March  26,  1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
273 
time  I  had  fair  success  with  putting  the  cuttings  into  a  cold 
place  until  they  were  fairly  callused  ;  when  introducing  them  into 
a  little  bottom  heat  they  emitted  roots  immediately.  Since  grafting 
became  known  to  me  I  may  say  I  have  alone  adopted  that  mode  of 
propagation.  I  usually  graft  early  in  February.  The  young  shoots 
that  spring  from  the  stems  are  taken  off  the  same  as  for  cuttings. 
A  slice  is  taken  off  the  side  with  a  clean  sharp  knife  ;  a  correspond, 
ing  slice  is  taken  off  a  piece  of  root,  both  fitted  together,  a 
small  pin  being  thrust  through  both  to  keep  them  from  shifting  ; 
then  bind  with  mat,  pot  in  friable  sandy  soil,  and  plunge  m 
smart  bottom  heat  and  shade  carefully.  In  eight  days  or  so  the 
grafts  will  be  taken  and  the  pots  filled  with  roots,  when  more  light 
and  air  must  be  given,  gradually  inuring  them  to  the  temperature 
of  the  cold  frame.  The  plants  will  now  be  ready  for  a  shift  into 
5  and  6-inch  pots,  and  should  never  be  allowed  to  receive  a  check 
till  planting  out  during  the  first  days  of  April. 
We  usually  plant  in  lines  3  feet  apart ;  if  in  open  squares, 
4  feet  between  the  rows  and  3  feet  between  the  plants.  In  plant¬ 
ing  always  place  the  stake  first,  and  then  there  is  no  danger  of 
bruising  or  breaking  the  roots  ;  and  our  practice  is  to  leave  the 
empty  pot  beside  the  plant,  so  that  we  have  a  covering  at  hand  in 
case  of  frost,  but  never  leave  the  pots  over  them  when  not  actually 
required,  or  allow  the  plants  to  suffer  for  want  of  moisture. 
They  require  an  abundance  of  water  in  dry  weather.  Syringe  also 
the  foliage  on  the  evenings  of  fine  days,  both  the  upper  and  under 
side  of  the  foliage,  so  that  red  spider  may  not  a  gain  a  footing. 
As  the  spikes  rise  tie  securely  to  the  stake  and  pinch  out  the  side 
shoots.  In  some  instances  when  the  spikes  are  extra  strong  I  have 
pinched  the  side  shoots  at  the  second  joint,  and  left  them  for  a 
time. 
Thin-out  the  blooms  so  that  they  may  not  be  overcrowded  on 
the  spike,  and  when  they  begin  to  show  colour  place  something 
behind  the  flower  to  set  them  out  a  little  from  the  spike,  and  top 
the  spikes  at  8  or  9  feet  from  the  ground.  Early  in  June  I  always 
give  them  a  good  heavy  top-dressing  of  rich  manure,  and  if  the 
weather  proves  dry  at  the  time  giving  them  also  a  complete 
soaking  of  water.  With  the  aid  of  the  mulching  they  do  not 
become  quickly  dry  again. 
The  preparation  of  the  soil  is  a  matter  of  prime  importance,  as 
no  after-management  can  compensate  for  it  if  defectively  per¬ 
formed.  In  the  autumn  I  manure  heavily  and  trench  the  ground 
deeply.  After  lying  as  rough  as  possible  to  the  action  of  the 
weather  during  winter  I  again  trench  it  over  in  the  spring,  knocking 
it  well  about  and  breaking  it  up.  I  have  grown  Hollyhocks  on 
the  same  piece  of  ground  for  years,  and  instead  of  finding  them 
deteriorate  through  such  a  course,  have  found  them  improve, 
through  no  doubt  the  ground  being  so  thoroughly  wrought  and 
deeply  cultivated,  which  I  consider  of  more  importance  than 
anything  else  in  cultivating  the  Hollyhock  to  the  highest  degree 
of  excellence. — J.  B.  S. 
Odontoglossum  crispum  Arthurianum. 
New  varieties  of  Odontoglossum  crispum  are  constantly  being 
shown  at  the  meetings  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  and  no 
Orchids  attract  more  general  admiration  from  the  visitors.  Many 
of  those  that  are  exhibited  bear  too  close  a  resemblance  to  existing 
named  varieties  to  warrant  their  being  awarded  any  direct  recogni¬ 
tion  by  the  Orchid  Committee,  but  occasionally  there  comes  one 
that  is  bound  by  reason  of  its  great  beauty  and  distinctive  markings 
to  be  noticed.  Amongst  these  latter  must  be  placed  Odontoglossum 
crispum  Arthurianum,  which  was  shown  at  the  meeting  held  at  the 
Drill  Hall  on  the  10th  iDst.  The  flowers,  as  may  be  seen  by  a 
glance  at  the  woodcut  (fig.  49),  are  large,  all  the  organs  being  of 
great  substance.  The  ground  colour  is  blush  white,  the  sepals  and 
petals  being  heavily  blotched  with  chocolate  brown.  It  was  staged 
by  Mr.  W.  Bobbins,  gardener  to  W.  Yanner,  Esq.,  Chislehurst,  and 
received  a  first-class  certificate. 
Spring  Treatment  of  Orchids. 
The  true  lover  of  Orchids  is  never  happier  than  when  busy 
amongst  them,  and  at  this  season  he  will  find  plenty  to  do  and  plenty 
to  interest  him.  Species  and  varieties  are  now  following  each 
other  in  such  rapid  order  that  where  a  collection  of  any  size  is 
grown  few  days  pass  without  something  fresh  opening  in  the  way 
of  flowers.  "Where  the  plants,  too,  have  been  judiciously  treated 
during  the  winter  it  is  of  hardly  less  interest  to  watch  the  progress 
of  the  young  growths,  and  that  it  is  of  more  importance  goes 
without  saying.  The  dry-looking  stems  of  Thunias  have  as  yet  no 
flowers  to  look  forward  to,  but  the  base  of  each  strong  bulb  is  now 
pushing  one  or  two  young  shoots,  with  occasionally  one  or  two 
more  on  the  top,  showing  it  is  high  time  to  provide  new  sweet 
compost  for  the  roots  that  will  soon  be  issuing  to  run  into. 
Calanthes  of  the  deciduous  species,  too,  are  over,  and  need  the 
same  attention.  Both  are  naturally  epiphytal  plants,  but  are 
found  to  do  best  in  something  very  much  like  a  terrestrial  compost 
under  cultivation.  The  most  critical  time  in  their  culture  is  over 
as  soon  as  they  are  rooting  freely  in  the  new  pots,  but  until  then 
very  great  care  is  needed  in  watering.  This  operation,  always 
FIG.  49.— ODONTOGLOSSUM  CRISPUM  ARTHURIANUM. 
important,  is  doubly  so  at  this  time  of  year  when  the  tiny  shoots  are 
forming,  and  many  a  fine  growth  of  Dendrobium  or  Cattleya  has 
been  spoilt  by  carelessness  in  respect  to  it.  In  a  general  way,  and 
with  the  pseudo-bulbous  kinds  especially,  much  less  water  is  needed 
now  than  in  the  autumn  when  the  plants  were  storing  nutriment 
in  the  newly  made  bulbs  to  tide  them  over  a  long  dull  winter.  A 
good  deal  of  this  is  still  unused,  and  on  this  the  young  shoots 
feed,  so  to  speak,  until  they  are  old  enough  to  forage  for  themselves 
by  means  of  their  own  roots. 
Scarcely  less  injurious  to  the  tender  shoots  are  bright  bursts  of 
sunshine  following  a  period  of  dull  weather,  and  to  guard  against 
this  we  are  now  fixing  up  the  blinds.  The  simplest  and  at  the  same 
time  most  effectual  way  of  manipulating  this  is  by  the  ordinary 
roller  and  pulley  arrangement,  complicated  systems  giving  much 
trouble  and  no  compensating  benefit.  It  is  best  in  all  cases  to  have 
the  blind  a  foot  or  so  away  from  the  glass,  this  allowing  a  current 
of  air  to  play  between  and  keep  the  temperature  down.  Any  parts 
of  the  house  that  cannot  be  covered  by  the  blind,  such  as  ends  or 
angles,  should  have  a  little  tinted  permanent  shade  put  on,  this 
looking  much  neater  than  whiting  or  lime.  Shading  will,  of  course, 
only  be  needed  for  just  an  hour  in  the  middle  of  the  day  during 
the  present  month,  but  the  sooner  they  are  up  now  the  better,  so 
as  to  be  ready  for  emergencies. 
To  illustrate  my  meaning  :  to-day,  Maicb  14tb,  has  been  a  most 
trying  one.  A  cold  east  wind  had  been  blowing  with  storms  of 
gleet  and  sdow  up  till  about  11  A  M.  ;  and  consequently  we  had  to 
warm  the  pipes  well  to  keep  the  warm  house  up  to  about  65°  or  70°. 
Just  after,  the  sun  shone  out  brightly,  and  the  temperature  in  a 
few  minutes  bad  advanced  nearly  10°.  A  little  top  air  was  at  once 
admitted,  but  this  did  not  prevent  a  rapid  rise,  owing  to  the  fire  heat 
as  well  as  sun.  Had  the  blinds  been  fixed  on  this  house  I  should 
certainly  have  had  them  run  down  for  a  little  while,  so  that  the 
temperature  of  the  house  would  have  risen  more  gradually,  and 
