THE ORCHID REVIEW. 355 



For years it was a standing reproach against Orchid growers that they 

 could not raise Odontoglossums from seed, although they could keep 

 imported plants alive and continue to flower them. Various reasons were 

 given to explain the fact, but the probable cause is that the proper 

 conditions were not understood. At all events substantial progress has 

 been made during recent years, and it would appear that the seedlings are 

 easy enough to raise when one knows how to set about it. Mr. Stevens is 

 said to have about six hundred nice little plants in various stages, chiefly 

 from two to four inches high. Some germinated on pots of the parent 

 plants, others in pans of prepared peat, and a yet greater number on 

 •calico, the surface of which is rendered convex by a pad of sphagnum moss, 

 the whole fitting about an inch below the rim on the inside of the flower 

 pot. They are said to be kept moist by frequent spraying. It is 

 exceedingly interesting to find that Mr. Stevens has surmounted the 

 difficulties, and I hope that their flowering will prove equally satisfactory. 



Some time ago there was a discussion on the subject of changing the 

 names of Certificated Orchids, and I alluded to the difficulty which is some- 

 times experienced in ascertaining what those names really are ; instancing 

 the case of Cattleya amethystoglossa Sanderae, which, according to two of 

 the horticultural papers, received a First-class Certificate from the R.H.S. 

 last March, though two other papers called it C. guttata Prinzii var. Sanderse. 

 And I added (p. 130) :— " I shall be curious to see what the Society's own 

 official record says." Now we have it, for in the last issue of the R.H.S. 

 Journal we read : — " Cattleya guttata Prinzii Sanderae (votes unanimous) 

 from Messrs. Sander, St. Albans. An albino of the species more commonly 

 known as C. amethystoglossa." Perhaps what your correspondent " over- 

 heard at the Drill Hall " is applicable to this case too. 



Argus. 



SEEDLING ODONTOGLOSSUMS. 



A short note respecting a fine batch of seedling Odontoglossums in the 

 collection of W. Thompson, Esq., Walton Grange, Stone, was given at 

 page 255, showing that considerable progress has been made since we had 

 the pleasure of seeing and reporting on the progress made by Mr. Stevens 

 with this beautiful genus (O.R., viii, pp. 198, 199). An interesting article 

 on the collection has just appeared in the Gardeners' Chronicle (1902, xxxii, 

 p. 318), from which the following is extracted: — 



" A span-house is set apart for fine varieties of Odontoglossums for the 

 purpose of hybridising, and a goodly number of seed-capsules are maturing. 



