AuGustT, 1917.] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 191 
easy to cultivate the fungus, so that a seed-pan could be inoculated as 
occasion required, as for bacteriologists to make their cultures from the 
nodules of leguminous plants. In the meantime the most practical 
suggestion is to sow the seeds on the compost of healthy vigorous plants of 
the parents, and to keep the surface constantly moist and maintain healthy 
surroundings generally. It is still the only practical method in the case of 
Cypripedium and Odontoglossum, but the Cattleya group is now generally 
sown on separate seed pans, consisting of canvas stretched over a ball of 
sphagnum moss, surrounded by a little fine compost to fill up the space 
between the canvas and the rim of the pan. The pan is then covered with 
a piece of glass, or put in a close frame in the house, for better control of 
the atmospheric conditions. Here they germinate freely in most cases, if 
the seed is good, and failure is mostly the result of unsuitable conditions. 
We suggest that it is to the latter cause, rather than to the absence of 
the necessary fungi, that our correspondent’s failure may be due. The 
absence of fungi may be a cause of failure—we do not know if anyone has 
tried to germinate Cattleyas in a suitable atmosphere where no Orchids 
whatever are grown—but their presence would not compensate for 
conditions that are faulty in other respects. 
If our correspondent is able to grow Cattleyas reasonably well we see 
no reason why his seeds should fail to germinate, if proper care is taken, 
but it should increase the chances of success if a few small healthy seedlings 
could be obtained from some other collection, on the compost of which 
the seeds could be sown. Germinating seedlings are, of course, far more 
delicate than established plants, hence the importance of maintaining 
equable climatic conditions. Other beginners have experienced similar 
difficulties, and we hope that further experiments may be crowned with 
success, 
ages ORCHIDS IN SEASON. ery 
BEAUTIFUL form of Cattleya Iris (bicolor X Dowiana aurea) is 
sent from the collection of T. Wilcox, Esq., Walsall. It has clear, 
deep yellow sepals and petals of good shape, and the lip, which closely 
resembles that of C. bicolor in shape, is clear purple throughout. It is a 
seedling flowering for the first time, and should develop into a good thing 
when the plant becomes strong. 
A flower of a handsome Oncidium is sent from the collection of Philip 
Smith, Esq., Haddon House, Ashton-on-Mersey, by Mr. E. W. Thompson, 
who remarks that it appeared among imported plants, and is suspected to 
be of a hybrid origin. It is O. Mantinii,, a natural hybrid between O. 
