FEBRUARY, 1908.] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 63 
NOTES. 
A meeting of the R.H.S. will be held at the Royal Horticultural Hall, 
Vincent Square, Westminster, on February rr1th, when the Orchid 
Committee will meet at the usual hour, 12 o’clock noon. It is also the 
date of the Annual General Meeting. The following meeting is on 
March 3rd. 
The Manchester and North of England Orchid Society will hold 
meetings at the Coal Exchange, Manchester, on February 6th and zoth. 
The Committee meets at noon, and the exhibits are open to inspection 
from I to 3 p.m. 
THE Foc Fienp.—Fogs were severe and prolonged in the London 
district during the early part of January, and Orchids suffered in con- 
sequence. The flowers of Calanthe xX Veitchii, Lelia anceps, and 
Phalzenopsis Schilleriana shrivelled up as if scorched, while the unopened 
buds of the latter also dropped off. Other Orchids suffered to an equal 
or less degree. Cypripedes, as usual, came off best, and there can be no 
doubt that they have fairly earned the title of fog-resisting Orchids. 
Unfortunately little can be done to mitigate the severity of an attack of 
this kind. 
CuT Flowers IN WaATER.—Immerse the lower ends of the stems in 
water, and with a sharp thin knife cut off about half an inch of each stem. 
The cut must be made under water. The stems may then be transferred to 
a vase or laid aside for a short time-out of water, but if the cut ends get 
dry the operation must be repeated. With long lasting flowers the 
operation may be repeated with advantage at intervals, ¢.g., once a week 
with Cypripedium tonsum, which lasted three months. This method is 
serviceable with all flowers that I have tried, but it seems to have more 
effect on some than on others. I learned the method in Professor I. 
Bayley Balfour’s class of Practical Botany, at Edinburgh. 
MILES JOHNSTON. 
High Lea, Bideford, Devon. 
ORCHID CULTURE is a curious subject. There are such a vast number 
of unknown quantities in it. I have noticed in other subjects that a 
beginner can sometimes help other beginners on some points, when they are 
unable to get much aid from an expert’s teaching. I suppose it is largely 
because a brother beginner can still see the difficulties which the expert has 
lost sight of, as for him they have ceased to exist.—A BEGINNER. 
[Perhaps these unknown quantities add a piquancy to the subject which 
is sometimes wanting from the culture of more prosaic plants.—Eb.] 
