20 
ceive the buds springing at the bottom of the pseudo-bulbs, I 
take the plants and carefully shake off all the old soil, and 
cut off all the decayed roots; I then pot them in large pots 
well drained, in a compost of turfy loam chopped into pieces 
about the size of pigeon eggs, and peaty turf broken in the 
same manner, and leaf-mould about half rotten, in equal parts; 
to which I add about an eighth of bones, also broken into 
small pieces; I mix these all well together, and place the 
plants as near as possible level with the rims of the pots, and 
finish by giving a good watering to settle the compost. The 
plants are put in the warmest part of the house, and watered 
very moderately at first, increasing the quantity as the plants 
advance in growth until the leaves are fully developed, when 
I give them manure water once a week to encourage the pro- 
duction of strong pseudo-bulbs, without which it is in vain 
to look for flowers. In this I succeeded to my satisfaction ; 
and last, year had the pleasure to perceive the flower-stems 
appearing at the same time as the bulb shoots. I had flower- 
stems five feet high, with numerous side branches, making a 
bundle of flower-stems on one shoot more than eighteen 
inches diameter. They are coming up this year equally 
strong. As soon as the pseudo-bulbs are perfected I gradu- 
ally reduce the water, and when they are at rest I give them 
no more. ‘To induce more perfect quiescence I have them 
removed to a cool dry house, the average temperature of which 
is about 55°. The essentials of this method are, to use a 
rather rich but open compost, to give plenty of water during 
growth, and a season of complete rest. Those who attend to 
all this need not fear flowering Cyrtopodiums. We have now 
in flower here Dendrobium nobile, a fine specimen with spikes 
of ten and twelve blossoms each, D. ceerulescens, Cyrtochilum 
maculatum, C. Bictoniense, Epidendrum aurantiacum, and a 
fine var. Epidendrum ciliare, var. latifolium, E. capitatum, E. 
nutans, KE. nocturnum, Leptotes bicolor, minor and major, 
Cymbidium sinense, Brassavola nodosa, B. aneustata, B. tu- 
berculata, Oncidium Cebolleta, and a var. O. ampliatum, 
Brassia caudata, Gongoras several species, Lissochilus par- 
viflorus, Bletias, Cypripediums, &c. &c. altogether making 
our Orchidaceous houses very gay, forming a strange yet 
pleasant contrast to the savage winter now howling around 
5. 
