40 THE ORCHID RE VIE W. 
or have, amongst the plants? Iam doing my best to discover it, and so 
are many others, and I think, if we ventilate this matter, we may find out 
to what undesirable condition we had attained in the last few years. Five 
or six years ago I had no such malady amongst my plants, nor did I observe 
it anywhere else ; now I am occasionally told ‘we have got used to it, so 
we put up with it,’ but as I do not intend to put up with it, I want to get 
rid of it, and shall be very pleased to hear of anyone that has done it, and 
how he did it, for a fine Odontoglossum plant with decayed tips is a sad 
sight to me, even if the plant is in a good state of cultivation.—De B. 
Crawshay, Rosefield, Sevenoaks.”’ 
OVER-POTTING ODONTOGLOSSUMS. 
‘‘THERE is great danger in overloading the roots of any Orchids with 
compost, and especially those popular species, O. crispum and its allies. All 
must be made firm in their pots, but this is easily done without putting 
two inches or three inches of solid peat that the roots can never find their 
way through. Far better to give too thin a compost and keep the atmo- 
sphere moist, for it is well known among Orchid collectors that rough 
winds in their native habitats bring down the plants owing to the slight hold 
they have on their host trees.” —H. R. H.in Journ. of Hort., Jan. 31, p. 89. 
““ Mr. Stevens now uses a compost of about half polypodium fibre and 
half leaf-mould, with a little moss and sand to keep it open, and only about 
half an inch of crocks at the bottom of the pot.”—Orch. Rev., 1900, p. 199. 
Who shall decide when doctors disagree? H. R. H. recommends a thin 
layer of compost, but Mr. Stevens, who is certainly one of our most expert 
growers of Odontoglossums, only uses about half an inch of crocks. It 
would be really interesting to compare the methods of our best cultivators, 
and to know exactly what are the conditions most conducive to success. 
DENDROBIUM LOWII. 
THE Bornean Dendrobium Lowii is a rare species in cultivation, and 
reputed difficult to grow. It would appear, however, that a suitable 
position for it has been found by Mr. Ballantine, for Mr. J. O’Brien 
remarks that it has thriven for many years in the Nepenthes house, in the 
fine collection of Baron Sir H. Schréder, at The Dell, Staines, increasing 
in vigour, and forming what might almost be called a bush (Gard. Chron., 
IQOI, XXxix, p. 54). The rather delicate D. Maccarthie from Ceylon also 
thrives in the same house. Such a position probably agrees pretty well 
with the conditions under which they grow in a wild state. 
HO 
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