April  10,  1302. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
313 
Odontoglossum  Adrianae  Mrs.  Robert  Benson. 
Undoubtedly  this  variety  of  O.  Adriaiioe  is  one  of  the 
tfinest  and  most  haaidsome  yet  raised.  On  February  26  last  year 
Captain  Holford  gained  an  Award  of  Merit  for  a  specimen  flower 
shown  before  tlie  Orchid  Committee,  but  after  a  year’s  growth 
and  careful,  kindly  treatment,  he  was  again  able  to  produce 
another  splendidly  flowered  plant  this  year  (having  a  raceme  of 
fifteen  flowers),  on  March  25,  and  so  much  improvement  was 
evidenced  that  the  higher  award,  the  First  Class  Certificate,  was 
on  this  occasion  bestowed.  The  ground  colour  is  yellow  or  tea 
■  coloured,  barred  and  blotched  with  bright  chestnut  brown.  Our 
illustration  is  from  a  sketch  by  Mr.  George  Shayler. 
Zygo-Colax  X  Wiganianus  superbus. 
At  the  Drill  Hall  meeting  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society 
■  on  February  25  last,  Messrs.  Sander  and  Sons,  .St.  Albans, 
showed  this  improved  form  of  a  previous  bigeneric  hybrid.  Zygo- 
tColax  X  Wiganianus  was  certificated  in  January,  1900,  when 
exhibited  by  Sir  Frederick  Wigan  Bart.,  the  parentage  being 
Zygopetalum  intermedium  x  Colax  jugosus  (syn.  Lycaste  jugosa). 
The  new  and  improved  form  was  evidently  from  the  finest  forms 
of  each  species,  and  so  handsome  was  it  that  the  Orchid  Com¬ 
mittee  unanimously  accorded  it  a  First  Class  Certificate.  The 
substance  of  the  flower  is  great,  and  the  markings  very  beautiful. 
The  lip  is  violet  blue  with  a  white  ground  colour  showing  through 
towards  the  margin.  The  light  green  sepals  and  petals  are 
marked  with  chocolate  purple.  Doubtless  when  larger  plants 
u.re  developed  this  will  become  an  interesting  addition  to  collec¬ 
tions. 
The  Week’s  Cultural  Notes. 
It  is  rather  early  to  be  speaking  of  rebasketing  and  repotting 
Phalsenopsis,  but  the  time  is  close  at  hand,  and  it  is  well  to  be 
prepared  in  good  time.  A  stock  of  baskets,  pots,  and  other  re- 
'Oeptacles  will,  of  course,  be  prepared  by  now,  and  plenty  of  fresh 
growing  sphagnum  moss,  as  these  beautiful  Orchids  do  not  relish 
peat,  loam,  or  other  clogging  substances,  the  roots  being  ex¬ 
tremely  sensitive  and  easily  injured.  All  being  in  readiness,  a 
start  maj’  be  made  with'them  at  the  end  of  April  or  the  beginning 
of  May,  giving  priority  to  those  plants  that  are  mo.st  forward  with 
the  rooits. 
Many,  of  course,  will  only  need  a  little  tidying  up  and  top¬ 
dressing  ;  some  will  need  nearly  the  whole  of  the  old  compost 
removing  and  new  substituting;  while  a  few  will  have  to  have 
new  receptacles,  either  becau.s6  they  have  outgrown  the  old  ones 
or,  in  the  case  of  wood  baskets,  these  are  decayed.  It  will  some¬ 
times  be  more  convenient  to  place  the  old  basket  entire  into  the 
new  one,  fir.st  of  all  removing  any  decayed  portions  with  a  keen 
'Odontoglossum  Adrianae  var.  Mrs.  R.  Benson. 
knife,  and  filling  up  the  space  between  the  new’  basket  and  the 
old  with  charcoal  and  sphagnum.  In  such  cases  as  these  the 
plant  is  not  greatly  disturbed,  but  when  the  roots  have  become 
enrivined  about  the  rods  of  the  basket,  the  w’ork  of  removal  must 
be  vei-y  carefully  done  or  the  plants  will  be  much  distressed. 
Before  commencing  to  disturb  the  roots  a  thorough  soaking 
in  warm  water  is  advisable,  the  roots  then  parting  from  the 
wood  easily,  or  at  all  events,  more  easily  than  when  dry.  A  thin 
strip  of  w’ood  or  a  portion  of  the  rod  may  be  left  with  the  root 
adhering  and  placed  in  the  new  material  where  it  is  difficult  to 
detach  them,  but  as  far  as  possible  remove  all  the  old  wood.  A 
small  mound  of  crocks  may  be  built  up  in  the  new  basket,  placing 
the  largest  pieces  on  the  bottom,  and  on  this  the  plant'  should 
Zygo=Colax  x  Wiganianus  superbus. 
Natural  size,  mreen  with  purpl(‘  sixil.-i.  blue  lij). 
rest,  sinking  being  thereby  prevented.  Only  a  very  thin  layer 
of  moss  need  be  given,  using  in  all  cases  fresh  growing  points,  not 
the  older  w'hite  portions. 
Evei-y  bit  of  decayed  root  must  be  cut  clean  aw’ay  without 
damaging  the  healthy  portions,  and  the  plants  must  be  dry  when 
placed  in  the  baskets.  After  firmly  placing  the  moss  it  should  be 
neatly  clipped  off  in  the  shape  of  a  cone,  the  plant  just  resting 
upon  the  top  of  this.  The  house  should  be  kept  rather  closer 
after  the  plants  have  been  repotted,  and  a  little  more  shading 
than  usual  is  an  advantage.  Water  very  carefully  at  first  until 
new  roots  are  forming,  and  avoid  wetting  the  foliage  overhead, 
this  being  distasteful  to  Phalsenopsis. — H.  R.  R. 
The  Business  End  of  Horticnltnre 
The  following  lecture  deals  with  the  present  aspects  of  trade 
horticulture  in  the  United  States  'of  America,  but  coming  from 
Mr.  O’Mara,  it  could  not  fail  to  be  of  interest  to  trade  horticul¬ 
turists  in  Europe  almost  as  much  as  in  America.  For  that 
reason  rve  publish  it  in  an  abridged  form : — 
Let  us  consider  wdiere  the  business  end — or,  rather,  ends — 
of  horticulture  are  to  be  located.  First  in  importance  is  the 
seedsman.  Even  here  there  is  to  be  found  differences;  all  do 
not  travel  on  the  same  road.  There  is  the  box  trade,  for  instance, 
a  separate  and  distinct  branch.  Long  before  a  town  can  support 
a  seed  store  the  box  makes  its  appearance.  The  druggist,  the 
general  storekeeper,  the  jew’eller,  the  grocer,  almost  any  shop¬ 
keeper,  w'ill  be  the  distributing  agent  for  the  seeds.  The  growth 
of  this  branch  of  the  trade  is  something  marvellous.  In  one 
generation  we  have  seen  one  firm  expand  from  a  little  shop, 
which  barely  paid  the  living  expenses  of  the  founders,  into  a 
great  institution  which  ranks  high  among  the  finest  commercial 
houses  in  tlie  counti-y.  So  systematised  is  this  particular  branch 
that  the  seed  box  follows  close  upon  the  heels  of  the  settler  into 
the  most  remote  quarters.  Not  many  years  ago  I  was  in  a 
thirty-day-old  town,  seventy  miles  from  the  nearest  railroad 
station,  yet  the  seed  box  was  there  before  me.  Another  branch 
of  the  trade  was  represented  among  the  first  settlers  there,  viz., 
the  seed  grower.  So  we  see  that  two  branches  of  horticulture 
are  found  in  the  forefront  of  the  developing  line. 
The  seed  grower  is  a  horticulturist  who  does  not  figure  very 
prominently  in  horticTdtural  essays,  and  yet  he  is  an  important 
factor.  Many  people  believe  that  the  large  seed  houses  have  one 
big  farm  where  they  grow  all  their  seeds.  That  would  be  imi)rac- 
*  An  address  by  Patkick  O’M  vua,  of  New  A'ork,  before  tlie  Massachussetts 
Horticultural  Society,  llostou,  .January  25th,  1902. 
