106 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
esteemed friend and correspondent Mr. W. B. Latham, from P. Spicer- 
ianum ? and P. villosum 3, and flowered for the first time in 1888. It 
has since been raised in various other collections, and some of the forms 
differ a good deal in the colour details and to some extent also in size, but 
all of them show the most unmistakable evidence of their. descent. This 
fine hybrid is universally admitted to be one of the best of winter 
flowering kinds. | 
ODONTOGLOSSUM LEAVES DECAYING AT THE TIPS. 
{n your February issue (page 39) I have read with much interest what you 
term “An important question”? brought forward by Mr. De Barri Craw- 
shay, respecting the leaves of Odontuglossums decaying at the tips. I have 
seen a good many ccllections of Odontoglossums, both in this country 
and abroad, and have never seen them so bad as stated by Mr. 
Crawshay. We have a good collection here; I do not say we have no 
plants in ill-health, but the bulk of them are in vigorous health and not the 
least sign of yellow tips. You may find leaves going off from old age in 
their natural way, but on the unfinished pseudobulbs and the one preceed- 
ing it you will find every leaf sound, and if the method used here is of any 
use to Mr. De Barri Crawshay, he is welcome to it. 
Our plants are potted in a mixture of polypodium fibre and sphagnum 
moss, about equal parts, or just a trifle more moss, chopped rather fine ; 
the pots are crocked a little more than half full, according to-the size of the 
plants ; potted every year, shaking all the old soil off. In spring and 
summer we give plenty of water, and syringe four or five times daily, keep- 
ing the stages and floors well damped, and we shade well in bright weather. 
_During the autumn we gradually reduce the water and use of the syringe, 
till about the middle of November, and from that time till the middle of 
January we give just enough water to keep the bulbs from shrivelling ; 
if they do shrivel a little it will do no harm. ° In winter the hot water pipes 
are kept just warm enough to maintain a temperature of 48° to 50°, never 
allowing it to go below the former, except in very severe weather, and then 
not below 45°. The pipes are always kept warm during the winter 
months, and if the temperature is likely to exceed 55° just a crack of air at 
bottom is given till it drops to 50°. 
Too low a temperature is I believe the cause of the tips of the leaves 
going yellow. The treatment here advocated gives us thick, dark green 
leaves, and quantities of flower spikes, many of them carrying from fifteen 
to twenty blooms. In conclusion I may say that our house faces due 
south. ; WU Se 
