September  24,  1898, 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
295 
might  be  made  cheerful  and  attractive  by  planting  Ferns  therein, 
the  Male  Fern  and  Hart’s-tongue  being  most  attractive  and 
accommodating.  There  are  hundreds  of  elegant  varieties  raised 
from  spores,  the  Lady  Fern  tribe  being  especially  prolific 
An  hour  or  two  spent  at  Kew  Gardens  in  the  fernery  would 
enable  the  reader  to  recognise  most  of  the  normal  species.  A 
handy  and  reliable  little  Is.  book,  entitled  “British  Ferns,  and 
Where  Found,”  by  E.  J.  Lowe  (Swan  &  Sonnenschein),  would  be 
of  great  assistance. — Rtrs. 
S 
Accokding  to  the  classification  of  some  of  our  modern  botanists 
this  is  a  very  large  genus,  comprising  as  it  does  the  plants  formerly 
grouped  under  several  other  genera,  such  as  Bollea,  Huntleya, 
Pescatorea,  and  Warscewiczella.  A  system,  however,  that  joins 
such  plants,  say,  as  Warscewiczella,  Wendlandi,  and  Zygopetalum 
Mackayi,  while  it  separates  such  as  Cattleya  Mossije  and  Lselia 
Perrini,  is  hardly  likely  to  suit  gardeners  as  a  rule,  no  matter  how 
well  it  works  out  in  botanical  science  ;  so  probably  most  of  us  will 
still  go  on  as  before,  using  what  the  botanists  style  the  “  common 
or  garden  ”  names.  All  that  come  under  this  designation,  then,  are 
evergreen  pseudo-bulbous  epiphytes,  most  of  them  free-flowering 
and  easily  grown  plants. 
For  cultural  purposes  Z.  crinitum,  Z.  intermedium,  and 
Z.  Mackayi  (fig.  58)  may  be  bracketed  ;  in  fact,  there  is  not 
very  much  difference  in  them.  The  pseudo-bulbs  are  roundish 
and  leafy,  the  flower  spike  appearing  in  the  centre  of  the 
young  growth.  Too  much  heat  is  often  given  to  these  plants,  with 
the  result  that  they  grow  away  very  freely  for  a  time,  but  the 
growth  made  lacks  constitution,  so  to  speak,  and  is  very  subject  to 
checks  from  very  slight  causes.  After  a  few  seasons  in  a  very 
warm  house  the  foliage  and  bulbs  are  often  attacked  with  a 
virulent  form  of  spot,  that  ruins  their  appearance  and  prevents  a 
free  growth.  In  many  cases  that  have  come  under  my  notice,  this 
spotting  has  become  so  bad  that  it  has  been  necessary  to  cut  out 
nearly  half  the  pseudo-bulbs  and  much  of  the  remaining  foliage, 
the  result  being  a  weak  and  debilitated  plant. 
In  a  house,  the  temperature  of  which  is  not  kept  quite  so  high 
as  that  where  Brazilian  plants  generally  are  grown,  these  Zygope- 
talums  will  flourish,  and  may  easily  be  kept  in  health  for  a  great 
many  years  ;  and  only  a  few  weeks  aince,  in  looking  round  a  neigh¬ 
bouring  garden,  I  came  across 
some  splendid  old  specimens 
that  had  been  grown  for  years 
in  a  warm  lean-to  greenhouse 
in  company  with  Fern#  of 
various  kinds,  Ccelogyne  cris- 
tata,  and  the  ordinary  run  of 
plants  seen  in  such  struc¬ 
tures.  Very  little  attention 
had  evidently  been  given 
them,  but  then  they  are 
making  a  wonderful  growth, 
and  just  commencing  to  push 
out  the  long  vigorous  flower 
spikes  characteristic  of  healthy 
plants. 
The  roots  are  large  and 
produced  with  great  freedom  ; 
they  are  of  a  fleshy  character, 
and  more  persistent  than  those 
of  most  Orchids,  consequently 
they  require  rather  more 
liberal  treatment.  Equal  parts 
of  nice  fibry  loam,  peat  fibre, 
and  chopped  moss  makes  an 
ideal  compost  for  large  plants,  adding  plenty  of  rough  lumps  of 
charcoal  and  crocks  or  ballast  to  keep  it  open,  and  allow  a  free 
passage  for  air  and  water.  Smaller  and  weak  plants  are  better 
without  the  loam  fibre,  the  pots  wherein  they  are  grown  being 
exceptionally  well  drained.  They  cannot  bear  much  disturbance 
at  the  root,  and  small  plants  are,  of  course,  much  more  liable  to 
injury  than  larger,  stronger  ones,  so  in  repotting  all  possible  care 
should  be  taken  not  to  bruise  or  lacerate  the  roots  more  than  is 
absolutely  necessary. 
FIG.  57. 
ZYGOPETALUM  MAXILLAEE. 
Small  plant!  require  only  a  narrow  margin  of  compost  about 
the  roots,  as  then,  when  a  shift  becomes  desirable,  they  may  be 
placed  almost  entire  in  the  new  pot*,  only  removing  a  little  of  the  old 
and  decayed  compost.  They  should  be  elevated  a  little  to  throw  off 
superfluous  water,  and  replaced  in  the  growing  quarter  with  a*  little 
delay  as  possible.  They  will,  if  healthy,  take  water  rather  freely  ; 
as  soon  as  the  roots  are  on  the  move  and  right  through  the  growing 
season  must  be  liberally  supplied.-  Large,  well  established  pieces 
should  have  occasional  doses  of  weak  liquid  manure,  that  made 
from  cow  manure  and  well  seasoned  soot  being  as  suitable  as  any, 
or,  failing  this,  a  little  good  Peruvian  guano  well  diluted  may  be 
applied  about  once  a  week  when  the  flower  spikes  are  pushing  up. 
If  the  plants  can  be  induced  to  rest  awhile  after  flowering  they 
are  all  the  better  for  it,  but  they  must  by  no  means  be  dried  off, 
such  treatment  weakening  the  plant*  without  any  corresponding 
benefit.  The  treatment  of  the  hybrid  kinds,  Z.  Sedeni  and 
Z.  Clayi,  does  not  materially  differ  from  this.  The  former  of  these 
was  raised  by  Mr.  Seden  in  Messrs.  Veitch’s  nursery,  the  latter  by 
Colonel  Clay  of  Birkenhead.  They  are  somewhat  similar  to  each 
other,  the  one  being  raised  from  Z.  crinitum  crossed  with  maxillare, 
the  other  from  Z.  maxillare  crossed  with  Mackayi.  Z.  maxillare 
and  Z.  rostratum  differ  from  the  above  in  having  a  creeping 
rhizome,  the  pseudo-bulbs  occurring  at  intervals  along  this.  They 
FIG,  58.— ZYGOPETALUM  MACKAYI. 
are  not  quite  so  easy  of  cultivation,  and  thrive  best  on  pieces  of 
Tree  Fern  stem  suspended  from  the  roof.  If  this  material  is  not 
at  hand  they  will  grow  upon  blocks  dressed  with  sphagnum,  or  in 
small  pans  of  crock#  with  just  a  surfacing  of  peat  and  moss. 
Both  the  latter  are  old  species,  Z.  maxillare  (fig.  67)  having  been 
introduced  from  Brazil  in  1844  and  Z.  rostratum  some  ten  or  twelve 
years  previously  from  Demerara,  so  that  this  requires  rather  more 
heat,  in  fact  the  East  Indian  house  suits  it  best.  Another  beautiful 
and  variable  kind  is  Z.  Gautieri,  one  of  the  best  in  the  genus.  The 
flowers  are  produced  in  autumn,  and  last  a  long  time  in  good  con¬ 
dition  provided  they  are  not  bruised  or  wetted.  It  does  best  in  an 
intermediate  house,  and  takes  freely  to  the  Tree  Fern  stems.  It 
was  introduced  in  1868,  and  is  a  native  of  Brazil.  There  are  many 
other  species  and  hybrids  in  the  genus,  all  more  or  less  useful  and 
showy  plants,  but  those  named  are  probably  the  be»t,  as  they  are 
certainly  the  mo»t  generally  grown. — H.  R.  R. 
MEMORIES  AND  MORALS  OF  BOTHYDOM. 
(jContinued  from  page  270.) 
With  a  change  of  government  in  a  garden  often  comes,  where 
it  is  necessary,  a  change  for  the  better  in  the  bothy  and  matters 
pertaining  to  it.  Without  making  invidious  comparison  between 
gardeners  ancient  and  modern,  the  latter  are  more  impressed  with 
the  desirability  of  making  the  garden  lodging  equally  worthy  of 
advanced  gardening.  In  taking  up  a  new  charge  some  years  ago 
my  first  care  on  the  first  day  after  settling  in  the  gardener's  cottage 
waa  to  seek  out  my  foreman  who  had  come  with  me  and  see  how 
he  waa  located,  but  it  was  night  ere  it  could  be  managed.  The 
memory  of  that  bothy  is  probably  as  fresh  to  him  as  it  is  to  me. 
