﻿i66 



THE ORCHID REVIEW. 



In conclusion let me presume to compliment Mr. Potter on his able 

 exposition of the use of leaf soil, and the possible abuse of same, it seems 

 to me this is the best and most instructive article yet written on this subject, 

 which is of vital interest to all cultivators of Orchids. E. O. Orpet. 



South Lancaster, Mass., U.S.A. 



The following note from American Gardening (p. 321) is interesting as 

 showing that Orchids can be successfully grown in leaf-mould in America. 

 It is accompanied by an illustration reproduced from a photograph. 



" Mr. Rothwell's gardener, Mr. Johansson, exhibited a well-flowered 

 Odontoglossum Pescatorei, carrying a spike with 45 flowers, at a meeting 

 of the Boston Gardeners' and Florists' Club on April 20th. The plant was 

 grown in a 4-inch pot, grown in leaf mould for two years, surfaced with 

 sphagnum moss- One crock was used for drainage. For comparison a 

 plant of the same variety grown in fern fibre was shown. This carried 

 only six flowers, although the bulb was equally as large as the one grown 

 in leaf mould. It, however, had better roots, and possibly a year hence 

 conditions may be reversed." 



The plant showed excellent culture, and is very interesting at this 

 particular time when such diverse views are expressed on this subject. Mr 

 Johansson stated that the plant had not been fed at all. 



W. N. Craig. 



ORCHIDS AT KEW. 



Hand-List of Orchids cultivated in the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. Second 



edition. 12mo, pp. 229. 

 The collection of Orchids at Kew is well known to be a thoroughly 

 representative one, and a glance through the second edition of the above- 

 named list, which has just appeared, will furnish a better idea of its 

 character than any number of statistics. In the preface, however, we are 

 told that the collection now contains 220 genera and 1850 species 

 including well-marked hybrids. 



The arrangement is alphabetical, and includes the name, authority, 

 native country, and, when possible, a reference to a published figure; to- 

 give an example :— " Ada aurantiaca, Lindl. Columbia. Bot. Mag. t. 

 5435." It occupies 229 pages, but is printed on one side of the paper only. 



The re-construction of the houses is thus alluded to in the preface to 

 the second edition : — " The Kew collection has much improved in health 

 since the re-construction in 1898 of the houses (Nos. 13 and 14) accessible 

 to the public. These were originally erected in 1868, and were 13 feet 

 high. They have now been reduced to nine feet. This has the double 

 advantage of bringing the plants more closely to the light as well as to the 



