August  15,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
145 
Where  the  cool  house  species,  such  as  Lycastes,  Odontoglossums, 
Masdevallias,  and  Maxillarias,  have  been  placed  in  frames,  they  should 
be  allowed  all  the  air  possible  consistent  with  a  moist  atmosphere. 
During  the  time  the  sun  is  shining  on  the  frames  the  nets,  or  whatever 
is  used  for  shading,  should  be  very  frequently  moistened,  this  checking 
evaporation  from  the  plants  and  materially  lowering  the  temperature. 
When  the  shading  is  taken  off  the  ground  around  should  be  damped 
to  create  a  moist  atmosphere. 
Disa  Veitchi. 
Oncidiam  carthaglnense. 
Hybrids  are  usually  more  amenable  to  culture  than  species,  aud 
this  fine  Disa,  which  was  first  flowered  just  ten  years  ago  by  Messrs. 
Veitch,  is  no  exception  to  the  rule.  It  is  a  grand  plant  in  every  way, 
a  good  grower,  and  most  beautiful  when  in  flower.  The  spikes  are  a 
foot  or  so  in  height,  and  the  large 
flowers  have  sepals  of  bright  rosy 
carmine,  the  lip  white  with  deep  crimson 
spots.  D.  racemosa  ie  one  of  the 
parents  of  D.  Veitchi,  the  other  being 
D.  grandiflora,  and  the  brilliance  of 
the  latter  parent  is  combined  with  the 
«ase  of  culture  of  the  former  in  it. 
The  best  place  for  it  is  near  a  door 
or  ventilator  where  it  is  sure  to  get 
plenty  of  fresh  air.  The  foliage  must 
be  lightly  dewed  over  several  times 
■daily  in  hot  weather.  After  the  flowers 
are  past  look  out  for  the  young  shoots 
starting,  as  this  is  the  time  when 
repotting  should  take  place.  No  drying 
off  is  admissible  at  any  time,  but 
water  must  be  given  in  accordance 
with  the  state  of  the  growth  and  the 
weather.  D.  Veitchi  may  be  freely 
propagated  by  means  of  the  small 
offsets  that  are  produced  in  autumn. 
These  require  great  care  at  first,  but 
when  once  started  to  root  on  their  own 
account  they  grow  away  rapidly,  and 
soon  make  flowering  plants.  Thrips 
are  the  worst  insect  enemy  to  Disas, 
and  when  allowed  to  make  headway 
they  soon  disfigure  the  foliage  and  ruin 
the  health  of  the  plant. 
The  Week’s  Cultural  Notes. 
The  grower  of  Epidendrums  will 
he  busy  among  his  favourites  now. 
Many  of  the  pseudo-bulbous  section 
■will  be  sufficiently  advanced  in  growth 
for  repotting,  as  this  ought  always  to 
take  place,  if  possible,  before  the  young 
roots  issue  from  the  base  of  the  leads. 
They  then  rapidly  establish  themselves 
in  the  new  compost.  Those  with 
tall,  distichous-leaved  stems,  such  aB 
E.  Wallisi  and  the  hybrids  nearly 
related  to  it,  are  not  by  any  means 
•constant  in  their  habits,  and  one  has 
to  catch  them  just  when  they  can  ;  but 
not  many  will  take  any  harm  if  the 
repotting  is  carefully  done,  and  the 
plants  looked  after  until  re-established. 
In  their  wants  as  to  compost  they 
nearly  resemble  the  Old  World  Den- 
drobiums,  the  pseudo-bulbous  division 
being  treated  similarly  to  the  evergreen 
Dendrobes,  while  the  small  growers, 
like  E.  Endresi  and  others,  do  well  in  the  small  pans  that  the 
deciduous  Dendrobes  like.  Any  plants  that  from  soured  compost, 
over- watering,  or  other  reasons  have  got  into  a  very  bad  state  at  the 
roots,  will  be  benefited  by  being  shaken  quite  clear  of  the  compost, 
and  all  dead  roots  cut  clean  away  ;  then  let  the  whole  of  the  plant 
be  thoroughly  washed  in  tepid  water,  laid  out  on  a  moist  shelf,  and 
treated  as  advised  for  newly  imported  plants. 
Specimens  of  the  beautiful  E.  bicornutum,  potted  some  time  since 
in  crocks,  may  now  have  a  little  moss  placed  around  them.  They  must 
be  kept  in  the  hottest  house,  and  frequently  syringed  with  tepid  water 
-on  hot  days.  Dendrobium  aureum  will  in  many  cases  have  finished 
its  growth  by  now,  and  the  plant  should  be  hung  up  in  the  full  sun  in 
a  cool  house  to  ripen.  A  few  weeks  in  the  open  air  will  also  be 
beneficial  to  them,  but  they  must  not  be  placed  direct  from  the  moist 
heat  of  the  growing  quarters,  or  the  foliage  will  suffer.  A  few  days  in 
•a  cool  light  house  will  harden  them  sufficiently  for  the  purpose. 
Disa  Veitchi. 
I  recently  saw  a  plant  or  two  of  this  pretty  Oncidium,  but  could 
not  help  comparing  them  with  the  kind  of  plants  we  used  to  see  and 
grow.  Apparently  it  is  little  known  outside  of  botanical  garden®, 
but  at  its  best  it  is  a  superb  plaut.  I  have  had  it  with  leaves  2  feet 
in  length  and  proportionately  broad, 
great  thick  fleshy  spotted  leaves, 
judging  from  which  one  would  not 
consider  the  plant  difficult  to  grow  ; 
yet  it  is  seldom  seen  in  anything  like 
good  form,  and  in  an  unhealthy  or 
weak  state  it  is  not  worth  growing. 
The  plants  I  speak  of  were  growing 
among  a  general  collection,  and  I  used 
to  tie  the  spikes,  some  of  them  several 
yards  in  length,  under  the  rafters 
loosely,  allowing  the  ends  to  fall  natur- 
allv  about  the  other  plants.  It  likes  a 
large  roomy  pot,  with  plenty  of  rough 
compost  of  a  nature  not  likely  to  run 
closely  together,  plenty  of  water  while 
growing,  and  a  light  position.  The 
atmosphere  phould  be  kept  moist,  but 
not  continually  so,  an  hour’s  drying  in 
the  middle  of  the  day  helping  materi¬ 
ally  to  strengthen  and  harden  the 
foliage.  I  am  not  advocating  dry 
treatment,  but  this  is  the  kind  of  thing 
they  get  in  their  native  habitats  in 
the  West  Indies  aud  Central  America, 
where  Orchid  collectors  say  the 
Oncidiums  are  among  the  most  lovely 
sights  in  Nature. 
Lselio-Cattleya  Dominiana. 
It  was  singularly  fortunate  that 
this  hybrid,  perhaps  the  last,  and 
certainly  the  finest  of  his  raising, 
should  have  been  named  after  the  late 
Mr.  J.  Dominy,  the  man  who  has  been 
not  inaptly  termed  the  pioneer  of 
Orchid  hybridising.  It  is  a  lovely 
plant,  and  since  Mr.  Dominy’s,  or 
rather  Messrs.  Veitch’s,  plant  flowered 
some  twenty  years  ago,  it  has  been 
raised  over  and  over  again  in  collections. 
Naturally  the  hybrids  have  varied  con¬ 
siderably,  and  perhaps  the  finest  of  all 
is  that  grand  form  L.-C.  Dominiana 
langleyense,  raised  by  that  worthy 
successor  to  Mr.  Dominy,  Mr.  John 
Seden.  This  has  pale  rosy  sepals  and 
petals,  the  former  shaded  with  white, 
the  latter  with  darker  rose.  The  lip 
is  broad  and  handsome,  the  centre  of 
the  deepest  crimson  purple,  becoming 
lighter  outwards,  until  the  colour  fades 
into  the  whitish  frilled  margin;  there 
are  also  radiating  lines  of  golden  yellow 
from  the  throat  outwards.  It  is,  in  short,  just  the  fine  plant  that 
one  would  expect  from  its  parents — viz.,  Laelia  purpurata  and  Cattleya 
Dowiana.  Under  cultivation  the  varieties  of  this  hybrid  have  been 
found  very  tractable,  so  it  will  eventually  be  cheap  and  easily 
obtained. — H.  R.  R. 
Weed  Out. — Weed  out  varieties,  weed  out  names.  Nurserymen 
in  particular  should  see  to  this,  and  eliminate  from  their  stock  what¬ 
ever  is  inferior,  or  whatever  varieties  are  too  nearly  like  others.  It  is 
very  seldom  that  new  fruits  are  introduced  which  are  superior  to  some 
of  the  old  ones,  and  they  should  always  be  subject  to  inspection  and 
report  by  a  competent  committee.  There  are  some  3000  varieties  or 
Apples  propagated,  but  perhaps  not  more  than  a  hundred  that  need 
be  grown  for  all  practical  purposes,  and  in  California,  says  an  American 
contemporary,  the  list  may  be  boiled  down  to  fifteen  or  twenty. 
