4 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  6,  1899. 
the  base  of  each  sepal.  0.  grandiflorus  is  of  easy  culture  in  a  house 
kept  rather  warmer  than  the  Oclontoglossum  house,  and  should  be 
suspended  near  the  light  in  small  shallow  baskets  of  peat  and  moss. 
It  is  a  native  of  the  Organ  Mountains, in  Brazil. 
Cattleya  Mossije  aurea. 
The  varieties  of  C.  Mossias,  with  a  yellow  zone  to  the  lip,  are  quite 
a  distinct  section,  and  I  was  rather  surprised  to  note  so  tew  at  the 
Temple  recently.  Mych  seems  to  be  thought  of  the  striped  section, 
but,  personally,  I  greatly  prefer  a  flower  with  well  defined  colouring, 
and  clear  cut  blotches  on  the  lip.  One  of  the  variety  above  named 
flowered  with  us  for  the  first  time  last  year,  and  is  now  stronger 
and  flowering  again.  The  yellow  on  the  lip  is  clear  and  well  defined, 
spreading  over  a  large  area.  The  sepals  and  petals  are  a  soft  rosy  lilac 
tint,  fine  in  substance,  but  seldom  opening  to  the  fullest  extent. 
Cattleya  superba. 
Some  of  the  late  coloured  varieties  of  this  delightful  species  are 
grand  improvements  on  the  type,  and  one  such  reaches  me  from  a 
correspondent.  I  have  seldom  seen  a  finer  coloured  form,  though  last 
season  1  noted  one  in  Mr.  R.  I.  Measures’  collection  at  Cambridge 
Lodge  equally  good.  The  colour  on  the  lip  lobes  is  really  a  magnificent 
tint  of  intense  purple  crimson,  and  the  flower  itself  is  of  medium  size. 
By  its  flowering  thus  early  it  may  possibly  be  a  newly  importeu  plant, 
and  if  so  it  would  be  wise  not  to  allow  the  flowers  to  remain  on  too 
long.  The  species  likes  more  heat  and  sunlight  than  most  Cattleyas, 
and  often  does  best  in  the  East  Indian  house. — H.  R.  R. 
THE  TURNIP  FLEA. 
Although  this  is  such  a  small  insect  it  is  one  that  can  give 
considerable  inconvenience  and  annoyance  among  Turnips  or  any  of  the 
Brassica  family.  Some  gardens  and  soils  seem  more  addicted  to  them 
than  others.  Lime  and  soot  is  the  oft-repeated  remedy  advised,  but  in 
hot  summer  weather  they  defy  even  this.  Dust  sweepings  from  the 
highway  I  have  seen  employed  with  very  good  results,  but  a  remedy  that 
proves  as  good  as  any  with  me  is  Elder  boughs  brushed  over  the  ground 
newly  sown  in  the  early  morning.  This  is  an  old-fashioned  antidote,  but 
is  so  simple  and  effective  that  it  still  retains  a  value. 
Rolling  of  the  soil  in  the  early  morning,  when  dew  is  still  present,  is 
adopted  by  some  growers  with  fairly  good  results  ;  so  is  syringing  with  a 
petroleum  emulsion  over  the  bed.  The  latter,  however,  is  risky  in  bright 
weather,  in  that  the  plants  are  liable  to  be  burnt  with  the  sun  acting  on 
the  petroleum.  There  have  been  great  numbers  on  the  Cabbage  bed  this 
summer,  and  encouraged  by  the  continuous  sunshine  they  migrate  to 
other  parts  of  the  garden  even  to  anticipate  the  springing  up  of  newly 
sown  seeds. 
I  have  not  had  an  opportunity  of  learning  much  of  their  winter 
haunts  and  habits,  but  they  appear  very  eurly  in  the  spring.  It  is  not 
often  that  I  am  able  to  get  more  than  one  or  two  sowings  of  early 
Turnips  free  of  them,  and  maincrop  Cauliflower,  Broccoli,  Winter 
Greens,  and  Savoys  are  rendered  very  uncertain  through  their  inter¬ 
ference.  Certainly  they  are  not  much  affected  by  the  weather,  as  neither 
wet,  cold,  nor  frost,  stays  their  depredations. 
A  simple  and  cheap  expedient  for  dealing  specially'  with  the  Turnip 
fly  would  be  welcomed  by  many  gardeners,  and  the  wonder  is  that  it  has 
not  engaged  the  attention  of  specialists  more  than  seems  to  have  been 
done  in  combating  so  destructive  and  persistent  an  enemy  of  the  garden. 
In  showery  weather  stimulating  manures  force  their  growth  beyond  the 
fly’s  resources,  but  in  dry  weather  the  opposite  happens. — R.  A. 
AVENUES  OF  LILACS. 
I  MUST  confess  to  having  as  yet  never  seen  or  heard  of  a  veritable 
avenue  of  Lilacs.  The  idea  of  such  occurred  to  me  after  seeing  in  a 
local  nursery  a  long  row  of  standards,  comprising  several  varieties; 
such  as  Charles  X.,  with  its  bright  red  flower  buds  and  deep  lilac 
expanded  flowers  ;  President  Carnot,  large  panicles  of  semi-double,  pale 
lilac  coloured  flowers  ;  President  Gr6vy,  double-flowered,  lilac  in  colour  ; 
La  Tour  d’Auvergne,  a  fine  double-flowered  rosy  lilac  variety  ;  Alphonse 
Lavallde,  the  double-flowered  buds  are  deep  rose,  and  expanded  violet 
coloured  flowers  in  large  trusses.  The  foregoing  were  intermixed  with 
the  following  white-flowered  varieties  : — Madame  Lemoine,  no  doubt  the 
best  of  all  the  white  double-flowered  varieties,  its  panicles  and  the 
individual  flowers  being  exceptionally  fine,  and  pure  white ;  Marie 
Legrange,  a  great  improvement  on  the  old  single  white,  the  habit  more 
compact,  yet  sufficiently  vigorous  and  deliciously  scented,  insomuch  that, 
charming  also  as  is  the  old-fashioned  white  (Syringa  vulgaris  alba),  it 
must  be  eventually  superseded  when  the  former  becomes  better  known 
and  abundant. 
It  was  refreshing  to  find  standard  specimens  of  both  the  purple  and 
white  varieties  of  the  Persian  Lilacs  with  their  slender  branches,  small 
blossoms  in  multitudes  of  trusses,  the  white-flowered  variety  especially 
being  very  attractive,  and  at  a  distance  reminding  one  of  the  white 
Spanish  Broom  (Cytisus  albus).  An  avenue  of  one  or  more  of  the  above 
varieties  situated  in  a  suitable  position  in  the  pleasure  grounds  would 
afford  quite  a  unique  feature,  and  remain  ornamental  even  after  the 
flowering  period,  or  when  in  a  deciduous  state  during  the  winter. 
Moreover,  if  confined  to  standards  from  3  to,  say,  5  feet  high,  how 
readily  available  their  deliciously  fragrant  flowers  would  prove  to  the 
olfactories  of  the  passer-by,  without  the  trouble  of  gathering,  as  compared 
with  the  tall-growing  specimens  usually  seen  on  the  lawn  or  in  the 
shrubbery  ! 
The  system  indicated  need  not  be  confined  to  Lilacs  alone,  as  there 
are  several  other  kinds  of  ornamental  flowering  trees  aud  shrubs  that 
would  lend  themselves  to  such  a  purpose  ;  for  instance,  the  double¬ 
flowering  Thorns.  Laburnums  (especially  the  lovely  Cytisus  Andreanus), 
Gueldres  Rose  ^Viburnum  Opulus),  and  Rhododendrons  would  form 
pleasing  contrasts,  and  a  relief  to  suen  as  standard  or  pyramidal  Hollies, 
Golden  Yews,  Portugal  Laurels,  and  other  shrubs,  and  it  kept  properly 
trained  to  form  as  S3  minetrical  heads  as  possible,  they  would  prove  in  the 
deciduous  state  more  ornamental  than  the  ordinary  lorm  oe  standard 
Roses.— \V.  G. 
ROYAL  HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETY. 
Peas  at  Chiswick. 
A  meeting  of  the  R.II.S.  Lruit  and  Vegetable  Committee  was  held  in 
the  Chiswick  gardens  on  the  29th  ult.  to  examine  early  Peas,  &c.  There 
were  present  Messrs.  P.  Crowley  (Chairman),  Balderson,  Barron,  Smith, 
Mortimer,  Dean,  and  Pope.  The  Pea  trial  included  some  sixty-five 
stocks,  several  of  which  are  standard  varieties  grown  lor  reference. 
About  one-third  of  the  entire  number  were  ready  tor  inspection,  amongst 
these  being  several  very  dwarf  and  Eot  good,  not  cropping  well,  and 
some  others  that  had  been  so  badly  selecied  that  they  included  more 
than  two  varieties.  The  best  were  found  in  Duke  ot  Cornwall,  5  feet, 
good  cropper,  pods  long,  well  filled,  peas  green  and  excellent  quality  ; 
aud  Alderman,  here  supplied  by  an  amateur  as  ‘‘  selected,’  an  appel¬ 
lation  to  which  the  Committee  objected,  as  the  stock  is  identical  with 
what  is  now  so  abundant  in  commerce.  This  very  line  Pea  rises  to 
nearly  6  feet  in  height,  is  very  prolific,  pods  very  large,  well  filled,  and  peas 
of  great  excellence.  The  variety  is  one  of  the  finest  tor  exhibition. 
Bom  these  Peas  received  three  marks.  Tuber’s  Duke  ot  York,  4  leet, 
certificated  some  lour  years  since,  was  excellent  also.  A  lew  were  good 
cropping  Peas,  but  the  pods  and  peas  lacked  colour,  and  w  ere  rather  dry 
eating.  Besides  good  flavour,  good  deep  colour  is  now  indispensable  in 
new  Peas.  The  batch  of  Peas  was  sown  on  March  5th.  Acuie,  ODe 
of  last  year’s  selection,  3  feer,  sown  in  April,  was  very  early  aud 
prolific.  A  group  ot  Lettuces,  both  of  Cos  and  Cabbage  tortus,  was 
examined,  some  old  varieties,  such  as  Paris  White,  aud  Pyramidal 
Brown  Cos,  aud  Continuity,  All  the  Year  Round,  Crystal  Palace, 
Leyden  White  Dutch,  and  Lai ly  Market,  were  capital.  A  late  Broccoli, 
sent  by  Mr.  Beale  of  Loughborough,  rather  smalt  samples,  was  thought 
by  some  members  of  the  Committee  to  resemble  the  Chou  de  Burghley. 
It  was  agreed  to  call  the  Committee  together  at  11  A.H.  sharp  on 
Tuesday  next  to  examine  Peas  before  sitting  to  the  table  at  12  P.M.  in 
the  tern. 
[The  heads  of  the  Brocccli  sent  to  us  a  week  previously  by  Mr.  Beale 
were  first-class  lull  average  sized  market  samples,  fiuer  than  any  Chou 
de  Burghley  we  have  seen,  and  we  have  grown  many  hundreds  Irom 
seed  direct  irom  the  late  Mr.  Gilbert  of  Burguley.) 
The  Drill  Hall  Meetings. 
The  unfortunate  collapse  of  a  long  length  of  tabling  at  the  last  Drill 
Hall  meeting  was  doubtless  due  to  the  exceeding  heavy  weight  placed 
upon  it,  because  crowding  of  exhibits  is  the  only  way  to  enable  these 
products  to  be  staged,  so  many  are  they.  Could  each  exhibit,  exclusive 
of  the  Roses,  in  competition  have  had  its  proper  space  a  hall  fully  double 
the  dimensions  of  the  Drill  Hall  would  have  been  filled.  Should  another 
Rose  show  be  held  at  the  hall  at  any  time,  1  hope  some  steps  will  be 
taken  to  arrange  the  miscellaneous  sized  boxes  in  which  flowers  are 
staged  into  presentable  order,  for  if  the  exhibitors  can  grow  Roses,  at  least 
many  of  them  seem  to  be  lacking  in  the  requisite  taste  for  setting  off 
their  exhibits  gracefully.  A  centre  of  plants,  or  something  of  that 
description,  to  the  tables  would  hide  many  deformities.  But  it  is  so  very 
evident  that  something  must  be  done,  either  to  meet  the  requirements  of 
the  exhibitors  or  those  of  the  Drill  Hall,  that  not  a  moment  should  be 
lost  in  dealing  with  the  matter.  Either  a  far  larger  hall  must  be  provided, 
and  where  or  how  heaven  knows,  although  plenty  of  persons  talk  about 
such  provision  very  glibly,  or  there  must  be  a  very  hard  and  fast  rule 
operating  during  the  summer,  that  the  space  allotted  to  each  exhibitor 
must  be  severely  restricted.  If  all  exhibitors  would  bring  only  of  their 
best,  much  good  would  result.  Unfortunately,  there  is  more  desire  to 
make  a  big  show  than  to  make  a  small  but  a  very  excellent  one.  In 
spite  of  all  that  has  been  written  in  remonstrance,  the  Drill  Hall 
meetings  are  regarded  far  too  much  as  flower  shows,  whereas  their 
primary  object  is  to  enable  new  or  essentially  high-class  products  to 
be  seen.  Quantity  is  far  from  being  all  that  is  desired.  Much  less  of 
material  and  less  crowding  with  higher  average  quality  are  the  essentials 
to  good  meetings,  and  with  these  the  Drill  Hall  may  satisfy  all  necessary 
requirements  for  many  years. — D. 
[The  crushing  and  crowding  of  plants  and  people  in  the  building  in 
question  cannot,  we  are  convinced,  long  continue  without  prejudice  to  the 
interests  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society.] 
