FEBRUARY, I915.] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 39 
the middle of this month, but only for a couple of hours or so, as the plants 
must not be chilled. It must be borne in mind that this top air is not 
warmed before reaching the plants, like that admitted by the bottom venti- 
lators. Orchids, contrasted with Carnations and many greenhouse plants, 
are clean, and only suffer from pests and diseases owing to careless culture. 
If the amateur starts with sound plants, and keeps a well-ventilated 
and moist atmosphere, he will be little troubled with insect foes. Slugs 
probably do the most damage, but can be caught in a variety of ways, 
putting treacle, fresh lettuce leaves, or bran on pieces of card about 
the staging and searching diligently in the evening with a candle. The 
safest way to protect a valuable plant in spike is to fill a saucer with water, 
stand an inverted flower pot in it, and then the Orchid on this. Many 
growers wrap cotton wool round the flower spikes, but this loses its efficacy 
immediately it gets wet, and a fresh piece must be substituted. Fire heat 
will still be needed, and I find it is much better to fire all day than merely 
to light a fire at night, and trust to the sun warming by day; for although 
a few hours of sunshine will give all the necessary heat, yet the ventilators 
would have to be shut, and this would deprive the Orchids of the air so- 
necessary to their welfare. J always consider a little heat in the pipes, sun- 
aa and the ventilators judiciously open, the ideal growing conditions. 
SUGGESTED ADDITION. 
- OponTiopA DevosiaNA.—For an amateur’s collection this is one of the 
most useful members of this hybrid genus, for it produces long branching 
flower spikes, several feet in length, bearing often overa hundred small but 
brilliantly-coloured blossoms, of a rich purple-red with a spiny yellow 
crest. It is a vigorous grower, and small seedlings quickly develop into- 
large sturdy specimens, and it can be procured at moderate cost. A 
position at the warmest end of the house is advisable, to enable this fine 
Orchid to develop to perfection. It was raised from Cochlioda Neetzliana 
and Odontoglossum Edwardii, and first flowered in 1908. 
ONcIDIUM PATULUM.—Under this name a Brazilian Oncidium has been 
described and figured by Schlechter as a new species (Orchis, vill. p. 18, t. 
2). It flowered at the Royal Botanic Garden, Dahlem, and is said to be 
allied to O. Cavendishianum, Lindl. It. is, however, identical with O. 
nanum, a species which flowered with Messrs. Loddiges at Hackney, in 
1842, and was described by Lindley (Bot. Reg., xxvi. Misc. p. 37). It is 
said to have been imported from Guiana. It most resembles a glorified 
edition of O. pumilum, Lindl., next to which Lindley placed it. It has 
very fleshy leaves, some five or six inches long, and short panicles of yellow 
flowers, with: irregular red-brown. blotches. Spruce also collected the 
species on. the Rio Negro.—k.A.R. 
