4 
JOURNAL  OF  EORTIGULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
January  2,  1902. 
Dendrobium  Lowl. 
It  is  fully  forty  years  since  the  Orchid  we  figure  on  page  o  was 
introduced  from  Borneo.  It  is  a  pretty  flowered  species,  with 
pseudo-bulbs  1ft  high,  and  internodes  covered  with  black  hairs. 
The  leaves  are  3in  long.  The  pale  yellow  flowers  with  purplish 
lip,  are  borne  in  compact  racemes.  Each  flower  is  IJin  across  the 
funnel-shaped  mouth,  and  possesses  a  distinct  spur.  Mr.  Watson 
recommends  it  to  be  grown  all  the  year  round  in  a  moist  tropical 
house.  It  is  happy  either  on  a  small  block  of  soft  Fern  stem, 
or  a  shallow  teak  basket  with  a  little  sphagnum  about  the  roots. 
It  is  not  a  very  common  Dendrobe,  and  good  plants  fetch  los. 
each.  It  flowers  variously  during  the  summer  and  autumn,  the 
latter  season  more  especially. 
The  Week’s  Cultural  Notes. 
After  flowering,  that  useful  winter'  Orchid,  Zygopetalum 
Mackayi,  as  it  is  known  in  gardens,  has  usually  a  little  leeway  to 
make  up  in  its  growth,  especially  if  the  plants  have  been  jjlaced 
in  a  cool  house  to  conserve  the  blossoms.  This  necessitates.^ keep¬ 
ing  them  in  moist  growing  quarters  for  a  while,  after  which  the 
plants  take  a  short  rest  before  commencing  to  grow  again.  But 
though  at  rest  or  nearly  so,  the  root  must  not  be  kept  absolutely 
dry.  A  moderate  amount  of  moisture  is  always  necessary,  both 
in  the  atmosphere  and  at  the  roots. 
One  of  the  first  Orchids  to  commence  growing  in  the  Mexican 
section  is  Lselia  anceps,  and  the  roots  being  often  active  early  in 
the  new  year,  repotting  may  be  proceeded  with.  I  use  the 
term  repotting,  but  L.  anceps,  as  a  rule  does  better  on  rafts  or 
in  shallow  baskets  than  in  the  ordinary  make  of  pot.  Very  often 
it  will  be  unnecessary  to  remove  the  plants  from  the  receptacles, 
simply  removing  some  of  the  old  material  and  replacing  it  with 
new.  This  prevents  disturbance,  and  with  a  little  practice  with 
a  medium-pointed  dibber  anyone  soon  gets  the  knack  of  firming 
and  neatly  placing  the  peat  and  moss. 
I  hope  to  give  fuller  details  of  this  work  a  little  later  when 
the  proper  time  arrives,  but  it  is  as  well  to  be  prepared  before¬ 
hand,  and  now  is  a  good  time  to  look  over  the  stocks  of  compost 
materials.  Plenty  of  peat  fibre  must  be  prejiared  by  shaking  out 
all  the  earthy  portions,  sand,  and  the  large  Fern  rhizomes  that  are 
usually  present.  It  may,  if  preferred,  be  purchased  ready  pre¬ 
pared  for  use ;  but  it  is  more  expensive,  and  not  only  this,  but 
the  ‘‘  waste  ”  comes  in  very  useful  in  other  departments  of  the 
garden.  When  ready,  store  it  in  a  di^  place  ready  for  use,  an 
old  sugar  or  flour  barrel  being  an  excellent  receptacle  for  it. 
Sphagnum  takes  a  long  time  to  prepare,  and  although  much 
may  be  done  now  by  picking  out  sticks  and  other  extraneous 
matter,  much  of  the  preparation  must  be  left  until  a  day  or  two 
before  use.  The  growing  points  may  be  selected  and  kept  by 
themselves  for  surfacing;  the  tough  white  portion  may  be  used 
for  chopping  up  for  mixing  with  the  peat ;  while  the"  roughest 
part  should  be  set  aside  for  covering  the  drainage.  Prepare 
plenty  of  stakes,  labels,  crocks,  cbarcoal,  and  loam;  see  to  the 
stock  of  baskets,  pans,  and  pots,  so  that  there  will  be  no 
hindrance  to  the  work  later  on. — H.  R.  R. 
Grammatophyllum  speciosum, 
A  specimen  of  this  giant  Orchid  is  now  flowering  in  the  Vic¬ 
toria  Regia  house,  in  the  Royal  Gardens,  Kew.  We  make  a  few 
extracts  relative  to  it  from  Mr.  William  Watson’s  book  on 
“  Orchids.”  He  writes  :  “  This  has  been  termed  the  ‘  Queen  of 
Orchids,’  and  is  said  to  be  the  largest  known.  It  produces  stout, 
woody  pseudo-bulbs  5ft  to  10ft  in  height,  these  being  erect  and 
elothed  at  the  upper  part  with  leathery  sheathing  leaves,  lift  to 
2ft  long.  The  flowering  scape  is  from  5ft  to  Oft  high,  and  erect. 
The  flowers  are  Oin  in  diameter,  the  sepals  and  petals  being, 
broadly  oblong,  wavy  at  the  margin,  and  of  a  rich  yellow  ground 
colour,  blotched  and  spotted  with  reddish  purple  ;  the  lip,  which 
is  three-lobed  and  comparatively  small,  is  yellow,  streaked  with 
brownish  red.  It  is  a  native  of  Java,  Singapore,  Cocliin  China, 
Ac.,  and  was  introduced  in  1837 — the  year  of  our  late  Queen’s 
accession. 
This  gigantic  Orchid  cannot  be  successfully  grown  unless 
placed  in  a  very  hot  stove,  in  full  sunshine,  with  the  atmosphere 
kept  constantly  saturated.  ..  It  was  first  flowered  in  the  once 
famous  nurseries  of  Messrs.  Loddiges,  of  Hackney,  and  again  by 
the  late  Mr.  Day,  at  Tottenham.  In  both  cases  the  flower-spike 
was  small,  and  it  was  developed  very  shortly  after  the  plant  had 
arrived  in  this  country.  Mr.  Day,  who  had  seen  it  growing  in  all 
its  native  luxuriance  at  Singapore,  recommended  the  treatment 
here  advised.  The  roots  of  this  species  sometimes  grow  erect 
and  develop  short,  spine-like  rootlets,  which,  when  dry,  are  as 
hard  as  thorns.  All  the  Grammatophyllums  appear  to  have  the 
habit  of  developing  these  upright  or  heliotropic  roots.”  Many 
of  our  readers  must  have  noticed  the  wonderful  specimen  at  Kew. 
It  stands  fully  10ft  high,  and  is  an  imposing  feature  of  the  corner 
in  which  it  stands.  The  tub  is  just  above  the  water. 
Oncidiums. 
The  genus  Oncidium  contains  a  veiy  large  number  of  species, 
the  majority  of  which  are  fine  garden  Orchids,  some,  indeed, 
being  quite  indispensable.  They  flower  at  varying  seasons,  not 
a  month  in  the  year  but  what  has  its  representatives,  and  were 
one  tied  to  a  single  genus  for  maintaining  a  display  there  is  pro¬ 
bably  no  other  that  would  come  so  near  to  filling  the  book. 
Certainly  a  large  number  of  the  species  contain  more  or  less 
yellow  in  the  flowers,  and  to  lovers  of  variety  this  may  appear  a 
fault ;  but  they  are  not  all  yellow  by  any  means,  and  in  some 
of  the  yellow  species  there  are  very  lovely  combinations  with 
purple,  chocolate,  and  other  tints  that  relieve  the  monotony. 
The  geographical  distribution  of  Oncidiums  is  very  great, 
ranging  from  Southern  Brazil  in  South  America  to  Mexico  in 
the  North,  following  both  coast  lines,  and  occurring  freely  in  the 
adjacent  islands.  The  climatic  conditions  over  such  a  vast  area 
naturally  vary  considerably,  so  that  nothing  like  a  general 
scheme  of  culture  can  be  laid  down,  while  to  follow  each  species 
and  give  full  details  would  require  a  few  numbers  of  our  Journal, 
to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  subjects. 
Perhaps  the  most  difficult  group  to  keep  in  health  for  any 
length  of  time  is  that  comprising  O.  crispum,  O.  Forbesi,  and 
their  allies.  When  first  imported,  these  Orchids  grow  vigorously 
enough  and  flowmr  regularly ;  but,  grow  them  as  one  will,  they 
seldom  get  much  larger,  and  when  once  they  fall  into  ill-health 
it  is  only  a  question  of  time  for  them  to  last.  Nothing  will 
restore  their  lost  vigour  or  recuperate  them  in  the  least.  I 
have  had  the  best  resiilts  by  placuig  them  on  rafts  of  teak  very 
lightly  dressed  with  compost,  about  equal  parts  of  peat  fibre  and 
sphagnum  moss  being  suitable. 
The  best  position  for  O.  crispum  is  close  up  to  the  roof  glass 
in  a  house  where  the  Brazilian  Cattleyas  and  Lselias  thrive,  and 
as  near  a  ventilator  as  possible.  The  growth  is  harder  and  more 
fully  developed  hei'e  than  in  a  very  hot,  moist  house,  con¬ 
sequently  the  plant  is  not  so  likely  to  be  checked  by  changes  of 
temperature  in  winter,  and  flowers  are  produced  more  freely. 
It  ils  imperative  that  both  the  rafts  and  the  compost  should  be 
as  lasting  as  possible,  as  very  often  the  first  back-set  to  these 
lovely  plants  occurs  when  it  becomes  necessary  to  reneAv  these. 
A  lasting  compost  and  receptacle,  then,  may  prolong  the  life  of 
a  plant  that  would  otherwise  commence  to  decline  when  dis¬ 
turbed. 
Another  large  and  important  section  of  the  genus  is  that 
comprising  O.  macranthum,  and  the  species  generally  having  long 
scandent  spikes  of  showy  flowers.  They  are  more  easily  growm 
than  the  last  group  ;  but  the  same  remark  applies  to  their  free 
flowering  nature  and  the  mischief  done  by  over-flowering.  Still, 
the  pseudo-bulbs  are  generally  larger,  and  consequently  not  so 
easily  exhausted. 
The  best  i)o.sition  for  this  set  of  plants  is  the  cool  Odonto- 
glossum  house.  The  roots,  it  will  be  noticed,  ai’e  larger  and 
more  fleshy  than  those  of  O.  crispum,  and  must  have  more 
material  to  run  in.  Pots  that  will  allow'  a  margin  of  2in  or  3in 
around  strong  plants  Avill  be  best,  as  this  allows  the  roots  full 
play.  As  such  a  large  body  of  peat  and  moss  w'ould  soon  com¬ 
press  into  a  close,  inert  mass  without  some  mechanical  division, 
it  w'ill  be  advisable  to  place  a  larger  quantity  than  usual  ol 
crocks  and  charcoal  lumps  in  it.  The  habit  of  these  plants  maji 
almost  be  described  as  climbing,  each  pseudo-bulb  growing 
higher  than  the  one  preceding  it.  This  necessitates  potting 
rather  low  in  the  first  instance,  as  subsequent  top-dressings  will 
be  necessary,  and  these  w'ill  raise  the  compost  to  an  inconvenient 
height.  The  reason  of  the  top-dressings  is  that  the  roots  from 
the  base  of  the  bulbs  are  produced  higher  up  annually,  and  there¬ 
fore  out  of  touch  W'ith  the  original  compost.  The  risk  of  being 
eaten  by  insects  is,  of  course,  greater  the  farther  they  are  away 
from  the  compost  line. 
Quite  a  distinct  section  of  the  genus  is  that  in  which  the 
species  have  no  pseudo  -  bulbs.  O.  Cavendishianum  and 
O.  Lanceanum  are  well-known  members  of  this  set.  The  culture 
of  these  varies  a  good  deal,  according  to  the  habit  and  likings  of 
each.  The  latter  fine  sort  delights  in  ample  heat  and  moisture 
all  the  year  round — can  hardly  be  kept  too  warm  in  summer. 
But  the  former  is  very  w'ell  suited  in  the  Cattleya  house,  w'ith 
ample  light  and  not  too  abundant  moisture,  especially  in  the 
autumn.  Beyond  this  it  is  hardly  practicable  to  group  the 
species,  but  those  named  below  are  the  best  of  the  sorts  in 
general  cultivation. 
O.  ampliatum  has  large  leathery  leaves  and  roundish  purple 
pseudo-bulbs,  from  the  base  of  whicb,  when  matured,  the  flower- 
spikes  spring.  These  carrj'  a  large  number  of  flow'ers,  and  are 
often  as  much  as  a  yard  in  length.  The  principal  part  of  the 
blossoms  is  bright  yellow  marked  wdth  red  about  the  centre.  It 
likes  ample  heat  and  moisture. — H.  R.  R. 
