Felruary  25,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
157 
Gardens,  Downside,  Leatherbead.  77  ;  Mr.  J.  W.  Moorman,  The  Lodge, 
Victoria  Park,  N.E.,  75  ;  Mr.  R.  Reeve,  Hadley  Green,  Barnet,  55  ;  Mr. 
J.  Williams,  15,  Dynevor  Road,  Stoke  Newington,  76  ;  Mr.  J.  H.  Witty, 
Nunhead  Cemetery,  S.E.,  80 ;  Mr.  J.  Lyne,  47  ;  Mr.  A.  Newell,  35  ;  Mr. 
Gleeson,  32  ;  Mr.  Howe,  29 
The  election  {of  new  members  then  followed,  and  the  following 
societies  were  admitted  in  affiliation : — The  Swansea  Working  Men’s 
•Club  and  Institute  Chrysanthemum  Society  and  the  Putney  and  Wands¬ 
worth  Chrysanthemum  Society. 
<jA  few  other  itemB  of  formal  business  nature  were  then  disposed  of, 
and  the  meeting,  which  was  very  largely  attended  and  of  a  most  hearty 
nature,  concluded  with  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  Chairman,  upon  the 
motion  of  Mr.  Wilkinson,  the  Secretary  of  the  Royal  Aquarium  Co. 
Notes  on  Phal^enopsis. 
'  ’  The  glorious  racemes  produced  during  the  present  and  few 
succeeding  months  by  some  of  the  better  known  species  of  Moth 
Orchids  are  enough  to  tempt  anyone  to  take  up  their  culture,  and 
he  who  fails  to  admire  these  must  certainly  have  entirely  lost  his 
sense  of  the  beautiful.  Nothing  in  the  whole  range  of  Orchids 
could  excel  the  graceful  pose  of  the  racemes,  the  richness  and 
exquisite  contour  and  delicate  texture  of  the  blossoms.  It  is 
remarkable,  too,  if  a  little  thought  is  given  to  the  matter  that 
such  a  sumptuous  display  should  be  the  outcome  of  such  meagre 
fare,  for  not  one  of  these  Orchids  cares  for  or  will  be  satisfactory 
with  anything  in  the  way  of  manurial  stimulants. 
The  roothold  for  these  Orchids  is  an  important  matter,  and 
whatever  is  used  for  them  must  be  of  a  very  lasting  description. 
'Wood  is  without  a  doubt  the  most  natural  holding  for  them,  and 
the  way  the  roots  attach  themselves  to  it  and  thrive  upon  it  is 
ample  evidence  that  it  is  suitable  for  them.  So  long  as  this  re¬ 
mains  Bound  nothing  could  in  short  be  better  ;  but  even  the  most 
enduring  kinds  as  a  rule  soon  decay  in  the  heat  and  moisture  of  the 
Orchid  house.  Then  it  will  be  found  rather  difficult  to  re-establish 
the  plants  upon  new  blocks,  or  in  new  baskets,  cylinders,  or  what¬ 
ever  may  be  used.  In  the  case  of  the  latter  the  roots  will  often 
be  found  running  the  entire  length  of  the  rods,  and  therefore  not 
easily  detached,  and  when  detached  difficult  to  induce  to  take  hold 
of  a  fresh  piece. 
When  baskets  are  used  the  roots  are  usually  much  entwined 
about  the  rods,  and  here  the  difficulty  is  as  great  as  with  cylinders. 
A  partial  way  out  of  these  difficulties  will  be  found  in  growing 
most  of  the  stronger  or  more  robust  species  in  pots  nearly  filled  with 
clean  rough  potsherds,  with  a  surface  layer  of  sphagnum  moss. 
These  may,  of  course,  be  suspended  from  the  roof  if  required,  but 
the  chief  advantage!  will  be  found  in  the  fact  that  they  very 
-seldom  need  be  disturbed  at  the  roots,  and  when  eventually  this 
does  become  necessary  the  roots,  by  their  freer  ramification  among 
the  crocks,  will  not  suffer  so  much,  and  the  plants  are  in  conse¬ 
quence  easier  re-established. 
I  do  not  mean  by  advisiDg  pots,  that  the  ordinary  make  and  no 
other  should  be  used,  for  the  light  pans  so  often  recommended 
answer  exactly  the  same  purpose,  and  are  in  fact  superior  to  the 
ordinary  kind  for  weak  species  and  small  plant*.  The  layer  of 
•moss  need  only  be  thin,  and  may  be  added  to  as  time  goes  on  if 
necessary.  Great  eare  is  necessary  not  to  damage  the  roots  in 
"fixing,  and  the  plants  must  be  made  quite  firm,  tying  to  upright 
stakes  being  required  if  the  roots  are  not  plentiful .  If  baskets  or 
cylinders  are  used  the  same  care  as  to  fixing  is  necessary,  but  the 
roots  in  this  case  are  not  so  liable  to  injury  with  ordinary  care. 
Watering  at  the  root  must  be  judiciously  attended  to  all  the 
year  round.  The  drying  of  these  plants  during  winter,  which  I 
have  often  warned  growers  against,  is  still  practised  to  a  certain 
extent,  and  is  a  relic  of  the  barbarous  treatment  that  used  to  be 
meted  out  to  all  Orchids  alike,  whether  it  was  a  pseudo-bulbous 
kind  or  one  of  the  distichoui-leaved  race  without  those  sustaining 
organs.  Allowance  must  be  made  for  the  state  of  growth,  also  the 
state  of  the  atmosphere  and  climatic  conditions  outside  ;  but  a 
•starving  regime,  brought  about  by  entirely  withholding  water, 
cannot  be  too  strongly  deprecated.  Watering  over  the  leaves  is 
not  as  a  rule  advisable,  occasional  success  obtained  under  the 
circumstances  notwithstanding. 
Temperature  is  an  important  factor.  As  the  year  advances  the 
'increased  light  and  warmer  outside  conditions  must  be  met  with  a 
slightly  higher  temperature.  The  maximum  will  be  reached  at 
anidsummer,  and  continued  until  the  days  again  begin  to  shorten, 
when  it  must  again  recede,  not  all  at  once,  but  very  gradually. 
Healthy  plants  with  abundant  leafage  stand  a  fair  amount  of  sun¬ 
light  and  air,  especially  towards  the  end  of  summer,  when  it  has  a 
tendency  to  consolidate  the  plants  and  render  them  less  likely  to 
suffer  from  slight  alterations  of  temperature,  sometimes  nnavoidable 
during  winter.  It  may  be  taken  as  a  guide  that  the  minimum 
winter  temperature  must  never  be  less  than  60°,  while  90°  is  quite 
high  enough  as  a  summer  maximum  by  day,  70°  by  night. 
It  is  impossible  to  go  minutely  into  all  the  details  of  culture, 
but  the  cardinal  points  once  mastered  beginners  will  find  little 
difficulty  in  growing  the  species  named  below.  One  thing  must  not 
be  lost  sight  of — that  is,  that  Phalaenopses  one  and  all  are  very 
free  blooming  plants,  and  sometimes  push  flower  spikes  when  the 
plants  are  hardly  capable  through  weakness,  or  owing  to  not  being 
well  established,  of  bringing  them  to  perfection  without  risk  of 
injury.  In  such  cases  remove  some  of  the  flowers,  and  whatever 
number  is  left  do  not  let  the  plants  carry  them  until  they  fade, 
but  cat  and  place  in  water  after  about  a  week  or  ten  days. 
P.  amabilis  may  be  styled  the  most  popular  in  the  genus,  and 
produces  large  racemes  of  white  blossoms  with  a  prettily  spotted 
lip.  It  first  flowered  in  England  in  1838,  and  is  a  native  of  Java. 
P.  grandiflora  is  a  large  flowering  plant,  but  much  resembling 
amabilis.  It  is  a  Bornean  kind,  introduced  in  1847.  P.  Ludde- 
manniana,  P.  Schilleriana,  and  P.  Stuartiana  (fig.  35)  are  all  natives 
of  the  Phillipine  Islands.  The  first-named  is  slightly  more  tender 
than  the  other  two,  and  bears  white  flowers  prettily  marked  with 
brown  and  purple.  P.  Schilleriana  would  be  worth  growing  for 
the  sake  of  the  beautiful  foliage  alone,  and  P.  Stuartiana  is  not  far 
behind  it  in  this  respect.  Both  produce  splendid  branching  spikes 
of  flowers,  the  ground  colour  of  these  varying  from  creamy  white 
to  the  deepest  rose. —  H.  R.  R. 
Sale  of  Orchids  at  Marks  Tey. 
At  Messrs.  Horsman’s  sale  good  prices  were  realised  for  the 
plants  by  Messrs.  Protheroe  &  Morris.  Nothing  of  great  rarity 
was  included,  but  fine  plants  of  popular  kinds  sold  well,  especially 
Odontoglossum  crispum,  owing  possibly  to  a  report  that  it  is 
becoming  scarce  in  its  habitat.  Dendrobium  Wardianum  album 
brought  4  guineas  and  3  guineas,  while  a  good  form  of  Lselia 
purpurata  went  for  3J  guineas.  Some  unflowered  seedlings  of 
Cattleya  were  knocked  down  for  10  guineas,  a  good  price  consider¬ 
ing  that  the  parentage  was  not  forthcoming. 
French  Wine. — The  annual  report  of  the  Commissioners  of  Indirect 
Taxes,  a  full  digest  of  which  has  recently  been  published  in  the 
«  Moniteur  Vinicole,”  confirms  the  estimate  formed  at  the  close  or 
the  vintage  as  to  the  quantity  of  wine  made  in  France  last  year,  the 
total  vield  of  the  4,321.080  acres  under  cultivation  in  1896  being 
1,004,763,420  gallons.  This  is  equivalent  to  an  average  yield  or 
234  gallons  per  acre,  or  99  gallons  per  acre  more  than  in  189o,  and  not 
far  short  of  the  almost  unprecedented  average  obtained  m  nu 
although  there  was  an  increaee  of  the  area  under  vintage  cultivation 
in  thirty-four  departments,  bo  many  Vines  were  uprooted  elsewhere 
that  the  total  for  the  whole  of  France  showed  a  decrease  of  46,4^0  acres  , 
and  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  acreage  has  been  steadily  decreasing 
for  the  last  ten  years,  having  been  just  5,000,000  acres  in  1886,  thoug 
the  yield  of  wine  has,  on  the  whole,  been  larger  since. 
