April  30,  1903,- 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
377 
Damage  by  the  Recent  Frosts. 
Cypripedium  x  Mrs.  Pitt. 
At  the  meeting  of  the  Orchid  Committee  of  the  Royal  Horti¬ 
cultural  Society,  held  on  April  7,  Mr.  H.  T.  Pitt,  of  Stamford 
Hill,  staged  a  plant  of  this  pretty  hybrid,  and  received  an  award 
of  merit.  Its  parentage  is  C.  Godfroyse  leucochilum  x  C.  nitens. 
The  form  and  the  waxy  consistency  of  the  former  is  characteristic 
liere.  The  beautiful  pouch  is  bronzy-yellow,  the  petals  and 
sepals  purple-spotted  over  a  bronzy  ground,  the  dorsal  sepal 
edged  at  the  tip  with  white.  Our  illustration  is  from  a  dravring 
by  Mr.  G.  Shayler. 
The  Week's  Cultural  Notes. 
Lately  a  taste  has  sprung  up  for  growing  Orchid.s  of  various 
kinds  on  rockeries  in  the  houses  or  on  lined  walls  in  conjunction 
with  Ferns.  Not  every  species  is  suitable,  but  many  are.  The 
larger  growing  Cymbidiums  do  very  well  in  positions  where  their 
roots  have  an  almost  unlimited  run,  and  the  beauty  of  their  ever¬ 
green  foliage  is  a  point  in  their  favour.  When  planted  fairly  high 
on  a  rockery  or  wall,  the  arching  leaves  have  a  very  fine  effect, 
even  when  no  flowers  are 
present. 
For  positions  where 
there  is  not  much  in  the 
way  of  compost  some  of 
the  shallower  -  rooting 
kinds  do  better.  Ccelo- 
gynes,  such  as  C.  cristata  y 
and  its  varieties,  Brassia, 
and  some  of  the  creeping 
Dendrobiums  would  be 
excellent  for  the  purpose, 
and  I  have  seen  the  sin¬ 
gular  and  somewhat 
erratic  Cypripedium  cari- 
einum  (Pearcei)  do  well 
also.  Lower  down,  or 
near  the  floor  of  the 
house,  the  ordinary 
varieties  of  Cypripedium 
may  be  planted  with 
good  effect,  and  the 
only  point  to  .study  is  to 
see  that  the  drainage 
is  perfect,  for  although 
these  like  ^  large  amount 
of  moisture  at  the  roots 
it  must  be  fresh,  not 
stagnant.  In  sour  or 
waterlogged  soil  the  root.s 
die  off  wholesale,  and  the 
plants  are  ruined. 
When  the  work  of 
lining  a  wall  for  thi.s 
purpose  is  in  progress 
a  few  rather  large  pockets 
should  be  constructed 
of  cork  or  tiles  for 
placing  j)lants  in  when 
in  flower.  A  Fern  of 
fairly  vigorous  character 
may  be  planted  beneath 
it,  and  will  soon  hide 
the  pocket.  The  long 
macranthum  section  have 
not  well  to  try  and  grow 
The  damage  done  to  the  early  Potato  crop  in  the  West  by  the 
recent  frosts  seems  to  have  been  under-estimated.  In  some 
quarters  whole  fields  which  gave  promise  of  an  early,  and  there¬ 
fore  a  x^rofitable  yield,  have  been  entirely  cut  down. 
M  riting  from  Rood  Ashton,  Trowbridge,  Wilts,  Mr.  Struguell 
says :  “  The  frost  has  been  most  destructive  to  the  fruit  crops. 
Many  people  have  thought  that  Strawberries  were  safe,  because 
the  buds  are  in  a  backward  state ;  they  are  far  from  it  generally. 
Our  Peaches  are  an  entire  failure  outdoors,  and  I  fear  Plums, 
Pears,  and  Apricots  also.  Medlars,  which  look  so  resisting  in 
their  hard  buds,  are  black  inside.  Bush  fruits  are  much 
damaged ;  in  fact,  no  one  can  tell  yet  whether  the  small  hopes 
left  will  be  realised.” 
Last  week  did  not  turn  out  well.  Frost  again  set  in  on 
Monday  night,  and  up  to  Friday  morning  we  registered  an  aggre¬ 
gate  of  44deg  of  frost,  Wednesday,  Thursday,  and  Friday  nights 
having  each  lOdeg.  The  damage  done  by  the  frost  of  the  previous 
week  is^  unfortunately  more  serious  than  I  anticipated.  The 
Black  Currant  and  Raspberry  crops  are,  as  far  as  we  are  con¬ 
cerned,  doomed.  Not  only  the  blossoms  are  shrivelled  up,  but 
the  leaves  are  entirely  scorched,  and  now  hanging  red  on  the 
bushes.  Herbaceous  plants,  especially  such  as  Pseonies,  are  alto¬ 
gether  cut  to  the  ground.  What  is  still  more  singular,  some 
Aralias  (japonica)  which  survived  the  frosts  of  the  last  five  winters 
and  31deg  this  wintei*,  without  a  flinch,  are  by  the  recent  frost 
partially  blackened.  For 
the  last  two  nights  the 
— —  frost  has  not  been  more 
than  in  evidence,  but  the 
sky  lias  been  overcast, 
with  a  comparatively  high 
and  bitterly  cold  east 
wind  blowing.  To-day 
(27th)  symptoms  of  rain 
manifest  them.selves,  and 
a  shower  would  do  now 
much  good  to  the  parched 
land  and  grass  pastures. 
In  our  plantations  the 
Larches  are  quite  stripped 
of  their  foliage. — I).  C’. 
Cypripedium  x  Mrs.  Pitt. 
scandent  flowering  lucidum  of  the 
a  delightful  effect  so  shown,  but  it  is 
the  plants  there.  Place  them  in  the 
pockets  when  the  flower  spikes  are  ju,st  forming,  and  these  will 
then  fall  naturally  into  a  graceful  position,  and  each  blos.som 
take  its  proper  pose. 
The  long  pendant  stems  of  Dendrobium  Pierardi,  when  covered 
with  the  imle  rosy-mauve  flowers,  seem  to  want  some  green  back¬ 
ground  to  show  them  up,  and  this  is  well  provided  by  the  walls  in 
question.  Other  species  will  sugge.st  themselves  to  anyone  in¬ 
terested ;  in  fact,  almost  any  sort  is  improved  in  appearance  by 
the  green  setting.  But,  speaking  again  of  the  permanent  occu¬ 
pants  of  such  structures,  no  deciduous  kind  should  be  used,  as  it 
will  be  found  difficult  to  dry  the  roots  sufficiently  for  the  winter’s 
re.st  without  at  the  .same  time  injuring  the  Ferns.  The  evergreen 
sorts,  on  the  other  hand,  are  not  incommoded  by  a  little  moisture 
in  winter. — H.  R.  R. 
In  last  week’s  is.sue  I 
notice  several  accounts  of 
9deg  of  frost  registered, 
and  its  subsequent  re¬ 
sults;  but  in  this  district 
much  higher  figures  are 
recorded,  which  shows 
your  readers  what  we  are 
liable  to  receive  in  Scot¬ 
land.  On  Tuesday  morn¬ 
ing,  14th  inst.,  lOdeg  of 
frost  were  registered,  and 
by  0  o’clock  in  the  eve.n- 
ing  of  the  same  day  snow 
had  covered  the  ground 
to  a  depth  of  Gin.  On  the 
following  morning,  at  Ca- 
pelrig  Alearns,  a  district 
very  much  exposed,  26deg 
of  frost  were  registei'ed,  a 
record  which  has  never 
been  noted  in  April.  On 
the  above  -  mentioned 
estate  the  frost  has 
played  sad  havoc.  Fruit 
trees  of  all  description  are  blighted,  buds  and  leaves  have  now 
fallen  off,  and  the  whole  landscape  presents  a  midwinter 
appearance.  Even  herbaceous  plants  are  destroyed.  It  fs  sad 
to  hear  the  words  “  No  fruit  this  year  ”  coming  from  the  lips 
of  the  gardeners  and  others. 
In  higher  districts,  not  so  much  exposed  as  C'apelrig,  lOdeg 
of  frost  was  registered,  this  figure  also  being  an  unusual  record 
for  April.  On  Thursday,  Friday,  Saturday,  and  Sunday  morn¬ 
ings  following  the  frost  i-ecorded  for  C'apelrig  was  13deg,  12deg, 
8deg.  and  4deg  respectively.  What  about  Odeg  of  frost  ?  Why, 
that  is  nothing  compared  to  the  above.  In  this  Scotland  of  ours 
we  can  put  up  with  anjdhing.  and  ev'en  the  weather,  and  say 
nothing  about  it.  Roses,  so  far,  are  blighted.  This  morning 
(24th)  the  country  is  white  with  hoar  frost,  13deg  fro.st  being 
registered.  The  recorded  frost  this  week  runs  :  Monday,  8deg ; 
Tuesday,  Odeg;  Wednesday,  12deg:  Thursday,  4deg ;  Friday, 
13deg. — Disgusted  Ros.41?i.\n,  Newton  Mearns,  N.B. 
