April  16,  1903. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
331 
Sobralla  leucoxantha. 
This  beautiful  subject  is  a  dwarf  grower,  the  slender  steins 
1ft  to  2ft  high,  bearing  flowers  clustered  near  their  apex.  It  is 
related  to  macrophylla,  but  must  not  be  confounded  with 
S.  xantholeuca,  which  is  also  a  handsome  and  valuable  plant 
bearing  pale  yellow  flowers.  Our  illustration  of  a  natural  size 
flower  serves  to  show  its  form.  The  lip  is  rich  orange,  yellow 
in  the  throat,  fading  to  the  margin,  which  is  pure  white,  the 
base  of  the  throat  and  the  column  being  also  white.  Each  flower 
is  of  wax-like  substance  and  purity,  being  beautifully  relieved  by 
the  dash  of  orange  in  the  lip. 
The  Week’s  Cultural  Notes'. 
When  Mexican  Lselias  are  beginning  to  grow  see  that  the 
glass  is  kept  perfectly  free  froTU  accumulations  of  dust  and  dirt, 
and  allow  no  shading  as  yet.  If  these  can  be  given  a  small  oom- 
l>artment  to  themselves  they  will  be  better  for  it,  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  the  paucity  of  flower¬ 
ing  often  complained  of  in  some  species  is  the  want  of  light. 
There  are  times  in  summer  when  a  slight  shade  may  be  rueeded, 
but  if  plenty  of  air  is  constantly  admitted  such  times  are  few. 
Growth  in  all  departments  is  now  the  order  of  the  day,  and 
everything  possible  must  be  done  to  promote  it  and  to  prevent 
any  check.  A  gentle  warmth  in  the  pipes  at  night  permits  of 
free  ventilation  in  the  early  morning,  a  gradual  rise  in  the  tem¬ 
perature  being  thereby  assured  instead  of  a.  quick  upward  rush, 
such  as  is  caused  by  the  sun  striking  on  a  cold  and  unventilated 
structure  in  the  morning.  The  syringe  must  be  got  to  work 
early,  and  all  available  surfaces,  such  as  stages,  floor,  and  walls, 
thoroughly  moistened  at  the  same  time  that  the  ventilators  are 
oi>ened. 
In  the  cooler  structures  devoted  to  Odontoglossums,  cool 
Oncidiums,  and  Lycastes,  Maxillarias,  Masdevallias,  and  the 
u.sual  sets  of  Alpine  species,  a  little  top  air  just  now  be  left  on 
all  night,  not  enough  to  extract  the  moisture  from  the  atmo¬ 
sphere,  but  sufficient  to  keep  the  temperature  low  and  the  air 
moving  freely  about  the  plants.  This  will  prevent  that  flabbiness 
often  noticed  in  the  foliage  of  cool  house  Orchids,  and  render 
the  leaves  hard  and  rustling  to  the  touch,  springing  quickly  back 
to  an  erect  position  when  depressed  by  passing  the  hand  lightly 
over  the  plants ;  also  serving  to  keep  thrips  and  other  insects  at 
bay. 
The  occupants  of  the  Cattleya  house,  too,  delight  in  ample 
supplies  of  fresh  air  at  this  season,  and  unless  they  get  it  the 
growth  of  Cattleyas,  Lselias,  and  other  nearly  allied  kinds,  will 
be  lacking  in  stamina,  and  very  likely  pow’erless  to  a  great 
degree.  Many  of  the  complaints  of  paucity  of  flowering  made 
against  Lselia  Boothiana,  Cattleya  erispa,  and  even  Lselia  pur- 
purata  have  their  foundation  in  lack  of  fresh  air  and  super¬ 
abundant  heat  and  moisture.  They  do  not  grow  naturally  in 
swamps  and  jungles,  and  greatly  dislike  a  stuffy  atmosphere 
under  cultivation. 
Where  Thunias,  Catasetums,  Dendrobiums,  and  .similar  heat- 
loving  kinds  are  grown,  less  air  is  perhaps  advisable,  but  even 
here  it  is  an  advantage,  if  only  the  heat  and  atmospheric  moisture 
are  also  maintained.  Could  we  only  do  this  such  erratic  species 
as  Epidendrum  bicornutum  could,  I  feel  sure,  be  grown  as  easily 
and  kept  as  constantly  in  health  as  Dendrobium  nobile.  But 
while  we  are  getting  up  the  heat  and  moisture  by  the  usual 
methods  the  air  currents  are  sweeping  them  away,  and  the 
greatest  care  is  required,  yet  will  be  well  repaid,  to  keep  up  an 
evenly-balanced,  w’ ell-regulated  mixture  of  heat,  moisture,  and 
fresh  air. — H.  R.  R. 
“The  Orchid  Review.” 
This  illustrated  monthly  journal  of  Orchidology  for  April, 
contains  a  wide  and  varied  selection  of  up-to-date  notices  on 
Orchids,  hybrids.  Orchid  collections,  and  work  for  the  month  in 
all  the  Orchid-house  departments.  The  practical  grower  will  find 
guidance  in  the  article  on  Epidendrums,  which  describes  the  cul¬ 
tural  needs  of  a  few  select  sorts.  Being  evergreen  “  they  shoidd 
be  afforded  a  liberal  supply  of  water  at  their  roots  during  the 
growing  period,  and  a  restricted  supply  during  their  resting 
season.  Nearly  all  the  species  succeed  best  when  potted  in  well- 
drained  pots,  in  a  mixture  of  fibrous  peat,  leaf  soil,  sphagnum 
moss  in  about  equal  parts,  the  compost  being  well  mixed  together 
prior  to  use.”  The  writer  from  whom  we  have  quoted  then  goes 
on  to  name  varieties,  and  note  their  special  needs.  He  mentions 
E.  Endresi  as  a  gem  for  a  gentleman’s  buttonhole  flower. 
Mr.  Mackay,  the  calendarial  writer,  has  a  good  deal  to  say 
about  the  popular  Dendrobiums.  The  journal  (price  6d.)  is 
obtainable  from  the  Editor.  Lawn  Crescent,  Kew,  Surrey. 
Botanical  Gardens. 
In  the  course  of  an  interesting  address  before  the  Manchester 
Horticultural  Society,  Mr.  Abraham  Stansfield  said  that  the 
public  botanical  gardens  of  Europe  were  in  small  proportion  to 
those  of  the  world  at  large.  There  were  excellent  botanical 
gardens  in  North  and  South  America,  in  the  East  and  West 
Indies,  in  Australia,  and  in  Africa.  In  the  British  colonies  alone 
the  public  botanical  gardens  were  both  numerous  and  important. 
All  these  gardens  were  rendering  beneficial  service,  not  only  in 
acquainting  us  with  the  vegetable  products  of  different  regions 
of  the  earth,  and  their  medical,  economic,  and  aesthetic  uses, 
but  in  forming  centres  for  distributing  under  the  various 
governments,  these  products  over  other  regions.  For  instance, 
it  had  been  found  that  the  supply  of  the  Cinchona,  which  fur¬ 
nished  the  most  sovereign  plant  known  in  pharmacy,  quinine,  was 
within  measurable  distance  of  exhaustion  in  its  native  region, 
South  America;  and  various  Governments  were  yearly  planting 
thousands  in  other  regions  where  the  climatic  conditions 
favoured.  In  this  enterprise  our  own  Government  was  to  the 
fore,  though  in  the  important  matter  of  forestry  it  w’as  much 
behind  some  other  Governments,  and  this  would  act  disastrously 
to  us  in  the  future.  Another  plant  which  had  an  enormous 
future  was  the  Gum-tree  (Eucalyptus),  of  Australia,  wdiich  pro¬ 
mised  to  be  the  most  useful  plant  in  the  world,  as  it  not  only 
acted  as  a  vast  scavenger  in  draining  fever-breeding  marshes, 
for  which  purpose  tens  of  thousands  were  annually  planted  in 
Europe  and  Africa  alone,  but  had  sovereign  medical  properties, 
besides  supplying  an  excellent  timber  tree.  In  the  future  would 
be  found,  in  the  forests  of  South  America  and  Australia,  many 
timber  trees  useful  to  us.  Amid  the  vast  number  of  kinds  of 
Gum-tree  known  to  botany,  one  or  two  might  yet  succeed  here. 
Sobralia  leucoxantha. 
Turning  to  the  history  of  botanical  gardens,  Mr.  Stansfield 
observed  that  we  should  find  we  owed  to  Italy,  the  scene  of  the 
Renaissance,  the  revival  of  learning  and  the  arts,  the  country  of 
Virgil  and  Dante,  of  Columbus  and  Galileo,  the  establishment  of 
the  first  botanical  garden.  Tliis  was  at  Padua  in  the  year  154d. 
France,  Holland,  and  Germany  followed.  England  entered  into 
the  competition  later,  but  had  made  up  for  lost  time._  Our  first 
botanical  garden  was  established  at  ancient  and  classical  Oxford 
in  1640.  As  a  national  botanical  garden  Kew  was  not  established 
until  1840,  having  up  to  that  date  been  pr^tically  reserved  for 
the  English  Royal  Family,  but  now,  taken  with  its  vast  and  splen¬ 
did  museum,  Kew  was  the  finest  botanical  garden  in  the  world, 
as  it  was,  botanically,  the  pride  and  glory  of  England.  In  1841 
was  placed  at  its  head  the  illustrious  Sir  W.  J.  Hooker,  and  the 
directorship  is  now  in  the  hand  of  Sir  Thistleton  Dyer.  In  the 
distribution  over  the  world  of  plants  useful  in  commence  and  the 
arts,  Kew  had  rendered  magnificent  service. 
