164 THE: ORCHID REVIEW. [JuNE,. 1923. 
CYMBIDIUM CULTURE IN MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A. 
se JoHN T. W. UrrMAn, Orchid Grower to F. W. HUNNEWELL, Esq., Wellesley, 
é A. 
HE Febery issue of the Orchid Rain contains a very interesting 
article on Cymbidium culture in Australia by Mr. Arthur Yates. The 
following account may perhaps interest those who love to grow this beautiful 
and ever favour-gaining Orchid. 
The accompanying photograph of a group of Cymbidiums exhibited at 
the recent Flower Show at Boston, Mass., hardly gives justice to this 
pleasing exhibit. The individual plants could only be fully appreciated 
when seen. In the centre is a plant of C. Pauwelsii with two spikes, each 
seven feet tall, and carrying 50 blooms; on one side of it is another fine speci- 
men ina 10-inch pot, with five spikes and’a total of 102 flowers; C. Beatrice, 
in a 7-inch pot, has four spikes and 42 blooms, while in the centre of the 
background can be seen C. Doris with a spike 73 feet high and carrying 30 
fine flowers. 
This exhibit received a Gold Medal, and much favourable comment from 
professionals. Enquiries with regard to the cultivation were so numerous 
that it may be a matter of special interest to growers if a brief account is 
given, and the method may be regarded as a new departure in this line. 
When, nearly six years ago, the writer took over this range of glass, he 
found the Cymbidiums healthy, but in over-sized pots, and with no inclina- 
tion to flowering. After splitting the plants and potting them in the usual 
way, using loam and osmunda, into smaller pots, he thought the difficulty 
overcome. The result, however, was very disappointing, since the plants 
failed to produce flowers in any quantity.: 
As many Rhododendrons and Azaleas are grown here, and consequently 
are potted in ordinary peat, the thought came to try this material for 
Cymbidiums. The best plants, after shaking and washing out all the loam 
of the former shift, were potted in peat with a little osmunda to prevent the 
peat from souring. 
In April, 1921, we were able to show at the Boston Flower Show for the 
first time a group of Cymbidiums that were out of the ordinary. The 
exhibit received a Gold Medal, and the grower was given a Cultural 
Certificate for the superior culture of Cymbidiums. Since then all Cym- 
bidiums have received the same shift into peat, with the result that hardly 
any failed to do their best with regard to flowering. Bulbs, the size of a fist, 
are common, as well as two flowering spikes to a bulb. The foliage com- 
pares well with that of Cymbidiums generally seen, and is erect and of a 
very dark colour. 
During the growing period an occasional application of fertiliser is given, 
