THE ORCHID REVIEW, 67 
DIES ORCHIDIANZA. 
We Britishers are excellent growers of Orchids, as is well known. Our 
splendid specimens and admirable show of bloom afford sufficient proof of 
this, Yet our houses are badly lighted, and insufficiently ventilated. Our 
ventilators are too few, too small, and are hardly ever opened. Sometimes 
they are covered with perforated zinc, through which hardly any air passes, 
and sometimes too little top air is afforded. Our temperatures—at least for 
Odontoglossums and Masdevallias—are excessive. We usually keep our 
plants too dry—in fact, we trust entirely to the resting season to ripen our 
plants, and attach so much importance to it that we keep our Orchids 
extremely dry even during their growth. Almost everywhere we cover our 
stages with a thick layer of coke or charcoal, which does not allow the air 
to circulate between the pots. And what is the result? There is not seen 
that vigorous growth which is shown in plants grown according to the 
Belgian methods. Our Orchids are less green, have fewer roots, and much 
more slender floral stems. The Belgians water much more, give a less long 
repose, and especially they give more air, and are most attentive observers 
of the thousand little matters of detail which are of such great importance. 
-Irub my eyes in astonishment, and wonder—can I have been dreaming? 
No! there it is in black and white, a rather tremendous indictment of the 
English Orchid-grower and his methods, by his Belgian compeer. But are 
our houses so badly lighted and ventilated? And have the Belgians a 
_monopoly of open stages, and of the knowledge that light and air are 
necessary for the successful cultivation of these plants? It would be 
strange indeed if, after preaching these truths for so many years, we should 
cease to practise them. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and 
I do not hesitate to say that I have seen Odontoglossums cultivated in 
England with pseudobulbs larger than the imported ones, with foliage of 
the richest green, and with flowers of a size and substance which some of 
our Belgian friends would like to ‘beat, while the size of the inflorescence 
left nothing to be desired. There are English collections in which Odonto- 
glossums are not well grown, just as there are Belgian ones. On the other 
hand, I have seen exceptionally well-grown ones from both countries, and 1 
have yet to see Belgian specimens superior to those of our best English 
collections. 
The Belgians, it is true, have one important advantage over us in the 
matter of cheap tobacco. Thrips are a terrible pest to many Orchids, and 
Odontoglossums form no exception to the rule, while it is doubtful whether 
any antidote has been discovered of equal value to tobacco. In England, 
however, it becomes an expensive article, as the refuse which the Belgians 
