6 THE ORCHID REVIEW. [JANUARY, 1908, 
warmer growing kinds of Orchids. In one Phalenopsis Schilleriana and 
amabilis Rimestadiana were doing very well, and amongst a lot of choice 
Cypripediums in flower were a number of X Maudie, one in particular, named 
Shrubbery var., being very fine. C. x Lawrebel Shrubbery var. is an intensely 
dark and striking variety. In the next pit were a thriving and choice lot of 
Cypripedium seedlings. A few crosses noted were niveum xX Lawrence- 
anum Hyeanum, callosum Sander X Winnifred Hollington, Clio niveum,. 
nitens G. S. Ball x niveum, &c. Here were also a number of small 
plants of C. bellatulum album, which is rather a difficult subject to manage. 
The next house contained a good number of Cypripediums in flower, among 
them being a particularly rich C. x triumphans, and a fine Charlesworthii. 
The last house is a three-quarter span, in two divisions, in the first of 
. which is a good collection of Cymbidiums, including two fine specimens of 
C. Devonianum and a unique specimen of C. tigrinum. A finely-flowered 
batch of Cypripedium Charlesworthii were passing over. In the other 
division were a batch of Cypripedium bellatulum, C. concolor, and C, 
Godefroy leucochilum, carrying a number of pods, while a plant of 
Arachnanthe Cathcartii was developing a couple of spikes. A great many 
things of interest were in this house, but my notes are already lengthy. 
After a walk through these houses the impression left on my mind was 
that the plants were being well and sturdily grown, and that the modest, 
painstaking, and clever grower, Mr. William Balmforth, was on the 
track towards yet doing greater things. 
OSMUNDA AND PoLypopium Fipre.—Mr. Balmforth has been carrying 
on experiments with the use of the above fibres as the basis of his potting 
material, and the collection is being gradually worked into these as the 
plants are repotted. A good many growers have unhappy recollections of a 
sudden plunge into leaf soil, and are not so keen on making another 
experiment with an untried compost, but the dangers which leaves presented, 
and which caused irretrievable loss in many collections, do not occur with 
these fibres. Both Osmunda and Polypodium fibres have been used for 
years in the cultivation of Orchids, the former in the United States and the 
latter throughout the Continent. English growers have little chance of 
judging American culture, but I understand that Cattleyas do remarkably 
well there, and of course we are all more or less acquainted with Conti- 
nental growing. The latter can best be described as good, bad, and indif- 
ferent, the very best being certainly not better than the best of our English 
growers. The dangers of leaf soil were always apparent from the first, but 
even with the knowledge that only careful watering would avoid disaster 
that event occurred. The plants made roots rapidly, and the growth was 
correspondingly strong, but the difficulty was in keeping the roots. Roots 
made during growth were lost during the winter, or from an overdose of water 
