336 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
April  21,  1904. 
enthusiast,  keeping  full  and  accurate  records  of  his  own  crosses 
and  certified  varieties,  as  well  as  those  of  every  other  Odonto- 
glossuni  grower,  a  work  which  keeps  him  busy.  He  has  a  large 
collection  of  blooms,  which  were  dried  in  sand,  thus  preserving 
the  form  and  the  features  of  the  markings  in  each  bloom,  while 
his  photographs  of  “  Odontos,”  are  endless. — J.  H.  D. 
A  Handsome  Sophronitis  gi’andiflopa. 
The  finest  form  of  this  exceedingly  beautiful  dwarf  orchid 
seen  by  us  is  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Crawshay  at  Rosefield. 
The  flowers  are  much  larger  than  those  of  the  type,  are  of 
better  shape,  have  more  snhstance.  and  are  far  richer  in  colour. 
Odontog'lossum  erispum  xanthotes  Cooksonise. 
No  finer  orchid  was  seen  in  the  Drill  Hall  at  Buckingham 
Gate  on  Tuesday  than  this,  which  came  from  Mr.  N.  C.  Cook- 
son,  of  Oakwood,  AYylam-on-Tyne.  The  flowers  are  of  the  purest 
Avhite,  stout,  rounded,  and  close,  with  bright  yellow  lip  edged 
white. 
Odontog’lossum  cipphosum,  Pitt’s  vaplety. 
Such  an  excellent  variety  and  greatly  improved  form  as  this 
deserves  the  high  award  it  received  at  the  meeting  of  the  Royal 
Horticultural  Society  on  April  o,  viz.,  a  first-class  certificate. 
It  had  previously  been  accorded  an  award  of  merit,  and  having 
proved  to  be  constant  at  the  second  flowering,  this  higher  award 
was  given.  The  owner  is  Mr.  H.  T.  Pitt,  of  Stamford  Hill,  N., 
whose  Odontoglossum  collection  includes  some  of  the  choicest 
varieties  in  the  country. 
Anguloas. 
“  If  Anguloas  require  repotting,  let  them  be  done  before  the 
jiew  growths  and  flower  buds,  which  appear  together,  get  too  far 
advanced,”  says  the  “Orchid  Review.”  “A  compost  of  two 
parts  each  of  fibrous  loam  and  peat  to  one  of  moss,  with  an 
addition  of  some  broken  crocks  and  coarse  sand,  well  mixed 
together,  will  be  found  suitable.  They  are  cooi-house  orchids, 
but  when  newly  potted  it  is  best  to  encourage  new  growth  by 
placing  them  in  the  intermediate  house,  where  they  should 
remain  until  flowering,  afterwards  removing  to  the  cool  house 
again.” 
Cultupal  Notes. 
Shading  is  daily  becoming  more  a  necessity  in  the  orchid 
houses,  but  in  some  instances  it  is  overdone.  As  soon  as  the  sun 
reaches  the  house  in  the  morning  the  blinds  are  run  down,  and 
there  left  until  closing  time  in  the  afternoon.  This  is  quite 
wrong^,  the  light  being  as  necessary  to  orchids  as  heat  and 
moisture,  and  growths  that  start  under  such  unnatural  con¬ 
ditions  cannot  fail  to  be  weak  and  unsatisfactory.  In  many 
instances,  of  course,  the  amateur  orchid  grower  has  to  leave  his 
plants  for  the  greater  part  of  each  day  to  the  more  or  less  tendej 
mercies  of  someone  else,  and  his  case  is  a  hard  one ;  out  whei  e 
one  is  about  the  place  all  day  there  is  no  excuse  for  inattention 
to  shading. 
Where  the  house  is  ventilated  early  in  the  morning,  and  the 
aspect  is  an  ordinary  one — say  a  span-roof,  running  north  and 
south,  or  thereabout — there  should  be  no  need  of  shading  during 
the  present  month. until  between  10  a.m.  and  11  a.m.  Freq.i?nt 
damping  of  stages  and  floors,  and  a  gradual  increase  of  air  cir¬ 
culation,  so  cool  the  atmo.sphere  that  the  foliage  does  not  get 
hot  or  likely  to  scald.  After  being  a  few'  minutes  in  the  house 
the  hands  are  sufficiently  sensitive  to  he  able  to  guage  by  touch 
the  condition  of  the  leaves,  and  when  they  are  appreciably  warm 
To  the  touch,  then  low'er  the  blinds.  Leaves  fully  exposed  must, 
of  course,  be  selected  for  the  experiment. 
In  the  coolest  house,  wdiere  Disas,  Odontoglossums,  Masde- 
vallias,  and  kindred  sorts  are  grow'n,  the  reason  for  shading 
more  heavily  is  not  so  much  on  account  of  the  foliage  as  a  means 
of  keeping  the  temperature  down.  Still,  even  here  a  little  air 
left  on  all  night  and  copious  damping  of  the  dry  surfaces  about 
the  house  should  enable  the  cultivator  to  keep  up  the  blinds 
until  10  a.m.  at  least  when  bright,  and  longer  when 
comparatively  dull. 
Small  block  and  basket  plants  suspended  near  the  glass  W’ill 
dry  far  more  rapidly  now  than  they  have  done  since  last  autumn, 
and  must  be  daily  examined.  They  w  ill  not,  of  course,  all  need 
w'ater  every  day,  but  there  will  daily  be  some  needing  it. 
Although  the  advice  has  frequently  been  given,  I  am  again 
tempted  to  remind  beginners  of  the  danger  of  watering  these 
plants  in  driblets.  Take  them  down  w'hen  they  are  dry  and 
thoroughly  soak  them  ;  then  allow'  them  to  remain  until  quite 
dry  again.  A  day’s  drying  never  yet  hurt  a  healthy  orchid  ; 
indeed,  it  often  does  good  ;  but  plants  that  are  never  really  w'et 
H  R^I^^^  through  cannot  possibly  be  satisfactoi-y  for  long. — 
- - 
Aralia  filicifolia. 
Among  the  stove  species  of  Aralias  the  one  we  figure  takes 
a  leading  place  by  reason  of  its  graceful  character  and  vigour. 
The  plants  have  purple  stems  spotted  with  white,  the  leaves 
being  green,  with  purple  midribs.  This  species  was  introduced 
from  one  of  the  South  Sea  Islands  in  187G. 
The  Resting  ol  Plants  nnder  Cultivation. 
In  the  gardens  of  to-day  we  find  plants  that  have  been  col¬ 
lected  from  nearly  every  part  of  the  earth,  and  it  is  extremely 
difficult  for  the  cultivator  to  keep  them  all  in  good  condition, 
owing  to  the  widely  different  climatic  conditions  under  which 
these  plants  live  in  their  native  homes. 
Now,  in  my  opinion,  it  is  not  during  the  growing  season  that 
we  are  so  liable  to  lose  our  plants  through  improper  treatment, 
but  during  the  resting  season,  or  when  the  plants  should  be  at 
rest.  It  is  then  that  we  are  the  more  likely  to  weaken  or  kill 
altogether  the  more  difficult  occupants  of  our  plant  houses  and 
gardens,  through  not  understanding  or  not  being  able  to  treat 
them  according  to  their  several  requirements.  These  necessary 
changes  in  our  treatment  of  them  may  be  a  higher  temperature 
or  perhaps  lower,  or  it  may  be  a  greater  or  lesser  quantity  of 
water,  or  it  may  be  a  consideration  of  ventilation  or  some  com¬ 
bination  of  these  agents.  Another  i^oint  is  that  when  a  good 
many  plants  are  at  rest  they  are  sometimes  forgotten  for  the 
time,  especially  if  they  lose  their  foliage  and  can  be  stored 
aw  ay  where  one’s  attention  is  not  often  directed. 
Nearly  all  iff  ants  have  a  resting  season  during  each  year,  in 
some  cases  of  only  short  duration,  in  others  the  rest  occupies 
a  quarter  or  nearly  half  the  year,  and  the  various  ways  in  wdiich 
many  classes  of  plants  obtain  •  their  rest  should  claim 
the  attention  of  the  cultivator  with  as  much  importance  as  the 
growing  season.  Concerning  the  more  difficult  subjects,  it  is 
to  the  benefit  of  the  cultivator  to  try  and  find  out  the  con¬ 
ditions  under  which  they  live  in  their  native  homes,  and  at  the 
same  time  make  a  study  of  the  characters  of  the  plants  them¬ 
selves.  The.se  characters  are  partly  inherited  and  partly  adap¬ 
tive,  and  the  important  part  is  that  they  suit  the  plant  more 
closely  to  the  circumstances  under  which  its  life  is  carried  on 
in  nature,  and  to  the  practised  eye  the  characters  of  a  plant 
reveal  to  a  certain  extent  the  treatment  most  likely  to  lead  to 
success.  I  do  not  a.ssert  that  the  cultivator  can  always  treat 
them  as  Nature  does,  but  his  knowledge  of  the  natural  con¬ 
ditions,  coupled  with  the  study  of  the  characters,  should  act  as 
a  guide  in  their  treatment  under  the  more  or  less  artificial  con¬ 
ditions  of  our  gardens,  plant  hoirses,  and  climate. 
If  we  remove  a  plant  to  a  region  of  different  climate  it 
does  not  at  once  destroy  its  natural  season  of  rest  and  growth, 
which  are  hereditary,  and  which  we  can  all  see  in  our  plant 
houses,  where  plants  from  the  southern  hemisphere  continue  to 
flower  during  our  winter  months,  corresponding  to  the  southern 
summer.  But  some  plants  are  not  unalterable  in  this  respect, 
as  a  great  many  foreign  plants  have  been  introduced,  which 
have  become  acclimatised,  and  grow  exceedingly  w'ell,  especially 
if  the  change  from  their  native  climate  is  not  too  marked.  We 
also  find  that  a  great  many  foreign  plants  will  grow  out  of  doors 
in  our  gardens  if  w'e  place  them  where  we  can  control  the  con¬ 
ditions  of  their  resting  .season  by  protection  from  excessive 
moisture  or  cold,  or  in  some  cases  both. 
Attention  may  now  be  drawn  to  the  widely  different  climates 
in  different  parts  of  the  earth.  In  temperate  regions  we  have 
a  fair  amount  of  rain  the  whole  year  round,  w'hich  no  one  will 
dispute  concerning  last  year,  therefore  our  native  plants  do  not 
rest  as  a  rule  by  being  kept  dry,  but  their  rest  is  determined  by 
the  lowering  of  temperature,  vegetative  activity  ceasing  in 
autumn,  to  be  resumed  in  spring.  In  subtropical  climates, 
such  as  that  of  the  Mediterranean  region,  the  interruption  of 
vegetative  activity  is  when  the  heat  is  great  and  the  drought 
extreme,  which  means  that  a  long  dry  period  is  the  resting 
season  of  the  plants.  In  tropical  climates  proper,  even  where 
in  certain  parts  the  weather  is  comparatively  uniform,  most 
plants  .show  a  tendency  to  form  new  leaves  and  to  flower  at 
certain  ijeriods. 
I  have  stated  above  that  the  characters  of  plants  have  been 
determined  to  a  certain  extent  by  the  natural  climate,  and  so 
each  plant  has  a  means  of  preparing  itself  for  its  resting  season, 
whatever  that  may  be,  and  I  will  now  endeavour  to  point  out, 
under  certain  groups  of  genei'al  characters,  some  of  the  chief 
things  to  consider  when  resting  them  under  cultivation. 
Annuals. 
These  in  one  respect  may  be  said  to  rest  in  the  same  w’ay 
in  all  cases,  by  the  production  of  seeds,  which,  if  properly 
matured,  will  carry  the  species  through  the  period  unfavourable 
to  growth.  These  .seeds  are  produced  with  special  adaptations 
in  relation  to  the  nature  of  the  climate  and  situation  through 
which  they  have  to  pa.ss  during  the  resting  .season.  The  resting 
season,  then,  in  the  life  history  of  an  annual,  is  the  time 
between  the  ripening  of  the  seeds  and  their  germination.  In 
xerophytic  (dry  land)  regions,  annuals  are  very  plentiful  ;  but 
