10 
JOURNAL  OR  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GABLENER. 
January  2,  1902. 
Of  course,  if  a  gentle  movement  of  the  water  can  be  ensured 
A  ®  the  more  likely  to  be  perfectly  healthy ;  but  Mr. 
Arnott’s  hint  should  be  accepted.  The  illustration  may  serve  as 
a  good  "guide  to  many  of  our  friends  who  are  busy  altering  the 
p  an  of  their  gardens,  and  direct  them  how  they  should  plan  and 
plant. 
- - — 
Literature. 
The  Woodlands  Orchids.* 
The  collection  of  Orchids  possessed  by  Mr.  Measures'  in  his 
garden  at  The  Woodlands,  Streatham,  London,  is  one  renowned 
m  the  annals  of  Orchidology.  Perhaps  no  finer  assortment  of 
Oypripediums  is  to  be  discovered  anywhere  in  this,  or  any  other 
country .  The  owneP s  enticement  to  Orchidology  first  began  by 
the  purchase  of  a  Cypripedium — 0.  barbatum — at  an  auction  sale. 
Ihe  TVoodlancls  collection  has  sloAvly  gi'own  since  that  auspicious 
day,  until  now  a  big  book,  bearing  the  title  we  give  above,  has 
come  to  be  written. 
1  Bi^t  the  book  is  not  entirely  devoted  to  describing  the  Wood¬ 
lands  Orchids.  That  would  be  a  “  dry  ”  book,  surely.  It  is  a 
record  of  various  highly  interesting  and  frequently  sensational 
adventures  experienced  by  Orchid-collectors  in  earlier  days,  when 
many  of  the  lovely  species  that  our  younger  growers  look  upon  as 
old  triends^  had  only  been  heard  of  bestirringly  in  rumour. 
The  book  is  a  most  fascinating  one,  and  we  have  read  each 
miapter  with  quickened  interest.  What  delightful  insights  Mr. 
Poyle  gives  of  Roezl’s  wondrous  explorations  and  accomplish- 
^  collector  whose  name  can  never  slip  from  memory, 
other  successful  and  intrepid  collectors’  names  are  here, 
with  stories  describing  the  search  for  reputed  new  gems,  or  for 
Lost  Orchids  of  known  excellence,  whose  reintroduction  was 
longingly  awaited.  Cattleya  labiata  furnishes  perhaps  the  mo.st 
surprising  instance  on  record  where  such  a  charmingly  beautiful 
flowering  plant,  having  been  brought  from  its  native  habitat  and 
grown  till  lolo,  was  lost  from  our  gardens  for  seventy-one  years, 
Attei  vigilant  and  undaunted  searching  over  many  years  the 
piofesional  collectors  were  baffled  to  find  it.  An  insect-hunter 
re-discqvered  it.  Mr.  Boyle  writes  contemning  the  ruthless 
extermination  of  Orchids  in  certain  localities.  It  is  commonly 
Kiionn,  of  course,  that  certain  species  affect  very  limited  areas 
and  are  only  discovered  growing  under  conditions  peculiar  to 
themselves.  Thus  Cypripedium  Spicerianum  had  to  be  patiently 
searched  for  by  Fostermann,  one  of  Messrs.  Sanders’  agents, 
wading  thigh-deep,  hour  after  hour,  day  after  day,”  along  the 
waters  of  those  steaming  clefts  which  fall  from  the  mountains 
ot  ,«liutan.  After  wading  all  the  forenoon  up  a  torrent  which 
liaa  not  yet  lost  its  highland  chill,  Fostermann  reached  a  glade 
encircled  by  rocks  steep  as  a  wall— so  steep  that  he  had  to 
msniqn  rakes  of  Bamboo  wherewith  to  drag  down  the  masses  of 
Urclnd  which  clung  to  them.  It  was  Cypripedium  Spicerianum '  ” 
AgaiU’  in  the  open,  upland  savannahs  of  Costa  Rica,  Oversluys, 
another  Sanderian  Collector,  by  a  lucky  incident,  w^as  brought 
into  contact  with  the  bright-flowered  Oncidium  splendidum.  He 
had  ottmi  seen  the  flower  previously  and  admired  it,  but  his  mind 
was  on  (Jrchids,  and  who  could  have  expected  to  find  an  Oncidium 
buried  among  herbage  in  the  open  ground  ? 
We  cannot  attempt  to  review  a  book  of  this  nature  in  detail 
It  IS  valuable  as  securing  to  the  world  at  large  and  orchidists  in 
particular,  tor  all  time,  a  most  enchanting  symposium  of  stories, 
narrating  the  adventures  of  a  large  number  of  collectors,  many 
ot  whom  had  been  .specially  commissioned  from  England  to  go  into 
savage  tropical  lands,  mostly  very  little  known,  in  search  of  one 
particular  Orchid,  famous  for  the  time  being.  The  people  of 
these  lands  (the  Straits  Settlements,  West  Africa,  Central 
America)  are  discursively  noticed,  and  notes  of  some  of  their 
quaint  customs,  ceremonies,  and  of  their  leading  personages  are 
furnished.  Mr.  Boyle  acknowledges  his  indebtedness  to  the 
Editors  of  a  number  of  the  London  newspapers  and  magazines  for 
permission  granted  to  use  writings  that  he  to  them  had  con¬ 
tributed. 
The  careful  reader  who  is  al^  a  grower  of  Orchids  will  find  a 
great  deal  of  matter  that  wnll  give  him  good  guidance  in  his  cul¬ 
tural  practices.  And  to  the  hybridist  the  lists  of  hybrid  varieties 
that  with  their  parentage  are  given,  and  the  admirable  index 
finishing  the  book,  will  be  of  real  service  and  an  admirable  begin¬ 
ning  for  anyone  who  contemplates  compiling  an  “  international 
catalogue  ”  of  these  productions.  The  peculiarities  of  colour  and 
form  in  such  of  the  Woodlands  hybrid  Orchids  as  seemed  most 
curious  to  the  author,  are  described  in  the  book.  "^^e  count 
sixteen  full-page  coloured  plates,  comprising  Cypripediums, 
C  attleyas,  Lselio-Cattleyas,  Lycaste,  Zygo-Oolax  x  Woodlandsen.se, 
and  other  selections,  lithographed  by  Mr.  J.  L.  Macfarlane, 
•  “  The  AVoodlands  Orchids,”  by  Frederick  Boyle.  London  : 
Macmillan  &  Co.,  Ltd.,  1901.  Price  21s.  net. 
F.R.H.S.  The  book  is  sure  to  create  widespread  interest  in 
Orchidology,  and  should  be  the  means  of  winning  many  new 
recruits  to  the  ranks. 
Vinton’s  Agricoltural  Almanac,  1902. 
Thi.s  “  Almanac  ”  is  a  bulky  book,  be  it  noted,  extending  to 
124  closely-printed  pages,  and  these  are,  of  course,  stored  with 
all  the  most  useful  facts  that  concern  the  home  farmer,  or  larger 
agriculturist,  througliout  the  year.  Information  of  the  fairs, 
markets,  agricultural  societies,  and  imports  and  exports  is  fully 
provided.  The  fore  part  of  the  “  Almanac  ”  is  devoted  to  articles 
of  general  interest  of  a  nature  that  should  tend  to  set  farmers 
a-thinking  and  improving  in  vai'ious  directions.  The  letter  from 
Mr.  Will  am  E.  Bear,  d  scussing  whethor  agricultural  competition 
is  increasing,  will  be  read  with  keen  intei-est.  Poultry,  cows, 
horse-,  sheep,  cattle,  pigs,  and  crops  each  and  all  receive  atten¬ 
tion.  The  “  A’manac  ”  is  pubhshed  at  the  “Agricultural  Gazette” 
Office,  Vinton  and  Co.,  Limited,  Ludgate  Circus,  London,  and 
at  all  railway  booksta  Is,  price  6ci. 
-  - 
Raising  Earlj  Melons. 
To  have  Melons  ripe  at  the  end  of  April  or  early  in  May 
sow  seed  at  once.  Most  every  grower  has  his  paidicular  favourite 
seecll  ng.  Those  who  have  not  will  find  the  following  satis¬ 
factory  : — Scarlet-fleshed,  Beauty  of  Syon  and  Gunton  Orange; 
green-fleshed.  Hero  of  Isleworth  and  Middlesex  Hero;  white- 
fleshed,  The  Countess  and  Longleat  Perfection.  It  is  only 
possible  to  have  fruit  ripe  at  the  time  named  in  well-heated 
structures  and  in  favourable  weather. 
The  seeds  may  either  be  sown  singly  in  Sin  pots,  or  a  dozen 
or  more  be  placed  round  the  edge  of  a  Gin  pot,  to  be  afterwards 
shifted  to  Sin  pots.  In  the  first  case,  the  pots  should  only  be 
about  half-filled  with  soil,  covering  the  seed  about  half  an  inch 
deep,  plunging  the  pots  in  a  bottom  heat  of  SOdeg,  and  covering 
each  with  a  pane  of  glass,  which  must  be  removed  as  soon  as  the 
plants  appear.  In  the  other  case,  the  pots  should  be  three-parts 
filled  with  soil,  covering  the  seeds  with  fine  soil  and  a  ^uare 
of  glass  until  the  seedlings  appear.  Two  parts  good  fibrous 
loam  and  one  part  leaf  soil,  mixed,  and  neither  too'  wet  nor  too 
dry,  but  moderately  moist,  forms  a  good  medium  for  germination 
and  for  ramification  by  the  young  rootlets. 
It  is  important  that  the  soil  be  sweet  and  fine,  and  the  pots 
efficiently  drained ;  but  one  crock  over  the  aperture  and  the 
rough  parts  of  the  compost  answer  as  drainage  for  the  smaller 
pots.  Drawing  the  plants  up  weakly  must  be  avoided  by  keeping 
them  near  the  glass.  For  this  reason  some  growers  dispense 
with  bottom  heat,  and  raise  the  plants  on  shelves  near  the  glass 
in  a  house  with  a  suitable  temperature  and  due  amount  of 
atmo  pheric  moisture,  such  as  a  Cucumber  house  or  other  struc¬ 
ture,  with  a  temperature  of  65deg  to  70deg  at  night,  and  70deg 
to  75deg  by  day,  with  a  rise  to  SOdeo-,  85deg,  or  90deg  from 
sun  heat. — G.  A. 
- - 
“Saynor’s”  Prunings. 
Yes,  the  cuts  are  clean,  made  by  a  practised  hand,  and 
the  operator  is  geniality  itself,  as  he  smiles  at  each  branch 
lopped  off.  (See  page  529,  last  vol.)  I  think  I  remember 
a  “  Saynor  ”  in  the  old  days,  1  think  I  have  seen  the  “  glint  ” 
of  his  keen-edged  blade  before  in  the  literary  arena.  I  can¬ 
not,  however,  agree  with  him  that  Due  Van  Thol  Tulips  are 
not  as  a  rule  the  best  for  providing  flowers  at  Christmas. 
The  gardener  who  has  an  abundant  supply  of  them  has 
reason  to  be  thankful.  I  have  never  yet  seen  them  “  go  a- 
begging  ”  at  that  season,  either  in  a  private  garden  or 
nursery. 
The  Due  Van  Thols  may  be  forced  into  flower  by 
Christmas  with  more  certainty  than  any  other  type. 
Pottebakkers,  Yellow  Prince,  and  even  La  Reine  not 
excepted.  They  come  in  splendidly  for  January,  but 
attempt'  to  drive  them  a  bit  too  hard  to  get  them  by 
Chi'istmas  and  you  will  often  get  plenty  of  blanks.  I  hope 
to  have  thousands  in  flower  by  the  second  week  in  January, 
but  I  am  satisfied  to  "et  plenty  of  “  Dues  ”  for  Christmas. 
It  would  be  useless  for  me  to  run  to  the  local  nurseryman 
for  the  longer  stemmed  kinds,  because  he,  too,  believes  in  the 
"Dues.”  If  we  could  afford  to  buy  “retarded  bulbs”  w^e 
might,  perhaps,  soar  a  bit  higher  at  Christmas.  The  com¬ 
pliments  of  the  season  to  you,  “  Savnor.”  wherever  you  are 
and  wherever  you  hail  from. — Plantsman. 
