October  31, 1895. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
409 
per-centage  of  those  using  this  medium  who  style  themselves 
“  head  working  gardeners.”  Those  who  do  not  use  the  adjective, 
is,  I  think,  a  matter  of  comparatively  little  moment,  for  we  may 
rest  assured  that  the  omission  possesses  no  significance,  it  may  be 
taken  for  granted  that  they  mean  it.  The  working  qualification  is 
now  so  generally  understood  that  the  expression  of  it  is  superfluous, 
so,  at  least,  it  appears  to — Observer. 
Cattleya  labiata. 
The  widespread  popularity  of  this  section  of  the  Cattleya 
family  has  led  to  extraordinarily  large  importations  by  the  many 
growers,  and  the  variations  of  the  colours  of  these  are  extremely 
interesting,  ranging  from  pale  rose  in  the  sepals  and  petals  to  an 
intense  rose  in  the  same  organs,  with  more  or  less  richness  in  the  lip, 
while  the  size  and  form  of  the  flowers  also  vary  very  much.  As 
illustrative  of  this  we  received  a  few  days  ago  a  box  of  flowers 
from  Messrs.  F.  Sander  &  Co.,  St.  Albans.  All  the  blooms  were 
good,  but  some  were  decidedly  superior  to  others.  Many  of  the 
spikes  carried  three  flowers,  all  perfect  in  size,  form,  and  colour. 
They  well  proved  that  this  firm’s  stock  must  be  an  excellent  one. 
Ants  and  Orchids. 
In  connection  with  the  growth  of  Orchids,  writes  Mr.  J.  H. 
Hart,  in  the  October  “  Bulletin  ”  of  the  Royal  Botanic  Gardens, 
Trinidad,  it  has  been  noticed  that  the  presence  of  ants  is  apparently 
necessary  to  their  maintaining  a  healthy  condition  ;  but  whether 
this  is  in  reality  due  to  some  action  of  the  ant  itself,  or  to  some 
indirect  cause,  has  not  yet  been  proved,  and  investigations  are 
needed  to  show  what  is  the  real  influence  the  ant  has  upon  the 
health  of  the  plant.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  presence  of 
stinging  ants  acts  as  a  protection  to  the  plants  ;  but  Mr.  Hart  is 
inclined  to  think,  from  recent  investigations,  that  the  benefit  the 
ants  confer  on  the  plant  are  those  of  providing  it  with  the  mycelium 
of  a  fungus  to  cover  its  roots,  which  organism  enables  it  to  take  up 
food  which  would  be  otherwise  unattainable.  It  may  be  shown  that 
the  ants  act  as  protectors  to  the  plants,  as  well  as  providing  them 
with  a  means  of  obtaining  nutriment ;  but  Mr.  Hart  believes 
it  to  be  almost  certain  that  the  fungus  which  grows  in  the 
material  they  accumulate  around  the  root  plays  a  much  more 
important  part,  by  providing  the  plant  with  food  material. — 
(“  Nature.”) 
Notes  on  Cattleyas. 
Possibly  most  people  would  say  that  the  present  season  has 
been  quite  an  ideal  one  for  Cattleyas,  owing  to  the  amount  of 
bright  sunny  weather  experienced,  and,  to  a  certain  extent  this  is 
quite  true,  for  nothing  better  could  be  desired  during  the  time  the 
plants  are  growing  ;  but  unless  very  great  care  has  been  taken  with 
the  plants  during  the  abnormally  bright  and  warm  September  just 
passed,  many  species  that  should  now  be  at  rest  will  be  found  to 
be  starting  again  into  growth. 
Those  beautiful  Orchids  C.  Dowiana  var.  aurea,  also  C.  gigas, 
are  old  offenders  in  this  way,  and  where  any  number  of  plants  of 
either  of  these  kinds  are  grown  there  will  usually  be  a  few  that 
start  unseasonably.  At  least,  this  has  been  my  experience  for  a 
good  many  years,  and  the  present  is  no  exception  ;  rather 
the  reverse.  In  a  general  way  I  do  not  care  to  remove  these 
plants  from  the  house  in  which  they  have  made  their  growth  ;  but 
this  has  had  to  be  resorted  to  this  season,  or  the  results  would  have 
been  disastrous  to  next  year’s  blooming.  On  the  other  hand,  I 
never  remember  having  better  ripened  pseudo-bulbs  of  0.  Mossise, 
C.  Trianae,  and  the  upright  growing  kinds  as  represented  by 
C.  bicolor  and  C.  guttata. 
C.  Gaskelliana  flowered  very  freely  and  well,  but  a  few  plants 
are  making  a  second  growth.  As  these  flower  earlier  it  does  not 
matter  so  much,  for  there  is-yet  plenty  of  time  to  get  the  last  new 
growths  finished  and  well  ripened.  What  splendid  bulbs  they 
are  this  year,  also  those  of  C.  Mendeli  and  the  useful  C.  labiata 
autumnale.  The  latter  has  a  few  flowers  already  open,  and  the 
successional  plants  are  full  of  promise.  There  is  not  a  more  satis¬ 
factory  kind  to  grow  than  the  latter,  being  first-rate  in  all  respects, 
and  wonderfully  free  in  producing  good  backbreaks. 
These  and  many  other  points  of  interest  will  be  found  on 
looking  through  the  plants  at  this  time — a  very  good  one  by  the 
way  for  a  thorough  cleaning  and  re-arranging  previous  to  the 
winter.  It  will  often  be  found  on  examining  the  plants  separately 
that  insects,  more  especially  scale,  are  making  headway  on  the  last 
new  growths,  and  if  these  are  seen  to  at  once,  and  removed,  there 
will  be  a  great  difference  in  the  appearance  of  the  plants  next 
spring,  the  spots  left  on  the  leaves  being  fewer,  and  the  health  of 
the  plants  improved.  Even  supposing  there  are  no  insects  found 
the  sponging  has  a  good  effect  by  removing  accumulated  dust  and 
dirt,  and  enables  the  plants  to  breathe  more  freely,  so  to  speak. 
The  compost,  too,  in  some  few  cases  may  need  attention,  though  it 
is  rather  late  to  disturb  the  plants  much. 
Among  the  Cattleyas  repotted  or  surface  dressed  recently  may 
be  mentioned  C.  Warneri,  C.  granulosa,  and  C.  Leopold!,  all  of 
which  are  now  rooting  freely,  and  have  apparently  benefited  by  the 
change.  But  these  are  free-rooting  kinds  late  in  the  season,  and 
what  is  proper  for  them  would  not  do  for  all  species.  C.  bicolor, 
for  instance,  I  should  not  like  to  repot  after  flowering,  for  although 
a  few  roots  are  emitted  late  in  the  autumn  they  would  not,  I  think, 
become  well  established  again  before  the  winter.  C.  Bowringiana 
requires  perhaps  more  water  at  this  season  than  any  other  kind  if 
in  good  condition  at  the  roots  and  provided  with  good  drainage. 
This  has  also  done  well  this  season,  and  on  account  of  its  distinct 
character  and  freedom  of  blooming  at  a  dull  season  should  be  largely 
grown. 
By  these  few  remarks  it  will  be  seen  that  though  the  time  for 
growth  is  practically  over  for  the  year  cultivators  must  still  be  on 
the  alert,  and  by  noting  the  peculiarities  of  the  individual  kinds, 
the  manner  of  growing,  time  of  going  to  rest,  and  other  details, 
may  learn  useful  lessons  to  guide  them  in  the  future,  and 
perhaps  the  most  important  of  all  will  be  the  need  of  studying 
the  plants  separately,  and  avoiding  the  too  common  practice  of 
treating  all  alike  because  they  are  members  of  the  same  genus. 
Zygopetalum  Gautieri. 
This  is  a  late  autumn  flowering  species,  well  worthy  of 
extended  culture,  the  flowers  being  large,  bright  in  colour,  and 
freely  produced  when  the  plants  are  healthy.  The  racemes  are 
produced  along  with  the  young  growth,  and  each  bears  six  or 
seven  flowers.  The  sepals  and  petals  are  yellowish  green,  with 
large  spots  of  deep  chocolate,  and  the  labellum  is  of  varying 
shades  of  purple  and  blue.  The  flowers  last  a  long  time  in  good 
condition,  and  are  pleasantly  though  not  heavily  perfumed. 
Z.  Gautieri  does  not  require  much  compost,  the  roots  thriving 
best  when  grown  on  trellised  rafts  lightly  dressed  with  peat  and 
moss,  or  when  wired  to  pieces  of  Tree  Fern  stems.  The  great 
advantage  of  the  latter  mode  of  culture  is,  that  as  the  plants  grow 
and  the  rhizomes  extend,  the  roots  have  something  to  lay  hold  of, 
whereas  in  a  pot  or  pan  many  would  be  produced  over  the  sides 
and  consequently  out  of  reach  of  the  compost.  If  kept  healthy 
at  the  roots  and  the  foliage  free  from  insects,  no  great  difficulty 
will  be  found  in  its  culture.  The  best  position  for  it  is  the 
shadiest  part  of  the  Cattleya  house  during  the  summer  months, 
allowing  the  pseudo-bulbs  to  finish  in  the  East  Indian  house.  It 
is  a  native  of  Brazil,  whence  it  was  introduced  in  1868. — H.  R.  R. 
MODERN  GRAPE  GROWING— THE  STONING  PERIOD. 
(^Continued  from  page  300.) 
During  the  three  weeks  after  the  first  flower  expands  the  berry 
stalks  remain  soft,  and  one  need  not  be  particular  about  cutting  them 
off  close  to  the  base  when  taking  out  a  berry,  as  what  is  left  of  the  stem 
will  shrivel  away.  But  after  this  it  is  necessary  to  be  more  particular, 
for  any  portion  that  is  left  will  become  hard,  and  will  not  only  be 
unsightly  where  it  can  be  seen,  but  will  be  very  liable  to  injure  any 
berry  that  may  come  in  contact  with  it  during  the  process  of  swelling,  or 
even  when  travelling  if  the  bunch  should  be  loose  enough  for  the  berries 
to  move  about.  This  hardening  of  the  stem  immediately  precedes  what 
is  called  stoning. 
The  centre  of  the  stem  becomes  woody,  and  the  hardening  process  is 
communicated  to  the  seeds,  first  at  the  end  nearest  the  stem,  and  gradu¬ 
ally  proceeding  till  the  whole  of  the  seed  is  hardened,  when  the  visible 
expansion  of  the  berry  ceases  for  a  time,  generally  about  three  weeks  or 
a  month.  Perhaps  some  day  we  may  be  able  to  shorten  this  season  of 
apparent  non-progress,  either  by  applying  some  necessary  element  to  aot 
at  this  particular  stage,  or  by  the  raising  of  new  varieties.  Mr.  Meredith 
used  to  have  one  Hamburgh  Vine  which  he  imagined  did  not  stop  for 
stoning,  but  I  cannot  say  that  he  convinced  me  of  this  peculiarity.  But 
certain  it  is  that  some  of  the  early  Peaches  raised  by  Mr.  Pdvers  and 
others  make  but  very  little  stop  compared  with  our  old  favourite.  Royal 
George,  and  if  this  has  been  done  with  Peaches  why  should  it  not  be 
done  with  Grapes  1  But  at  present  we  have  the  stoning,  and  immedi¬ 
ately  after  it  this  period  of  seeming  exhaustion  and  inactivity,  when 
even  the  shoots,  unless  the  treatment  has  been  very  liberal,  will  extend 
but  very  little. 
Before  this  myriads  of  white  globules  of  the  superabundant  sap  have 
been  seen  exuding  from  young  shoots  and  leaves,  and  very  often  from 
the  berries  as  well  ;  but  now  the  Vine  seems  to  want  all  it  gets,  and 
