September  3,  1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
221 
Dendrorixim  Hookerianum. 
When  well  grown  this  is  a  beantiful  Orchid,  and  it  is  sur¬ 
prising  that  one  does  not  see  it  more  frequently  in  small  as  well 
as  large  collections.  Some  time  since  I  saw  several  fine  plants 
with  growths  quite  3  feet  in  length,  and  these  bore  many  flowers. 
The  latter,  as  a  rule,  measure  from  3  to  4  inches  in  diameter,  and 
are  of  a  deep  rich  yellow  colour.  The  lip  is  velvety  yellow,  and 
there  are  two  blotches  of  deep  yellow  in  the  throat.  This  noble 
Dendrobium  is  also,  I  believe,  known  as  D.  chrysotis,  under  which 
name  it  is  sometimes  figured.  The  illustration  (fig.  44)  will  convey 
to  readers  a  better  idea  of  this  grand  Orchid  than  will  any  descrip¬ 
tion  of  mine. — Orciiidist. 
Dendrorium  Deari. 
Introduced  from  the  Phillipine  Islands  in  1882,  this  useful 
Dendrobium  has  made  its  way  %  its  undoubted  merit  to  a  very 
popular  position,  its  free  flowering  nature,  and  the  many  purposes 
to  which  the  blossoms  may  be  put,  rendering  it  what  may  be  termed 
everybody’s  Orchid  ;  that  is  to  say,  everybody  that  has  plenty  of 
heat  at  command  during  the  growing  season,  for  it  is  quite  tropical 
in  its  requirements,  and  delights  in  a  house  dripping  with  atmo¬ 
spheric  moisture,  and  a  strong  brisk  temperature.  A  good  light  is 
also  essential,  otherwise  it  is  difficult  to  ripen  the  pseudo-bulbs 
properly,  and  unless  this  is  done  the  plant  flowers  but  poorly.  The 
growths  start  early  in  the  season,  and  want  plenty  of  time,  as  the 
progress  is  not  so  rapid  as  that  of  some  other  kinds.  Upon  the  apex 
of  the  new  growth,  and  in  some  cases  on  the  older  bulbs  as  well 
the  flowers  occur  in  large  dense  panicles,  each  one  measuring  about 
2^  inches  across. 
After  these  blossoms  are  over  the  plants  may  with  advantage 
be  hung  up  for  a  few  weeks  in  a  light  vinery  or  Peach  house  close 
to  the  roof  glass,  and  though  not  requiring  to  be  dried  as  much 
as  some  of  the  deciduous  group,  the  supply  of  water  at  the  roots 
must  at  this  season  be  sensibly  diminished.  They  will  steady 
themselves,  so  to  speak,  without  any  shrivelling  of  the  pseudo- 
bulbs,  and  this  is  just  what  is  needed.  The  winter  minimum 
temperature  must  not  be  less  than  45°,  and  the  sun  muit  at  this 
time  shine  full  on  the  plant.  Baskets  or  pans  may  be  used  for 
growing  them  in,  but  neither  must  be  large,  for  the  roots,  though 
produced  in  plenty,  are  not  so  ambitious  in  pushing  away  from 
the  centre  of  growth  as  some  others,  and  all  Dendrobiums  like  to 
“feel  their  pot,”  as  the  term  goes.  The  roots  cannot  thrive  in 
a  large  body  of  compost  that  holds  considerable  moisture.  They 
like  to  crowd  each  other  and  twine  closely  about  the  drainage  and 
the  hard  yet  porous  surface  of  the  pan,  or  over  the  basket  rods. 
Equal  parts  of  good  peat  fibre  and  sphagnum  moss  is  all  that  is 
needed  as  the  basis  of  the  compost,  adding  to  this  plenty  of  rough 
lumps  of  charcoal  and  crocks.  If  grown  in  pans,  half  the  depth  of 
these  should  be  filled  with  drainage  ;  the  baskets,  having  more 
capacity,  may  be  filled  to  within  1  inch  or  1^  inch,  according  to 
the  size.  The  roots  are  not  very  long-lived,  consequently  when 
repotting  all  the  decayed  ones  must  be  cut  out,  as  well  as  any 
part  of  the  compost  likely  to  become  soar  or  waterlogged.  In 
doing  this  care  is  necessary  not  to  disturb  the  sound  ones  more 
than  can  possibly  be  avoided,  also  in  pressing  the  new  compost  in 
with  the  dibber  they  are  apt  to  be  snapped. 
It  is  a  good  plan  when  repotting  small  plants  of  this  description 
to  wrap  a  little  new  material  about  the  roots  with  the  hand  before 
placing  in  the  pots,  as  it  serves  to  keep  the  plant  steady  in  position 
and  the  roots  are  less  liable  to  injury.  The  base  of  the  bulbs  must 
be  kept  well  above  the  rims,  and  the  compost  when  finished  trimmed 
off  to  a  neat  cone,  dibbling  in  a  few  points  of  sphagnum  here  and 
there  to  indicate  the  state  of  the  compost  as  to  moisture.  Very 
little  water  is  needed  after  potting  until  new  roots  are  being  pro¬ 
duced,  when  the  supply  must  be  gradually  increased  until  the 
pseudo-bulbs  are  mature. 
CyPRIPEDIUM  SCIIRODERiE. 
It  does  not  seem  long  since  this  beautiful  hybrid  was  so  rare 
and  valuable  as  to  be  included  in  the  best  collections  only,  but  such 
is  the  far-growing  character  of  this  class  that  it  is  not  unusual  to 
see  noble  specimens  of  it,  that  when  in  bloom  are  most  beautiful 
objects.  It  has  the  habit  of  a  good  longiflorum,  and  like  that  fine 
species  throws  up  its  spikes  of  flowers  that  bloom  successively  over 
a  long  period,  large  species  being  seldom  out  of  bloom.  Its  parents 
are  O.  Sedeni—itself  a  hybrid— and  0.  caudatum,  the  latter  being 
the  seed  bearer,  and  the  flowers  much  resemble  those  of 
C.  caudatum  in  the  narrow  pouch  and  long  twisted  petals.  As 
mentioned  above  it  is  a  free  grower,  and  consequently  may  bo  given 
rather  a  large  pot  and  fairly  substantial  compost.  I  have  been 
successful  with  equal  parts  of  peat  fibre,  loam,  and  chopped 
sphagnum,  plenty  of  rough  nodules  of  charcoal  being  added  to  this 
to  insure  its  keeping  open.  The  best  time  to  repot  is  the  early 
spring,  and  it  is  unwise  to  disturb  the  plant  more  than  is  absolutely 
necessary.  Still,  if  they  are  in  bad  condition  there  must  be  no  half 
•  meaiures  with  it,  and  it  is  better  to  turn  it  right  out  and  wash 
every  root  clear  of  the  old  compost  than  to  place  old  or  sour  stuff  in 
the  new  pots. 
It  is  advi.sable  in  such  a  case  to  use  less  loam  and  more 
sphagnum  and  potiherds  than  advised  for  healthy  plants.  In 
potting  keep  the  roots  just  below  the  rims,  only  the  very  smallest 
plants  requiring  to  be  elevated,  as  is  usual  with  epiphytal  kinds. 
The  heat  of  the  Cattleya  house  suits  it  well,  but  the  leaves  must 
be  carefully  shaded  from  bright  sunshine  or  they  will  be  much 
damaged  in  appearance.  Plenty  of  water  is  needed  the  whole  year 
roand,  as  it  seems  never  entirely  at  rest,  but  of  course  during 
FIG.  44. — DENDROBIUM  HOOKERIANUM. 
winter  tho  roots  will  not  run  so  dry  as  they  do  in  the  summer 
months.  C.  Schroderse  was  named  in  honour  of  the  Baroness 
Schroder,  and  was  raised  in  the  Chelsea  nurseries  by  Mr.  Seden, 
where  it  flowered  for  the  first  time  in  1883. — If.  R.  R. 
MEMORIES  AND  MORALS  OF  BOTHYDOM. 
(  Continued  from  page  172.) 
It  must  be  patent  to  all  who  read  and  observe  that  the  bulk  of 
our  leading  men  are  self-made  men.  The  “  Autocrat  of  the  Break¬ 
fast  Table  ”  lays,  “  It  is  a  great  deal  better  to  be  self-made  than  not 
made  at  all.”  So  far  as  practical  gardeners  are  concerned,  I  am 
inclined  to  go  further,  and  say  that  it  is  the  best  way  of  being  made  ; 
even  further  may  one  go,  and  say  it  is  the  only  way  of  being  made. 
There  are  many  truths  not  revealed  until  later  on  in  life,  and  then 
there  are  many  cloaks  for  men  to  throw  over  their  failures  to  hide 
them  from  an  unsympathetic  world.  By  this  means  a  man  may  not 
only  deceive  others,  but  it  often  results  in  deceiving  himself.  Ifc 
is  of  vital  importance  that  our  lads  of  the  bothy  should,  as  far  as 
possible,  see  things  as  they  are,  and  not  as  they  seem,  for  there  are 
many  delusions  environing  life  that  want  exposing.  Sooner  or 
later  some  of  these  mists  are  dispelled,  for  only  a  brief  interval, 
perhaps,  and  some  stern  facts  are  presented  ;  the  irrevocable  laws 
governing  success  or  failure  are  clearly  defined  though  not  acknow¬ 
ledged.  It  is  so  comfortable  to  pity  one’s  self,  but,  on  reflection, 
how  contemptible  it  is.  It  is  not  a  pleasant  matter  to  discuss,  but 
very  necessary  to  clear  away  from  our  start  in  life — the  bothy — all 
such  hallucinations.  That  is,  indeed,  the  chief  object  of  these 
papers,  and  to  inculcate  the  spirit  of  Pitt,  the  great  Earl  of 
Chatham,  who,  in  replying  to  a  contemporary’s  assertion  that  & 
