236  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  •  March  21, 1901- 
Odontoelossnm  Edwardi. 
Fragrant  Odontoglossums  are  not  uncommon,  but  an  Odonto- 
Balancing  tlje  Growth  of  Peach  Trees. 
glossum  with  rich  purple  flowers  produced  on  long  elegant  scapes, 
and  sweetly  scented,  is  rare  ;  it  is  practically  unique,  in  fact  there 
being  but  the  one,  0.  Edwardi.  Discovered  in  Ecuador  by  Mr. 
Edward  Klaboch,  it  was  sent  to  this  country  twenty  years  ago,  and 
from  the  first  has  been  a  favouiite  Orchid  with  all  classes  of  growers. 
The  habit  is  stronger  than  that  of  most  others  in  the  genus,  being  not 
unlike  a  bronzed-looking  form  of  one  of  the  scandent  flowering 
Oncidiums,  such  as  O.  undulatum. 
The  roots,  too,  are  large  and  rather  fleshy,  liking  a  more  roomy 
pot  than  0.  crispum  and  its  allies,  also  a  rough  and  open  compost. 
The  new  pseudo-bulb  usually  rises  considerably  higher  than  that 
immediately  preceding  it,  this 
making  it  necessary  to  top-dress 
the  plants  annually  in  order  to 
bring  the  bases  of  these  in  con¬ 
tact  with  the  compost.  Having 
this  in  mind  the  comp  >st  should 
be  thin  at  first,  nearly  filling 
the  pots  with  crocks  for  drain¬ 
age,  and  when  applying  the  top- 
dressing  it  is  well  to  remove  as 
much  as  possible  of  the  old  peat 
without  disturbing  the  healthy 
roots,  its  place  being  taken  by 
crocks  lefore  putting  the  layer 
of  compost  on  the  surface. — 
H.  R.  R. 
It  is  now  about  twenty  years 
since  this  was  first  flowered  in 
England,  and  it  has  become 
fairly  popular  both  on  account 
of  its  uncommon  colour  and  its 
good  constitution.  It  is  a  native 
of  Ecuador,  and  was  first  dis¬ 
covered  by  Edward  Klaboch.  The 
pseudo-bulbs  are  almost  oval,  and 
3  or  4  inches  long  ;  from  the 
top  two  dark  green  strap-shaped 
leaves  a  foot  to  15  inches  long 
are  produced.  The  flower  spike 
is  pushed  up  in  early  spring,  and 
rises  almost  erect  to  a  height  of 
a  foot  and  a  half  on  strong  plants. 
The  flowers  are  small,  but  borne 
freely.  They  are  three-quarters 
to  an  inch  across,  and  pale  purple, 
with  a  yellow  crest,  in  colour.  It  should  always  be  grown  in  a  cool 
house,  and  be  given  plenty  of  water  whilst  growth  is  active.. — W.  D. 
Phalsenopsls  Harriettae. 
Perhaps  less  progress  has  been  made  in  the  hybridising  of 
P halaenopses  than  with  any  other  of  the  more  popular  genera  of 
Orchids.  Phalaenopse3,  of  course,  are  very  exacting  in  their  cultural 
needs ;  nevertheless,  a  number  of  natural  and  artificial  hybrids  have  at 
times  been  described  and  recognised,  and  among  the  latter  is  included 
P.  Harrietts.  This  is  a  sweet  little  Orchid  with  plain  green  leaves 
resembling  the  male  parent,  which  was  P.  violacea.  The  seed-bearer 
was  P.  grandiflora.  The  first  flowers  appeared  in  1887  from  seeds 
sown  in  1882.  The  flower  is  nearly  3  inches  in  diameter  ;  the  petals 
nearly  three-quarters  of  an  inch  across,  ovate,  pale  creamy  white 
stained  with  purple  at  the  base,  the  sepals  being  similar  in  size,  but 
rather  more  acute  in  form,  as  seen  in  the  illustration  on  the  opposite 
page.  This  hybrid  was  raised  at  Chelsea,  and  named  in  honour  of  the 
daughter  of  lion.  Erastus  Corning  of  Albany,  New  York,  one  of  the 
best  known  American  orchidists. 
Odontoglossum  Edwardi. 
Grape  growing  under  glass  is  undoubtedly  the  most  popular  form 
of  indoor  fruit  growins  among  gardeners  generally,  but  next  to  it  in 
importance  is  that  of  Peach  and  Nectarine  culture.  Notwithstanding 
all  that  has  been  written  upon  the  latter  subject,  evidences  abound 
which  show  clearly  that  there  are  still  some  cultivators  who  have 
not  yet  mastered  the  details  of  shoot  and  branch  manipulation.  As 
a  rule  the  old  system  of  shortening  back  the  leading  shoots  severely 
in  winter  is  not  practised,  for  it  has  proved  too  slow  a  method  of 
covering  wall  space  in  these  days  of  hurry.  Under  that  system 
it  was  usually  necessary  to  root-prune  young  trees  severely  to- 
check  the  strong  shoots  produced,  and  although  trees  formed  on 
such  principles  in  time  covered  walls  with  evenly  balanced  wood, 
there  was  too  much  waste  of  material  in  the  process.  The  express 
system  then  came  into  vogue, 
and  many  able  cultivators  demon¬ 
strated  how  a  wall  could  be 
covered  with  fruitful  wood— and 
fruit,  t  0 — in  a  quarter  of  the 
time  it  formerly  took. 
Such  satisfactory  results  soon 
had  the  effect  of  causing  others 
to  adopt  similar  practices,  but 
when  carried  out  by  unskilful 
hands  the  system  has  not  been 
always  voted  a  success.  True, 
in  nearly  all  instances  it  resulted 
in  good  crops  a  few  years  after 
the  trees  were  planted,  but  a 
weak  point  soon  became  evident 
— viz,  bare  branches  in  the  centre 
of  such  trees  too  often  fmet  the 
eye.  Such  a  condition  of  affairs, 
however,  ought  never  to  be 
attributed  to  the  system,  but  to 
the  imperfect  way  in  which  it  is 
carried  out.  One  of  the  greatest 
difficulties  the  Peach  grower  has 
with  young  trees,  is  to  secure 
well-balanced  growth.  A  few 
strong  shoots  will  always  take 
the  lead,  and  if  nothing  is  dote 
to  direct  tneir  surplus  vigour  into 
other  channels  they  will  cause 
shoots  on  other  parts  of  the  trees 
to  become  weak. 
Under  the  old  system  of 
shortening  such  shoots  at  the 
winter  pruning,  and  pruning  the 
roots  as  well,  matters  were  in 
time  put  right,  but  there  was  too 
much  waste  of  time  and  material 
in  doing  so.  On  the  other  hand, 
when  the  opposite  course  was 
pursued,  and  the  strong  shoots 
left  unshortened,  they  often  failed 
to  break  well  at  the  base,  and 
gaps  were  then  sure  to  occur. 
All  the  above  difficulties  may, 
however,  be  overcome  by  a  judicious  system  of  disbudding  and 
summer  pinching. 
From  the  present  time  onward  throughout  the  summer  a  good  deal 
of  this  kind  of  work  will  need  attention  in  gardens  throughout  the 
land,  so  I  propose  to  deal  with  the  subject  in  detail.  A  start  should 
be  made  at  disbudding  as  soon  as  the  fruit  is  set  by  removing  what 
are  known  as  “  foreright”  shoots — i.e.,  those  which  grow  from  the 
front  of  the  branches  instead  of  the  side;  also  remove  others  at  points 
where  they  are  much  crowded.  Go  over  the  very  strong  branches 
first  and  the  upper  parts  of  the  trees,  and  a  week  or  ten  days  after 
slightly  disbud  the  remaining  portions  of  the  trees,  with  the  exception 
of  any  very  weak  shoots.  I  have  often  found  it  an  excellent  plan  to 
leave  these  untouched  until  the  work  has  been  completed  on  other 
pans  of  the  trees.  The  extra  growth  left  on  the  weak  shoots  will  help 
to  increase  their  vigour  by  drawing  the  sap  with  greater  force  in  such 
directions.  At  the  second  disbudding  the  work  may  be  performed  in 
a  more  thorough  manner  ;  leave  one  growth  at  the  extremity  of  each 
shoot,  another  at  the  base  to  form  next  year’s  fruiting  wood,  and 
evenly  distributed  all  over  the  tree  leave  a  few  extra  growths.  In  the 
case  of  young  trees  which  have  not  yet  covered  their  allotted  space  it 
is  of  course  necessary  to  reserve  a  greater  number  of  growths  near  the 
extremity  of  the  branches,  to  supply  enough  shoots  to  cover  the  wall 
evenly  as  the  tree  extends. 
