June  20.  1001. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
515 
Odontoglossum  crispum  var.  Annie. 
This  handsome  variety,  which  we  illustrate,  appeared  at  the 
t<  cent  show  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  in  the  Temple  Gardens, 
when  the  Orchid  Committee  recommended  a  first-class  certificate  to 
if.  It  is  certainly  one  of  the  finest  of  the  blotched  varieties  of 
0.  crispum.  The  flowers  are  large,  white,  suffused  with  red, 
and  plentifully  spotted  with  reddish  brown.  It  was  staged  by 
H.  T.  Pitt,  Esq.  (grower,  Mr.  Thurgood),  Rosslyn,  Stamford  Hill. 
Laeiia  pnrpnrata. 
Evert  season  brings  with  it  some  new  break  in  this  very  delightful 
species,  and  visitors  to  the  recent  Temple  Show  had  plenty  of 
opportunities  for  comparing  any  that  they  happen  to  have  in  flower 
with  the  best  in  existence.  There  is  a  surprising  number  of  really  fine 
forms  existing  in  various 
parts  of  the  country  quite 
unsuspected  by  those  “  in  the 
know.”  Q  lite  recently  I 
was  looking  in  a  florist’s 
shop,  and  was  surprised  to 
see  a  nice  plant  of  a  truly 
remarkable  form,  and  on 
inquiring  the  price  was  told 
10s.  In  any  London  sale 
the  plant  would  have 
fetched  quite  as  many 
guineas. 
Only  a  few  years  ago  I 
bought  an  immense  speci¬ 
men  of  L.  p.  Williamsi  for 
a  very  trifling  sum,  and  this 
passed  into  a  large  trade 
collection,  when  it  was 
divided  and  sold  at  a  high 
price.  These  opportunities 
are  not  so  frequent  now  as 
formerly,  but  those  having 
a  number  of  p  ants  should 
keep  their  eye  on  any  likely 
forms.  Tnose  with  deeply 
fluhed  petals,  like  the 
beautiful  L.  p.  Backhouse's 
variety,  or  Ashworthise,  will 
always  be  rare  and  valu¬ 
able,  or  those  with  that 
black-purple  tint  on  the  lip. 
White  forms,  too,  are 
eagerly  sought,  and  varieties 
with  sepals  and  petals  of 
exceptional  width.  These 
last  are  often  chosen  by  hybridists, 
fine  hybrids. — H.  R.  R. 
•W 
>•-  r 
ODONTOGLOSSUM  CRISPUM  VAR.  “ANNIE 
being 
usually  productive  of 
Right  Hon.  Joseph  Chamberlain,  M.P.,  and  his  Orchids. 
Under  this  title  “Le  Moniteur  d’Horticulteur”  has  a  paragraph 
wh  fch  we  translate  literallv,  as  follows: — “On  the  pioposition  of  a 
i.roup  of  Orchid  lovers  of  different  nationalities,  it  has  been  decided 
that  the  chief  instigator  of  this  lamentable  war  in  South  Africa,  as 
barbarous  as  it  is  unjust,  and  waged  against  a  *  small  people’  resolved 
to  maintain  its  independence  w.th  mignt  and  main,  that  this  chief 
instigator  is  no  longer  worthy  of  the  honour  of  having  dedicated  to 
him  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  our  Orchids.  It  expresses  the 
wish  that  the  specific  name  of  Chamberlainianum  (i.e.,  Cypripedium 
Uhamberlainianum)  in  future,  have  substituted  for  it^  in  continental 
collections,  that  of  C.  punctatum.  It  is  very  doubtful  if  the  name  will 
be  accepted  ip  the  ravissant  cottage  of  Highbury,  near  Birmingham, 
where  the  minister  for  the  colonies  of  the  British  Empire  possesses 
one  of  the  most  important  Orchid  collections  in  England,  and  which 
euj  rys  great  renown.” 
No,  and  probably  nowhere  else  in  this  country,  and  our  dear  good 
friends  across  the  English  Channel  are  welcome  to  the  fullest 
satisfaction  or  consolation  their  decision  and  the  new  name  may 
give  them. 
Early  Sommer  melons. 
The  tropical  nature  of  the  weather  of  late  has  imparted  a  greater 
value  to  the  early  Melon  crops  than  is  usually  experience'.  No  one 
is  in  a  better  position  to  emphasise  this  than  the  fruiterer,  who  in  some 
summers  finds  Melons  somewhat  of  a  drug  on  his  market  should  the 
weather  be  both  cold  and  sunless.  One  large  fruit  salesman  recently 
remaiked  to  me  that  he  could  not  remember  a  season  when  early 
Melons  sold  so  well,  and  no  doubt  this  is  only  one  of  many  such 
instances.  Few,  however,  beyond  the  actual  growers  realise  the 
trouble  that  Melons  give  in  the  early  months  of  the  year,  and  what  a 
length  of  time  is  needed  to  bring  them  on  from  the  seed  stage  to  the 
matured  fruit.  In  the  height  of  summer  it  is  possible  to  sow  the 
seed  and  cut  ripe  fruit  in  three  months,  or  less,  but  this  is  not  so  when 
sowing  takes  place  in  the  first  week  of  the  new  year.  So  much,  too, 
depends  on  the  structures,  and  the  means  of  heating  them,  in  the 
successful  treatment  of  the  earliest  Melon. 
The  English  markets  are  now  supplied  with  foreign  Melons  at  a 
time  when  it  is  scircely  possible  to  get  them  of  home  growth,  which, 
unfortunately,  discounts  the  latter’s  value  to  some  extent.  Of  their 
quality  I  have  no  experience,  but  appearance  was  all  in  favour  in  the 
c  ise  of  those  I  saw,  judging  from  a  market  point  of  view.  In  the 
Longford  Castle  Gardens,  Mr.  Hazelton  has  had  the  best  crop  1  have 
seen  for  a  long  time  for  so 
early  a  period,  and  a  ffords 
an  instance  of  the  value  of 
small  well-heated  houses  for 
the  earliest  forced  crops.  In 
one  division  of  a  span- roofed 
forcing  range,  less  than  20 
feet  in  length  and  13  feet 
wide,  over  five  dozen  fruits 
were  gathered  in  May, 
ranging  from  2  lbs.  to  4  lbs. 
>  ach  in  weight,  of  the  well- 
known  Earl's  Favourite,  a 
kind  that  owes  its  origin  to 
the  Longford  Castle  Gardens. 
This  is  not  by  any  means  an 
early  maturing  variety,  so 
that  the  time  of  cutting  the 
% ,  first,  which  was  on  May 
13th,  might  have  been 
enhanced  by  some  few  days 
if  an  earlier  one  had  been 
chosen  for  a  portion  of  this 
crop.  This  is  a  point  that 
in  early  Melon  crops  has  a 
decided  value,  and  it  would 
be  interesting  to  have  the 
experience  of  other  growers 
bearing  on  these  sorts  of 
quick  maturity. 
With  me  Frogmore 
Orange  ripens  before  all 
others  tried.  Gunton  Orange 
was  procured  this  season  on 
a  recommendation  for  early 
ripening,  but  it  has  failed 
latter,  too,  is  a  good  setting 
merit  an  early  Melon  need  possess.  Iu 
secure  four  fruits  averaging  3  lbs.  each 
which,  under  ordinary  conditions,  cannot 
he  said  of  many  varieties  when  flowering  takes  place  in  March. 
Without  abundance  of  steady  top  and  bottom  heat  there  is  no  gain  in 
commencing  so  early  in  Melon  sowing,  though  to  the  ambitious 
grower  the  new  year  brings  with  it  the  attendant  contemplations  of 
i  he  early  summer.  Melons  claim  a  joint  attention  with  that  of 
Peaches,  Figs,  Strawberries,  and  Grapes.  Without  the  requisite  heat, 
plants  from  an  early  January  sowing  would  be  overtaken  by  otheis 
put  in  perhaps  a  month  later,  particularly  should  the  weather  be  cold 
and  sunless  at  the  time.  This  has  been  proved  over  and  over  again. 
Except  under  special  conditions  there  is  an  advantage  in  the  growth 
of  several  sorts,  whether  for  early  or  midseason  use,  because  varieties 
oiffer  materially  in  their  times  of  maturity.  A  succession  of  full  ripe 
Melons  is  more  satisfactorily  maintained  when,  instead  of  a  quantity 
being  cut  on  a  given  day,  giving  rise  to  the  necessity  of  retarding 
them,  they  ripen  successively  on  the  plants.  Complaint  is  sure  to 
arise  if  they  are  eaten  befjre  or  after  they  have  reached  a  matured 
stage.  At  the  same  time,  those  having  a  good  stock,  and  desire  to  keep 
it  true  to  name  and  character,  must  need  confine  themselves  rigidly  to 
one  kind  in  a  structure.  From  a  gardener’s  point  of  view  there 
comes  a  greater  interest  in  the  adoption  of  a  larger  number  than  in 
in  the  race  with 
variety,  another  point  of 
is  not  at  all  difficult  to 
nf  this  k  nd  on  a  plant, 
Frogmore.  The 
