52 ORCHIDS. 
produce but few roots, and these are on or near the 
surface of the soil. As the stem increases in length, and 
develops new roots, more accommodation is needed; but 
it is safest to begin with thumb pots for weak or 
small plants, increasing the root-room as it becomes 
necessary. The compost used is a mixture of small lumps 
of fresh turfy peat, about the size of hazel nuts, some 
chopped sphagnum, a little good leaf-mould—not rotten, 
but just dead leaves—and a sprinkling of bits of broken 
red-clay brick, the size of peas. The pots or pans should 
be half-filled with clean crocks, and the compost should not 
be pressed tightly about the roots, but be simply shaken 
together. After re-potting, the soil should be well watered, 
and kept moist, but not saturated. It is not advisable to 
water the leaves of the plants overhead. When a plant 
shows signs of ill-health, it should at once be carefully 
washed at the root, examined for rot, all the bad parts 
cut away, and what remains be placed on the top of 
moist, clean sand, in a frame, till it commences to make 
fresh roots. Healthy plants, when long enough, may be 
divided into several, cutting away the top just below 
the last new root, and dividing the remainder of the stem 
as often as may be done with safety. Thrips and red 
spider sometimes attack these plants ; they must be 
washed off with a solution of tobacco and soft soap. 
Where few plants are grown, small bell-glasses should 
be used instead of the frame, placing one over each 
plant. Those glasses with a hole through the top are 
the most suitable for the purpose. 
A. concinnum.—A beautiful little plant, the leaves being 
5in. long by 3in. broad, gradually narrowed to a point at 
the apex, rounded at the base; the ground-colour is deep 
olive-green, through which run stripes and a network of a 
coppery-red colour. Native of Assam. 
