214 THE ORCHID REVIEW. [Juny, 1g22. 
standard works on the subject, have visited many of the famous collections, 
both trade and private, and have studied all their various methods of 
cultivation. In many cases we have asked questions we ought not to have 
done, but I must say, in fairness to the trade growers, they are most willing 
to impart so-called trade secrets. Surely it is to their benefit to assist 
amateurs in every possible way towards making their hobby a success. 
And the most important fact of all—our conservatory opens from the 
dining room, and I am in and out sometimes twenty or thirty times during 
theday. Itis this constant attention, coupled with a very sound theoretical 
and practical knowledge, which brings success. Therefore, I say to my 
fellow amateurs: If you are going to try Orchids, do so with a few strong 
and robust plants bought from a dealer of repute. Lay your facts before 
him, and he will guide you fairly as to the sorts that are suitable for your 
particular conditions. It must not be forgotten that we have had many, 
many failures. I often wonder if it is worth while buying these derelicts, 
and to spend years of endless care nursing them back. However, there it 
is and we have gone through without regrets, but would like the position as 
regards these notes to be perfectly clear. 
All our plants are rooting and growing splendidly, especially the Vanda 
family in the cradle in the roof. Those on the blocks are breaking from 
all the old aerial roots, and also the stems. Wehave also Aérides crispum 
and A. affine, on blocks rooting splendidly in the Monkey House, along 
with a plant of Rhynchostylis retusa, also on a block of wood. This latter 
plant was very sad, but is now coming away splendidly. Some of these 
imported species take quite a lot of time and attention. My husband and 
I spent a very delightful afternoon last month going through the collection 
of Messrs. Mansell & Hatcher at Rawdon. We were very impressed with 
the cleanliness and robust vigour of all the plants, and we laughingly 
admitted that though we looked for insects and scale, they were both absent. 
What interested us very much were the thousands of seedlings in all stages, 
from the seed germinating on the moss to those with the first bloom just 
open. And oh, what patience! Imagine two thousand seedlings in pots 
about the diameter of a shilling which for the next two years require 
SU ERHG so many times a day: 365 days in the year, for the one you 
missed may be fatal, and these if they are grown well will bloom in five 
years! And then what? It must take a lot of these fifty guinea plants to 
pay the coal bill and expenses, to say nothing of the people who have their 
capital sunk in these trade collections, because, as can easily be imagined, it 
1s nO use crossing parents which are not of great merit, and these alone cost 
considerable money. My husband says commerce is bad enough at present, 
but it will have to be a lot worse before he starts growing Orchids 
commercially. 
