ViQ OENERAL REVIEW OK 7'Hi; OltCHIDE^;. 



return many specicH of the Orchidki: firi«l Cactei; of Mexico were 

 Bent to the collections of tlif; Ouko <A' l'(;(lfonl at Woljurn Abbey 

 and Mr. IfarriH, of" Kingsbury, }>y War MajcBty'K (.'rjiiKul-fjencnal, 

 Mr. John J'arkinson. 



Jiefore the fifth deca<le of th*' century was far advanced two lady 

 aniateurH had acquin^d a lii^Hi rcpntaLion in flie horticiiltural world 

 an account of their extetiBive collections of exotic plants, especially 

 of orchids which were regardcid at the time as among the best 

 cultivated in the country. These were Mrs, Wray, of Oakfield, 

 Cheltenham, to whom Sir William Hooker dedicated the 07tli volume 

 of the nofanicul Mu'jazlw- (18il;, and Mrs. Lawnmce, of lOaling I'ark, 

 to wliojfi he dedicated the volume of the following year. In one 

 (A the earliest numbers of the nardaners' Chronicle* a description 

 with figures is given of the orchid house at Ealing Park, of which 

 Dr. I.indhjy observed that it was precisely that which theory would 

 have suggested for such a purpose. Like that of Mr. Itucker's at 

 Wandsworth, it seems to have been an improvement on the houses 

 generally used for o;cliI<i culture at that (;[joch, and in it were 

 grown the many fine sp(,'cinjens that afterwards obtained the highest 

 awards at the shows of the Horticultural fc'ociety at Chiswick, and 

 of the lioyal liotanic Society at Regent's Park. The influence of 

 Mrs. \/.xv/v<:ncji in promf>ting horticultun; was, howev( r, far more 

 reaching in its effects after her death than durirjg her lifetime, 

 for her love of plants was inherited in a still higher degr('<; by her 

 son. Sir Trevor Ijawrence, IJart,, the njspected President of the 

 lloyal Horticultural Society. 



Iti friendly competition with these and other ainatciurs of that 

 time at the shows of the Il(H"ticultural Society at (Jhiswick and 

 the Royal I'ofanic Society atj Regent's I'ark was Mi'. Charles I>. 

 Warner, of Hoddesdon, wlif> f^xliihited many fine specimens of cultural 

 skill in orchids from his coil';f;1ion, which was under th(i charge of 

 the late R. S. Williams, In the enumeration u\' tin; species 

 cultivat'd at lloddesdont wa mihs the grand (^atthjyas of the lahiata 

 group, the liiKJst of the Odfjntoglots from the Ccjrdilleras of Colombia 

 and Peru, and the brilliant Masd(;vallias from th(; same region; but 



* No. ''., vol. I. J.. W (18'J]), .-ai'l r.'i^roiluccd in vol. IX. scr. :J (18!*]', ]>. 8. 

 t Oai<l. <.'liioii. 18.01, piiitmri.. 



