116 fHE ORCHID  REVIEtY. [APRIL 1922. 
Though our plants of Cypripedium insigne Harefield Hall and C. insigne 
Sanderz have grown strong and bloomed well this year without shade of 
any kind, we have decided, since repotting and breaking them up, to try 
them for a year at the end of a house that is shaded by a tree, along with 
the Cymbidiums. The reason for this is that we have a large pan of the 
ordinary Cypripedium insigne. I believe one of the first plants that my 
husband ever had—and which has always been shifted about into any odd 
position to make room for its more aristocratic brethren—last year it was 
pushed into an out-of-the-way corner near the door, in the shade, and it has 
grown magnificently ; we have decided that what is good for one member 
of the family is good for others, so they have joined their less-favoured 
relation. 
The “ Monkey House” is now filling up splendidly. The Indian Den- 
drobiums. are a grand lot. We have also some Aérides, Thunias, and a few 
Philippine Dendrobiums imported by us many years ago, but which failed 
to grow in the big house. When they were knocking at death’s door we 
turned the lot over toa gardener friend, who nursed them back to health, 
and he has now kindly returned some of them to us. They include the 
glorious D. superbum, one of the finest..Dendrobiums we have ever seen. 
They are very welcome additions, and will prolong the. blooming period for 
us. We are trying some of the imported Dendrobiums on old fern stems, 
bound. round wrth sphagnum moss. We have an idea that it may suit then 
better than pots, because the roots can be free, if they wish. All the 
repotting is finished, and the collection is in perfect condition to start the 
growing season. It is still necessary to sponge the leaves of the Lalias and 
Laliocattleyas every few weeks. I do not know where the soot comes from 
now. I can understand it in the summer time, when we were constantly 
syringing with rain-water, which here is full of soot. We also sponge the 
leaves of the Cypripediums and Cymbidiums. This constant sponging may 
account for the bloom and polish on all our foliage, which never fails to 
elicit the admiration of anyone who sees the plants, whether they know 
anything about Orchids or not. 
I say to my husband that we must have a love of the plants to give them 
es, constant care and attention‘all the time. I suppose the difficulty of the 
large collections to-day is to get this kind of labour. A gardener assured 
> short time ago that the old race of gardeners, who really loved their 
plants, is dying out. I hope not. We were looking over a bulb farm this 
week, where bloom is forced for the market, and I said to the foreman who 
showed us round: ‘You must love the flowers,” and he admitted that 
though there was plenty of work, it had become a hobby with him, and the 
result showed it. 
