THE ORCHID REVIEW. 37 
testing season would be required, or it would shrivel badly ; it would want 
cleaning and freeing from scale and other pests more frequently than the 
strong one; and it could not withstand so much bright sunshine, &c. 
It is such plants, that by some means or other have got down below par, 
that must have special attention if they are to suryive and again take their 
places in the front rank. It is therefore anything but good practice to hide 
them from view by placing them away behind other plants, in order to give 
the whole a better appearance, for unless these weakly plants are seen 
frequently, they invariably miss that extra attention so urgently needed for 
their recovery. They should, if possible, be placed at some convenient place, 
so that their wants can be the better supplied. 
The short-bulbed Mexican Lzlias are now past; they have indeed 
made a bold show for the last two months, and it is not easy to name a 
more useful family for mid-winter work, that is, supposing they are well 
grown; for if not, they are not nearly so satisfactory. On the whole we 
grow them pretty successfully, though there are one or two species which 
we would fain grow and flower better. The chief of these is that lovely 
L. furfuracea, which seems an especial slow one to grow properly. L. 
anceps is easily first in freedom of growth and flower, and I think it must 
also take first place in point of beauty, especially the lovely white varieties. 
During the second week in January we had here out in bloom between 50 
and 60 spikes of the latter varieties; one fine plant producing 19 spikes 
with a total of 73 flowers, an average of nearly four flowers to each spike. 
Several, however, had five full-sized flowers, the smallest number being three. 
This plant, of course, looked very handsome, and it it is needless to say that 
the whole of the 60 spikes mingled with the few remaining coloured 
varieties of the same species made a very fine show indeed. I should, how- 
ever, here remark that all of the white Lalia anceps do not yield flowers 
in such abundance. The above are the long-bulbed variety, having very 
dark green foliage and a bright coloured lip, I think generally known to 
the trade as L. a. Sanderiana. We have also other varieties not having 
this distinctive mark on the lip, which are equally floriferous, but all have 
the long pseudobulbs and dark green foliage. There are other white 
varieties which bear from one to two flowers on a spike only, which detracts 
very much from their value, and these have a much shorter, and, in fact, a 
typical anceps bulb and leaf. The culture of the Mexican Latlias, is on the 
whole, easy, if treated in accordance with their very simple requirements. 
There must not be too much nursing or coddling, nor must they be star ved 
for the want of water or other simple necessaries of life, such as repotting 
or re-basketing when required. I have occasionally seen seas mrnete the 
new growth, or rather the last made pseudobulbs, were ging the 
sides of the pot, the new roots growing out into space, where they sooner 
