ODONTOGLOSSUM. 333 
harm will be done to the plants if the thermometer falls 
as low as 45deg., whilst in hot summer weather the 
maximum temperature ought not to exceed 7odeg. Above 
all things, a free current of air is indispensable to their 
well-being. Do not sprinkle them overhead much with the 
syringe, but in preference keep the air well charged with 
moisture by pouring water upon the stages and floors; 
and, as the temperature must be considerably lower at 
night than during the day, the condensation which this 
produces will be most beneficial to the plants. Although 
Odontoglossums grow naturally upon the trunks of trees, or 
in the vegetable débrzs which is lodged at the base of the 
branches, we have never seen them thrive for any length 
of time when grown upon blocks, probably because 
evaporation takes place too rapidly, and the roots get 
withered up. Some of the species send their roots through 
and about the various mosses which clothe the forest-trees 
in the humid mountain regions where they most abound, 
adhering so slightly to the branches that a_ well-known 
collector once told us that he found he could bring immense 
quantities of O. crispum down to the ground by merely 
throwing his lasso into the branches upon which the plants 
grew, and then pulling it towards him. 
The pots, which should be only just large enough to 
hold the plants and allow a little margin of the compost 
around them, should be two-thirds filled with drainage. 
Add a little sharp silver sand or charcoal and chopped 
sphagnum to the fibrous peat. The little cone upon which 
the plants should be elevated may be surfaced with some 
living sphagnum; this, as it grows, will not only produce 
a neat and pleasing appearance, but will be found most 
congenial to the soft roots by keeping a nice, cool, moist 
atmosphere around them. Newly-imported plants, when 
starting into their first growth, should be treated to a little 
