plant that has come under our notice, and as it cropped up out of an importation with 
others of the type, many of our readers will be anxiously looking for other 
startling novelties from amongst their imported plants ; indeed, it is this chance of 
new things that induces many to purchase newly imported or unflowered plants. 
Cattleya maxima Marchettiana is a compact-growing plant with light-coloured, 
club-shaped bulbs, which are some twelve inches high, and quite distinct from any 
known species of Cattleya; the bulbs produce a single leaf which is about five 
inches in length, and nearly two inches in breadth; the peduncle rises from a sheath 
at the top of the pseudobulbs, and bears three or more flowers, which, as the plant 
_ gains strength, will increase in floriferousness. The blooms of this variety are similar 
in size and shape to the species, being some five inches across, blotched with 
crimson-lake and deep purple, forming a noble flower. It blooms during the 
autumn and winter months, and continues in full beauty for a long time if the 
flowers are kept free from damp; spotting from damp is a calamity which frequently 
befalls the blooms of Cattleyas, especially if kept in too low a temperature. 
This variety of Cattleya maxima requires the same treatment as the original 
species, and it should be exposed to as much light as possible; care, however, is 
necessary in shading, and this is a maxim that should be borne in mind upon 
all occasions. The object of shading is to exclude the too strong rays of the sun, 
and to prevent the exposure of the plants to it, but this is frequently done when 
the sun does not shine, or the shading material is frequently left over the plants 
after the danger is past. This practice should not be followed if weak growths are 
to be avoided, for these are produced by too much shading: strong and well-ripened 
bulbs are the way to secure healthy plants as well as flowers of good substance and 
colour. To have these, particular care must be given to the shading; it should not be 
allowed to shelter the plants from the benefit of the full light immediately upon 
the fierce rays passing over, and a good supply of air is needed. In this way 
alone can Cattleyas be induced to produce flowering shoots. The pots for the 
reception of the plants must be well drained, and for potting material use good 
fibrous peat, from which all the fine part or soil has been shaken away. ‘This 
should be mixed with good living sphagnum moss, and during the time of potting 
should have the addition of some fair-sized nodules of charcoal to keep the 
material free and open. If no charcoal is available for this purpose, some pieces 
of drainage material should be used, the whole being built up above the rim of the 
pot into a cone-like mound, and made firm and hard, for firm potting is essential 
to all Orchids, eastern or western. 
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