572 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
December  19,  1895. 
If  the  plants  are  strong,  a  large  percentage  of  them  will  flower 
the  first  season  on  the  newly  formed  bulbs.  Water  must  be 
given  the  plants  in  accordance  with  their  strength  and  the  number 
of  roots  they  produce,  always  giving  enough  to  soak  the  whole  of 
the  material  in  the  pot.  If,  after  the  flowers  are  past,  the  plants 
still  continue  to  make  roots,  the  water  supply  must  also  be  con¬ 
tinued,  but  if  they  appear  to  be  going  to  rest  it  must  be  diminished 
by  degrees,  at  the  same  time  allowing  the  plants  full  exposure  to 
the  sun  and  all  the  air  possible  in  order  to  hasten  and  consolidate 
the  growth  made. 
These  plants  will  stand  being  kept  much  drier  than  any  with 
badly  ripened  bulbs  and  foliage,  the  latter  shrivelling  if  not  kept 
moist  at  the  root,  and  often  starting  out  of  their  proper  season. 
But  with  the  strongest  and  best  plants  it  is  unwise  to  allow  the 
peat  and  moss  to  become  really  hard  and  dry  during  the  resting 
season.  A  point  requiring  care  is  not  to  wet  the  base  of  the 
pseudo-bulbs  more  than  can  be  avoided  in  watering,  as  this  is 
injurious  to  the  eyes  containing  the  pseudo-bulbs  and  flowers  in 
embryo  for  the  next  season. 
The  plants  must  not  be  watered  in  driblets,  as  this  necessitates 
frequent  applications,  and  consequently  frequent  wetting  of  the 
parts  referred  to.  Sprinkling  is  a  rather  vexed  question,  some 
good  growers  practising  it,  while  others  aver  it  is  injurious. 
Certainly  it  has  beneficial  results  at  times,  but  to  resort  to  it 
indiscriminately  is  far  worse  than  leaving  it  alone  altogether.  In 
doll  and  wet  weather  it  is  injurious,  but  when  very  hot  and  bright 
it  replenishes  the  atmosphere  about  the  plants  wonderfully,  and  is 
very  refreshing  to  them,  as  well  as  being  useful  in  removing 
accumulated  dust  and  dirt  from  the  foliage.  When  the  pseudo¬ 
bulbs  are  about  half  formed — that  is,  as  the  leaf  begins  to  unfold, 
but  before  it  has  grown  out  of  the  sheath — the  cavity  thus  formed 
is  apt  to  collect  water,  so  if  syringing  is  then  practised  it  will  be 
necessary  to  look  over  the  plants  afterwards,  and  invert  them  to 
allow  this  to  escape. 
If  these  few  details  are  attended  to,  and  the  plants  grown  in 
an  ordinary  Cattleya  house  temperature,  this  fine  species  will  be 
found  a  very  free  grower,  constant  in  flowering,  and  a  desirable 
Orchid  in  every  way.  It  is  not  necessary  to  describe  the  flowers, 
as  they  are  well  known,  and  hardly  two  plants  produce  blossoms 
exactly  alike  in  all  particulars.  It  is  an  old  species,  having  been 
introduced  as  far  back  as  1818  from  Brazil,  and  is  the  kind  upon 
which  Dr.  Bindley  founded  the  genus  in  honour  of  the  gentleman 
Avhose  name  it  bears. — H.  R.  R. 
Dendrobidm  foemosum  giganteum. 
The  Dendrobiums  are,  perhaps,  more  diverse  in  form  and 
appearance  than  any  other  class  of  Orchids.  There  is  a  very  wide 
range  of  beautiful  forms  between  the  densiflorum  type  and  the 
group  to  which  the  above  variety  belongs.  This  variety  is  one  of 
the  finest  autumn-flowering  kinds,  with  very  large  axillary  flowers 
produced  singly  from  the  upper  parts  of  the  pseudo-bulbs.  They 
often  measure  6  inches  or  more  in  diameter  ;  the  colour  is  a  pure 
white,  with  the  exception  of  the  throat,  which  is  orange-yellow. 
The  clavate  pseudo-bulbs  often  grow  to  a  length  of  a  foot  or  more, 
and  bear  at  the  apex  several  leathery  dark  green  leaves.  This  is  a 
tropical  plant,  and  requires  considerable  heat  and  moisture.  It  will 
do  well  in  a  basket  in  equal  parts  of  peat,  sphagnum,  and  charcoal, 
and  should  be  potted  rather  high.  While  growing,  abundant 
v.’atering  is  necessary.  Like  most  Dendrobiums,  this  plant  requires 
a  good  rest  to  mature  the  bulbs  when  the  growing  season  is  over. 
— (“Garden  and  Forest.”) 
AN  EXHIBITING  PROBLEM. 
How  from  time  to  time  there  crop  up  at  flower  shows  odd  problems 
or  questions  that  need  something  more  than  even  a  code  of  judging  to 
determine  the  merits  of.  At  a  well-known  show  recently,  where  there 
were  classes  for  mixed-flowered  and  for  Chrysanthemum-flowered 
bouquets,  two  handsome  flower  combinations  were  set  up,  and  these 
in  each  case  took  first  prizes.  So  far  as  I  can  gather,  it  seems  that  a 
metropolitan  professional  bouquetist  took  these  bouquets  to  the  show 
for  the  purpose  of  competing  in  the  classes,  but  found  when  there  that 
he  was  debarred  from  showing  because  he  lived  outside  the  prescribed 
district.  That  being  so,  it  seems  further  that  an  exhibitor  living  in  the 
prescribed  area  allowed  these  bouquets  to  be  staged  in  his  name,  and,  of 
course,  is  credited  with  the  prizes.  That  was  wrong  and  immoral. 
But  the  point  to  be  raised  is  this,  Was  he  in  so  doing  breaking  any  of 
the  requirements  of  the  schedule?  I  have  looked,  and  cannot  find  that 
any  stipulations  prevent  that  course  being  taken,  although  there  is  a 
rule  which  requires  that  all  products  exhibited  shall  have  been  in  the 
possession  and  under  the  cultivation  of  the  exhibitor  for  at  least  three 
calendar  months  prior  to  the  show.  Obviously  that  is  an  absurd 
condition  in  relation  to  many  things,  but  specially  so  in  relation  to  floral 
decorations,  as  exception  is  always  maoe  in  relation  to  flowers  so 
employed.  What  rule,  then,  did  the  exhibitor  break  1 
So  far  as  I  can  see,  if  he  chooses  to  employ  a  professional  bouquetist 
to  make  up  two  bouquets  for  him,  and  then  for  him  to  set  them  up  as 
his  own,  I  cannot  see  that  any  rule  of  the  schedule  is  broken.  Did  the 
schedule  require  that  all  floral  arrangements,  bouquets,  sprays,  epergnes 
and  vases,  should  be  made  up  or  dressed  by  the  exhibitor  in  person,  then 
there  would  be  some  ground  for  disqualification  in  this  case  ;  but  none 
exists.  I  hear  of  a  protest  against  the  awards  being  handed  in,  and  very 
properly  so,  as,  even  if  the  Committee  cannot  in  this  case  disqualify, 
and  pass  on  the  prizes  to  other  competitori,  yet  they  can  formulate  such 
other  conditions  as  should  render  a  repetition  of  this  sort  of  action  in 
the  future  impossible. 
The  case  is  interesting,  as  showing  how  many  things  disputable  crop 
up  from  time  to  time  never  dreamt  of  by  even  codes  of  judging  com¬ 
mittees,  and  it  is  not  possible  to  formulate  in  any  code  such  suggestions 
as  may  meet  all  cases.  It  is  just  the  sort  of  case,  however,  which  the 
Council  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  oilers  to  arbitrate  on  and 
determine  on  the  payment  of  a  small  fee,  because  it  raises  not  a  question 
of  exhibition  merit,  which  the  duly  appointed  judges  alone  can  deter¬ 
mine,  but  one  of  law,  or  of  interpretation  of  law.  Nothing  is  known  in 
this  case  as  to  whether  there  was  any  kind  of  agreement  between  the 
respective  parties  to  this  bouquet  exhibiting  that  was  purposely 
immoral.  So  far  as  is  really  known  all  may  have  been  done  in  good 
faith.  Still,  all  that  has  to  be  proved.  The  Executive  must  bend  its 
energies  to  the  framing  of  a  rule  which  will  prevent  henceforth  the 
recurrence  of  such  acts  as  even  now  violate  the  spirit,  if  not  the  letter, 
of  the  schedule. — D. 
OPEN  AIR  PEACH  CULTURE. 
(^Continued  froin^page  54S.) 
A  SATISFACTORY  border  is  of  the  utmost  importance,  and  any  time 
or  trouble  bestowed  on  its  formation  is  well  spent.  Few  gardeners 
would  think  of  planting  Peach  trees  under  glass  without  first  preparing 
the  border,  and  also  seeing  that  the  drainage  was  perfect.  The  Peach 
being  naturally  a  limestone  subject  it  will  thrive  better  on  this  formation 
than  any  other,  but  this  does  not  prevent  it  succeeding  on  other  soils, 
as  there  is  generally  lime  present ;  and  it  can  be  increased  to  suit 
the  requirements  of  the  Peach  by  the  addition  of  old  lime  rubbish,  or 
even  fresh  lime,  applied  to  the  surface,  and  pointed  lightly  into  the 
border  with  a  fork  before  the  trees  come  into  bloom,  or  in  the  autumn. 
I  was  speaking  to  a  gardener  recently  as  to  the  benefits  of  applying 
fresh  lime  to  Peach  borders,  and  he  told  me  that  at  one  time,  although 
apparently  his  trees  were  satisfactory,  yet  the  blossoms  set  indifferently, 
and  what  did  set  eventually  dropped  off.  After  taking  to  the  practice 
of  dressing  annually  with  fresh  lime  no  more  difficulty  was  met  with  on 
this  point. 
Like  other  fruit  trees  the  Peach  detests  stagnant  moisture  at  the 
roots.  A  plentiful  supply,  such  as  may  be  given  to  those  growing  in  a 
well-drained  and  aerated  border,  will  insure  the  trees  keeping  in  good 
health,  and  also  in  bringing  fine  crops  of  fruit  to  perfection,  so  the 
border  must  be  drained  more  or  less  according  to  the  natural  conditions. 
The  border  must  not  be  cramped  ;  quite  5  feet  or  6  feet  should  be  given 
up  to  the  roots  without  disturbance  of  any  kind.  Allowing  this  width, 
with  an  extra  4  feet  or  6  feet  for  the  roots  to  ramble  in,  will  not  be  too 
much.  I  quite  believe  that  many  of  the  failures  with  open  air  Peaches 
may  be  traced  to  undue  disturbance  of  the  roots  by  digging  the  surface 
to  be  further  cropped  with  other  plants. 
If  it  is  known,  or  even  surmised,  that  water  is  apt  to  congregate 
within  2  feet  of  the  surface,  the  border  must  be  drained  to  this  depth. 
If  the  subsoil  is  a  cold  clay,  it  will  be  found  an  excellent  plan  to  overlay 
the  surface  with  old  roofing  tiles,  and  above  this  a  surfacing  of  rough 
stone,  broken  bricks,  rough  ballast,  and  such  like  material,  the  aim 
being  to  insure  efficient  drainage  and  aeration  of  the  border.  If  any 
old  coarse  turf  can  be  secured,  then  cover  the  surface  with  this,  or  even 
coarse  gravel,  the  aim  being,  as  all  gardeners  know,  to  secure  perfect 
drainage.  If  the  original  or  natural  soil  is  to  be  utilised,  to  every  six 
loads  add  one  each  of  old  lime  rubbish,  wood  ashes,  or  well-burned 
garden  refuse,  with  a  portion  of  charcoal.  If  any  fresh  loam  can  be 
secured,  utilise  it  for  placing  about  the  roots  at  the  time  of  planting. 
I  now  come  to  the  selection  and  planting.  In  choosing  the  trees,  I 
do  not  think  anyone  needs  better  advice  than  to  go  to  a  nurseryman 
whom  it  is  well  known  takes  an  interest  in  the  growth  and  training  of 
the  trees,  and  also  in  seeing  that  his  stock  is  true  to  name,  both  of 
which  are  important.  In  selecting  the  trees  some  people  prefer 
“  maidens,”  but  1  never  could  see  the  advantage.  I  like  a  tree  with 
about  six  shoots,  or  three  years  from  the  bud.  Plant  firmly  and  well, 
keeping  the  “  collar  ”  well  up.  It  may  also  be  necessary  to  add  that 
care  must  be  taken  that  the  roots  are  not  allowed  to  become  dry  before 
planting,  and  also  all  rough  ends  must  be  pared  off  with  a  sharp  knife. 
The  tree  ought  not  to  be  fixed  to  the  wall  until  the  border  has  settled 
down. 
In  the  formation  of  Peach  trees  a  good  foundation  to  start  with  is 
most  essential.  Strong  growths  must  be  checked  to  encourage  the 
weaker,  as  it  would  not  do  for  a  few  strong  shoots  in  the  centres  of  the 
trees  to  be  allowed  to  grow  ahead,  as  by  so  doing  the  lower  branches 
would  remain  weak,  and  instead  of  having  the  whole  wall  covered  with 
bearing  wood  it  would  only  be  the  upper  portion.  The  main  branches 
at  the  first  commencement  of  training  must  be  spread  out  in  the  form  of 
an  open  fan.  The  lower  tier  should  be  brought  well  down,  or  into  an 
almost  horizontal  position,  the  remainder  being  equally  spread  out, 
keeping  the  centre  open, 
