42 THE ORCHID REVIEW. [ FEBRUARY, 1903- 
‘“‘T find that seeds germinate pretty freely almost anywhere in a cool 
house, on pots with other plants in, or on calico or flannel placed on pots 
stuffed tight with moss, but as soon as they have formed a little corm they 
want to be moved on to pots of moss, and hung up near the light. During 
winter they require all the sun they can get, but as the sun gets more 
power they require plenty of care and watching, so as not to over-water or 
. shrivel them up. When large enough I single them out into finger pots, 
and plunge them in larger pots filled with moss, so as to keep them in 
an equable condition as regards moisture, and when they begin to root 
they may be considered safe, always with the exception of insect pests. 
Thrips will soon make short work with the tiny plants, and must be kept 
down, but I consider the greatest pest of all is a small black midge, which 
lays its eggs in the compost, and the grub when hatched out feeds on all it 
can find in the pots. Ionce lost a nice batch of seedlings of O. Rossii 
majus X Pescatorei ina single night, when just coming into leaf, by these 
pests. I have not found anything to kill them when once they have taken 
possession of the pot, and the only thing to do is to prepare some fresh 
pots and remove the seedlings. I find that I can keep the fly down 
pretty well in a small house by fumigating once a week with a small 
quantity of XL All. It is important not to overdo it, however. I some- 
times divide a cake into two, and use it in two lamps. 
Up to the present I have found crispum xX crispum the most shy in 
germinating, but some of what we should call unlikely crosses come up 
freely; for instance, Uroskinneri X Harryanum, crispum Xx Coradinei, 
Rossii X Pescatorei, and Coradinei x Harryanum. 
The first batch of any quantity to flower here was a Ict of Pescatorei 
x cirrhosum, and this was last season, 33 years from sowing the seed, but 
not one of them up to the present has shown the least sign of cirrhosum, 
being simply Pescatorei of a good type. There are about twenty others 
with spikes this year, and they look like Pescatorei at present. We have 
also opening O. crispum X sceptrum, a wonderfully fine lip, but the sepals 
and petals not so good.” 
Mr. Stevens must be congratulated on his success, and we thank him 
for communicating the details, and sending us such a graphic record of his 
work, which we hope will enable others to make more progress with this 
difficult genus. We have seen Mr. Thompson’s seedlings twice, though when 
far less numerous than at present. On the first occasion it was a very few 
seedlings suspended in a small pot, and Mr. Stevens prophesied that they 
would go off, as they had done before. We remarked that they looked safe, 
and one at all events afterwards flowered, as O. X excellens. On the next 
occasion there were several little plants in various stages, some of them on 
the seed pans, requiring the aid of a lens to make them out. But persever- 
