132 THE ORCHIDS OF NEW ENGLAND. 



sand and leaves and treated it in various ways ; " but though it 

 started out well it always died the second or third year." A 

 correspondent of the Bulletin of the Torrey Club complains 

 that he used both sphagnum and nearly pure sand, with the 

 same results. It is possible that a persistent use of the 

 Dumesnil fertilizing- moss might effect a change in the con- 

 stitution of this plant. One English florist planted C.calccoltis, 

 " in narrow fissures in limestone rock, well drained and filled 

 with rich fibrous soil, increasing the plants by dividing them at 

 the roots." He thought an " eastern, shaded aspect " best suited 

 to them, while another says, " Lady's Slippers should be planted 

 in loamy soil where they get the morning sun only, and the 

 roots should be removed but seldom, as transplanting prevents 

 their flowering." Our C. pubcscens prefers shade, no doubt, but 

 I have known it to do well in an open garden, exposed to the 

 full force of the sun. Habenarias ftmbriata and blepJiariglottis 

 " thrive best in wet, peaty soil, partly* shaded. H. virescens 

 and Liparis liliifolia in rather dry, peaty soil." English florists 

 have considered a sandy, red loam best suited to OrcJiis spec- 

 tabilis, its size and beauty being greatly increased by cultiva- 

 tion, and for the Goodyeras, a mixture of silver sand and leaf 

 mould. 



Some members of the Mass. Hort. Society, * at the annual 

 meeting in 1881, discussed the subject of the cultivation of 

 native Orchids. Mrs. T. L. Nelson, of Worcester, had found 

 Cyps. parviflorum, pnbescens and spectabile adapted to gardens. 

 " The latter forms its buds late in autumn under the old stalk, 

 and this shows that one could be grown as well as another." 

 Mrs. C. N. S. Horner, of Georgetown, had succeeded in winter 

 with C.pubesccns and the Goodyeras. Mr. E. H. Hitching had 

 transplanted successfully, Orchis spectabilis and C. spectabile, 

 and remarked that Liparis liliifolia, " one of our most deli- 



* Annual Report, i83i. 



