November  1,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
393 
Cyprlpedium  Vidor. 
This  is  a  new  hybrid  that  was  obtained  by  Mr.  H.  J.  Chapman, 
gardener  to  E.  I.  Measures,  Esq..  Cambridge  Lodge,  Flodden  Road, 
Camberwell,  from  a  cross  between  C.  Chas.  Canham  and  C.  Harris- 
ianum  superbum.  The  flower  (fig.  108)  is  large  and  of  great  substance. 
The  grand  dorsal  sepal  partakes  of  the  Harrisianum  character.  The 
basal  portion  is  claret  purple  and  green,  and  the  entire  organ  is 
broadly  margined  with  white.  The  fine  petals  are  claret  purple  on 
the  upper  half  and  paler  beneath.  The  pouch  is  of  similar  shade  to 
the  upper  portion  of  the  petals.  The  Orchid  Committee  of  the  Royal 
Horticultural  Society  recommended  an  award  of  merit  when  C.  Vidor 
was  exhibited  at  the  Drill 
Hall  on  October  23rd. 
is  the  more  beautiful  of  the  two,  would  rank  as  a  variety  of  0.  papilio, 
the  latter  having  been  in  cultivation  many  years  before  the  former. 
The  plants  of  each  like  an  abundance  of  heat  and  atmospheric 
moisture,  but  greatly  dislike  any  great  amount  of  compost  about  the 
roots.  1  have  had  the  best  results  from  fastening  the  plants  to  rough 
pieces  of  cork  and  placing  a  little  sphagnum  moss  about  the  base  of 
the  leading  pseudo-bulbs.  This  will  spread,  and  the  roots  will  run  all 
through  it,  the  green  cushion  of  moss  forming  a  protection  to  the 
latter  in  summer  and  keeping  them  moist.  Should  it  grow  very 
luxuriantly  it  will  be  safer  to  remove  a  little  of  it  at  this  time  of  year, 
as  during  the  winter  months  it  is  apt  to  gather  and  hold  too  much 
moisture.  The  temperature  should  never  fall  below  60°. 
Oncldium  Lanceanum, 
Fine  flowers  of  this  lovely  Oncidium  come  from  a  Midland  grower. 
Very  fine  in  all  ways  is  this  species,  and  of  late  years  it  has  thriven  far 
better  in  our  Orchid  houses  than  it  was  wont  to  do  formerly.  The 
lovely  combinations  of  yellow,  chocolate,  and  white  never  fail  to 
attract,  and  the  leaves  on  well-grown  plants  are  strikingly  handsome. 
An  important  point  in  its  culture  is  to  see  that  the  materials  used  in 
the  compost  are  of  the  most 
lasting  description. 
Laelio-Cattleya  Dominiana. 
Rational  Orchid  Growing. 
If  the  late  Mr.  Dominy 
had  done  nothing  else  but 
raise  this  fine  hybrid  he  would 
have  rendered  a  splendid 
service  to  horticulture,  and  it 
is  fitting  that  such  a  fine  plant 
should  have  been  dedicated  to 
him,  for  it  will  keep  his 
memory  green.  It  is  the 
result  of  crossing  Cattleya 
Dowiana  and  Laelia  purpurata, 
and  as  may  be  expected  from 
such  parentage,  it  is  one  of 
the  finest  hybrids  in  cultiva¬ 
tion,  its  habit  of  autumn 
flowering  being  all  m  its 
favour.  Like  many  others 
that  have  been  raised  in 
various  places,  the  flowers  of 
L.-C.  Dominiana  vary  con¬ 
siderably,  but  all  are  good. 
A  typical  flower  would  be 
as  large  as  a  good  L.  purpurata, 
with  rosy  red  sepals  and  petals, 
and  a  finely  modelled  lip  of 
deep  crimson  purple,  radiating 
lines  of  golden  yellow  indicat¬ 
ing  its  relationship  to  the 
Cattleya  named.  For  a  number 
of  years  the  parentage  of  this 
hybrid  was  in  doubt,  Lmlia 
lobata  being  considered  one  of 
its  parents,  but  since  the  more 
recently  raisec^  plants  have 
flowered  all  doubt  as  to  their 
identity  has  been  removed. 
Plants  of  it  in  many  varieties 
have  frequently  been  ex¬ 
hibited,  and  those  growers 
who  are  fortunate  enough  to 
possess  plants  have  found  it  to  be  an  excellent  grower.  Its  habit 
is  strong  and  vigorous,  and  it  is  one  of  those  that  must  eventually 
become  a  well  known  and  popular  plant. 
Angrsecum  seequipedale. 
Once  again  the  beautiful  ivory  white  blossoms  of  this  Angraecum 
are  open,  and  there  should  be  no  difiiculty  now  in  keeping  up  a 
display  for  a  considerable  time.  This  is  one  of  the  plants  that  the 
late  Mr.  Darwin  was  very  much  interested  in,  and  his  arguments 
about  its  fertilisation  in  his  wonderful  work  are  most  interesting. 
Ample  light  and  heat,  together  with  plenty  of  atmospheric  moisture, 
seems  to  suit  it  exactly,  and  only  sufficient  shading  should  be  allowed 
to  prevent  the  leaves  scalding.  Moderately  large  pots,  and  a  compost 
consisting  largely  of  sphagnum  moss  and  crocks,  suit  it  well. 
The  Butterfly  Oucidiums. 
The  resemblance  to  a  butterfly  is  very  striking  in  those  pretty 
•Orchids  Oncidiums  Kramerianum  and  papilio.  That  they  are  not 
distinct  species  must  be  allowed,  but  they  are  quite  distinct  enough  to 
merit  at  least  varietal  rank,  and  in  this  case  0.  Kramerianum,  which 
A  great  deal  has  been 
written  and  said  respecting 
the  Orchid  ‘  craze,”  as  it  is 
termed  by  those  who  have 
had  little  chance  to  judge  of 
the  merits  or  demerits  of  the 
cult,  and  much  unfair  criticism 
has  on  this  account  been 
levelled  at  Orchid  growers 
generally.  I  may  as  well  say 
at  once  that  1  am  entirely  out 
of  sympathy  with  this ;  there 
is  no  craze  in  growing  such 
a  beautiful  family  of  plants ; 
but  without  a  doubt  there  are 
some  growers  who  allow  them¬ 
selves  to  be  led  away  by  the 
money  value  ot  plants  rather 
than  their  intrinsic  worth  as 
objects  of  beauty. 
I  was  looking  through  a 
collection  in  the  West  of 
England  recently  where  there 
were  many  fine  Orchids  of  the 
useful  and  beautiful  class,  and 
as  they  were  in  the  hands 
of  an  efficient  grower,  they 
certainly  were  very  interesting. 
But  in  showing  me  through 
the  owner  hardly  paused  at 
these  excellent  garden  plants, 
but  passed  on  to  a  few 
miserable-looking  bits  in  a 
corner  to  thtmselves.  These 
were  the  rarities.  One  would 
be  an  albino  of  a  species, 
another  a  back-break,  perhaps, 
from  some  noted  collection  of 
a  very  rare  sort,  and  so  on  ;  all 
purchased  at  a  high  price,  and 
all  absolutely  useless  as  garden  plants.  For  it  is  well  known  that 
many  of  the  rarer  sorts  are  bad  growers  at  the  best,  and  ^when  they 
have  been  divided  again  and  again,  to  make  “  duplicate  plants,  as 
the  custom  is,  then  in  many  cases  it  is  out  of  the  power  of  any 
grower  to  bring  them  into  presentable  form. 
It  is  quite  different  with  small  seedlings  and  choice  hybrids. 
These,  as  a  rule,  have  plenty  of  vigour.  They  are  small  perhaps 
when  they  come  into  the  hands  of  the  grower,  but  they  soon  ma  e  pro¬ 
gress  if  properly  treated,  while  the  miserable  back  break  from  a  plant 
that  has  for  years  been  languishing  in  an  Orchid  house  in  most  cases 
keeps  going  from  bad  to  worse.  This  is  the  sort  of  thing  that  brings 
ridicule  upon  Orchid  growers.  They  are  termed  faddists,  and  accused  of 
worshipping  plants  for  their  money  value. 
To  grow  Orchids  well  and  prize  them  at  their  true  worth  should  he 
the  aim  of  all  growers.  It  stands  to  reason  that  when  an  exceptionally 
fine  form  appears,  or  when,  after  years  of  care,  a  distinct  and  good 
hybrid  is  flowered,  such  plants  will  realise  exceptional  prices.  It  is  only 
just.  But  this  should  not  be  the  aim  and  end  of  the  grower  any  more 
than  it  would  be  the  policy  of  a  Narcissus  specialist  to  neglect  his 
Sir  Watkins  for  a  rarity  at  so  many  guineas  the  bulb.— H.  li.  K. 
Fig.  108. — Cypripedium  Vidor. 
