August  29,  1895. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
197 
Autumn  Treatment  of  Orchids. 
Already  the  days  are  shortening  rapidly,  and  Orchids  of  many 
kinds  are  nearing  the  end  of  the  season’s  growth.  In  the  warm 
house  Dendrobiums,  Catasetums,  and  other  heat  and  sun-loving 
Orchids  are  beginning  to  take  on  the  hard  and  ripened  look  that 
comes  with  the  end  of  summer.  A  great  deal  of  care  is  now 
needed  in  all  operations  appertaining  to  culture,  as  watering,  shad¬ 
ing,  and  ventilating.  Perhaps  the  latter  is  the  most  important 
detail  of  all,  a  free  circulation  of  air  by  night  and  day 
being  now  an  absolute  necessity.  , 
All  Orchids  do  not  behave  alike,  it  goes  without 
saying,  but  there  are  few,  very  few  species  that  are 
not  better  for  a  certain  amount  of  ripening,  or  more 
properly  consolidating.  Take  a  Yanda  or  an  Aerides, 
for  instance,  or  even  a  Phalaeaopsis.  Although  these 
have  no  pseudo-bulbs  to  finish  up  or  a  now  growth  of 
any  kind  to  complete,  as  in  the  case  of  Cypripediums  or 
a  Masdevallia,  yet  an  observant  cultivator  will  never  fail 
to  notice  a  change  in  the  growth  at  this  season  or  a 
little  later.  To  those  who  look  below  the  surface  it  is 
just  as  plain  when  these  distichous-leaved  kinds  are 
going  to  rest  as  in  the  pseudo-bulbous  species,  and  just 
as  easy  to  see  what  is  required  by  them. 
Unfortunately,  this  faculty  of  observation  is  not 
exercised  enough  by  growers  in  general,  little  things 
apparently  not  being  noted  at  the  proper  time,  and  left 
until  too  late.  With  regard  to  giving  air  at  night,  it  is 
of  the  utmost  importance  that  the  temperature  is  kept 
up,  for  although  a  few  degrees  lower  will  not  harm 
plants  that  are  fully  grown,  there  are  usually  others  half 
finished,  or  perhaps  only  just  starting,  that  must  not  be 
checked  in  any  way.  For  instance,  Deudrobium  super¬ 
bum  is  with  me  not  half  made  up,  while  several  plants 
of  such  as  crassinode,  aureum,  and  nobile,  are  now 
quite  complete.  Cattleya  Gaskelliana,  0.  gigas,  and 
many  Lselias  now  require  to  be  kept  dormant,  while 
C.  Mossiae  is  still  growing  freely,  as  are  Laelia  purpurata, 
and  several  others. 
Of  course  the  first  named  might  be  taken  to  a  cooler 
or  drier  house,  but  this  is  not  always  convenient  or 
advisable,  as  plants  kept  in  the  same  house  all  through 
the  year  are  more  constant  in  their  time  of  flowering, 
whereas  if  taken  to  a  cooler  house  the  check  given 
sometimes  throws  them  behind.  X  had  an  instance  of 
this  with  Cattleya  Trianse  and  Mossiae  two  years  ago,  and 
I  think  I  mentioned  it  at  the  time  in  the  Journal  of 
Horticulture.  Of  course,  there  is  not  much  harm  done 
by  removing  any  that  from  past  experience  one  has 
found  difficult  to  manage  in  any  other  way,  but,  as  a 
rule,  if  once  the  plants  get  into  a  regular  routine  of 
growth,  not  much  trouble  will  be  found  in  keeping 
them  dormant  at  the  proper  season. 
With  Dendrobiums  the  case  is  different,  unless, 
indeed,  this  genus  is  grouped  all  together  in  our  houses. 
If  all  are  grown  in  the  East  Indian  house  in  company  with  other 
heat-loving  genera,  then  they  must  be  removed,  for  the  winter 
temperature  required  by  a  Phalsenopsis  would  be  far  too  high  for 
the  majority  of  Dendrobiums.  These,  then,  we  taae  to  a  cooler 
and  drier  house  directly  the  new  pseudo  bulbs  are  matured,  giving 
them  a  light  and  airy  place  to  thoroughly  harden  and  prepare  them 
for  winter.  The  Australian  Dendrobes,  as  a  rule,  also  D.  chrys- 
anthum,  are,  however,  growing  through  some  part,  at  any  rate,  of 
the  winter,  and  of  course  are  not  taken  out  of  the  East  Indian  house. 
Some  Orchids,  again,  are  removed  for  a  time,  but  replaced  on 
the  approach  of  cold  weather,  and  amongst  these  may  be  mentioned 
Thunias  of  various  kinds,  several  of  the  Mexican  Lselias,  Cypri- 
pedium  in-*igne,  and  a  few  others.  The  rest  are  left  in  the  house 
wherein  they  have  been  growing,  and  by  judicious  arrangement 
and  watering  induced  to  rest  or  kept  in  growth  as  may  be  necessary. 
Yanda  cce  ulea  requires  great  care  now  ;  it  must  not  be  dried  at 
the  root,  for  the  spikes  are  forming,  and  yet  it  is  very  important 
that  anything  like  excitement  must  be  carefully  guarded  against. 
It  is  the  same  with  many  of  the  cool  Odontoglossums  and  others. 
No  drying  system  can  possibly  be  successful,  yet  a  certain  check  to 
growth  must  of  necessity  be  given. 
It  is  very  unsatisfactory  to  have  the  spikes  showing  at  the  same 
time  the  plants  are  beginning  to  grow,  and  all  that  are  finished 
should  therefore  be  kept  to  a  certain  extent  dormant.  I  always 
make  it  a  rule  to  look  over  the  plants  frequently,  and  place  all  such 
as  near  the  ventilators  as  possible,  damping  less  in  their  immediate 
vicinity.  The  shading  will,  of  course,  have  to  be  diminished  on  all 
the  houses,  not  all  at  once,  but  gradually,  and  it  is  as  well  to 
remember  that  the  sunshine  in  the  morning  when  the  ventilators 
are  open  does  much  more  towards  ripening  growth  than  in  the 
afternoon  when  the  houses  are  closed  and  more  moisture  is  afloat 
in  the  atmosphere. — H.  E.  K. 
MR.  A.  F.  BARRON  AND  HIS  FRIENDS. 
It  is  impossible  to  ignore  the  fact  that  many  of  Mr.  Barron’s  friends, 
and  they  are  neither  few  nor  uninfluential,  are  considerably  disturbed 
by  recent  events.  While  no  exception  appears  to  be  taken,  as  it  could 
FIG.  28.— LiBLIO-CATTLEYA  CHARLES  DARWIN.  (See  pa^e  206.) 
not  well  be,  to  his  retiring  allowance,  the  methods  adopted  of  appoint¬ 
ing  a  Committee  of  Inspection  of  Chiswick,  without,  it  is  understood, 
consulting  the  Garden  Committee,  is  disapproved,  and  it  is  thought 
that  the  decision  arrived  at  savours  of  a  reflection  on  this  Committee, 
under  whose  instructions  the  Superintendent  has  presumably  acted  in 
the  conduct  of  the  Gardens.  This  feeling  is  the  outcome  of  an  impression 
that  the  Gardens  are  not  in  the  condition  they  should  be.  The  question 
of  condition  is  obviously  a  question  of  the  means  afforded  in  the  form 
of  labour  for  their  keeping.  All  persons  who  care  to  do  so  can  see  them 
on  the  occasion  of  the  coming  show,  and  it  is  certain  they  will  then  be 
closely  “  inspected.”  We  understand  that  a  meeting  was  held  at  the 
Windsor  Hotel  on  Tuesday,  27th  inst.,  convened,  it  is  said,  by  Mr.  Wm. 
Marshall,  and  presided  over  by  Dr.  Maxwell  T.  Masters,  for  considering 
the  question  of  a  testimonial  to  Mr.  Barron,  and  that  a  Committee  was 
appointed,  which  is  to  meet  at  the  Windsor  Hotel  on  the  Chiswick  show 
day.  We  are  requested  to  state  that  the  proposed  meeting  of  the  Fruit 
Committee  at  Chiswick  on  the  10th  inst.,  for  considering  some  form  of 
recognition  of  the  services  of  its  Secretary,  is  quite  distinct  from,  though 
not  in  any  way  opposed  to,  the  Windsor  Hotel  meeting  above  referred 
to.  Just  as  we  are  going  to  press  we  are  requested  to  insert  the  following 
notification.  _ 
A  representative  meeting  of  horticulturists  was  held  at  the  Hotel 
Windsor,  Victoria  Street,  S.W.,  on  Tuesday  afternoon,  Dr.  Maxwell 
