76 THE ORCHID REVIEW. [May-JUNE, 1919, 
ees | OBITUARY. Aa 
OBERT JOHNSON.—An old and highly successful Orchidist has 
recently passed away in the person of Mr. Robert Johnson, for many 
years gardener to the late Mr. Thomas Statter, Stand Hall, Whitefield, 
near Manchester, afterwards with his son, and finally with Mr. Teed 
Holden, of Southport. Since the death of the latter, in 1914, Mr. Johnson 
has lived in retirement at Southport, and the end came rather suddenly 
after an attack of paralysis, deceased being in his seventy-eighth year. 
The Statters, father and son, were both keen Orchidists, and for many 
years groups from the Stand Hall collection took a leading place in the 
exhibitions of the Manchester Royal Botanical and Horticultural Society, 
and gained many honours, and afterwards at meetings of the Manchester 
‘Orchid Society. We had the pleasure of seeing the collection in 1894, and 
in an account then given (O.R., ii. pp. 291-293) we remarked on. the 
‘success with which Cattleyas were grown. The conditions were somewhat 
unusual. The house was a’ rather lofty structure, and very little top 
ventilation was given, but the bottom ventilators were nearly always open. 
‘The plants were grown over stone benches in which a number of circular 
holes were cut, and underneath were situated the water tanks and _ hot 
water pipes, so that the air became constantly warm and moist. before 
reaching the plants. The result in some cases was an unusual. production 
of roots, of which examples have been illustrated in our pages, C. Lord 
Rothschild in 1896 (p. 337), and C. Hardyana as the frontispiece to the 
succeeding volume. Mr. Johnson preferred basket treatment, and 
attributed much of his success to judicious watering and the provision of 
an adequate amount of atmospheric moisture. A feature on the occasion 
mentioned was a batch of ten plants of Cattleya Rex in sheath, which 
afterwards produced sixteen spikes and an aggregate of forty-five flowers. 
The species has now become very rare in cultivation. 
It may be interesting to reproduce (see opposite page) an example of this 
remarkable root development, as shown by a plant of the original Cattleya 
Hardyana, for which Mr. Statter received both a First-class Certificate and 
a Cultural Certificate at Manchester in October, 1896. In sending the 
photograph, Mr. Statter remarked: “ The roots are legion and hang quite a 
yard from the basket. There are people who contend that Cattleyas of the 
aurea section cannot be kept vigorous for Jong, but this is a most interesting 
example to the contrary. The root action is beyond belief, and I attribute 
it very much to the shape of the basket it is grown in.” It is also a good 
example of Mr. Johnson’s skill in cultivating this beautiful group of plants, 
although modern culture favours a more convenient method of providing, 
