January, 1907.] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 29 
a great advocate of leaves in the compost, but he was careful to observe 
that the grower should be fully acquainted with this method before attempt- 
ing experiments, otherwise the desired success may not always be obtained. 
Watering with soft rain water is another practice to adopt, and saturation 
he does not agree with.—Fournal of Horticulture. 
THE Gardeners’ Chronicle adds that, commencing with the imported plant, 
the instructions given covered the whole period of growth, from the 
commencement of root action to the production of the flowering spike. 
CYPRIPEDES FROM BURY. 
[ SEND you a selection of the finest of my Cypripedes now in bloom, and I 
beg you to accept them with compliments and best wishes for Christmas 
and the New Year. We are of opinion that most of the blooms are as fine, 
if not finer in size, and more brilliant in colour than we ever had them. 
Although we have been passing through a terribly wet and sunless time, we 
have escaped with fewer fogs than usual, and our Cypripedes—we have 
about a thousand flowers open—have had a happier time in consequence. 
You will see that the bulk of the flowers belong to that grand and most 
useful species named insigne, of which I have now a very good collection 
of all the finest and most modern varieties which have appeared in 
collections during late years. Among the other Cypripedes you will find 
four seedlings of my own raising, and among them you will note C. Olivia, 
which flower sets at rest all doubt as to its true parentage, as it has been 
raised from C. tonsum X niveum. I am sending you 15 yellow insignes, 
all of which are very beautiful, when closely examined. 
OswaLp O. WRIGLEY. 
Bridge Hall, Bury. 
[A very beautiful series, all the flowers being very finely developed, 
and affording evidence of excellent culture. The spotted insignes are 24 
in number, and include most of the familiar varieties, while of the yellow, 
Sanderz must still be placed first. Of 11 C. X Leeanum no two are 
alike, and the series contains most of the best forms. There are several 
other beautiful hybrids, mostly well known things which must be passed 
over with this brief mention. The four seedlings are, C. x Olivia, by 
far the finest form we have seen, C. X Tautzianum (niveum X barbatum 
Warneri), C. xX Leeanum flavum (insigne Sandere X Spicerianum), 
with yellowish green ground colour, and C. X Charlesianum (Leeanum 
Xx nitens Lucienianum), a fine thing, very regularly dotted with purple 
on the dorsal sepal, except at the apex and margin. It is impossible to 
do justice to such a beautiful series in the space at disposal, and we can 
only add that the group is quite indispensable for decorative purposes 
during the winter.—Eb.} 
