THE EUL OPH1ELLAS, 



263 



awarded a first class certificate by the 

 Orchid Committee of the Royal Horti- 

 cultural Society. The stem of the plant 

 curves and twines like a snake among 

 the branches of trees, its many roots 

 creeping over and under their bark. 

 The large and broad green leaves are 

 from 2\ to 3 feet in length. The flowers 

 are in racemes of about twenty and are 

 carried upon a spike of more than a 

 yard long. Each flower measures about 

 3 \ inches across, the sepals being a fine 

 rosy purple with a deep purple blotch 

 at the tip; the petals are purple and not \ 

 blotched. The lip is white with a broad 

 purple outer border and the throat is 

 white streaked with orange-yellow. 

 When dealing with imported plants the 

 freshly-arrived pieces should be placed 

 in crocks but without moss 



Culture. 1 • r 1 



on their surface; and, owing 

 to the rambling habit of the plant, shal- 

 low pans are better than either pots or 

 baskets but should be large enough to 

 allow the roots to spread freely. When 

 the plant begins to grow it should be 

 re-potted in the same kind of compost 

 as that advised for E. Elizabeths. There 

 is no need to raise the plant above the 

 rim of the pan, but lay it upon the com- 

 post with the base of the young growth 

 just touching the soil. For the first few 

 weeks after potting, keep the surface of 

 the compost just moist by sprinkling it 

 with tepid rainwater, but allow no water 

 to fall upon the plant. As soon as the 

 new roots are seen pushing through the 

 compost, prick in a few heads of living 

 moss over the surface, and gradually 

 increase the water supply. Place the 

 plant in a moist corner of the East India ! 



house or plant stove, where it can be 

 shaded from the sun at all times. Dur- 

 ing the winter months the plant should 

 be removed to a dry corner of the house, 

 but it must still be kept well watered at 

 the root. Cockroaches are very fond of 

 the roots of this species and they must be 

 sought at night and destroyed by beetle 

 poisons; woodliceare also troublesome 

 and should be trapped by pieces of raw 

 carrot or potato. 



Eulophiella Hamelinii. — Of this 

 rare plant little is known, and though 

 several pieces were brought to Europe 

 by M. Hamelin in 1900 none of them 

 lived. From a life-size painting of the 

 flowers shown by its finder, the plant 

 appears to be distinct and beautiful, 

 though I cannot now recall the details 

 of structure and colour sufficiently to 

 give a correct description. Like the 

 other kinds, it is from Madagascar, and 

 though first attempts have failed to esta- 

 blish it I trust we may yet see this rare 

 plant added to the two fine kinds now 

 successfully grown in Europe. 



W. H. WHITE. 



Burford Lodge, Dorking. 



Stories in the Garden. — A garden is a beau- 

 tiful book, writ by the ringer of God ; every 

 flower and every leaf is a letter. You have only 

 tolearnthem — andhe is a poorduncethatcan- 

 not,if he will, do that — to learn them and join 

 them, and then to go on reading, and you will 

 rind yourself carried away from the earth to 

 the skies by the beautiful story you are going 

 through. You do not know what beautiful 

 thoughts — for they are nothing short — grow 

 out of the ground, and seem to talk to a man. 

 And then there are some flowers, they always 

 seem to me like over-dutiful children : tend 

 them ever solittle,and they come up andflou- 

 rish, and show, as I may say, their bright and 

 happy faces to you. — Douglas Jerroi.d. 



r 4. 



