4 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 



ORCHIDS AT THE PRIORY, USK. 



The fine old Priory at Usk is snugly situated within its pretty grounds, and 

 its position is such that it commands a splendid view for miles of the 

 beautiful scenery of Monmouthshire. But the object of our visit was the 

 Orchids, to which we quickly turned. To our intense pleasure we found a 

 small but exceptionally well-cultivated collection, and could not but 

 congratulate Mr. R. W. Rickards on his most successful methods. 



A grand batch of Cattleya labiata was in full bloom, making a noble 

 display. The plants are shown in the same house as grown, which serves 

 as admirably for the former as it undoubtedly does for the latter. It is 

 somewhat of a corridor-shaped structure, the dimensions of which are 

 30 feet long by 7 feet wide, and 6 feet high at the eaves, the high sides 

 being of glass for the greater part of their depth. Such a house, as may 

 be imagined, forms an ideal one, getting an abundance of light and perfect 

 air circulation. The Cattleyas, Oncidiums, and Cypripediums grown in 

 this department are really remarkable for their vigorous growth and firm- 

 ness of texture. The spikes and flowers, as might be expected from such 

 perfectly-matured pseudobulbs, are of the highest standard, both in numbers 

 and in quality. Some beautiful varieties of Cattleya labiata were noted, as 

 also C. Harrisoniana and C. Loddigesii, Lselia autumnalis atrorubens, 

 Oncidium crispum, O. tigrinum, and O. X Mantinii, Cypripedium X 

 Arthurianum, C. X Leeanum superbum, C. X oenanthum superbum, C. 

 Spicerianum, and C. insigne in great variety. 



Mr. Rickards is not a believer in large pots. For instance, many of the 

 Cattleyas were noticed to have long passed the pot limits, and the roots 

 were far more numerous outside than inside. These outside roots had not 

 only claimed their own pot, but had interlaced themselves to the inverted 

 pot — on which the plants were raised to suitable heights — so completely 

 and securely that the task of freeing them from the same, if ever that 

 process be deemed desirable, will be a matter of some difficulty. Nor has 

 Mr. Rickards yet become a convert to the desirability of leaf-soil for his 

 Orchids to root in. Certain it is that this compost, whatever its virtues, 

 has nothing whatever to do with the success attained here. For when 

 roaming about, as these roots do, they seem to inhale from the pure fresh 

 atmosphere every essential necessary for the building up of large, healthy 

 leaves and pseudobulbs, the new ones, if anything, being larger than the old. 

 Another department, a lean-to with north aspect, contains a capitally 

 grown collection of cool Orchids. Here again the cultivation is equally 

 good. The success is not due to the compost in which the plants are potted, 

 but to the atmosphere upon which they seem to thrive. Here are plants 

 with enormous healthy pseudobulbs, leaves, and spikes, in comparatively 



