THE ORCHID REVIEW. 247 
spikes are weak, and the blooms washy, owing to lack of light at their 
blooming season. 
Lelia anceps, though not giving so much trouble as the foregoing, is 
unfortunately very troublesome. They grow well enough in towns, and 
produce their flower spikes, which bloom pretty well in November or 
December should the air be moderately clear, but one good smoky day is 
enough to clear them off. This is very provoking, for Lelia anceps is 
such a grand and useful thing when well and strongly grown. They are now 
making up apace and just showing their flower spikes. The new leaves of 
these, like some other species when forming, are sometimes scarcely self- 
supporting and topple over, in which position they mature, if not lifted and 
tied in a correct one. If the latter is attended to at once they will soon be 
all right again, and in a few days they are rigid, when the support may be 
removed. Little items such as the above, if performed at the right time, all 
help to form a neat and handsome plant, but if not trained at the right time 
no tying can bring back a natural appearance. L.autumnalis, L. Gouldiana, 
and L. albida are other beautiful winter bloomers that are also now 
moving nicely. These, although enjoying the same conditions as the 
Mexican House affords, will not withstand nearly so much bright sun- 
shine as L. anceps, and should be shaded by a thin coat of whitewash or 
summer cloud. 
Ants will probably cause a good deal of trouble this month in the warm- 
est houses. They are troublesome and destructive little creatures, and are 
better if absent. Their habits of carrying about scale, of worrying out the 
compost from among the roots, and of entirely disposing of tiny Orchid 
seedlings, are not very agreeable. They have alsoa particular liking for 
the juices of some Orchids, especially Phalznopses, and they not infrequent- 
ly kill this species by continually feeding on the under surfaces of the leaves. 
Ballykilrain Ant Poison is the best invention that I have yet tried for 
destroying them. It should be well stirred, and smeared in places along 
their favourite runs each afternoon, when the shutting up takes place, when 
the extra warmth then seems to make them most active and voracious. 
The new pseudobulbs of that beautiful winter flowering Orchid, Catt- 
leya Trianz, are now fast making up one by one. To remove such to dryer 
and less growing conditions would now be -a good plan, the next best alter- 
native being to select the driest and airiest place in the same house for 
them. Whatever course be taken, an occasional plant will doubtless break 
a second time, but this fact should make no difference to its treatment. 
Cattleya Dowiana and C. D. aurea are almost identical in the flower, but 
the difference in their habits and constitutions is great. The first-named 
has a thickish, club-shaped bulb, and short, roundish leaf, and is pale green 
in colour, whilst the latter has longer, thinner bulbs and leaves, and is dark 
