grateful odour to the whole atmosphere of the house. Other growers also area 
paying more regard to these beautiful plants, which we are glad to observe, as, 
though they flower so often, they do not require so much heat as some Kast 
Indian kinds. 
Vanda Roxburghii is a dwarf compact growing plant, with light green foliage. 
The flower-spikes proceed from the axils of the leaves, and are upright, bearmg 
from six to twelve flowers. The sepals and petals are of a greenish yellow, netted 
with purplish brown, the lip being of a bright mauve colour. This plant usually 
blossoms in May, and lasts six weeks in full beauty; but it sometimes varies as 
to the time of flowering. 
The treatment which we find to suit this plant is to grow it in a basket 
suspended from the roof, where it procures a good amount of light, being merely 
shaded in summer when the sun is hot. It does best at the coolest end of the 
East Indian house. We have also cultivated it in a pot with good drainage and 
sphagnum moss; it requires a moderate supply of water in summer, but in winter 
only just sufficient should be given to moisten the moss. 
Watermng Orcums.—There can be no doubt that Orchids, like other plants, are 
particular as to the > fluids given to them to nourish their roots. We often hear 
growers say, that the water obtainable in the particular locality where they may 
reside is hard, and that their plants do not thrive as they should do. We can 
fully sympathise with these men, as we know that hard water is bad for Orchids a 
as well as for other plants. Hardwooded plants especially will not thrive if the 
water they receive does not suit them; but it must be borne in mind that these 
plants have fine hair-like roots, and are much sooner killed than Orchids which 
have thick fleshy roots. When conversing the other day with an Orchid grower 
from the north of England, who said that his plants were not doing well, that he 
could not keep the sphagnum moss alive—which he attributed to the use of hard 
water—and that he consequently put up a cistern for rain-water, and employed that, 
we were not surprised to hear that the result had been to improve the health of 
the plants, and that the moss was now growing luxuriantly. ; | 
There is a great difference between different hard waters; some contain a quantity — > 
of iron, while others contain lime; these when used for syringing leave white marks 
upon the foliage. We believe water containing chalk and lime to be beneficial t 
some kinds of Orchids, especially Cypripediums; in fact, some growers use chalk oF — 
broken limestone mixed with 
nga charcoal and peat to grow them in, and they succeed 
very well in it. 
bu ten We have frequently seen distinct traces of lime on imported 
Cypripediums. An importation of Cypripedium Spicerianum, received some time ag? 
was literally covered with lime deposit, probably owing to the plants having been 
found growing in the fissures of limestone rocks, where the water trickled down 
= them. We should think that water containing iron would be the most 
injurious to Orchids. 
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