November  20,  1902.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
469 
Cypripedium  Charlesworthi. 
In  Captain  Holford’s  magnificent  collection  of  Orchids  in  the 
Drill  Hall,  Westminster,  on  Tuesday  last,  the  Cypripedium  which 
we  herewith  figure  was  noted  as  one  of  the  loveliest  of  any.  It  is 
a  fit  compeer  in  a  choice  collection,  along  with  the  best  forms  of 
Cypripedium  insigne.  The  large  dorsal  sepal,  so  beautifully  rose- 
coloured,  with  the  yellowish-brown  pouch  and  white  staminode, 
never  fails  to  elicit  praise  from  those  who  have  seen  it  for  the 
first  time. 
The  Week’s  Cultural  Notes. 
Many  of  the  beautiful  Lselias  from  Mexico  are  now  either 
in  flower  or  rapidly  advancing.  The  flowering  of  these  very 
useful  Orchids  forms  the  apex,  if  one  may  so  term  it,  of  the 
season’s  growth.  After  the  flowers  are  past  the  plants  rest  until 
a  new  set  of  growths  are  produced,  and,  incidentally,  it  may 
not  be  out  of  place  here  to  mention  that  the  longer  in  season 
they  are  kept  dormant  after  flowering  the  better,  as  the  weather 
will  be  brighter,  with  more  sunlight  for  them  to  produce  their 
growth  in. 
Just  now  they  will  not  require  a  great  amount  of  water  at 
the  roots,  but  they  must  not  be  quite  dried  until  the  flowers 
are  past  and  the  pseudo-bulbs  thoroughly  mature.  Should 
green  or  black  fly  appear  on  the  flower  spikes,  pass  a  damp 
sponge  over  them  with  an  upward  motion.  There  is  often  a 
gummy  exudation  about  the  flowers,  and  the  sponge  will  remove 
this  as  well  as  the  insect.  The  pretty  small  species,  such  as 
L.  pumila  and  Dayana,  as  they  go  out  of  flower  must  be  hung 
up  in  the  Cattleya,  house,  but  not  too  severely  dried,  as  the 
small  bulbs  and  sensitive  leaves  will  not  stand  the  strain. 
The  management  of  the  temperature  is  just  no.w  a  matter 
of  anxiety  to  growers,  the  weather  being  so  uncertain.  A  cold 
nipping  wind  one  day  is  followed  by  damp,  muggy  conditions 
the  next,  and  it  is  only  by  constant  attention  that  anything 
like  regularity  can  be  maintained.  A  damp,  warm  atmosphere 
in  most  departments  is  quite  wrong  now,  as  it  predisposes  the 
plants  to  unseasonable  growth,  and  often  leads  to  damping.  A 
fairly  dry  and  buoyant  one,  on  the  other  hand,  does  not  distress 
them,  but  is  sufficient  to  keep  them  at  rest.  Use  as  little  fire 
heat  as  possible,  but  always  have  a  little  warmth  on  the  pipes  to 
keep  the  air  moving. 
For  the  guidance  of  the  inexperienced,  I  may  say  that  a 
suitable  winter  temperature  will  be  in  the  warmest  house 
65deg  by  night  and  TOdeg  on  dull  days,  rising,  should  the  day 
be  sunny,  another  lOdeg,  or  even  more,  but  not  by  fire  heat. 
The  Cattleya  house,  may  be  kept  at  55deg  to  58deg  by  night, 
rising  to  65deg  by  day,  while  55deg  by  day  and  60deg  by  night 
will  do  for  the  cool  house.  These  figures  need  not  be  too  rigidly 
adhered  to.  When  the  weather  is  very  cold  it  is  unwise  to  fire 
too  freely,  and  it  is  far  better  to  allow  a  slight  drop  than  to  dry 
up  the  plants  with  excessive  fire  heat. — H.  R.  R. 
- - 
Cankered  Apple  Trees. 
In  reference  to  the  above  important  question  in  your  last  issue 
by  Ignoramus,”  I  should  like  to  place  my  experience  on  record 
for  the  benefit  of  your  correspondent  and  others  who  may 
care  to  read  it.  For  a  number  of  years  I  have  taken  a  great 
interest  in  fruit  growing  on  rather  a  large  scale.  Some  fifteen 
years  since  I  came  in  charge  of  a  collection  of  Apple,  Pear,  and 
other  fruit  trees,  all  of  which  indicated  bad  planting.  In  most 
cases  they  were  too  deeply  planted,  in  others  the  soil  had  not 
been  prepared  for  the  trees.  The  result  was  bad  cases  of  canker 
(in  the  Apples),  which  always  follows  too  deep  planting.  These 
trees  had  become  too  luxuriant,  and  in  order  to  check  their  ex¬ 
pansion  the  knife  had  been  used  freely,  which,  of  course,  aggra¬ 
vated  the  evil.  Now  for  the  remedy.  First,  I  carefully  pruned 
all  these  trees,  using  the  knife  very  moderately,  indeed,  merely 
thinning  the  inside  of  the  trees  (pyramids  and  low  bushes).  I 
did  not  touch  the  leading  shoots.  I  allowed  these  to  grow  on  at 
will,  and  early  in  the  autumn  I  opened  a  trench  carefully  all 
round  each  tree,  beginning  some  5ft  from  the  stem,  with  forks, 
bareing  each  large  root  as  it  was  discovered.  When  all  the 
roots  had  thus  been  found,  and  the  true  state  of  affairs  had  been 
ascertained,  all  the  largest  roots  were  cut  through  with  a  saw  or 
sharp  knife.  A  barrowful  of  turfy  loam  was  added  to  the  old 
soil,  and  as  this  was  returned  every  root  available  was  raised  to 
as  near  the  surface  as  possible.  The  soil  was  rammed  very  firmly 
with  a  wooden  rammer,  and  a  mulching  of  half-decayed  manure 
was  placed  round  each  tree.  The  leading  shoots  above  referred 
to  were  shortened  slightly,  and  the  trees  were  left  to  fake  their 
chance  till  the  following  autumn. 
I  was  told  that  these  were  extreme  measures  to  take  with 
such  large  trees,  but  all  did  well  during  the  summer.  Instead 
of  shoots  8ft  and  10ft  in  length  being  made,  the  leaders  already 
mentioned  were  studded  with  fruit  buds,  as  also  every  part  of  the 
trees.  I  had  not  yet,  however,  finished  with  these  trees.  The 
following  autumn  I  decided  to  lift  the  whole  lot  bodily,  which  I 
did  in  this  way.  I  opened  trenches  around  each  tree  as  before. 
I  found  the  roots  in  quite  a  different  state  to  that  of  twelve 
months  previously.  The  new  soil  was  a  mass  of  fibrous  roots, 
and  formed  into  a  solid  ball,  not  unlike  the  root  ball  of  a  Rhodo¬ 
dendron.  I  placed  four  builders’  scaffold  planks  under  these 
balls  and  a  man  on  the  end  of  each  plank.  Steadily,  but  surely 
and  safely,  the  tree  was  hoisted  up  out  of  its  old  position ;  new 
soil  was  rammed  underneath  the  ball,  consequently  the  roots  of 
the  tree  were  brought  about  18in  nearer  to  the  surface.  An 
authority  saw  these  trees  some  two  years  later,  and  pronounced 
them  to  be  models  of  good  cultivation.  Not  one  atom  of  canker 
could  be  seen  in  any  of  the  trees  so  treated. 
There  were,  however,  three  or  four  trees  which  I  did  not 
consider  worth  the  time  and  attention,  and  these  were  left.  One 
still  remains,  a  mass  of  canker.  This  is  a  “  Transparent  ”  Apple, 
and  it  certainly  bears  a  crop  of  fairly  good  fruit  every  year;  but 
when  compared  with  its  neighbours  standing  near  to  it,  it  com¬ 
pares  very  poorly  indeed. 
I  do  not  say  that  feeding  cankered  Apple  trees  freely  with 
liquid  manure  would  not  have  good  results,  but  lifting  them, 
and  afterwards  feeding,  would  be  infinitely  better.  First  get 
the  trees  into  a  fruitful  and  healthy  condition,  and  then  feed 
freely,  and  for  this  there  is  nothing  on  earth  better  than  farm¬ 
yard  inanurial  liquid. 
There  is  sometimes  confusion  with  canker  and  a  similar 
disease  caused  by  woolly  aphis,  or  American  blight.  This  is  very 
prevalent  this  season,  and  is  causing  a  good  deal  of  anxiety 
amongst  gardeners.  For  the  first  time  in  my  experience  as  a 
gardener  I  have  seen  a  suspicion  of  it  in  the  fruit  trees  there. 
Where  it  came  from  I  do  not  know,  unless  it  blew  across  the 
fields  from  adjoining  property  some  200  or  300  yards  away. 
I  am  convinced  that  there  is  nothing  to  compare  with  root- 
pruning  and  lifting  for  canker,  and  a  solid  foundation  for  the 
trees  to  rest  on.  The  bottom  of  the  holes  should  be  rammed 
as  firmly  as  possible.  I  am  aware  that  fruit  trees  are,  and  must 
be.  planted  on  thin  soil,  and  then  on  such  soil  canker  will  quickly 
put  in  appearance.  But  we  have  a  partial  remedy  by  using  the 
dwarfing  stocks — the  Paradise  and  the  Quince.  Both  are  sur¬ 
face  rooting,  and  if  these  are  liberally  treated  by  way  of  surface 
dressings  of  good  soil  and  liquid  manure,  worse  use  may  be 
made  of  the  soil,  and  little  canker  will  be  seen. 
With  regard  to  the  application  of  liquid  manure,  it  should 
always  be  given  at  some  distance  from  the  stem  of  the  trees, 
that  is,  as  far  as  the  spread  of  branches. — J.  E.  A. 
