268 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
September  19,  1896. 
pricked  out  6  inches  apart  they  will  make  good  plants  for  lifting 
with  balls  of  earth  and  planting  where  required  in  the  early 
spring  months.  This  class  of  plants  is  now  very  much  grown  in 
shrubberies  and  comparatively  wild  parts  of  the  garden.  In  some 
such  positions  the  plants  may  be  naturalised  by  sowing  the  seeds  in 
the  permanent  quarters  ;  in  others  I  find  the  desired  object  is  best 
secured  by  treating  as  at  first  advised.  When  several  plants 
become  established  the  seeds  are  scattered  in  all  directions,  causing 
hosts  of  young  seedlings  to  spring  up  each  year,  and  places 
which  were  at  one  time  unsightly  spots  present  in  their  season 
a  lavish  feait  of  floral  beauty. — D. 
PlIAL.ENOPSIS  SCHILLERIANA. 
This  beautiful  Orchid  might  almost,  I  think,  be  awarded 
the  first  place  in  the  genus  for  beauty,  the  richly  marked  foliage 
of  healthy  plants  alone  being  a  great  attraction.  Combined  with 
this,  the  splendid  spikes  with  their  dozens  of  flowers  make  a  really 
magnificent  object.  The  plant  is  moreover,  perhaps,  the  easiest 
of  all  the  Moth  Orchids  to  cultivate,  withstanding  many  hard¬ 
ships  to  which  the  smaller  kinds  or  even  P.  amabilis  would 
succumb.  I  remember  well  an  accident  occurring  to  the  boiler 
of  an  Orchid  house  wherein  several  of  this  genus  were  grouped, 
the  temperature  falling  nearly  to  free  zing  point  despite  our  best 
efforts  with  mats  and  other  protectives.  P.  Luddemanniana  was 
killed  outright,  while  P.  amabilis  was  so  badly  hit  that  it  never 
recovered.  P.  Schilleriana,  on  the  contrary,  though  it  lost  nearly 
every  leaf,  eventually  rallied  and  made  good  growth  the  following 
season.  Many  modes  of  culture  are  resorted  to  with  Phalsenopsis, 
all  more  or  less  successful,  blocks,  cylinders,  baskets,  and  pots  all 
having  been  recommended. 
For  these  strong  growing  members  of  the  genus  I  prefer  pots 
to  any  other  receptacle  for  these  plants,  and  am  confident  that 
other  cultural  means  being  brought  to  bear  in  a  proper  manner ; 
they  are  as  long-lived  under  such  treatment  as  any  and  easier  to 
manage.  The  pots  must  be  well  drained,  nearly  filled  in  fact, 
the  layer  of  moss  on  top  of  the  crocks  being  in  proportion  to  the 
strength  of  the  plants.  The  greatest  care  is  necessary  in  fixing 
them  so  that  the  roots  are  not  displaced  in  moving  the  plants 
about,  and  if  the  roots  are  not  plentiful  enough  to  secure  the 
plants  recourse  must  be  had  to  tying  them  until  new  ones  are 
emitted.  No  plants  are  more  moderate  in  their  food  demands 
than  Phalaenopsis,  and  possibly  no  other  would  turn  such  poor 
fare  to  good  account.  Clean  sphagnum  moss  is  all  they  require, 
with  a  little  charcoal  or  other  hard  material  to  prevent  closeness 
and  insure  aeration. 
The  atmospheric  conditions  under  which  the  plants  are  grown 
are  the  most  important  details  of  their  culture.  All  through 
the  growing  season  they  must  have  a  strong  moist  heat,  and  if 
the  atmosphere  is  a  little  impregnated  with  ammonia  all  t]|e 
better.  But  a  constant  and  ample  supply  of  fresh  air  must 
always  be  provided  for,  a  close  stuffy  house  causing  a  soft  and  poor 
growth  that  quickly  shows  the  effect  of  any  slight  changes  of 
temperature  or  other  atmospheric  conditions.  Towards  the  end 
of  summer  the  moisture  will  have  to  be  slightly  reduced,  while 
the  heat  must  be  steadied,  so  to  speak.  A  little  more  sunlight  may 
be  p.llowed  if  possible,  though  from  the  miscellaneous  character 
of  the  plants  in  the  warm  house  this  cannot  be  always  managed. 
During  winter,  which  is  by  far  the  most  trying  time  with 
PhalsBUopsis,  a  moist  and  dry  atmosphere  must  always  be  guarded 
against,  at  the  same  time  avoiding  too  great  a  degree  of  humidity. 
The  former  is  injurious  by  causing  too  much  evaporation  from  the 
plants  ;  the  latter  predisposes  the  foliage  to  spot  if  accompanied 
by  a  low  temperature,  if  high  it  causes  them  to  grow  unseasonably. 
During  the  summer  the  roots  must  be  well  supplied  with  water, 
but  sprinkling  is  not  advisable,  while  in  winter  the  sphagnum 
will  absorb  nearly  enough  moisture  from  the  atmosphere  to  keep 
itself  growing  slowly,  which  is  all  that  is  required.  The  flowers 
of  the  typical  form  are,  perhaps,  too  well  known  to  need  description. 
Sufficient  to  say,  then,  that  most  of  the  varieties  are  of  pleasing 
shades  of  rosy  pink  or  mauve,  becoming  nearly  white  towards  the 
margins  of  the  sepals  and  petals,  while  one  beautiful  and  rare  kind, 
P.  s.  veatalis,  has  flowers  of  the  purest  white.  The  type  is  a 
native  of  the  Phillippine  Islands,  whence  it  was  introduced  m  1860. 
— H.  R.  R. 
THE  FLORISTS’  TULIP. 
[By  Jas.  W.  Bentlev,  Hon.  Secretary  of  the  Royal  National  Tulip  Society.] 
(^Continued  from  ])age  245.') 
Chapter  YII. — Descriptive  Catalogue  of  Tulips. 
There  are  many  difficulties  in  the  way  of  anyone  trying  to 
compile  a  catalogue  of  Tulips  that  shall  be  comprehensive  and 
fairly  correct,  in  fact  they  are  so  difficult  as  to  be  practically 
unsurmountable.  One  great  difficulty  lies  in  the  fact  that  the 
records  in  the  horticultural  press  since  the  decease  of  those  sterling 
little  works,  “  The  Midland  Florist  ”  and  the  “  Gossip  of  the 
Garden,”  have  been  miserably  meagre,  and  hence  there  is  a  great 
blank  for  over  thirty  years.  During  this  time  there  has  been  much 
apathy  amongst  growers,  with  a  few  notable  exceptions,  and  a  great 
want  of  intercommunication.  Death  has  also  removed  most  of 
the  men  who  could  have  helped  to  fill  up  the  void  ;  their  collec¬ 
tions  have  in  many  cases  been  destroyed  by  neglect,  or  when  dis¬ 
persed  have  got  into  confusion.  Many  fine  varieties  have  been  lost 
altogether,  and  others  have  received  different  names  in  different 
localities,  especially  seedling  breeders  of  Hepworth’s,  Storer’s, 
Battersby’s,  and  Hardwick’s  raising.  These  difficulties  are  great, 
and  would  be  enough  of  themselves  to  put  a  formidable  obstacle 
in  the  way. 
Another  trouble  with  the  older  varieties  lies  in  the  fact  that  the 
early  English  raisers  did  not  give  names  at  all  to  breeder  Tulips 
which  were  grown  only  to  obtain  rectified  flowers  from.  They 
were  not  recognised  as  exhibition  flowers,  nor  esteemed  for  the 
beauty  which  they  possess.  The  raiser  of  breeders  had  little 
credit,  but  the  grower  who  broke  a  breeder  “  fine,”  as  it  is  called, 
thought  himself  entitled  to  name  the  flower  and  laVel  it  with  his 
own  name. 
It  did  not  seem  to  be  recognised  that  no  matter  how  often  the 
bulbs  of  one  variety  became  rectified  there  was  still  but  one  variety 
after  all,  and  that  it  was  useless  and  misleading  to  have  more  than 
one  name  for  that  variety.  The  evil,  however,  became  a  crying 
one,  for  at  a  time  when  Tulips  were  high  in  price,  much  vexation 
and  disappointment  was  frequently  caused  to  purchaser*  at  finding 
that  some  high-priced,  so-called  novelty,  was  merely  an  old  friend 
with  a  new  name.  As  an  instance,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  about 
1820  Lawrence  of  Hampton  broke  from  a  breeder  of  Clark’s  raising 
a  fine  bizarre  which  he  called  Polyphemus,  but  other  people  had 
the  same  breeder  and  began  to  break  it,  and  in  course  of  time 
Albion,  Ulysses,  Nourri  Effendi,  Brown’s  Hamlet,  Sir  Robert  Peel, 
Polydora,  &c.,  &c.,  appeared  at  high  prices,  but  they  were  all 
strains  of  Polyphemus,  and  should  have  had  no  other  name.  This 
intolerable  state  of  things  filled  catalogues  with  duplicates,  and  no 
doubt  did  much  to  extinguish  Tulip  culture  in  the  south  of 
England,  for  it  was  more  or  less  persisted  in  until  the  last. 
The  present  day  custom,  which  is  to  name  or  number  seedling 
breeders  before  letting  them  out,  is  a  great  improvement,  as  it 
gives  the  actual  raiser  the  credit  of  his  labours.  The  utmost  the 
breaker  can  claim  is  to  have  originated  a  notable  strain  ;  for 
example,  we  talk  of  Mellor’s  strain,  of  Willison’s  Sir  Joseph 
Paxton,  or  Haynes’  strain  of  Storer’s  Dr.  Hardy,  as  they  are  the 
best  of  those  varieties. 
In  the  pages  which  follow  I  have  done  my  beat  to  include  as 
many  of  the  varieties  grown  at  the  present  day  as  possible,  along 
with  some  of  the  more  prominent  sorts  that  our  fathers  and  grand¬ 
fathers  esteemed.  Whatever  shortcomings  the  catalogue  may 
have  the  descriptions  will  be,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  accurate 
and  reliable. 
Accuracy  (H.  Goldham). — Bizarre.  Shape  fair,  flamed  with  brown 
on  yellow  gromnd  ;  seedling  from  Thomas  Brown  X  J.  Sanderson.  Of 
little  value  as  an  exhibition  flower. 
Adonis  (Slater). — Bizarre.  Shape  good,  feathered  with  brown  on 
good  yellow  ground  ;  seedling  from  Polyphemus  X  San  Jos4.  Barely 
seen  now. 
Adonis  (Headly). — Byblcemen.  Tall  grower,  exoellent  in  breeder, 
feathered,  and  flamed  states ;  shape  good,  base  and  stamens  pure.  The 
breeder  is  rich  purple  in  colour.  When  broken  the  marking  colour  is 
dark  purple,  approaching  black  in  the  feathering.  The  white  of  the 
ground  colour  lacks  brilliancy,  and  the  petals  near  the  top  are  often 
deficient  in  marking,  both  when  feathered  and  flamed.  It  has  a  good 
constitution  and  increases  freely.  This  variety,  introduced  by  Mr. 
Headly  about  thirty-five  years  ago,  was,  I  am  informed  on  good 
authority,  raised  by  a  Mr.  Twitchett  of  Cambridge.  It  is  still  indis¬ 
pensable  as  an  exhibition  flower. 
Aglaia  (Lawrence). — Bose.  Tall  grower  ;  breeder  unknown,  best  now 
as  a  flamed  flower,  but  sometimes  seen  in  feathered  slate.  The  cup  is 
too  long,  marking  colour,  dull,  deep,  rose,  paler  outside  than  inside  the 
flower  ;  the  base  is  yellow  on  first  opening,  but  soon  bleaches.  It  is  a 
good  grower,  and  an  excellent  exhibition  flower  notwithstanding  its 
threescore  years. 
Agnes  (Walker),— Byblcemen.  Best  as  a  breeder,  which  is  rich 
purple  in  colour  ;  shape  good,  breaks  feathered,  in  which  state  it  some¬ 
times  makes  a  good  flower,  but  is  generally  stained  on  the  filaments. 
