July, iyi5-] 



THE ORCHID WORLD. 



219 



pests, woodlice being especially troublesome. 

 Under the new conditions the houses always 

 look neat and clean, the plants grow better, 

 and a more suitable atmosphere is produced. 



— Geo. E. Day, The (iardens, I' air I awn, 

 Putney. 



lis Si 



Staging. — With reference to the article on 

 staging in the June issue, it may interest 

 readers to know that in Mr. W. R. Lee's 

 collection at Plumpton Hall, Heywood, 

 considerable alterations have recently been 

 made. The first job was to lower the hot- 

 water pipes until they were about 3 feet below 

 the staging. At a distance of i foot above 

 the pipes zinc trays are erected, these being 

 2 inches deep and a little wider than the 

 pipes, and filled with limestone chippings, 

 which are kept continually moist by frequent 

 watering. This method effectually prevents 

 any unreasonably hot and dry air from 

 reaching the plants. We have entirely 

 discarded the practice of placing decayed 

 leaves in the houses, and find everything 

 much cleaner in consequence; very few insects 

 indeed are to be found. Our houses are now 

 fitted with two rows of bottom ventilators, 

 one on a level with the pipes, the other just 

 above the zinc trays. I always use the bottom 

 ones first, so that the air may become warm 

 before reaching the plants. The top row is 

 only used when an extra amount of ventila- 

 tion is required during very warm days. Our 

 method of arranging the plants is somewhat 

 different to that usually employed. We 

 endeavour to place every plant about g to 

 12 inches from the glass, so that they may all 

 receive the same amount of light and warmth 

 from the sun. In order to do this we use a 

 number of stands, varying in height from 6 to 

 1 8 inches ; the shortest are used for the back 

 row and the taller ones for the front rows of 

 plants. As a precaution against insect pests 

 each stand is surrounded by water. The 

 results have been astonishing. In every 

 house the plants look 50 per cent, better ; not 

 only are the new growths much stronger, but 

 the bulbs are particularly healthy, owing to 

 the bountiful supply of fresh air with its 



beneficial ripening effect, while the plants 

 appear less liable to insect attacks. C'ypri- 

 pcdiums throw flowers of larger size and 

 better colour, while Odontoglossums and 

 Miltonias have likewise improved. At night 

 time I give as much air as the weather 

 conditions will allow, for it is only right that 

 plants should receive the same treatment 

 under cultivation as they would get in their 

 native home. I feel that a good many 

 growers make a mistake in neglecting this 

 important point. The temperature should rise 

 gradually until mid-day and then slowly drop, 

 the lowest being at night-time, when ventila- 

 tion can be given without fear of injuring the 

 plants. Of course, I am writing of the 

 growing season, and not of a time when 

 severe frosts prevail. — C. Branch, The 

 Gardens, Plumpton Hall. 



RHYNCHOSTYLIS CCELESTIS. 



THIS attractive Siamese species, also 

 known as Saccolabium coeleste, first 

 flowered in the Burford collection in 

 1885, when it was described by Reichenbach 

 in the Gardeners Chronicle for May 30th. 

 Messrs. Sander and Sons thus describe it in 

 their Reichenbachia : — "It is quite distinct 

 from the majority of Saccolabiums in bearing 

 upright flower spikes. The largest number 

 of species in this handsome genus carry 

 pendulous, long racemes, of densely packed 

 blossoms, varying in colour from white, rose, 

 purple, violet, and orange-crimson, but no 

 kinds with which we are acquainted bear such 

 charming sapphire and azure-blue tipped 

 blossoms as S. coeleste, with just enough white 

 in the sepals and petals to make the flowers 

 perfectly exquisite. In a large batch of plants 

 there is an almost infinite variety in size, form 

 and colouring, sometimes the white colour 

 preponderating, at other times the blue. It is, 

 however, always a gem, and never fails to 

 command admiration ; we should be glad to 

 see this elegant genus more generally 

 cultivated. 



" Our collector describes this species as 

 growing upon trees in Siam in hot, moist 



