﻿THE ORCHID REVIEW. 



[April, 1904. 



have been introduced, it cannot be called common in cultivation, partly, 

 perhaps, because it is not a very accommodating plant. It should be 

 attached to a block of wood, with a little fibrous peat and living sphagnum 

 about its roots, and be placed in the warmest house, in the lightest possible 

 position, and syringed freely during the growing season. Very little is 

 known of the conditions under which it grows in a wild state. 



LEAF-MOULD FOR ORCHIDS. 



Much has been already written upon this subject, and those who have had 

 experience of the material under proper conditions are inclined to consider 

 the question as now definitely settled, and settled in its favour. Still there 



Editor, have asked for further notes from cultivators, and I send you my 

 experiences, in the hope that they may be a guide to those who are meeting 

 with difficulties in its use, or that it may induce a further trial from those 

 who, most likely from non-observance of essential conditions, have returned 

 to the old mixture of peat and moss. 



When leaf-mould was first suggested to me, I was told that the Belgian 

 mould was the only one that could be used with any prospect of success, 

 and my first trials were made with this. At the same time, having a 

 plentiful supply of oak leaves, I began to prepare 

 When this was ready for use, I sent sam; 

 analyst, who gave me the following resul 



Water (lost at 2 12F.) 

 * Vegetable matter 



Phosphoric 

 Potash 

 Alkaline sal 

 (Oxides of i: 

 Sand ... 



al of r 

 of it and of the Belgis 



ENGLISH. 



5072 

 3378 



*Containing nitrogen -58 "68 



The Analyst added that he did not see any reason why plants that would 

 grow in the one soil should not equally flourish in the other, and his 

 opinion has been fully justified. 



From that time I used my own material, and no other, but I mix a 

 greater proportion of sand with it than is mentioned in the English 

 analysis. We are now (March) using last autumn's oak leaves, and our 



