7G 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Jan  nary  23,  19G2. 
but  kept  on  the  dry  side,  and  with  the  surface  covered  with 
moss  to  prevent  too  rapid  evaporation,  no  doubt  the  Belgian 
leaf  mould  will  be  an  aid  to  Orchid  growers.  Many  of  the  grand 
Odontoglossunis  that  are  shown  by  our  Continental  friends  at 
the  Temple  and  other  shows  are  grown  in  it,  and  their  appear¬ 
ance  is  in  itself  a  recommendation. 
A  noted  West  Country  grower  who,  some  twenty  years  ago, 
exhibited,  perhap,s,  some  of  the  finest  Dendrobiums  that  have 
ever  been  staged,  used  to  grow  his  D.  nobile  in  the  loose  fibry 
material  that  collects  in  mixed  plantations  of  hardwood  trees 
and  Conifers.  His  plan  was  to  scorch  the  material  over  a  wood 
fire,  to  drive  out  insects  and  kill  any  fungoid  spores  that  may 
have  been  present.  I  know,  too,  that  he  was  very  careful  to 
pick  out  all  chance  pieces  of  decayed  wood,  and  his  succe.ss  was 
phenomenal.  Any  readers  who  have  been  successful  in  the  use 
of  leaf  mould  may,  with  advantage  to  others,  send  along  their 
experience. — H.  It.  11. 
Oncidiums. 
{Continued  from  page  4.) 
0.  Batemanianum  is  of  quite  a  different  order,  but  a  very 
pretty  species;  it  is  also  known  as  0.  spilopterum,  but  the  name 
of  the  great  orchidist  cannot  be  kept  too  green,  and  it  woidd 
be  a  pity  to  drop  it  here.  It  is  one  of  the  brightest  of  the 
small  flowered  sorts,  and  thrives  in  small,  well-drained  pots  in 
the  cool  house. 
O.  candidum,  or  the  Flying  Dove  Orchid,  has  small  milk- 
white  flowers,  and  is  an  interesting  plant  worthy  of  inclusion. 
It  does  best  in  small  baskets,  or  suspended  pans,  close  to  the 
glass,  in  an  intermediate  house,  and  must  not  be  dried  off  at  any 
season.  O.  carthaginense  and  0.  Cavendishianum  are  two 
fine  species  of  the  ebulbous  section,  the  former  producing  long 
loose  spikes,  bearing  hundreds  of  whitish  flowers  heavily  blotched 
and  spotted  with  red,  the  latter  stiffer,  shorter  spikes  of  bright 
yellow  blossoms.  O.  cheirophorum  is  a  small  but  showy  winter¬ 
flowering  species  that  should  be  in  all  collections.  The  blossoms 
are  sweetly  scented  and  very  freely  j)roduced  on  healthy  plants. 
It  is  a  native  of  New  Grenada,  and  must  be  kept  well  up  to  the 
light  in  the  cool  house. 
O.  concolor  is  a  beautiful  little  plant  with  self-coloured 
canary  yellow  flowers.  No  difficulty  will  be  found  in  its  culture 
if  kept  to  small  pots  or  baskets  in  the  cool  house,  and  watered 
in  accordance  with  the  state  of  the  growth  all  the  year  round. 
O.  Croesus  likes  rather  more  warmth,  and  is  a  distinct  and 
showy  plant,  having  a  blackish  purple  eye-like  blotch  in  the 
centre  of  each  flower.  Another  charming  species  is  0.  cucul- 
latum,  with  small  flowers  of  pretty  shades  of  rose  and  purple. 
This  is  usually  taken  as  the  type  species  of  a  group,  consisting  of 
O.  Phalsenopsis,  0.  nubigenum,  and  0.  macrochilum,  all  of  which 
are  more  or  less  distinct,  but  hardly  sufficiently  so  to  merit 
specific  rank.  They  all  like  cool  house  treatment,  and  some,  at 
least,  of  them  .should  be  included  in  all  collections. 
Another  interesting  sjH'cies  is  O.  dasytyle,  the  flowers  of 
which  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  native  Bee  Orcliid  of 
our  downs  and  heaths.  It  does  best  in  the  Cattleya  house,  and 
the  plants  should  be  grown  in  small  baskets  or  fastened  to  Tree 
Fern  stem,  cut  into  suitable  sizes.  Almost  everyone  knows  the 
graceful  old  flexuosum,  an  easily  grown  and  very  floriferous 
species.  Fairly  large  pots  and  a  compost  in  which  sphagnum 
moss  predominates,  suit  it  well.  It  thrives  in  the  Cattleya 
house,  and  the  tall,  graceful  spikes  arevery  useful  for  cutting. 
0.  incurvum  is  a  small  flowering  plant,  but  very  pretty,  the 
scapes  being  graceful  and  rather  thickly  set  with  white  flowers 
spotted  with  rose.  A  native  of  Mexico,  it  is  not  a  fastidious 
plant  as  to  temperature,  thriving  well  in  either  the  cool  house 
or  that  devoted"  to  the  Lselias  and  Cattleyas,  from  the  same 
locality.  O.  Jonesianum  is  an  entirely  different  species,  and  one 
that  has  puzzled  growers  not  a  little.  It  may  be  described  as  the 
king  of  the  terete-leaved  Oncidia,  and  when  bearing  spikes,  with  a 
dozen  and  upwards  of  the  fine  showy  blossoms,  no  one  will  fall 
out  with  calling  it  a  fine  Orchid.  It  does  best  on  blocks  or  in 
ba.skets,  fully  exposed  to  the  sun,  in  a  hot  and  very  moist  house. 
During  the  growing  sea.son  it  can  hardly  be  over-watered,  but 
when  at  rest  much  less  water  is  needed. 
The  Butterfly  Oncids  O.  Ixramerianum  and  0.  papilio  need 
not  be  sei^arated  here,  though  mo.st  authorities  consider  them 
distinct.  Both  like  plenty  of  heat  while  growing,  and  neither 
of  them  care  for  very  much  compo.st  about  the  roots.  Cork 
blocks,  with  a  light  surfacing  of  sphagnum  moss,  suit  them  well, 
and  this  may  be  allowed  to  grow  freely  dur.ng  the- summer  and 
cut  back  in  winter.  A  clear  light  all  the'  year  round  is  absolutely 
necessai’y  for  both.  O.  Marshallianum  is  one  of  the  finest  of 
Oncidiums;  one  of  the  finest  cool  house  Orchids  in  cultivation,  in 
fact,  its  fine  showy  spikes  of  clear  yellow  blossoms  making  a  grand 
display  in  spring  and  early  summer.  Easily  grown  and  very  free- 
flowering,  the  grower  has  only  to  guard  against  letting  it  flower 
itself  to  death,  this  having  been  the  fate  of  many  fine  specimens. 
R.  R.  , 
Long-tailed  Tits  (Parus  caudatus). 
In  response  to  “  H.  R.,  Kent  ”  (page  39),  regarding  his  inquii'y 
as  to  the  kinds  of  food  the  elegant  species  of  the  genus  Parus- 
subsist  upon  generally,  I  believe  it  to  be  strictly  insectivorous,, 
chiefly  such  insects  as  inhabit  the  branches  of  trees,  and  doubt¬ 
less  it  was  for  the  larvoe,  or  pups',  of  such  that  the  birds  in 
question  were  in  search  of,  instead  of  the  buds,  as  conjectured. 
by  your  correspondent.  In  further  respect  to  the  insectivorous 
proclivity  of  the  genus  “  Tits,”  while  evidently  the  long-tailed 
Tit  is  solely  so,  its  congeners,  especially  the  active  and  perky 
Blue  Titmouse  (Parus  coeruleus),  known  also  as  Tom  Tit,  is- 
omnivorous,  partaking  as  it  does,  especially  during  the  winter,, 
of  not  only  insects,  but  such  as  fruits,  nuts,  and  flesh  of  any 
kind;  al;o  grain  from  the  sides  of  ricks.  Adverting  further 
to  the  habits  of  the  Titmice,  in  that  unique  work,  “  The  History 
of  Selborne,”  its  author,  Gilbert  White,  says  :  — “  Every  species- 
of  Titmouse  winters  with  us;  one  species  alone  spends  its  whole¬ 
time  in  the  woods  and  fields,  never  retreating  for  succour  in  the 
severest  seasons  to  houses  and  neighbourhoods,  and  that  is  the 
'delicate  long-tailed  Titmouse,  which  is  almost  as  minute  as  the 
golden-crowned  (or  crested)  Wren;  but  the  Blue  Titmouse  or 
Nun  (Parus  coeruleus),  the  Colemouse  (Parus  ater),  the  great 
Black-headed  Titmouse  (Fringillago),  and  the  Marsh  Titmouse 
(Parus  f)alustris),  all  resort  at  times  to  buildings,  and  in  hard 
weather  particularly.”  The  genial  naturalist  further  says: 
“  The  Great  Titmouse,  driven  by  stress  of  weather,  much 
frequents  houses,  and  in  deep  snows  I  have  seen  this  bird,  while- 
it  hung  with  its  back  downwards  (to  my  no  small  delight  and 
admiration),  draw  straws  lengthwise  fi'om  ont  thei  eaves  of 
thatched  houses  in  order  to  pull  out  the  flies  that  were  concealed 
between  them,  and  that  in  such  numbers  that  they  quite  defaced 
the  thatch,  and  gave  it  a  ragged  appearance.” 
Apropos  of  the  name.  Long-tailed  Tit,  Dr.  Leach  proposed 
instead  Mecistura  vagans.  Long-tailed  Wanderer,  as  most  appro¬ 
priate,  for  such  is  its  import,  describing  the  most  striking  outward) 
characteristic  of  the  bird  and  its  unvarying  habit.  Many  of  the 
provincial  names  of  the  bird  are  associated  with  the  ridiculous. 
Thus:  Long-tailed  Mufflin,  (?)  Long-tailed  Mag,  Long-tailed  Pie,. 
Pobe-pudding,  Huck-muck,  Bottle  Tom,  Munn-ruffin,  and  Long- 
pod,  pet  names  though  they  are,  are  also  whimsical,  and  prepare- 
one  beforehand  for  the  information  that  their  owner  is  “just  a 
little  eccentric.” 
The  nest  of  the  Long-tailed  Tit  is  of  most  exquisite  work¬ 
manship  and  beautiful  texture,  and  when  “  bird’s  nesting  ” 
during  my  boyhood  the  most  coveted  prize  was  to  secure  a  nest 
of  this  species,  and  rendered  additionally  so  if  it  contained 
from  a  dozen  to  a  score  of  the  tiny  eggs  ensconced  among  the 
lining  of  soft  feathers. 
Since  penning  the  foregoing  it  may_  also  be  interesting  to 
remark,  as  a  somew'hat  remarkable  coincidence.  When  strolling 
down  a  shady  bye  lane  this  morning  (Friday,  January  10),  I 
came  across  a  small  flight  of  Long-tailed  Tits  busily  searching 
for  insects  among  the  trees,  but  they  speedily  sought  “  pastures 
new.”  Their  speedy  retreat,  however,  was  compensated  for- 
by  the  immediate  presence  of  another  equally  interesting 
denizen  of  the  woods  in  the  shape  of  a  solitary  Gold-crest,  or 
Golden-Crested  AVren,  apparently  a  female,  incessantly  flitting 
backwards  and  forw-ards  along  a  dw^arf  Thorn  hedge  and  a  tar- 
painted  w-ooden  fence,  diligently  searching  for  insect  food,  and 
occasionally  varying  its  movements  by  flying  a  few'  yards  upw'ards^ 
after,  to  my  own  indiscernible  visual  organs,  some  tiny  insect, 
thence  returning  to  its  former  position. 
The  pretty  little  atom  of  feathers  and  fluff  appeared  to  be 
wholly  unconscious  of  its  admiring  spectator,  and  who,  for  ten 
minutes  or  so,  closely  followed  it  along  the  lane  side.  Returning 
after  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour’s  absence,  I  found  to  my 
surprise  my  diminutive  acquaintance  still  pursuing  its  avocation 
much  in  the  same  place,  and  afterwards  flew  upwards  amongst 
the  branches  of  a  neighbouring  Irim  tree.  It  has  been  remarked 
by  a  noted  naturalist  that  he  never  observed  a  Gold-crest  on  the 
ground  in  search  of  food  ;  probably  not,  but  in  my  owm  case 
the  specimen  in  question  several  times  alighted  for  a  moment 
or  so  upon  the  thickly  scattered  leaves  along  the  lane  side  from 
the  trees  overhead,  evidently  in  quest-  of  insects  upon  the  upper 
surface  of  the  leaves. 
Altogether  it  was  really  the  most  interesting  experience  I 
evier  had  with  the  feeding  habits  of  the  Gold-crest.  In  con¬ 
clusion  it  may  also  be  remarked  that  I  failed  to  hear  it  ut-t-ei; 
a  note.  The  Gold-crest  is  said  to  be  gregarious,  but  my  little 
friend  was  evidently  alone,  and  I  protracted  my  time  in  watching 
its  movements  piirposely  to  see  if  it  had  companions  in  the- 
neighbourhood,  but  without  avail. — W.-  G.,  Harborne,  Staffs.  . 
