January  5,  1899. 
JOTJUNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
5 
LONDON  GARDENS  OVER  FIFTY  YEARS. 
TnERE  was  a  worthy  London  citizen  of  the  olden  time,  his  name  I 
cannot  recall,  who  knew  the  metropolis  when  it  was  but  of  modei-ate 
dimensions,  and  in  his  admiration  of  it  he  compared  London  to  Zioa 
of  ancient  days,  calling  the  city  “beautiful  for  situation,  the  joy  of 
the  whole  earth.”  We  like  his  enthusiastic  love  of  this  city,  the  more, 
perhaps,  became  now  such  a  sentiment  is  not  as  common  as  is  the 
propensity  to  find  fault  avith  one’s  place  of  abode.  Whether  London 
was  then  the  “joy  of  the  earth”  may  be  doubtful,  but  since  it  has 
undeniably  become  a  centre  of  attraction,  drawing  people  from  every 
land.  “Beautiful  for  situation  this  was  true  of  the  mediaeval  city, 
and  even  yet,  despite  the  ei.ormous  growth  of  the  metropolis,  some 
charming  bits  of  scenery  have  escaped  the  road  maker  and  builder. 
Situated  in  a  fertile  valley,  with  the  ground  vising  into  hills  both 
north  and  south  of  the  Thames,  old  London  was  largely  sheltered  from 
gales  by  the  extensive  woods  that  lay  around,  amongst  which  here  and 
OdOXTOGLOSSUM  RC'SSI. 
Although,  excepting  a  few  rare  varieties,  this 
sj  ecies  is  looked  down  upon,  it  is  one  of  the  most 
useful  of  cool  house  Orchids.  It  keeps  up  a  long 
continued  winter  display,  and  the  flowers  are 
wonderfully  varied.  The  plants  do  best  in  small 
pans  suspended  from  the  root,  but  if  this  is  not 
c  nvenient  they  will  grow  well  and  flower 
annually  on  the  side  stages  of  the  C' ol  house, 
which  are  as  a  rule  not  very  far  from  the  glass. 
Ouite  ordinary  compost  and  general  treatment 
suffice,  and  (he  flowers  last  as  long  as  any  in  the 
genus,  not  excepting  the  well-known  0.  maculata. 
It  is  named  alter  a  collector  once  in  the 
employ  of  Mr.  Baiker  of  Birminghim,  and  it 
flowe'ed  in  his  collection  soon  after  its  intro¬ 
duction  in  1837.  The  typ’cal  form  has  whitish 
flowers  spotted  with  reddish  p.urple  all  over  the 
sepals  and  on  the  basal  half  of  the  petals,  the  lip 
.usually  yellow  streaked  with  red.  Beside  this 
there  is  a  bright  coloured  form,  O.  B.  rubesc(n‘', 
having  rosy  red  segments  spotted  with  reddi.-h 
brown  ;  0.  IL  aspersum,  thought  by  s:  me 
authorities  to  be  a  naturrl  hybrid  between 
0.  Iiossi  and  0.  maculatum,  and  having  a  good 
deal  of  the  ydlow  of  the  latter;  0.  K.  coerulescens, 
0.  IL  Warnerianum,  and  many  others  more  or  less 
distinct.  Many  collectors  have  sent  it  home  since 
its  introduction,  and  all  who  have  met  with 
great  variability  in  its  native  habitats. 
Cattleya  dolosa. 
.This  is  a  charming  Cattleya  not  at  all  popular,  or  indeed  known. 
It  is  stiange  that  it  is  not  more  often  sent  home  by  collectors,  for 
there  are  not  many  plants  of  its  size  that  jroduce  such  fine  showy 
blossoms.  It  has  been  described  as  a  variety  of  C.  Walkeriana  but 
from  a  garden  point  of  view,  at  any  rate,  it  is  quite  distinct  in  its 
liabit  and  manner  of  flowering,  the  blossoms  occurring  on  a  scape  from 
the  centre  of  the  growth  instead  of  upon  a  sep.arate  growth,  as  in  the 
older  species.  Like  C.  Walkeriana,  it  has  broad  overlapping  side  lobes 
to  the  lip,  this  organ  being  a  rosy  purple  of  a  deeper  shade  to  that  on 
the  sepals  and  petals.  Plants  of  it  do  well  in  the  ordinary  Catth'ya 
house  temperature,  suspended  not  far  from  the  roof  glass  in  pans  or 
baskets.  Equal  jrarts  of  peat  fibre  and  sphagnum  moss  over  good 
drainage  suits  it  well,  and  a  fair!}’’  long  but  not  dry  rest  is  required. 
In  all  cultural  details  otherwise  it  may  be  treated  like  (he  labiata  kind. 
We  should  bo  glad  to  hear  of  any  Orchid  readers  of  the  Journal  of 
Fig.  1. — Cypeipedium  ixsigxe,  Harepield  Hall  yarieiy. 
Horticulture  who  have  been  successful  in 
ticulars  of  treatment  followed.— II.  IL  IL 
its  culture,  with  par- 
there  stretches  of  heath  or  cor.mon  occurred.  Another  advantage  it 
had  V  as  the  i  umcrous  rivulets  and  brooks  which  flowed  from  the 
uplands.  By-and-by  there  came  a  change  with  the  progress  of  horti¬ 
culture  after  the  seventeenth  century;  orchards  and  gardens  increased 
around  London,  but  they  did  not  spoil  its  vicinity,  though  it  became 
less  rural.  Green  sjtaces  still  separated  the  hamlets  and  villages, 
which  were  at  last  to  fall  into  the  clutches  of  the  expanding  city,  and 
lose  their  distinctness.  When  this  century  closes,  it  will  look  upon  a 
very  different  London  from  that  in  which  our  great  grandsires  lived 
content  when  it  opened. 
Peder  Cunnin.:ham,  describing  the  London  of  1848,  the  year  when 
the  Journal  of  Horticulture  came  into  existence,  remarked  that  the 
rents  of  the  metropoiis  had  been  gradually  advancing  since  1800,  and, 
while  trat  was  the  case,  building  would  go  on  rapidly,  nor  was  it 
hkely  to  slop  uiitil  rents  began  to  fall.  At  this  hour,  though  we 
notice  some  local  fluctuations,  there  is  no  sign  of  a  general  reduction, 
yet  the  great  rise  of  all  rates  must  tend  at  last  to  jiroduce  this  result. 
13 ut  the  grand  im[)etus  to  building  operations  which  has  produced  such 
changes  in  London  suburbs  had  not  been  given  when  Cunningham 
wrote.  The  nurserymen  and  market  gardeners  seemed  likely  then  to 
hold,  for  a  good  while,  possession  of  grounds  which  yielded  during 
Cypeipedium  insigne,  Harefield  Hall  variety. 
The  number  of  varieties  of  Cypripedium  insigne  grows  greater 
year  by  year,  and  the  enhanced  beauty  of  some  of  the  present-day 
forms  in  comparison  with  the  type  is  most  striking.  Some  are 
remarkable  tor  distinctness  of  colour,  as,  for  example,  C.  insigne 
Sanderee,  while  many  combine  size  with  other  attractive  points. 
Coming  within  this  latter  category  is  the  one  repircsented  in  the 
accompanying  woodcut.  This  variety  was  exhibited  by  IMr.  H. 
Holbrook,  gardener  to  E.  Ashworth,  Esq.,  Harefield  Hail,  Wilmslow, 
at  the  D:ill  Hall  on  December  13th,  1898,  when 
the  Orchid  Committee  recommended  a  first-class 
certificate.  A  glance  at  the  representation  (fig.  1) 
will  convey  an  excellent  idea  of  the  boldness  of 
the  flowers,  which  are  carried  on  stout  footstalks 
well  above  the  proportionately  strong  leafag'’. 
The  most  attractive  organ  is  the  dorsal  sepal,  it 
being  quite  3  inches  across  the  centre.  The 
central  portion  is  pale  green  heavily  spot'ed  with 
chocolate,  all  round  the  outer  portion  of  which 
is  a  broad  margin  of  pure  white.  The  pouch  and 
petals  are  yellowish  green  wiih  veins  of  darker 
green,  and  suffusions  of  brown.  The  Harefield 
Hall  variety  of  Cypripedium  ins’gne  w'ill  be 
adjudged  by  all  -who  sec  our  illustration  one  of 
the  handsomest  foini.s  extant. 
