THE ORCHID REVIEW. 9 
The illustrations can be relied on for their accuracy, a feature which 
will be fully appreciated by those who have seen some of the highly 
exaggerated pictures sometimes portrayed in Orchid works. 
Such a record of the past is, I think, sufficient guarantee that future 
numbers will be as ably conducted as heretofore, and I would urge all 
admirers of the Review to seek fresh subscribers among their friends, and so 
encourage the Editor to continue his arduous labours. I believe I only echo 
the sentiments of many readers in these remarks, and think they should 
find expression in some form or other. I think Orchid growers might 
utilise its pages more than they do in discussing matters of interest, as the 
work is such a useful medium for the interchange of ideas. 
A NEW YEAR’S GREETING. 
By Epwarp H. WoopaLtL, Scarborough. 
A NEw year’s greeting, and the thanks of the steadily increasing number of 
Orchid growers who profit by the experience gained from the columns of 
the Orchid Review, are due, I think, to its Editor, who is helpful to dis- 
criminate, authoritative in judgment, and knows how to moderate both the 
admiration and the ignorance of beginners in this noble art. 
How disappointing are the exaggerations we occasionally meet with 
which seem as if meant to entrap the unwary! How annoying it is to find a 
flower, described as “‘so many inches across,” to turn out only a tithe of 
what one has been led to expect ; and how sad it is to find glowing crimson 
but dull browns, and the rich colouring or spotless tone of some petal or 
sepal to exist but in the eye of the describer! The Orchid Review that has 
and does protest against these blots should be supported in such whole- 
some warnings. 
We have it on excellent authority, old as the days of the Roman Empire, 
that our eyes are more trustworthy than our ears; nowadays I fear all that 
greets our eyes in print is not necessarily to be believed, and when applied 
‘toa plant it still holds good; so I would translate it into modern parlance, 
‘Don’t buy a plant from description, but see it in bloom first !” 
We can’t all of us attend the fine shows where the treasures of the 
Orchid world are set at our feet, regardless of expense or difficulty of 
culture, so we turn gladly to the pages of the Orchid Review, where we know 
we shall find an honest and yet appreciative account of what is best, what 
we should aim at, and what we shall be wise to avoid. 
——_-o——--- 
