114 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS FOR APRIL: 
By H. A. BURBERRY, Orchid Specialist, King’s Heath, Birmingham. 
A RISE of a few degrees all round should again be given this month. For 
the East Indian and Intermediate houses the temperature may now, 
roughly speaking, average from 5° to 10° higher than those advised for 
January, and even more on warm, sunny days. Not so, however, for the 
Odontoglossum house, for a temperature ranging between 50° and 60° 
should still be the aim, allowing, of course, a few degrees higher by 
sun heat. : 
For the atmospheric conditions, watering, and general management of 
the houses and plants, the advice given for last month will still be the best 
and safest to follow, for, as a rule, the outside general conditions vary but 
little. The sun, however, will gradually gain in power, consequently the 
shading of all the departments will now be required more or less, and for 
longer or shorter periods, throughout the day. 
Attend also to re-potting, as advised in the previous Calendar, and allow 
no plant to pass the proper stage before doing it. A good many species will 
now be starting into renewed growth, so that the re-potting season may 
now be said to have fairly commenced, and almost each day something may 
be selected and attended to. This is work which requires to be done with 
some intelligence and thought, and the questions whether a plant really 
requires re-potting, and if so, is this the right time to do it, should be 
asked in every case. Many a house of Orchids has been ruined through 
nothing else but reckless and unscientific re-potting, and such a course is 
simply courting disaster. Once in two or three years should be quite often | 
enough in most cases, because, if carefully watered, the compost and roots 
will remain perfectly healthy and sound for that length of time. 
A few things, however, are best re-potted annually; for instance, 
Thunias and the deciduous Calanthes, and these should be done this month. 
Pot them up in good, rich, loamy soil, and give but little water for some 
weeks afterwards. 
ODONTOGLOSSUM CRISPUM.—This is probably the most popular Orchid in 
cultivation, and I propose, therefore, to treat it rather fully this month. 
The cultivation of this lovely species is extremely easy when properly taken 
in hand, but otherwise it is apt to give a good deal of trouble. I advise 4 
who would grow it to perfection to avoid too much coddling, which soo? 
produces rootless, drawn-up specimens that are unable to bear a strong 
spike of bloom. 
Some Orchids will grow fairly well under unsuitable treatment, but 
that is not so with the present species, and this fact renders it a very risky 
one for a new beginner to take in hand largely, before he has mastered the 
