THE ORCHID REVIEW. 205 
destruction, which, however, due to wise laws, is now almost impossible, 
many of this Island’s finest Orchids were being quickly and_ surely 
exterminated. Even now the well known Oncidium Papilio is getting scarce, 
and the writer, foreseeing the probable difficulty of getting good plants in 
the near future, has started a nursery for these plants, and 500 of them, 
nearly all seedlings gathered from a tree which was being felled, flourish 
under his eye. 
In the same way, some years ago, a large quantity of seedling Cattleyas 
came into my possession, and were treated. Some were planted on wood 
blocks, but these died, while the majority was affixed to young trees in the 
garden, where, without the slightest care, they have grown and flourished. 
In the next season some will flower for the first time, their pseudobulbs 
having only reached their full size this year. 
The species is C. Gaskelliana, which grows only at considerable elevation 
on the mainland of Venezuela, and I was afraid that the drier climate of this 
Colony would not be favourable to its growth here. In this respect, 
however, I have been agreeably surprised. 
The hilly region of this Island is well suited to the cultivation of South 
American Orchids, as we have many of the Venezuelan and South American 
species among our natives. East Indians thrive also very well, but it is 
only on the highest mountain tops (3,000 feet high) that the cooler species 
of tropical Orchids would flourish. Cattleyas, however, thrive well, as I 
have shown, and a nursery of these would serve to preserve the rarer species 
which are being rapidly exterminated. 
Port of Spain, he aod. 
Trinidad, B.W.lI. 
‘There is a melancholy interest in recording the above facts, and we 
can only hope that the Government of Venezuela will place some restriction 
upon such wanton destruction before it is too late, as other Governments 
have done. The wholesale destruction of the trees on which these plants 
grow, and with them the multitude of small plants and seedlings, is lament- 
able, for if these were left when the larger plants were collected the supply 
might be prolonged indefinitely, whereas the above account recalls the story 
about killing the goose which laid the golden eggs. The steps taken to 
preserve the seedlings of Oncidium Papilio and Cattleya Gaskel liana, 
mentioned above, are very interesting, and suggest possibilities of future 
development, as it is not every one who can grow Cattleyas on trees in his 
own garden. Our readers will remember a most interesting account of 
Orchid culture in Trinidad from the pen of our correspondent, which 
appeared at pages 274-277 of our third volume.—ED.] 
ee 
