May, 1906.] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 141 
plants that a man had to look after then he will probably have a thousand 
to-day, so that each plant cannot now be so long pondered over. A clear 
recollection of a time I spent in the potting shed of large importers, some 
eleven or twelve years ago is still with me. The method of potting was 
to fill the pots three parts full of crocks, and then thump a stick through 
them to support the plant; the imported Cattleya was then placed on the 
crocks and fixed to the stick, and the sandy mixture of peat and a little 
moss was worked in tightly. There was no half measures here; it was 
tight potting without qualification. The compost was used dry, or nearly 
so, and the pots were little larger than just to hold the plant. The 
individual who had the supervising of this dep had a_ novel 
but decidedly effective way of testing each man’s work. He took a 
hold of the pot and with a quick turn of the wrist tried to shake the 
plant out; if it dropped out the potting was badly done; if it 
stood the test, the work had been well and truly performed. It might be 
mentioned that an element of unfairness sometimes crept in here, for the 
wrist did not always jerk alike. This Spartan potting is now no more, but 
was it not, after all, the best method of treating imported Cattleyas and 
Orchids which grow wild under similar conditions? A good deal is to be 
said in its favour at any rate. There was here very little material to decay, 
and what there was of it would for the most part last well; and the roots 
went straight down into the crocks, without passing through a layer of 
sphagnum moss. These plants could be given water freely without any 
danger, and they dried out quickly, which was an enormous advantage. 
Furthermore, the plant would last with this potting for two or three years, 
making hard, well-ripened pseudobulbs, which yielded blooms of good 
colour and substance. The fact of plants doing well for some years on 
such poor fare is a kind of contradiction to the belief in rich potting 
materials used in large quantities. There is but little question that hard 
potting is conducive to floriferousness, and small pots and air at the root 
also assist towards this end. The method of one crock at the bottom of the 
pot, with a potful of close, rich material, is the farthest we can get in the 
other direction. Epiphital Orchids get a plentiful supply of air at the root 
at home, and we might bear this fact in our mind when potting them. 
An amateur in a small way, who grows his own plants, said to me the 
other day: “‘ You have no idea the difficulty an amateur like myself has in 
knowing what to do for the best with his plants. You people take too 
much for granted. I have had absolutely no training, and almost the first 
Orchids I ever saw were my own.” The above remark was made on my 
telling him that his plants were nearly all much too loosely potted, and to 
describe in detail how to repot a Cattleya may be a help to many who are 
likewise situated. 
