December  9,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
547 
Yanda  Agnes  Joachim. 
It  is  not  by  any  means  every  day  that  new  Vandas  find  their  way  to 
the  exhibitions  of  the  Koyal  Horticultural  Society  at  the  Drill  Hall, 
and  when  one  is  shown  it  is  certain  to  attract  attention.  On  June  15th 
of  this  year  Mr.  W.  H.  White,  Orchid  grower  to  Sir  Trevor  Lawrence, 
Bart.,  Burford  Lodge,  Dorking,  sent  a  hybrid  resulting  from  a  cross 
between  V.  teres  and  V.  Hookeriana  named  Agnes  Joachim,  and  of 
which  we  now  give  an  illustration  (fig.  80).  The  flower  was  very 
lovely,  and  well  worthy  of  the  first-class  certificate  that  the  Orchid 
Committee  bestowed  upon  it.  The  petals  and  upper  sepals  were 
delicate  rose,  while  the  lower  sepals  were  pure  white.  The  colour  of 
the  lip  was  purplish  rose. 
Pleiones. 
‘,.These  Orchids  make  a  bright  and  pretty  show  during  the  dark, 
dull,  wintry  days,  and  their  popularity  seems  to  increase  every 
season.  Looking  through  a  large  trade  collection  recently,  1 
remarked  upon  the  small  stock  of  these,  and  found  that  the  demand 
for  them  had  sensibly  increased  during  the  last  few  years,  and  this 
particular  lurseryman  had  a  difficulty  in  keeping  up  his  stock  of 
some  of  the  more  popular  kinds.  As  a  genus  of  garden  plants  they 
are  perfectly  distinct,  but  most  botanists  now  refer  them  to  Coelogyne, 
a  genus  they  very  closely  resemble  in  horal  structure,  but  differ 
widely  from  in  habit  and  general  appearance.  Their  culture,  too,  is 
quite  different,  and  as  I  do  not  remember  noting  them  in  the 
Journal,  possibly  a  line  on  this  may  be  interesting. 
Few  Orchids  keep  to  such  a  regular  routine,  flower  and  grow  so 
constantly  and  regularly,  as  Pleiones.  Each  season  they  need  fresh 
compost ;  every  spring  they  commence  growing  about  the  same  time 
— though  this  time  naturally  varies  with  the  different  species — and 
they  seldom  refuse  to  flower  if  properly  treated.  Although  they  are 
probably  strictly  epiphytal  in  their  native  haunts,  they  need  a  good 
substantial  compost  to  get  the  most  out  of  them  under  cultivation, 
and  the  proper  time  to  attend  to  this  is  just  after  the  flowers  are 
past. 
Prepare  a  mixture  of  about  equal'parts  of  peat  fibre,  loam,  and 
chopped  sphagnum  moss  ;  add  to  this  a  good  sprinkling  of  finely  broken 
crocks  and  charcoal,  and  mix  all  thoroughly.  The  size  and  quality 
of  the  receptacle  will  vary  according  to  circumstances  and  the  fancy 
of  the  individual  grower.  Some  prefer  large  broad  pans,  and  excellent 
they  are  for  the  purpose,  but  personally  I  like  small  pots  better.  These 
are  much  more  easily  arranged  in  any  class  of  group  or  other  display 
of  flowering  plants,  and  as  the  plants  at  the  time  of  flowering  have  no 
foliage  on  them,  a  large  panful  looks  just  a  little  garish. 
But  perhaps  it  is  only  a  matter  of  fancy.  At  any  rate,  the  com¬ 
post  is  the  same  in  all  cases,  and  whatever  is  used  the  drainage  is  a 
very  important  point  to  consider.  Fill  the  pans  about  two-thirds  of 
their  depth  with  crocks,  and  cover  these  with  a  layer  of  rough  sphagnum. 
Pull  the  old  plants  to  pieces,  carefully  separating  every  bulb,  and  as 
all  the  old  roots  will  be  dead,  cut  all  these  off  excepting  a  small  tuft 
to  help  to  hold  the  bulb  in  position.  Be  very  careful  not  to  damage 
the  new  roots,  if  there  should  be  any,  but  if  taken  directly  they  have 
finished  flowering,  not  many  of  these  wdll  be  present.  Fix  them  so 
that  the  base  of  the  bulb  is  barely  buried,  and  dispose  them  equally 
over  the  surface  at  about  2  inches  apart,  giving  them  a  slight  rise  to 
the  centre  in  order  to  throw  off  superfluous  moisture. 
Dibble  the  compost  firmly  yet  carefully  about  the  roots,  and  place 
them  at  once  in  their  growing  quarters.  The  best  position  for  them 
is  one  similar  to  that  recommended  for  the  warm  section  of  Odonto- 
glossums,  but  in  the  cool  end  of  the  Cattleya  house  they  will  also 
thrive.  Hardly  any  water  is  needed  after  potting — in  fact,  it  is 
harmful  for  a  week  or  two ;  but  when  the  young  roots  commence  to 
push  into  the  new  compost  the  supply  must  gradually  increase. 
When  both  root  and  top  growth  are  active  a  very  liberal  supply  is 
necessary,  for  they  are  thirsty  plants  when  thoroughly  healthy. 
The  moisture  must  be  kept  going  until  the  growth  has  fully 
developed,  when  a  short  and  sharp  resting  season  is  necessary.  Bed 
spider  and  scale  are  their  worst  insect  enemies,  the  latter  being 
especially  fond  of  the  foliage.  These  must  be  kept  under  if  good 
results  are  looked  for,  frequent  spongings  being  the  best  way  to  do 
this.  There  need  be  no  fear  as  to  leaving  the  flowers  on  the  plants 
until  they  fade,  as  no  harm  is  thereby  done.  To  conserve  them  over 
as  long  a  season  as  possible  let  them  be  arranged  in  quite  a  cool  house, 
and  be  careful  not  to  bruise  them  or  to  sprinkle  them  with  water,  as 
their  texture  is  very  delicate. 
P.  Hookeriana  is  one  of  the  better  known  binds  and  peculiar  in 
retaining  its  foliage,  or  partially  so,  while  the  plnnts  are  in  flower.  It 
comes  from  the  Himalayas,  where  it  was  discovered  by  Sir  J.  D. 
Hooker  in  1849.  It  is  rather  variable,  the  typical  fonn  having  rosy 
purple  sepals  and  petals  and  a  paler  lip,  the  latter  spotted”  with 
chocolate  brown.  The  beautiful  P.  humilis  is  a  dwarf  grower  with 
a  very  finely  coloured  lip.  This  is  roundish  with  a  fringe  of  long 
white  hairs,  the  ground  almost  entirely  covered  with  the  brightest 
amethyst  purple  stripes  and  spots.  The  sepals  and  petals  are  pure 
white.  It  is  one  of  the  oldest  known  species,  but  was  not  introduced 
to  this  country  until  1849,  when  it  was  sent  to  Messrs.  Veitch  by 
their  energetic  collector,  Mr.  Thomas  Lobb. 
P.  lagenaria  was  sent  by  the  same  collector,  and  this  has  become 
perhaps  the  most  popular  of  all  the  species.  It  has  bright  rosy  lilac 
outer  segments  and  remarkably  fine  highly  coloured  lip  lined  with 
purple,  rose  and  golden  yellow.  P.  maculata  bears  large  flowers,  which 
are  pure  white  on  the  sepals  and  petals,  the  lip  rather  profusely  spotted 
with  purple  and  having  a  yellow  centre.  P.  praecox  and  its  variety 
Wallichianum  are  two  fine  kinds,  the  outer  segments  longer  and 
Fig.  8  ). — Vanda  Agnes  Joachim. 
narrower  than  those  of  most  other  kinds.  In  fhe  type  these  are  pale 
rose,  but  the  variety  shows  more  colour.  Both  are  natives  of  the 
Himalayan  range,  the  type  being  introduced  with  P.  Hookeriana,  the 
variety  many  years  later. — H.  K.  R. 
ROOT  EELWORMS  IN  TOMATOES  AND 
CrCPMBERS. 
Last  year  a  great  deal  was  written  upon  cel  worms  and  their 
destruction.  I  promised  Mr.  G.  Abbey  that  I  would  try  some  of  the 
substances  he  recommended,  and  if  I  were  successful  in  destroying  the 
pest,  I  would  give  the  honour  to  him  to  whom  it  was  due. 
Twelve  months  ago,  when  pulling  up  the  old  Tomato  plants,  I 
found  at  least  200  out  of  4000  attacked  by  root  eelworm.  Strange  to 
say,  95  per  cent,  of  these  were  the  plants  next  to  the  path.  When 
visiting  my  friend’s  nursery,  who  had  plenty  of  eelworm,  did  I  carry 
some  of  them  on  my  shoes  ?  If  so,  it  only  shows  how  careful  we 
ought  to  be  ;  but  to  return  again  to  our  subject.  I  knew  that  to 
allow  the  pest  to  go  on  unchecked  was  not  to  be  thought  of,  as  that 
meant  loss  in  future  crops,  and  poor  crops  spell  ruin  nowadays. 
After  a  great  deal  of  consideration  it  was  decided  to  use  basic  slag 
and  kainit,  for  this,  if  it  destroyed  the  eelworm,  would  also  furnish 
food  to  the  future  crop.  Having  decided  what  to  use,  the  next 
question  was.  How  much  of  each  to  apply  ?  I  knew  that  to  put  on  a 
few  ounces  per  yard  would  be  like  throwing  the  substances  away,  so 
the  hands  went  to  work  spreading  what  we  thought  to  be  a  good 
dressing.  The  scales  were  next  used  to  weigh  out  a  similar  lot,  and 
the  weighing  proved  that  we  were  applying  two  pounds  (2  lbs.)  to  the 
square  yard.  After  the  basic  slag  was  spread  we  gave  the  soil  a 
dressing  of  kainit.  The  same  methods  were  used ;  but  in  this  case 
only  twelve  ounces  (12  ozs.)  per  square  yard  was  applied,  and  this 
quantity  made  the  soil  look  as  if  a  snowstorm  had  fallen.  The  basic 
