July  28,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
69 
Dendrobium  Stratiotes. 
The  “  Soldier  ”  Orchid,  as  Professor  Reicbenbach  somewhat  pecu¬ 
liarly  named  this  species  on  account  of  the  tall  erect  stem,  is  oue  of 
the  most  beautiful  of  its  class.  The  section  is  none  too  well  repre¬ 
sented  in  collections,  the  best  known  perhaps  beiDg  D.  taurinum,  a 
bad  plant  to  grow,  though  a  beautiful  one.  The  present  species  is 
now  freely  represented  in  first-rate  collections,  and  does  well.  The 
flowers  (fig.  13)  are  about  3  inches  across,  whitish  with  purple  mark¬ 
ings,  the  erect  twisted  sepals  and  petals  giving  them  quite  a  distinct 
appearance  from  most  Dendrobes. 
It  does  best  in  pots  of  limited  size  in  a  hot,  moist  house,  and 
owing  to  its  habit  of  sometimes  growing  out  of  season  the  treatment 
of  individual  plants  depends  largely  upon  circumstance.  Never 
A  STRAWBERRY  SCHOOL, 
With  a  Few  Pea  Pupils. 
When  a  man  with  the  slightest  journalistic  instinct  receives  a  hasty 
communication,  with  the  magic  words  “  Chiltern  Hundreds”  looming 
large  upon  it,  he  is  enlivened  as  with  a  galvanic  shock,  for — as  all  the 
world  knows — an  application  for  the  Chiltern  Hundreds  is  synonymous 
with  the  resignation  of  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Commons.  The  happy  and 
flattered  recipient  has  visions  of  a  piece  of  exclusive  information,  through 
the  medium  of  which  he  can  secure  a  place  in  the  good  graces  of  an 
enterprising  editor,  and  put  to  utter  confusion  a  horde  of  rivals.  But 
after  the  words  “  Chiltern  Hundreds,”  in  the  communication  which  I 
received,  followed  the  enigmatical  one,  “  Bring  a  basket.”  What  could 
this  be  for  ?  True,  Mr.  Pickwick  was  once  transported  from  place  to 
place  in  a  wheelbarrow,  but  that  was  a  different  case  altogether.  How¬ 
ever,  the  mystery  quickly  resolved  itself.  The  letter  did  not  announce  a 
resignation,  but  an  assignation.  And  the  only  election  it  foreshadowed 
was  a  vote  on  the  best  Strawberries  and  Peas  in  the  Chiltern  Hundreds 
nursery  of  Messrs.  G.  Bunyard  &  Co.,  the  same  to  be  recommended  to 
the  suffrages  of  that  enlightened  constituency — the  readers  of  the  Journal 
of  Horticulture. 
There  were  flags,  jubilation,  and  blaring  of  cheap  trumpets  in  Maid¬ 
stone  on  the  appointed  day,  for  Kent  had  just  defeated  the  mighty 
Fig.  13.  -  DENDROBIUM  STRATIOTES. 
attempt  to  prevent  the  plant  growing  away  when  it  is  obviously 
about  to  do  so,  no  matter  what  the  time  of  year,  but  endeavour  as 
far  as  possible  to  let  the  growths  finish  with  the  waning  sun  in 
autumn.  The  flowers  last  well  in  good  condition,  and  do  no  harm  to 
healthy  plants  by  remaining  on  until  they  fade.  It  is  a  native  of  the 
Sunda  Isles,  and  was  introduced  about  1885. 
PALUMBINA  CANDIDA. 
The  “  Flying  Dove  Orchid,”  as  this  species  has  been  somewhat 
fancifully  called,  on  account  of  the  disposition  of  the  segments  when 
the  flower  is  open,  is  a  distinct  as  well  as  a  pretty  and  interesting 
plant.  Botanically,  there  is  little  if  anything  to  separate  it  from 
Oncidium,  and  to  this  genus  it  undoubtedly  belongs  in  a  scientific 
sense,  but  the  unfortunate  mistake  of  Reichenbach  in  creating  a  new 
genus  has  never  been  erased  from  gardening  literature,  and  the  above 
is  the  name  by  which  it  is  still  better  known.  The  habit  of  the  plant 
is  dwarf ;  the  flowers  are  produced,  about  six  or  more,  on  a  purple 
scape,  and  are  clouded  white. 
The  plant  thrives  best  in  a  house  rather  warmer  than  the  Odonto- 
glossum  house,  but  if  such  a  one  is  not  at  command  they  get  along 
fairly  well  together.  A  thin  surfacing  of  compost  over  good  drainage 
suits  it  best,  and  it  may  be  grown  in  pans  or  baskets,  suspended  from 
the  roof  for  preference.  P.  Candida  is  not  a  thirsty  plant  as  Orchids 
go,  but  must  be  kept  moist  while  growing,  and  during  the  resting 
season  should  have  just  sufficient  moisture  to  prevent  shrivelling  of 
the  pseudo-bulbs.  It  is  a  native  of  Guatemala,  and  first  flowered  in 
this  country  in  1843. — II.  R.  R. 
Yorkshire  team  at  cricket.  Had  the  mouths  of  the  trumpet-blowers  been 
stopped  with  the  Bunyardian  Strawberries,  it  would  have  been  quite  as 
agreeable  to  them,  and  much  more  so  to  the  rest  of  the  community. 
However,  the  happy  thousands  enjoyed  their  blowing,  and  if  one  particular 
visitor  to  the  county  town  on  the  day  of  triumph  got  a  little  tired  of  the 
music,  his  serenity  was  restored  later  on,  notwithstanding  that  he  had 
forgotten  the  basket,  for  the  sight  of  the  Strawberries  was  as  refreshing 
on  a  hot  day  as  a  shower-bath  would  be  in  the  desert.  Really,  the  more 
a  horticulturist  sees  of  the  wonderful  business  built  up  by  Mr.  Geo. 
Bunyard,  the  better  he  grasps  its  enormous  extent,  its  many  ramifications, 
the  more  he  is  struck  with  surprise  and  admiration.  And  by  the  time 
he  has  wandered  through  a  portion  of  the  sixty-six  glass  structures, 
through  the  herbaceous  garden,  amongst  the  Roses,  through  the  shrub 
quarters,  in  and  out  of  the  corn  and  hay  fields,  round  and  about  the  acres 
upon  acres  of  gar  len  vegetables  coming  on  for  seed — by  the  time,  I  say, 
that  he  has  done  all  this,  he  wonders  that  there  can  be  anything  left  of 
the  old  idea  that  this  is  a  fruit  firm,  and  nothing  more. 
However,  here  we  are  at  a  familiar  four-went-way,  with  the  Chiltern 
Hundreds  Inn  standing  at  one  corner,  Detling  village  nestling  under  the 
hills  a  mile  away,  and  all  around  a  beautiful  scape  of  wood  and  meadow. 
The  door  of  the  Strawberry  school  is  only  a  few  yards  off,  and  the 
reigning  queen  of  it,  Royal  Sovereign,  first  arrests  the  eye.  It  is 
good  to  see  this  magnificent  variety  in  the  forcing  house,  good  to 
see  it  in  the  garden,  but  best  of  all  to  see  it  in  broad  acres,  filling  the  eye 
with  its  ample  proportion,  its  splendid  leafage,  and  its  great  clusters  of 
handsome  fruit.  As  an  early,  the  middle  of  July  sees  it  past  its  best 
with  respect  to  size  of  fruit,  but  the  sterling  qualities  which  have  made  it 
famous  are  there.  Like  the  other  leading  varieties,  it  may  be  seen  under  two 
aspects — (1)  the  fruiting  plant,  which  is  a  two-year-old,  and  (2)  the  stock 
