206 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
August  29,  1895 
medal).  Mr.  Johnson,  gardener  to  T.  Statter,  Esq.,  Stand  Hall,  Man¬ 
chester,  sent  a  beautiful  group  of  Orchid  flowers,  comprising  Den- 
drobinm  Phalfenopsis  Schroderianum,  Laelio  -  Cattleyas  in  variety, 
Cattleya  Gaskelliana  alba,  C.  aurea,  C.  Rex,  C.  guttata  Leopold!,  Lmlia 
elegans  Owenim  (see  below),  Lmlia  elegans  in  variety,  and  others  (silver 
Flora  medal).  Mr.  Stafford,  gardener  to  F.  Hardy,  Esq.,  Ashton-on- 
Mersey,  sent  three  Orchids,  including  Oncidium  Kramerianum,  Lmlio- 
Oattleya  Hardyana,  and  Lmlia  elegans  Turner!.  An  award  of  merit  was 
accorded  to  Mr.  T.  Bond,  gardener  to  C.  Ingram,  Esq.,  Godaiming,  for 
Lrelio-Cattleya  Charles  Darwin.  The  same  exhibitor  also  had  Cattleya 
Gaskelliana  rosea,  Lmlio-Cattleya  Elstead  Gem,  and  Laelia  Turner! 
elsteadense. 
The  Orchids  staged  by  Messrs.  F.  Sander  &  Co.,  St.  Albans,  were  very 
beautiful  indeed,  and  at  the  same  lime  very  diversified.  Cypripedium 
oenanthum  superbum,  Cattleya  Fowleri,  Dendrobiums  Phalsenopsis 
Schroderianum,  cruentum,  and  bracteosum  ;  Burlingtonia  pubescens, 
Cattleya  Gaskelliana,  Masdevallia  gemmata,  Oncidium  Forbesi,  Odon- 
toglossums  vexillarium  and  Coradinei,  Cattleya  aurea  Mrs.  F.  Hardy, 
and  Oncidium  Jonesianum  (silver  Banusian  medal). 
CEETIFICAfES  AND  AWARDS  OF  MERIT. 
Acacia  neo-mexicana  (Paul  &  Son). — This  useful  Acacia  has  large 
flowers  of  a  dull  purplish  rose  colour  (award  of  merit). 
Alocasia  Laid  grayulis  (H.  Low  &  Co.).— This  is  a  fine  form,  having 
large  leaves  of  good  substance ;  the  leaves  are  green,  having  clearly 
defined  ribs,  adding  much  to  its  attractiveness  (award  of  merit). 
Cattleya  aurea  Mrs.  F.  Hardy  (F.  Sander  &  Co.). — This  is  an 
extremely  beautiful  variety.  The  petals  are  pale  cream,  the  sepals 
being  of  a  slightly  darker  shade.  The  outer  portion  of  the  lip  is  rich 
maroon,  this  shade  prevailing  into  the  throat,  which  is  veined  with 
crimson  (first-class  certificate). 
Ccelogyne  Veitclii  (J.  Veitch  &  Sons). — This  Orchid  has  small  creamy 
white  flowers  borne  in  long,  pendulous  racemes  (award  of  merit). 
Dahlia  Beatrice  (C.  Turner). — A  Cactus  variety  with  large  blooms 
•of  a  magenta  hue  (award  of  merit). 
Dahlia  Dante  (C.  Turner). — A  handsome  Show  Dahlia  of  sym¬ 
metrical  shape.  The  colour  is  deep  velvety  crimson  (award  of  merit). 
Dahlia  Douglas  (C.  Turner). — This  is  of  the  Pompon  type,  the  colour 
being  blackish  crimson  (award  of  merit). 
Dahlia  Fahio  (C.  Turner). — The  flowers  of  this  Pompon  variety  are 
of  splendid  shape  and  orange  scarlet  colour  (award  of  merit). 
Dahlia  Leonora  (C.  Turner). — Cactus  type.  The  colour  is  deep 
rose  ;  the  shape  is  excellent  (award  of  merit). 
Dahlia  MaLel  Stanton  (C.  Turner). — This  is  a  shapely  canary-yellow 
Dahlia,  of  the  “  Show  ”  type  (award  of  merit). 
Dahlia  Purity  (U.  Turner). — A  beautiful  pure  white  Pompon,  of 
good  form  (award  of  merit). 
Dahlia  Nerissa  (C.  Turner). — This  Pompon  has  magenta  flowers  of 
perfect  shape  (award  of  merit). 
Dendrohium  Hooherianuyn  (W.  H,  White). — A  charming  yellow 
Dendrobe  with  a  hairy  edged  lip,  having  two  deep  chocolate  blotches 
(award  of  merit). 
Gladiolus  Brantford  (Kelway  &  Son). — This  is  a  small-flowered 
form  ot  a  velvety  crimson  colour  (award  of  merit). 
Gladiolus  Dolops  (Kelway  &  Son). — This  variety  has  orange- 
crimson  flowers  splashed  with  brown.  The  blooms  are  large  (award  of 
merit). 
Gladiolus  Kate  Kove  (Kelway  &  Son). — The  flowers  of  this  variety 
are  white  sparsely  splashed  rosy  lake  (award  of  merit). 
Lcelio-Cattleya  Charles  Darwin  (T.  W.  Bond). — This  charming 
bigeneric  hybrid  is  the  result  of  a  cross  between  Lmlia  Turner! 
elsteadense  and  Cattleya  maxima.  The  sepals  and  petals  are  shining 
purplish  rose,  the  lip  being  rich  velvety  purplish  maroon,  with  yellow 
bands  at  the  throat.  The  side  lobes  are  pale  rose  tipped  with  purplish 
rose.  The  woodcut  (fig.  28,  page  197),  sketched  at  the  Drill  Hall, 
depicts  the  form  of  the  flower  (award  of  merit). 
Lcelia  elegans  Oweyiice  (R.  Johnson). — Sepals  deep  rose  tinged  with 
buff,  the  petals  being  rose  veined  crimson.  The  lip  is  of  deep  velvety 
crimson  (award  of  merit). 
Soabiosa  caucasica  alba  (M.  Pritchard). — A  good  white  form  with 
large  flowers,  very  distinct  (award  of  merit). 
Tritoma  Pfitzeri  (M.  Pritchard). — This  handsome  kind  is  of  the  same 
shade  as  T.  Uvaria,  but  the  spikes  of  flowers  are  considerably  larger 
(award  of  merit). 
RAISING  AND  PREPARING  YINES  FOR  PLANTING. 
I  HAVE  read  the  remarks  by  your  two  correspondents,  page  185 
and  186  of  last  week’s  Journal,  both  of  them  thinking  that  Vines  could 
not  be  grown  in  a  3-inch  pot  with  plenty  of  fibrous  roots. 
I  have  a  number  of  Vines  in  2i-inch  pots  which  I  thought  of  planting 
early  this  month  if  I  had  been  able  to  get  the  houses  finished  soon 
enough.  They  are  18  inches  high,  having  a  leaf  at  every  2  inches  which 
is  fairly  well  developed  considering  the  conditions  under  which  they 
were  grown.  Speaking  of  the  roots,  they  are  one  mass  of  fibres,  there 
being  hundreds  of  them  about  1  inch  in  length. 
If  these  Vines  could  have  been  planted  in  the  house  they  would, 
under  suitable  conditions,  have  made  7  feet  of  rod  in  two  months,  and 
this — when  cut  back  to  3  feet— in  a  suitable  condition  for  fruiting  the 
following  year.  But  some  may  say,  “Would  the  wood  be  ripened?’’ 
Yes  ;  I  have  no  reason  to  think  but  what  it  would  ;  for  this  is  an  easy 
matter,  provided  the  roots  have  a  good  supply  of  food,  and  that  in  a 
readily  available  form — it  being  not  so  much  a  matter  of  very  hard  wood, 
as  that  which  has  plenty  of  food  material  stored  up  for  future  growth. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  try  it,  so  cannot  speak 
from  experience,  but  I  am  sending  the  Editor  one  of  my  straw'-iike 
Vines  out  of  a  2.)-inch  pot,  and  perhaps  he  will  be  kind  enough  to  tell 
the  readers  what  kind  of  roots  they  have  produced. — A  Grape  Grower. 
[The  young  Vine  has  a  wig-like  mass  of  roots,  and  we  have  no  doubt 
would  do  what  our  correspondent  indicates  if  under  his  management, 
for  he  is  an  expert  in  Grape  growing.  At  the  same  time  we  should 
much  prefer,  and  so  we  think  would  “  A  Grape  Grower,”  if  he  had  seen 
it,  the  stronger  Vine  from  a  6-inch  pot  with  its  tar  greater  root  power, 
once  sent  to  us  by  Mr.  David  Thomson,  and  the  photographic  repre¬ 
sentation  of  which  we  reproduced  by  request  in  our  issue  of  July  llth, 
page  43.]  _ 
It  may  be  of  interest  to  those  who  are  following  the  “  Vines  in  Pots  ” 
controversy  to  know  the  practice  of  the  trade  in  the  matter.  Several 
thousands  of  young  Vines  are  grown  annually  both  for  wholesale  and 
retail  trade,  and  as  they  have  to  be  distributed  throughout  nearly  the 
whole  kingdom,  and  the  carriage  is  a  serious  item,  the  size  of  the  pot 
is  not  likely  to  be  chosen  at  random.  The  smallest  size  in  which  we 
can  grow  a  planting  cane  which  will  satisfy  ourselves  and  our  customers 
generally  is  one  9  inches  in  diameter,  and  a  fruiting  cane  in  one 
Hi  inches.  On  turning  them  out  of  pots  at  the  end  of  the  season  the 
balls  seem  little  else  but  a  mass  of  roots,  to  disentangle  which  is  well- 
nigh  impossible  without  breaking  them.  This  points  to  the  conclusion 
that,  provided  soil,  light,  air,  and  moisture  are  what  they  should  be, 
the  Vine  must  of  necessity  in  a  smaller  pot  be  crippled  and  stunted  in 
growth,  if  not  also  in  constitution. — Trade  Growers. 
Mr.  John  Thomson  labours  hard  to  upset  my  little  Vines  and  the 
3-inch  pots,  and  endeavours  to  prove  that  in  quoting  Mr.  D.  Thomson’s 
letter  I  am  condemning  myself.  Mr.  D.  Thomson  states  that  he  has 
tried  two  different  methods  of  preparing  Vines  for  planting,  and  recom¬ 
mends  the  Vines  grown  in  6-inch  pots.  If  Mr.  J.  Thomson  thinks  that  I 
quoted  Mr.  D.  Thomson’s  letter  for  the  purpose  of  proving  my  case,  he 
never  was  wider  of  the  mark  ;  but  Mr.  Thomson  certainly  goes  a  long 
way  in  support  of  my  method.  What  I  have  stated  is  long  since  an 
established  fact,  and  it  is  of  very  little  importance  whether  my  mode  of 
procedure  meets  with  the  approval  or  condemnation  of  anyone.  My 
reason  for  quoting  Mr.  D.  Thomson’s  letter  was  that  he  was  practical 
and  not  theoretical.  I  am  convinced  that  the  6-inch  pots  for  planting 
Vines  recommended  by  Mr.  Thomson  is  a  step  in  the  right  direction. 
Mr.  John  Thomson  has  apparently  become  so  biased  that  he  can  only 
see  one  side  of  the  subject.  He  tries  to  draw  a  comparison  between  Mr. 
D.  Thomson’s  Vines  in  6-inch  pots  and  my  little  Vines  in  3-inch  pots. 
The  circumstances  are  widely  different.  Mr.  Thomson’s  were  grown  for 
spring  planting.  My  Vines  were  planted  in  the  summer.  If  Mr.  J. 
Thomson  will  refer  to  my  letter  (April  18th)  he  will  see  that  I  had  no 
thought  of  planting  until  the  following  spring,  and  would  not  have 
used  these  Vines  at  all,  but  have  raised  a  fresh  supply  from  eyes.  “  But 
this  is  the  lesson.”  My  little  Vines,  poor  as  they  were,  made  such  mar¬ 
vellous  growth  that  they  surprised  me.  I  have  never  seen  Vines  do  better 
under  any  circumstances. 
If  I  have  wandered  from  the  beaten  track  I  am  afraid  Mr.  J.  Good- 
acre,  Elvaston  Castle  Gardens,  will  have  a  good  deal  to  answer  for,  I 
have  known  that  renowned  Grape  grower  to  actually  abolish  pots 
altogether,  and  stick  his  Vine  cuttings  into  the  border  like  so  many 
Willows,  and  they  have  developed  into  splendid  canes  before  the  end 
of  the  season. 
In  1889  I  had  occasion  to  clear  out  a  lean-to  house  of  Black  Hamburgh 
Vines  which  had  been  forced.  The  crop  was  cut  early  in  June,  and  as 
soon  as  the  border  was  ready  I  planted  the  house  with  Muscat  of 
Alexandria,  and  again  the  following  year,  1890,  I  planted  a  span-roofed 
house  100  feet  in  length  during  the  last  week  in  May  with  Gros  Colman. 
The  Vines  in  both  houses  were  raised  from  eyes  in  February  and  March 
of  the  years  named,  and  were  allowed  to  remain  in  3-inch  pots  until 
they  were  planted.  The  latter  house  is  the  one  referred  to  by  Mr.  Bolas 
in  his  letter.  May  2od. 
The  Vines  were  planted  2  feet  6  inches  apart,  and  between  the  Vines 
were  planted  two  Tomatoes,  and  the  body  of  the  house  was  also  filled 
with  Tomatoes  growing  on  a  temporary  wire  trellis  ;  in  all  we  had  1000 
Tomato  plants  besides  the  Vines  in  this  house.  I  have  never  seen  Vines 
do  better.  The  following  season  they  carried  six  and  seven  bunches 
each  of  first-class,  highly  finished  Grapes,  and  yet  when  these  Vines 
were  planted  they  only  possessed  four  or  five  leaves,  and  some  of  them 
were  only  very  indifferently  rooted.  I  always  find  that  Vines  planted 
out,  however  small  they  may  be,  will  do  very  much  better  under  good 
management  than  they  do  in  pots  under  the  best  of  treatment. 
Surely  Mr.  John  Thomson  does  not  think  that  I  am  so  foolish  as  to 
imagine  ihat  a  Vine  in  a  3-iDch  pot  could  possibly  possess  as  many 
roots  as  one  in  a  6-inch  pot,  but  he  is  evidently  anxious  to  lead  us  to 
believe  that  a  3-inch  pot  is  not  capable  of  holding  roots  at  all.  How¬ 
ever,  I  am  glad  to  note  a  marked  improvement  during  the  last  few  weeks. 
In  his  letter  in  reply  to  “Grower”  (page  111),  he  highly  approves  of 
the  10-inch  pots,  and  states  that  he  has  no  dqubt  “  Grower’s  ”  practice 
is  the  correct  one.  In  his  letter  of  last  week  he  is  pleased  to  put  his 
stamp  of  approval  on  Mr.  D.  Thomson’s  Vines  in  6-inch  pots.  Who  can 
