76 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 



great biological interest, and we hope that the important .question of 

 nomenclature involved will be borne in mind by raisers. Materials for 

 selection abound on every hand, and selection is the order of the day, but 

 we must also aim at a clear and concise system of nomenclature, which 

 will enable us to trace the origin of our plants in the future. 



CULTURE OF ORCHIDS IN LEAF-MOULD. 



I see by the horticultural papers, and particularly by the articles published 

 in the Orchid Review and the Gardener? Chronicle, that the question of 

 growing Orchids in leaf-mould is now engaging great attention in England, 

 and I think that the opinion of those who have cultivated Orchids for long 

 periods, and in various parts may have some value in the debate. My own 

 opinion, which is also that of my foreman, M. Van Cauwenberghe — and 

 we have studied the question in the same fields of experience for a period 

 of 27 years — may be of some value. 



At Moortebeek, where the cultivation of Orchids has often been cited as 

 a pattern, we have not adopted the new method, for the simple reason that 

 from our own trials, and from those that we have seen made by others, we 

 have not yet seen results superior to those obtained by the old system. We 

 do not believe that the nature of the ingredients which sustain the plant 

 are of primary importance in the culture of Orchids. The principal factors 

 of success consist in giving plenty of air, the proper amount of moisture at 

 different periods of their growth, rest, and the provision of a suitable 

 temperature. It is quite a secondary matter whether the plants are culti- 

 vated on blocks of wood (for Cattleyas), in crocks, in green moss, living 

 sphagnum, in leaf-mould, or in polypodium fibre. Manure we never use. 

 Formerly my father used to grow all his Orchids in sphagnum as fresh as 

 possible, and his plants were as fine as ours of to-day. We almost dare to 

 say that if the materials used in potting should be of primary importance 

 in cultivation, it is the use of living sphagnum that we recommend above all 

 others. When a plant is in bad health, whether it is an Odontoglossum, 

 a Cypripedium, or a Cattleya, is it not in living sphagnum that it will 

 regain strength ? Does not life bring back life ? Finally, in order to com- 

 plete our researches, we have bought from various amateurs and nurserymen 

 Cypripedes and other Orchids that have been potted in leaf-mould, and on 

 examining them, the only living roots that we found were in the sphagnum 

 moss with which the plants were surfaced. In the soil they were generally 

 rotten. What advantage therefore could this be to them ? 



We certainly do not condemn the new system of culture, but its chief 

 advantage is that it takes away from novices the fear that they had of 

 cultivating Orchids. A plant that can be potted like a Fuchsia or a 



