22 | THE ORCHID REVIEW. [JANUARY, 1908. 
All lovers of Orchids will doubtless regret the wanton destruction of 
plants by collectors, and the crass ignorance of such men not to leave a few 
small plants to re-stock the ground, as in the case mentioned above. We 
suffer in the long run, but I suppose pocket will always govern collectors. 
Pippbrook, Dorking. H. Gurney AGGs. 
(It is interesting to find native Cattleya and Lelia seeds germinating 
at home in this way, aud it may yet be a matter of economic importance. 
There are certain Orchids which cannot be got home alive, but the above 
record raises the question whether the. seeds might not be successfully 
transmitted.— Ep.] 
BACK BULBS ON ORCHIDS. 
THE question of cutting away the back bulbs of Orchids is one that 
concerns every grower, it matters not if he only grows a few, or has 
thousands ; what is right for one in each order is right for quantities. I am 
not writing this for old hands, but rather for new beginners, as it is very 
puzzling for those with little experience to know where to draw the line, 
and what really are useless back bulbs so far as the lead or leads to the 
plant is concerned. The word useless can only be used in respect to the 
leads, as most of the back bulbs that require cutting away for the benetit of 
the leads, have enough life in them to produce a new plant when severed 
from the original. 
This picture should always be before one when considering the size of 
any plant—how many leads has it? The size would then be the number of 
leads multiplied by four, for in most cases three pseudo-bulbs behind each 
lead is ample. Sometimes one sees plants with perhaps fifteen or twenty 
bulbs and only two leads, and then there is a great waste of energy going 
on, which sooner or later, probably the former, will so rob the leads that 
the plant becomes an absolute wreck, only fit for the fire hole. If those old 
bulbs, which have not been self-supporting for a long time, had been 
removed, and the sap which they had taken had gone to the lead, the 
general upkeep of the plant would have been maintained. I consider that 
anything which is not helpful to the plant in making progress wants 
removing, for by so doing the plants can be kept indefinitely young, and that 
should be the aim of all growers to keep the stock young and vigorous. 
The question when to prune often arises, and I think that the best 
method is to go over the plants and sever the rhizomes with a sharp knife, 
and although any invariable rule would be wrong in some cases, a very fair 
guide is to keep three pseudo-bulbs behind each lead. As the plants come 
to be potted the severed portions can be taken away, 
plant can be potted in a smaller receptacle and 
Gatton Park Gardens, Surrey. 
and oftentimes the 
good accrues all round. 
W. P. Bounp. 
