer  from  its  depre¬ 
dations. 
I  consider  this  a  most  important  subject,  and  one  that  affects  a 
great  industry,  so  that  we  shall  be  very  much  obliged,  Mr.  Editor, 
if  you  will  kindly  insert  this  letter  in  your  valuable  paper. — 
John  Bradley. 
[The  letter  is  readily  inserted,  and  we  shall  be  obliged  by  the 
results  of  experience  clearly  and  plainly  described,  in  conquering 
one  of  the  most  insidious  and  destructive  enemies  of  plants.  We 
are  bound  to  say,  however,  that  many  persons  rely  too  much  on 
“remedies”  instead  of  taking  timely  action  in  the  way  of  “pre¬ 
ventives.”  When  eelworms  become  embedded  in  the  tissues  of 
plants  they  are  the  masters  of  the  situation.  The  information 
given  on  page  93  last  week  ought  to  be  interesting  and  useful,  but 
the  manure  formulae,  good  as  they  may  be,  will  not  kill  eelworm  in 
the  tissues  of  the  plants  ;  and  we  suspect  it  is  easier  to  kill  eelworms 
and  their  eggs  in  the  laboratory  than  in  the  soil.  The  time  is 
opportune  for  Mr.  Iggulden  to  give  the  results  of  his  experiments. 
He  sent  us  the  best  flavoured  Tomatoes  last  year  that  we  tasted 
during  the  whole  season.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  how 
l  ong  the  10  per  cent,  of  lime  had  been  mixed  in  the  soil  before  it 
killed  Mr.  Bradley’s  plants.] 
A  WANT  AND  A  WAIL. 
Poor  Flora  !  Unhappy  Pomona  !  Not  even  in  the  mighty 
modern  Babylon,  where  your  most  ardent  worshippers  would  fain 
see  a  noble  temple  rear  its  head,  is  there  to  be  a  place  for  you  save 
on  sufferance  in  uncongenial  surroundings.  Considering  the 
immense  importance  of  the  subject  to  the  gardening  fraternity 
generally  and  to  the  higher  exponents  of  horticultural  art  in  parti¬ 
cular,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  question  has  received  considerable 
attention  of  late  ;  but  it  must  be  a  matter  for  regret  to  feel  that 
we  “too  oft  begin  in  pomp  and  show  to  end  as  little  and  as  low.’* 
Perhaps  it  is  impossible  to  sever  luxuriant  associations  from  horti¬ 
cultural  art,  hence  we  are  carried  away  from  the  actually  necessary 
into  the  realms  of  palatial  and  magnificent  design — splendid  dreams, 
never  to  be  realised  in  our  day  ;  worthy,  indeed,  of  the  object,  but 
suffic  e  ut  to  court  defeat  under  the  dominion  of  the  severely 
practical  spirit  of  the  age. 
The  powerful  stimulus  afforded  this  year  to  our  loyal  and 
patriotic  feelings  will  doubtless  take  some  practical  form  consonant 
with  our  own  peculiar  requirements.  It  has,  in  fact,  already  done 
so  ;  but  so  far  as  this  subject  is  directly  concerned  it  appears  to 
have  been  taken  up  and  dropped  as  quickly  as  the  proverbial  hot 
Potato.  There  is  no  occasion  to  draw  invidious  companions 
between  schemes  relating  to  this  subject  and  those  benevolent 
ones  which  have  been  propounded  “The  Gardeners’  Royal 
Benevolent  Institution  ’’  is  worthy  of  all  the  support  it  will  obtain, 
and  of  a  great  deal  more  than  gardeners  as  a  class  have  ever  given 
to  it  ;  but  great  and  good  and  noble  as  it  is,  one  would  like  to 
express  a  passing  thought  upon  that  provided  by  our  text  ere  it 
is  relegated  to  obscurity.  Obscurity  ?  It  may  be  that  it  is  not 
so  ;  that  the  yearly  progress  of  gardening  will  increase  in  corre¬ 
sponding  ratio  the  already  keenly  felt  want,  and  that  even  we  may 
live  to  see  Mr.  Wood’s  dream  realised.  Yet  all  too  languine  an 
expectation  mayhap  on  those  lofty  lines,  and  granted  that  unfor¬ 
tunately  this  is  the  case  then  may  one  venture  to  ask,  Is  there 
no  via  media  worthy  of  attention  by  which  the  object  might  be 
gained  ?  Ere  our  jubilant  feelings  are  for  the  nonce  wholly 
diverted  into  other  channels,  however  praiseworthy,  this  horti¬ 
cultural  building  scheme  should  not,  I  think,  be  wholly  a  shattered 
idol. 
There  are,  I  suppose,  but  few  exhibitors  who  have  not  felt  the 
want  we  are  dealing  with,  and  to  most  horticultural  societies  it  is 
the  one  thing  needful — viz.,  a  permanent  building  adapted  to  the 
purpose  in  which  they  may  be  practically  independent  of  the 
weather  and  not  dependent  at  any  time  upon  makeshift  lodgings. 
Truly  there  is  nothing  more  pleasing  to  all  concerned  than  a  battle 
under  canvas  in  balmy  weather,  but  when  it  comes  to  a  battle  with 
the  elements  which  too  often  re:gn  (rain)  triumphant  there  is 
nothing  more  depressing — a  depression  seriously  affecting  the 
receipts.  On  one  occasion  our  Society,  which  had  pitched  its 
tents  in  congenial  surroundings,  was  worsted  in  the  encounter  with 
Boreas,  who  literally  drew  a  curtain  over  the  scene  by  bringing 
down  poles  and  canvas  at  one  fell  swoop  on  specimen  plants, 
flowers,  and  fruits.  Too  often  have  circumstances  compelled  me 
to  stay  under  a  dripping  tent  sharing  the  honours  with  the  bands- 
