Junuary  22.  1903. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
71 
seeiuiiigly  according  to  the  special  habitat.  It  is  a  fairly  easily 
grown  C'attlcya,  and  its  bright  rosy  pink  is  a  very  grateful 
colour.  The  variety  Harrisonise  generally  differs  from  the 
species  Loddigesi,  in  the  stems  being  longer  and  more  slendei', 
and  the  veins  of  the  anterior  lobe  of  the  Up  are  swollen,  giving 
the  surface  a  corrugated  appearance.  The  disc  is  orange  yellow, 
whereas  in  the  species  it  is  whitish,  passing  into  pale  yellow. 
C.  Loddigesi  is  interesting  as  being  the  first  Cattleya  introduced 
in  I'luropean  gardens,  having  been  sent  to  Mr.  Loddiges,  a 
famous  collector  in  the  very  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  cen¬ 
tury,  where  it  was  grown  under  the  name  of  Epidendrum  vio- 
laceum,  a  name  which  it  retained  until  Lindley  founded  the 
genus  Cattleya  on  Cattleya  labiata  in  1821. 
A  Lady  Orchid  Grower. 
Mrs.  George  B.  Wilson,  of  Philadelphia,  according  to  “The 
Westminster  Gazette,”  has  one  of  the  finest  collections  of 
Orchids  in  the  world.  One  of  her  hybi'ids  is  stated  to  be  worth 
£2,000.  This  is  a  cross  between  a  Cattleya  aurea  and  a  C.  labiata. 
It  is  two  years  old,  and  it  would  be  five'  years  more  before  it 
would  begin  to  bloom.  But  it  was  the  only  Orchid  in  the  world 
with  leaves  half  green  and  half  white,  and  therefore  an  English 
collector,  seeing  it  in  November,  said :  “  I  will  give  you 
10,000  dols  for  it.”  But  Mrs.  Wilson’s  gardener  replied;  “We 
buy  all  we  can,  but  we  never  sell.”  Ten  jmars  ago  Mrs.  Wilson 
bought  the  Orchids  of  Erastus  Corning,  of  New  York — 40,000 
plants,  which  Mr.  Corning  had  been  forty  years  in  gathering. 
She  engaged  for  her  gardener  Alphonse  Pericat,  who  had  been 
head  gardener  at  the  Orchid  farm  of  Baron  Alphonse  de  Roth¬ 
schild,  of  Paris,  and  she  sent  off,  with  a  roving  commission, 
Henri  Barrault,  a  skilled  Orchid  hunter.  For  the  last  ten  years 
her  collection  has  been  growing  greatly.  It  is  practically  a 
collection  that  represents  fifty  years  of  work.  It  numbers 
20.000  plants,  over  2,000  of  which  are  unique,  with  duplicates 
nowhere  in  the  world,  and  it  is  reckoned  to  be  worth  the  almost 
incredible  sum  of  £200,000.  The  Wilson  Orchids  come  from 
South  America,  from  Asia,  and  from  the  Philippines.  The  best 
of  the  South  American  Orchids,  the  white  Cattleyas,  are  woi’th 
from  £20  to  £200  a  plant.  Their  flowers  are  about  Sin  long  and 
exceedingly  graceful.  They  grow  on  trees  in  swampy  i^laces 
near  small  streams,  and  they  obtain  an  abundance  of  sunlight 
in  their  native  haunts.  The  cliief  Asiatic  Orchids  belong  to  the 
Cypripedium  family.  These',  too,  grow’  in  forests,  on  trees  whose 
roots  spring  from  a  swampy  soil.  The  best  Philippine  Orchids 
are  the  Phaleenopses,  whose  flowers  endure  on  the  plants  fresh 
for  months  ;  and  in  cut  state,  for  weeks. 
The  Week’s  Cultural  Notes. 
In  my  last  week’s  notes  I  mentioned  the  use  of  rough  blocks 
for  fastening  the  long  pendant  stemmed  Dendrobiums  to,  and 
these  u.sefid  aids  to  rigidity  may  also  be  used  with  advantage  in 
the  case  cf  newly  imported  pieces  of  other  species.  Well 
hardened  Apple  or  Pear  wood  may  be  used,  a  convenient  method 
being  to  take  an  arm,  say,  about  Sin  through  or  9in  in  girth, 
and  split  it  in  two,  jn’eviously  cutting  it  in  lengths  of  about  9in. 
Simply  wire  the  plants  to  these,  place  them  in  the  pots,  and  fill 
up  with  crocks  and  charcoal  to  the  ba.sei  of  the  plant. 
The  bottom  being  fixed  by  the  wire,  a  slip  of  matting  may 
be  tied  around  the  top  of  the  pseudo-bulbs,  and  this  will  hold 
the  whole  plant  in  position.  Such  erratic  plants  as  D.  Ben- 
sonise,  D.  albo-sanguineum,  D.  Parishi,  and  others  may  by  these 
means  be  induced  to  establi.sh  themselves  rapidly,  that  potted 
in  the  usual  way  would  be  difficult. 
After  the  plants  are  fixed  they  should  go  to  a  warm  moist 
house,  a  light  sunny  shelf  being  the  best  position  for  them. 
Here  they  should  be  frequently  syringed  and  water  plentifully 
poured  on  the  crocks  in  hot  W’eather,  the  open  nature  of  the 
material  preventing  anything  like  an  approach  to  stagnation. 
Plants  with  large  heavy  pseudo-bulbs,  such  as  Anguloas, 
Cymbidiums,  some  of  the  Epidenclrums,  and  Lycastes,  must  be 
treated  differently.  They  are  sometimes  difficult  to  fix,  but 
their  weight  is  in  their  favour  rather  than  otherwise,  and  all 
that  is  necessary  is  to  prevent  them  from  toppling  over.  A 
stout  .stake  er  Bamboo  cane  should  be  thrust  down  through  the 
centre  of  the  plant  and  a  few  of  the  sti'ongest  bulbs  looped  up 
to  it  with  raffia.  With  large  specimens  there  may  be  loose 
portions  requiring  separate  stakes,  or  other  parts  that  are  not 
symmetrical,  but  may  be  made  so  by  similar  treatment. 
Another  class  of  plant  may  be  noted,  i.e.,  heavy  Lselias,  such 
as  L.  superbiens.  With  these  there  is  not  so  much  difficulty  in 
establishing  as  in  getting  them  into  anything  in  the-  shape  of  a 
pot  or  other  receptacle.  The  long  scrambling  rhizomes  t'rc  very 
firm  and  strong,  defying  strong  arms  to  twist  them  out  of  their 
proper  course,  aikl  persisting  in  growing  upside  down  or  in  any 
other  direction  except  the  one  required  to  make  a  shapely  plant. 
This  is  a  case  for  force,  and  force  must  be  used ;  tying  down 
a  stem  here  with  stout  copper  wire,  cutting  partly  through  the 
rhizome  in  another  place,  and  using  the  plant  generally  in  a 
rather  rough  way.  But  even  this  rough  treatment  has  its 
advantages,  for  in  places  where  the  rhizome  is  cut  or  notched 
usetul  back  breaks  are  often  thrown  out,  making  the  specimen 
well  tuniLshed  and  a  far  better  shape  eventually.— H.  R.  R. 
Tasmania:  Its  Springtime. 
Till'  spring,  is  a  blessed  thing, 
.">lie  is  the  mother  of  the  llowcrs, 
She  is  the  mate  of  birds  and  bees, 
The  partner  of  our  reveries, 
Our  star  of  hope  through  wintry  hours. 
What  a  delightful  time  of  the  year  the  spring  is !  It  is 
a  season  in  which  we  all  rejoice,  and  how  lovely  are  the 
messengers !  Not  only  in  the  gardens  do  the  sweet  flowers 
proclaim  the  season,  but  away  in  the  country  we  find  hedges 
of  golden  Gorse  and  trees  of  Yellow  Wattle  (Acacia  deal- 
bata),  each  scenting  the  air  with  their  rich  perfumes.  Then 
in  the  gardens  in  and  around  our  city  (Launceston) 
Odontoglossum  .x  Waltoniense. 
numerous  spring  flowers  may  be  seen,  including  Primroses. 
Violets,  Anemones,  Hyacinths,  and  Narcissi,  each  welcom¬ 
ing  the  spring  in  their  own  sweet  way.  The  latter  are  such 
favourites  that  they  are  to  be  found  in  nearly  every  garden. 
Pansies,  too,  are  soon  to  follow,  and  who  cannot  but 
love  the  Pansy?  Just  a  little  while,  and  the  “Queen”  will 
come  to  reign — 
The  Rose,  she  is  a  ((ueen  more  wonderful 
Than  any  that  have  hloomed  on  Orient  thrones. 
All  kinds  flourish  here,  and  are  loved,  I  think,  the  best 
of  all.  Carnations,  too,  here  find  a  home,  but  even  down  to 
the  depths  of  winter  garden  flowers  are  with  us. 
In  the  summer  the  chief  are  Dahlias,  principally  Cactus 
varieties,  and  not  a  few  are  grown ;  and  then  Chrys¬ 
anthemums  follow  on,  to  cheer  us  in  the  autumn,  each  in 
their  turn  until  they  almost  meet  the  spring  again. 
In  all  places  and  in  all  seasons 
Flowers  expand  their  light  and  soul  like  wings, 
Teaching  us  by  most  persuasive  reasivns 
Ilow  akin  they  are  to  human  things. 
And  with  child-like  credulous  atiection 
We  behold  tlnnr  tender  buds  expand. 
I'hnhUnns  of  our  own  great  resurrection. 
Kmhlcms  of  the  bright  and  better  land. 
— AVattle-blossom,  Launceston,  Tasmania,  Dec.  2,  1902. 
p.S. — This  letter  should  have  reached  you  some  time 
ago,  as  our  spring  begins  about  August  or  September.  The 
amateurs  here  are  very  busy  at  present  planting  out  their 
Cactus  Dahlias,  and  I  am  given  to  understand  that  a  great 
many  have  been  imported  from  England  this  season  ;  so  we 
anticipate  a  great  battle  at  the,  coming  show  in  February 
nexL 
