:March  27.  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  OARDENBR.  2G9 
Seedling  Hollyhocks. 
The  Week’s  Cultural  Notes. 
Xow  that  the  plants  are  beginning  to  grow  freely  a  general 
Tise  of  temperature  all  round  will  be  necessary.  In  the  hottest 
house,  where  Phalmnopsids  and  East  Indian  kinds  gene¬ 
rally  are  grown,  the  night  temperature  .should  not  fall  below 
•€5deg,  rising  5deg  by  fire  Iient  by  day  and  from  lodeg  to  20deg 
by  sun.  The  Cattleya  house  may  be  5deg  lower,  the  Mexican 
another  odeg,  while  the  cool  house  will  be  be.st  kept  at  about 
oOdeg  as  a  minimum,  rising  lOdeg  by  day.  Increased  atmo¬ 
spheric  moi.sture  in  all  the  houses  will,  of  course,  go  hand  in 
hand  with  the  higher  temperature.  Ilepotting  of  many  species 
will  now  be  in- full  swing.  Thunias  in  the  warm  house  are  .start¬ 
ing  to  grow  at  the  base,  and  must  be  got  in  the  new  compost 
without  delay.  When  shak¬ 
ing  them  out  of  the  old 
pots  leave  a  couple  of  inches 
or  so  of  the  old  roots 
attached  to  the  stems,  as 
these  will  help  to  .steady 
them  in  position  a  little. 
Allow  the  ba.se  of  these  to 
just  rest  on  the  new  com¬ 
post,  and  place  a  stake 
firmly  to  each  one.  For 
■  compost  use  good  fibry^ 
loam  with  plenty  of  chopped 
sphagnTim  and  crock  dust 
added,  and  drain  the  pots 
thoroughly.  Give  no  water 
until  roots  begin  to  push 
from  the  base  of  the  new 
growths. 
Quite  a  different  class  of 
Oi'chids  are  the  Miltonias, 
from  the  Brazils,  including 
M.  cuneata,  M.  spectabilis, 
and  its  near  relation,  M. 
Moreliana,  M.  Clowesi,  and 
others.  These,  too,  require 
attention  at  the  roots  nov.u 
None  of  them  like  a  thick 
mass  of  compost,  especially 
the  three  first  named, 
shallow  pans  or  baskets 
being  more  suitable  than 
deep  pots.  The  peat  and 
moss  used  for  them  should 
be  carefully  selected,  retain¬ 
ing  the  rougher  portions 
for  use  with  stronger-rooted 
kinds. 
All  the  old  material,  or 
as  much  as  can  con¬ 
veniently,  should  be  re¬ 
moved  from  about  the  roots, 
as  when  this  is  left  it  is 
difficult  to  tell  whether  the 
plants  need  water  or  not. 
In  some  cases  the  centre  of 
fairly  large  specimens  will  be  found  bare,  and  unless  these  are 
particularly  needed  it  is  best  to  break  them  up,  cutting  through 
the  rhizomes,  and  making  up  the  plants  afresh.  Considerable  care 
is  neces,sary  in  fixing  the  various  portions,  especially  such  as  have 
few  roots,  and  here  pegs  or  stakes  must  be  resort.ed  to.  After 
potting  the  plants  should  be  given  a  slight  shade  in  the  coolest 
part  of  the  Cattleya  house. — H.  B.  R. 
Laelia  anceps  Amesiae. 
Laelia  anceps  Ameslae. 
This  handsome  Mexican  variety  requires  an  intennediate 
temperature  in  order  to  afford  it  ju.stice  and  to  ensure  health 
and  vigour.  Some  years  ago  (1893,  to  be  exact)  the  variety  was 
shown  from  T.  Starter,  Esq.,  of  Stand  Hall,  Manchester,  before 
the  Orchid  Committee  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  and 
received  a  First  Class  Certificate.  The  form,  as  our  illustration 
shows,  is  a  very  fine  one,  though,  of  course,  during  more  recent 
years  there  have  been  better  varieties  from  L.  anceps  certificated. 
The  sepals  and  petals  are  white,  tinted  rosy-purple  at  the  tips 
and  base.  The  lip  is  of  medium  size  but  of  deep  purplish-crimson, 
and  the  yellowish  throat  is  richly  veined.  It  flowers  duriPg  the 
winter. 
I  liilst  on  a  very  i>]ea.sant  and  enjoyable  holiday  to  my  native 
lieat.h  during  the  first  week  in  October  last  year,  amongst  other 
places  I  ha,d  the  pleasure  to  visit  was  Eslington  Park,  reposing 
so  “i.fhe  fertile  and  expansive  basin  between  the  cele¬ 
brated  Cheviot  and  Simonside  range  of  mountains,  in  North- 
umberland.  On  my  arrival  I  soon  found  my  friend,  Mr.  Joseph 
Oliver,  busily  engaged  amongst  his  lovely  hosts  of  Hollvhocks, 
and  being  a  grower,  and  amongst  Hollyhocks  all  my  life,  our 
interests  were  quickly  centred  on  these.  Mr.  Oliver  is  a  most 
careful  raiser  of  seedlings,  and  I  was  fortunate  to  find  a  few  of 
his  best  varieties  in  bloom.  Amongst  several  others  was  one 
named  Charles  Baron,  a  really  magnificent  .sort,  with  large  bold 
inassive  flowers,  perfectly  full,  and  free  from  “pockets,”  and 
having  fine  guard  petals.  It  is  deeper  in  colour  and  larger  in 
flower  than  Queen  of  Yellows,  which  is,  in  my  opinion,  saying  a 
good  deal  for  the  Charles  Baron.  There  was  also  another  yellow 
of  a  lovely  primrose  hue,  somewhat  lighter  in  colour  than  Gem 
of  the  Yellows.  It  is  perfect  in  form  and  finish.  The  next  was 
a  pure  white,  named  by  Mrs.  Oliver  “Peerle,ss”  ;  a  full  and  very 
refined  flower,  well  balanced,  with  a  fine  guard  petal,  after  the 
build  of  Chatei-’s  Le  Grand, 
but  I  certainly  think  this 
will  be  a  better  and  heavier 
bloom  than  the  latter 
variety.  The  last  I  am 
about  to  mention,  liut  cer¬ 
tainly  by  no  means  the 
inferior  in  a  noble  quar¬ 
tette,  is  one  absolutely 
virgin  white,  a  variety 
which  I  asked  my  friend  to 
be  allowed  the  honour  of 
naniing,  and  which  was  as 
quickly  granted,  with  the 
remark  “  That  he  did  not 
know  any  man  who,  in  his 
opinion,  was  better  quali¬ 
fied  to  perform  the  cere¬ 
mony  than  ‘yours  truly.’” 
I  at  once  named  the  queen 
of  the  lot  “  Mrs.  Joseph 
Oliver,”  as  a  fitting  name 
for  a  chaste  and  charming 
flower  of  Nature’s  own  pro¬ 
duction  !  I  was  really  more 
delighted  with  this  variety 
than  with  any  Hollyhock  I 
ever  previously  beheld.  Of 
yellows  there  are  many; 
also  pinks  and  reds  and 
rubies  a  goodly  supply  ;  but 
of  pure  whites  up  to  exhibi¬ 
tion  standard  there  are 
very,  very  few,  and  cer¬ 
tainly  none  to  come  near 
Mrs.  Joseph  Oliver.  The 
flowers  here  are  a  pure, 
clear,  shining  snow-white. 
They  are  large  in  size,  per¬ 
fect  in  form,  both  in  ball 
and  guard  petals.  These 
are  all  high  centred  flowers 
with  plenty  of  breadth, 
which  do  not  taper,  but  are 
finely  shouldered. 
There  were  hosts  of 
other  hardy  flowers  at  Eslington,  all  in  their  way  most  magnifi¬ 
cent,  and  grown  in  large  batches.  In  the  flower  garden,  of 
exquisite  beautjq  stiffness  is  rigidly  avoided  in  all  directions. 
The  luxuriant  growth  of  everything  I  saw  was,  on  first  sight,  a 
marvel  to  me ;  but  the  somewhat  low  situation,  and  deep,  moist, 
well-cultivated  soil  and  humid  atmosphere,  fairly  accounts  for  the 
unusual  and  giant  growth.  Another  subject  noticed  was  a  long 
row  of  a  new  Delphinium  which  Mr.  Oliver  has  raised,  and  these 
possess  a  very  dwarf  and  sturdy  habit,  having  long  spikes  of  fine 
blooms — in  my  opinion  a  big  step  in  the  right  direction,  as  many 
of  the  Delphiniums  are  much  too  tall.  Much  more  could  be  said 
of  the  glories  of  Eslington,  but  on  commencing  this  note  my 
intention  was  just  to  mention  a  few  of  the  seedling  Hollyhocks. 
Hollyhocks  are  now  generally  grown  on  the  coolest  treatment 
throughout,  and  under  such  conditions  they  are  more  robust  and 
much  less  liable  to  the  disease  so  common  a  few  years  ago. 
I  may  be  allowed  to  mention  a  few  of  my  credentials  (not  from 
any  egotism,  but  to  show  that  I  understand  what  I  am  talking 
about,  and  to  emphasise  the  merit  of  Mr.  Oliver’s  nroductions). 
The  writer  has  shown  104  stands  of  cut  blooms  of  Hollyhocks  at 
all  the  best  exhibitions,  and  won  101  first  prizes.— Geo.  Fixt-^-^ 
East  Layton  Hall  Gardens,  Darlington. 
