ApriL, 1918,] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 75 
The year 1913 saw another of the great Quinquennial Shows at Ghent, 
this time on a new site, and again brought together a brilliant display of 
Orchids, which we fully reported at the time. The novelties of the year 
were not numerous, but included the brilliant Habenaria Roebelenii, a near 
ally of H. militaris, with Maxillaria Fletcheri, Cyenoches Cooperi and C. 
Forgetiana, three interesting introductions from Peru. Hybrids were again 
numerous, and included a curious combination between Cattleya citrina 
and Lelia purpurata, called Leliocattleya Freak. There were also six 
additions to Odontonia, including such striking plants as O. brugensis and 
O. Cholletii, the latter figured at page 177 of our twenty-first volume. 
Of 1914, what shall be said? It opened under conditions of great 
promise, and the anticipated event of the year was the opening of the 
Reichenbachian Herbarium. It, indeed, took place, and was duly recorded 
(O.R., xx. pp. 206-207), but shortly afterwards the tornado of war 
suddenly swept across the track, and the end of the catastrophe is not yet 
in sight. Up to that point the progress of Orchidology, though ebbing and 
flowing, had been steadily upwards, and we have little doubt of its resump- 
tion when the present horror has passed over. The causes we shall not 
discuss; they are pretty fully understood, but when the time comes, 
Orchidists must take their share in decreeing that never again shall the 
world be exposed to a similar outbreak of madness, and the consequent 
submergence of all that makes life worth living. We have an abiding 
faith in the future, and Orchidology, one of the most delightful of the 
peaceful arts, will come into its own again. 
ess NOTES FROM KEW.—IV. | es | 
A‘ interesting feature of the Kew collection is the periodic accession of 
Orchids from the various colonial Botanic Gardens and other institu- 
tions, in addition to those obtained by way of exchange and purchase. In 
this way a good many novelties have been obtained, as might be seen by a 
glance through the Decades of New Orchids published from time to time. 
Such a collection tends to become excessively diversified in its composition, 
and the enormous number of species grown adds naturally to the difficulty 
of sucessful culture, for it is almost impossible to place all of them under 
suitable cultural conditions. The difficulty is somewhat lessened by an in- 
creased number of houses, with a corresponding increase in the range of 
climate, but this does not get over the trouble that in a good many cases 
the natural conditions under which the plants grow are not known. In 
such cases one has to judge largely by appearances, which are sometimes 
deceptive. A knowledge of the genus affords a useful clue, but is not always 
