THE ORCHID REVIEW. 71 



them I take off young plants, an operation which every propagator under- 

 stands, and keep the plants growing ; when it is done they look so happy 

 and so grateful. I am sure that if they could speak they would say, 'You 

 have done a good work, to be sure, we will make new growth and beautiful 

 leaves.' In summer time we give them plenty of water, but at this timeof 

 the year less, without letting them get quite dry. Whenever they show 

 signs of flowering, we at once cut the bloom spikes out, as soon as they can 

 be got at." Mr. Budde concludes lay saying that "everybody may have a 

 look on these pearls except ' Monsieur de Soleil,' whose beams are not good 

 for these lovely creatures." 



Mr. W. Micholitz, writing from Bhamo, has also an interesting note on 

 the question in the issue for February 22nd (p. 130). With respect to the 

 compost, "mainly of loam-fibre," he considers the use of such a compost as 

 of special importance, for in loamy soil they are always found growing, 

 and never in the light Orchid-peat and moss in which they are often potted 

 in gardens. And he adds : — " I am very fond of these jewelled members of 

 the Orchid tribe, and as I have seen, as you will readily believe, a good 

 many in their native habitats, I will venture to make a tew remarks, which 

 I hope may interest your readers, and which perhaps may help to make the 

 beautiful Ancectochili better understood. 



"Now I assert that Anoectochili are not at all so delicate as they are 

 generally supposed to be ! I am certain that the real fact of the matter is 

 that these plants are starved to death, or killed by kindness, and that they 

 do not die much faster than is the case now, only proves their great natural 

 vitality. Now as you well know, the Anoectochili are ground Orchids. They 

 are found in forests growing in very rich loam. I have never seen one growing 

 in moss in its native country. Yet what do I see at home ? There, as a 

 rule, they are planted in the old orthodox mixture of sphagnum, charcoal, 

 and fibre rubbish, which may be suited well for an epiphyte, but hardly for 

 a ground Orchid. Then they are generally put under a glass shade, so that 

 the poor things cannot even get much sustenance from the air. The result, 

 of course, is that the plant weakens, gets delicate, and ultimately dies ; and 

 the plant is blamed and not the method of cultivation. I am well aware 

 how difficult and often impossible it is at home to give a plant the exact 

 natural conditions it enjoys in its wild state, and modifications have to be 

 considered ; yet I am sure that if growers would procure some nice surface- 

 loam out of the forest, and place the plants just loosely on this lumpy 

 mixed material, perhaps with a little silver sand to keep it well open, and 

 always keep it damp, thev would be surprised at the result." 



To show how hardy the Anoectochili are, Mr. Micholitz relates the 

 story of the introduction of Anoectochilus Sanderianus. He found the plant 



