THE ORCHID REVIEW. 151 
moderately dry until the spikes are to be seen showing during the following 
spring; otherwise it will not flower well and black spots are apt to appear 
on the foliage and pseudobulbs. During the depth of winter it is always 
advisable to place it ina warm and dry position in the warmest house. 
Most Miltonias are the better for this extra warmth during the worst winter 
months, and this is markedly so in the case of M. spectabilis and its 
varieties, which are practically always growing and in an active state. I 
always think they are best if grown in baskets and in nothing but good 
fibrous peat. 
Odontoglossum hastilabium is a magnificent species when flowering from 
strong, well-grown plants. Jt is one which, like a good many others of the 
genus, grows capitally in some Cool houses but not in all; in fact, it is 
what we might term a warm Cool house species, and a cool part of the 
Intermediate house would be the most likely place to suit it best. 
Otherwise its general treatment is exactly identical to Odontoglossum in 
general. : 
Oncidium crispum is a very common and popular species, but does not 
take kindly to artificial cultivation, and it has an awkward way of growing 
smaller after the first few years. By its behaviour when newly imported it 
is apt to mislead one, for it then comes away so very freely, making lots of 
new roots and fine large pseudobulbs, which in their turn produce such 
grand flower spikes that it is concluded by those who may not have grown 
it before that it is the most simple thing to grow imaginable. The first 
season’s produce is generally the best, for after bearing the enormous flower 
spikes, it soon commences to show evident signs of distress, more or less in 
accordance with the good or bad treatment given from the beginning. 
When makinga start with this species by all means obtain newly or recently 
imported plants, or failing this with semi-established plants that have been 
well attended to from the first, and you will then at least have a fair chance 
of success. This species succeeds best when either grown in baskets and 
suspended, or on blocks or rafts of teak wood. It is sometimes advisable to 
place them on rafts owing to the peculiar shape they have acquired through 
having been growing on branches of trees in their native habitat. When 
fixing them to blocks or rafts a little fibrous peat may also be used, or it 
may not, for my own part I prefer not to use anything. The raft should be 
of sufficient length to allow ample room for the new growths, as they 
appear, so that the new roots can cling to it and become firmly attached, 
otherwise they extend over and away from the raft into the air and render 
but little support, ultimately getting broken and useless. It is of great 
assistance to this species if suspended in the Cool house during three or four 
of the hottest summer months, during which time it is making its growth, 
and should then be watered freely. But when autumn arrives and the 
