234 THE ORCHID REVIEW. [AucusT, 1908, 
at a sale at Messrs. Protheroe and Morris’s Reoms on March 23rd, 1906, 
and its history was thus recorded: ‘‘ One of the most beautiful flowers, and 
by far the most remarkable, was a fine purple-blotched Odontoglossum sent 
by M. Chas. Vuylsteke, and about which there were conflicting opinions as 
to whether it was to be considered a crispum or an ardentissimum. It had 
considerable resemblance to O. X ardentissimum in the sepals and petals, 
but the labellum indicated O. crispum. Sold without name or qualification, 
it was acquired by De Barri Crawshay, Esq., for 300 guineas” (Gard Chron. 
1906, i. p. 197). Over a year ago we saw the plant, and Mr. Crawshay 
pointed out that it was clearly an imported piece, not a home raised seed- 
ling, for there was no trace of small seedling bulbs. Mr. Crawshay remarks 
that the plant is now admitted to be a crispum, as he has always considered 
it to be, and the evidence now seems to be conclusive. The point about its 
remarkable behaviour must be left for future investigation, and future 
flowerings may throw further light on the subject. 
CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS FOR AUGUST. 
By W. J. Morcan, Rann Lea Gardens, Rainhill, Lancs. 
OponTocLossuMs.—The end of this month and the early part of September 
is the best time of the year to go through the Odontoglossum crispums, 
and any of the hybrids, which require potting, for with the cooler weather 
coming on they soon get over the check, and are not so liable to shrivel as 
when done earlier. It should not be made a hard and fast rule, however, to 
leave everything till the autumn, as if a plant is seen to be in bad health it 
is better repotted at once, whatever the time of the year, than left to linger 
on till the autumn. As a rule a plant that gets sickly can generally be 
brought back to good health by repotting. It also frequently happens that 
a plant will grow out of season, and this should also be repotted when the 
growth is about half made, and not left till the general potting season, for 
when the bulbs are made up they root very little, and have no chance to 
get established again before the plant shrivels. In repotting, if the old 
material is at all sour it should be cleaned away from the roots and care- 
fully replaced with new, keeping the plant just below the rim of the pot, 
and the young growth in the centre; then it will allow room for two year’s 
growth without again disturbing it. A mixture of Polypodium fibre, leaves 
(not leaf-mould), and moss suits them well, using quite half Polypodium, 
with crushed crocks and sand added to keep it porous. We top the pots up 
with the same mixture as is used for potting, as we find that the roots go 
down unto the pots better than when all moss is used for finishing the tops 
off. Plants that have been repotted should be staged separately from those 
that are only top-dressed, and then no mistakes will occur in watering. 
The stages should also be damped more frequently than where the top- 
