April  23,  1303. 
JOURNAT.  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTACE  GARDENER. 
353 
Phaius  X  Cooksonlae. 
Mr.  Norman  C.  Cookson,  the  great  Orchid  enthusiast,  whose 
collection  at  Oakwood,  Wylain-on-Tyne,  is  one  of  the  most  valu¬ 
able  in  the  United  Kingdom,  has  exhibited  this  handsome  hybrid 
at  the  fortnightly  meetings  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society 
in  Westminster.  On  March  17  this  year  he  (his  gardener  is  Mr. 
H.  J.  Chapman)  received  a  cultural  commeindation  at  the  hands 
of  the  Orchid  Committee  for  a  plant  of  P.  x  Cooksoni,  which 
carried  thirteen  noble  spikes.  Each  of  these  inflorescences  would 
bear  ten  to  a  dozen  flowers  of  the  size  of  the  one  shown  on  this 
page,  which  represents,  of  course,  another  distinct  hybrid,  the 
result  of  a  cross  between  grandifolius  and  Humboldti,  whereas 
Cooksoni  has  for  parents  Wallichi  and  tuberculosis.  The  sepals 
and  petals  of  P.  x  Coeksonise  are  “  pale  nankeen-yellow,  lip 
broadly  undulate,  bright  yellow,  marked  with  purple-brown 
basally;  clear  rose  in  front.”  Phaius  are  free-flowering  plants 
and  not  generally  difficult  to  cultivate;  therefore  they  should 
appeal  to  the  ama'ft>ur  or  “  small  ”  grower. 
Mr.  F.  W.  Moore  on  Orchids. 
The  closing  lecture  for  the  session  of  the  Irish  Gardeners’ 
A.ssociation  was  recently  given  by  the  popular  curator  of  Glas- 
nevin  Botanic  Garden,  who'  said  (as  reported  by  the  “  Irish 
Farming  World”)  that  a  great  many  people  thought  Orchids 
were  air  plants.  Air  and  water  was  the  pabulum  on  which  the 
Orchid  could  no  more  supirort  its  framework  than  any  other 
plant.  When  they  considered  the  existence  of  plant  life  and  this 
question,  they  should  remember  that  there  were  mineral  matters 
in  every  plant.  In  this  connection  they  had  also  tO'  note  that 
Orchids  contained  ten  of  the  essential  elements  of  plant  life.  No 
plant  could  live,  grow,  and  thrive  without  containing  these 
important  constituents.  They  included  oxygen,  hydrogen,  nitro¬ 
gen,  and  potash.  Nitrogen  is  obtained  by  the  Orchid  in  the  form 
of  ammonia.  We  find  the  leaves  acting  as  feeders.  Nature  was 
in  no  way  wasteful,  and  made  special  provision  for  this.  Some 
Orchids  grow  in  the  forks  of  trees  and  obtain  their  sustenance 
from  the  decayed  leaves.  The  air,  too,  conveyed  to  the  plant  a 
certain  amount  of  animal  matter.  There  was  the.  constant  death 
of  insects,  which  acted  as  fertilisers.  Mr.  Burbidge  grew  his 
Orchids  successfully  on  bones,  because  in  the  bones  there  was  a 
good  sui^ply  of  lime  and  other  mineral  matters.  In  cultivating 
Orchids  it  is  impossible  tO'  keep  them  alive  without  these 
materials.  There  was  one  other  fact  to  be  borne  in  mind.  This 
was  that  though  present  in  only  very  small  quantities,  some¬ 
times  nO’t  more  than  five  in  every  100,  and  sometimes  even  as 
low  as  two  per  cent.,  yet  if  one  of  these  elements  was  missing  the 
plant  would  be  lacking  in  perfection. 
They  had  heard  a  good  deal  about  the  cultivation  of  Orchids 
in  leaf  mould.  This  was  a  new  thing,  and  was  not  the  first  new 
thing  that  had  been  sprung  upon  Orchid  growers.  The  leaf 
mould  sy.stem  was  undoubtedly  very  good,  but  in  the  course  of 
nature  the  Orchid,  while  it  took  advantage  of  leaf  mould,  did  not 
get  its  food  in  a  tightly  packed  pot  where  therei  was  little  chance 
of  the  air  getting  in.  If  Orchid  growers  went  in  for  new  fads, 
they  should  do  so  with  caution,  otherwise  their  efforts  w'ould  be 
attended  with  disaster.  There  was  an  extreme  intimacy  betwmen 
Orchids  and  animal  life  as  represented  by  insects.  Orchids  that 
grow  on  the  earth  and  Orchids  that  grow  on  the  plants  and  fruit 
trees  and  .shrubs  were  widely  distributed.  Their  habitat  covered 
a  wider  area  than  seemed  to  be  imagined.  We  get  them,  from 
the  North  ;  from  such  places  as  Norway  and  Sweden.  They  were 
also  found  in  30deg  of  the  North  parallel  and  35deg  of  the  South. 
Another  home  of  Orchids  was  12deg  North  and  South  of  the 
Ff|uator.  Outside  the  12deg,  we  go  on  to  certain  mountains  and 
hills  in  India.  Again  in  South  AmcTica,  in  the  Andes  of  Chili 
and  Colombia,  they  were  to  be  found  in  abundance,  while  they 
were  also  to  be  found  elsewhere^ — in  China,  Africa,  Japan,  India. 
It  is  from  South  America  we  obtain  the  best  Orchids  we  have. 
There  were  many  romances  that  might  be  related  of  the  adven¬ 
tures  experienced  by  collectors  of  Orchids.  Some  Orchids  were 
known  as  “  lost  Orchids,”  or,  as  Mr.  Moore  playfully  put  it,  there 
wore  some  Orchids  which  remained  as  they  were  before  they  were 
discovered. 
Then,  on  the  other  hand,  some  new  varieties  were  brought 
home  in  the  packing  of  other  plants,  but  the  difficulty  with 
many  was  that  of  getting  them  imported.  He  then  had  his 
numerous  illustrations  thrown  on  the  screen,  commencing  with 
a  f(nv  remarks  on  epiphytic  and  terrestrial  Orchids.  Passing  on 
to  the  .structure  of  the  plants,  Mr.  Moore  pointed  out  how  the 
leaves  of  the  different  varieties  were  formed  so  as  to  represent 
what  the  plants  need  in  the  way  of  food.  The  formation  of  the 
leaf  showed  whether  an  Orehid  rec|uired  more  or  less  water  and 
sunshine,  and  this  was  a  point  that  ought  to  be  closely  studied. 
Mr.  Moore  then  alluded  to  the  functions  of  the  roots,  and  how 
they  work  in  taking  up  manure.  Leaving  roots,  Mr.  Moore 
went  on  to  discus.s  the  stems  of  the  plants,  after  which  he  dealt 
with  the  branches  and  flowers.  Orchids  should  be  grown  under 
conditions  as  nearly  alike  to.  Nature  as  possible.  He  then  dealt 
with  the  flowers  and  fruits,  both  of  which,  as  he  pointed  out, 
possessed  important  functions.  He  also  showed  slides  illus¬ 
trating  the  development  o>f  the  Orchid  from  the  seed  till  two 
years  of  age.  The  curious  part  of  the  thing  is  that  an  Orchid 
5eed  takes  about  three  years  four  months  to  develop.  Mention 
was  also  made  of  the  fact  that  Darwin’s  theory  of  the  importance 
and  dependence  of  certain  flowers  and  plants  on  certain  insects 
had  long  been  verified.  This  he  illustrated  by  relating  an  instance 
where  an  Orchid  some  distance  out  of  its  natural  habitat  became 
sterile  through  not  being  fertilised  b.y  a  certain  insect.  A  vivid 
description  was  then  given  of  the  means  by  which  Orchids  were 
pollinated. 
The  Week’s  Cultural  Notes. 
The  very  small  flowering  Dendrobiums  such  as  D.  capillipes, 
D.  aggregatum,  and  others,  are  many  of  them  in  full  beauty 
now.  They  produce  a  flowering  return  when  well  managed  that 
is  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  gi’owths,  and  because  of 
this  they  must  be  considered  especially,  for  it  is  not  wise  to 
allow  them  to  .so  weaken  themselves  by  flowering  this  season  as 
Phaius  Cooksonise. 
to  be  useless  next.  Remove  the  flowers,  then,  after  a  reason¬ 
able  time  of  beauty,  and  carefully  nur.se  the  plants  back  to  health. 
It  is  a  mistake  to  pull  a  plant  about  a.t  the  root  directly  the 
flowers  are  past,  and  before  it  has  had  time  to  recover.  But 
when  well  plumped  up  and  beginning  to  push  fresh  roots  it  Is 
able  to  overcome  the  chock  that  is  inevitable  even  with  the 
greatest  care.  Blocks  of  teak  and  cork  are  not  so  much  used  as 
formerly  for  these  small  species,  but  where  they  are,  the  present 
is  the  best  time  to  overhaul  them,  replacing  any  old  dead  moss 
with  new,  and  removing  decayed  roots  or  pseudo-bulbs.  Where 
the  block  itself  is  badly  deoaye.d  a  good  plan  is  to  attach  it  to  a 
new  one,  first  removing  nil  tliat  is  possible  of  the  old  wood ;  then, 
without  any  serious  check  to  the  plant,  it  takes  with  a  will  to  the 
new  block.  .  , 
The  large  growing  Gymbidiums,  such  as  C.  Lowiamim,  t. 
giganteum,  and  C.  Tracyanum,  are  extreniely  vigorovis  rooting 
when  healthy,  consequentl.y  they  soon  fill  any  ordinary-sized 
pot.  As  a  rule,  it  is  quite  impossible  to  loosen  the  roots  which 
mat  into  a  tight  ball  like  those  of  a  pot-bound  Palm,  and  the 
only  thing  possible  is  a  pot  sufficiently  large  to  allow  of  a  lining 
of  compost  outside  thi.s  ball  of  roots.  Make  this  compost  faiilv 
.sound,  and  allow  a  small  quantity  of  well  dried  cow  manure  vyith 
the  loam  and  peat  fibre.  If  this  is  not  obtainable,  use  a  spunk- 
ling  of  some  good  fertiliser.  . 
One  repotting  should  last  three  or  four  years,  and  in  t  lie  niean- 
wbile  a  fairly  thick  top-dressing  of  rich  compost  may  be  given. 
The  strong  growing  members  of  the  genus  Phaius  may  bo  simi- 
larly  treated,  but  they  are  not  as  a  rule  quite  so  vigorous  as 
those  named  above.  As  they  start  to  grow  the  number  of  the 
shoots  from  the  base  of  the  old  bulbs  must  bo  considerablv 
reduced,  or  weak,  crowded  shoots  and  bulbs  must  be  expected. 
When  a  few  inches  high  the  young  leaves  are  very  sensitive  and 
easily  injured  by  sunshine.  Constant  light  shade  must  tlieie- 
fore’be  allowed  until  the  leaves  are  sufficiently  hardened  to  stand 
the  ordinary  light. — H.  R.  R. 
