178 



Note upon Cattleya guttata, 



sionally five or six are seen, and possibly more. The specimen to 

 which I allude had no fewer than twenty-four flowers on one 

 raceme, and was altogether, with the exception of an Aerides cor- 

 nutum in the possession of Messrs. Loddiges, the most noble 

 specimen of this natural order of plants that I have had the 

 good fortune to observe. The Members of the Society will, there- 

 fore, be glad to learn by the following extracts from letters of 

 Mr. W. Perrin, Mr. Harrison's gardener, what method was 

 pursued to produce this really wonderful individual. 



" The soil in which I grow Cattleyas is a compost of peat earth 

 and broken potsherds in equal quantities. I always pot at the time 

 the young shoots begin to grow ; I do not use very large pots, but 

 endeavour to proportion the pot to the size of the plant. In pot- 

 ting, I always keep the plant a little higher than the top of the pot, 

 as these plants suffer from being disturbed in their roots too often. 

 I do not pot them oftener than can possibly be avoided. The 

 Cattleya guttata, the flower of which was sent to the Horticultural 

 Society, has not been repotted for the last three years. I keep the 

 plants in rather a low heat during the winter months, the ther- 

 mometer generally ranging from 50° to 60°. As the spring ap- 

 proaches, I increase the heat, keeping the hothouse more moist. 

 In the latter spring and summer months, the temperature is main- 

 tained between 70 and 100 degrees, and the moisture is increased 

 as much as possible, with a little shade in very bright weather over 

 the glass. When the plants have done flowering and the young 

 shoots cease to grow, I begin to lessen the quantity of water, 

 till the approach of winter, when it is entirely withheld for that 

 season. As soon in the spring as they begin to make their young 

 shoots, they are potted, if I judge they want it ; if not, they are 

 top-dressed, and I begin to water, as I left off, by degrees, till the 

 summer, when I water very freely." 



Mr. Perrin is equally successful in his propagation of Cattleyas, 

 and gives the following account of his plan : — 



