Cymhidium affine is an evergreen species, which in its growth resembles 

 •C. Master sii and C ehurneum, but the leaves are somewhat broader. It has dark 

 green graceful foliage, and tall, erect scapes, from which the drooping flower racemes 



depend. The sepals and petals are of an ivory white, and the lip is white, spotted 

 with dull magenta-purple. The plant blooms during the autumn months, and 

 continues in flower for several wrecks if the blossoms are kept dry. It will be found 

 to be a mosfc useful plant for decorative purposes, as its blossoms are so beautifully 

 •developed along with its graceful green foliage. 



This class of plants is well cultivated by Mr. Simcoc, the gardener at 'Lake 

 House, who grows them as we do, in pots, wdtli good drainage. We have found 

 them to do best in good fibrous loam, as they have thick fleshy roots to support, 

 and experience has convinced us that they require something stronger than peat to 

 feed upon, and consequently we have substituted loam for peat, but it must have 

 some charcoal mixed with it so that the soil may be kept open, which is quite 

 essential for the plants ; they require a good supply of w^ater in the growing 

 season, and when the soil is kept porous and open the water passes off readily, and 

 does not stagnate, which is deleterious to all plants. When the growth is completed, 

 less water will suffice, but just enough should be supplied to keep the soil damp, 

 for their thick fleshy roots always require to be in a fresh plump condition, and in 

 a state of growth. , 



We fi^nd these Ci/mhidiams thrive well in the Cattleya house, kept as fully 

 ■exposed to the light as possible, but shaded from the sun, for if in the warm 

 summer months the sun is allowed to shine upon them their foliage is apt to 

 sustain injury. When the sun is on the decline it will do them no harm, and 

 the early morning sun will be beneficial to them ; the foliage must, however, never 

 be allowed to be wet when the sun comes upon the plants, or it will most 

 probably become spotted. 



The Cattleyas at Downside (continued from plate 134). — The Cattleya house 

 at Downside, when we saw it a few weeks ago, presented a most magnificent 

 picture, there being at the time several hundred expanded flowers of C. TriancB, 

 distributed over the whole length of a house one hundred feet long, and showing 

 a variety of colouring, which thus displayed amongst the green foliage was truly 

 marvellous. This collection comprises some of the best kinds in cultivation. It 

 would take too much space to describe them here, but we hope to illustrate some 

 of the most striking among them in our subsequent volumes. 



