64 



THE ORCHID WORLD. 



[DecembtT, 191 3. 



ORCHIDS AT LANGLEY, SLOUGH. 



THE Oichid Nursery of Messrs. Flory 

 and Black, Langley, Slough, is quite 

 modern in its arrangement and struc- 

 ture, consisting of eight houses, four running 

 from each side of a corridor. The houses are 

 about 50 feet each in length, six of them 

 being 12-14 feet wide, while two are large 

 houses with centre and side stages. They 

 are strongly built, amply provided with 

 heating equipment, and being m an open 

 district, and on a fine healthy soil, they 

 are admirable " growing " houses. A well- 

 adapted potting shed is attached, so that the 

 whole block is self-contained and complete. 



The first house entered is where the work 

 of raising the warmer kinds of Orchids is 

 carried on. It is full of seedlings in various 

 sizes of growth up to two or three bulbs, and 

 composed of Cattleya, Lselia, Cypripedium, 

 and Sophronitis hybrids, the majority of 

 which are secondary crosses, many being from 

 Brasso-Cattleyas, but it is impossible on this 

 occasion to go into details of the parentage. 

 Seed is germinating quite freely both in and 

 out of a close case, and Mr. Black is 

 confident of abundant results in this house. 

 It is possible to get almost any temperature 

 without there being any " fiery " smell, and 

 the same can be said of all the other houses. 

 From the roof of this house a good plant of 

 the rare Cirrhopetalum Rothschildianum is 

 suspended. 



The next house is full of Cypripedium 

 hybrids, flowering for the first time, among 

 which are very many beautiful varieties. An 

 interesting plant m flower is C. niveum x 

 T. B. Haywood, largely partaking of the 

 niveum in form. Several very fine varieties 

 of C. Idma were noted, and a good many 

 worthy things that are to be grown until 

 stronger. 



Another house is filled with Odontoglossums 

 and Disas, many O. crispums of a fine type 

 being in flower. There are several hundred 

 Odontoglossum hybrids, Odontiodas, etc., in 

 this house, a good solid-coloured percultum 

 being in flower. The Disas form an 

 interesting collection and succeed exceedingly 



well in this house. There is a vigorous batch 

 of D. luna, probably the best in the country, 

 and also D. grandiflora, .which has been raised 

 from seed. These should make an excellent 

 show when in flower. There is also a number 

 of seedlings raised between these two, the 

 stronger of which may flower next year. 

 Some Odontoglossum seed had just been 

 sown, and there is every confidence that it 

 will germinate freely in this house. Several 

 Odontiodas carrying pods were noticed. 



The next two houses are filled with the 

 larger plants of the collection, and include 

 many secondary hybrids of L. purpurata, 

 Brassavola Digbyana, batches of Laelio- 

 Cattleya Canhamiana, L.-C. callistoglossi, 

 and L.-C. Dominiana, the latter being well 

 represented by the variety langleyensis. A 

 plant of Lcelio-Cattleya Nella is in bud and 

 shows much promise. Much is expected from 

 this, as the only other plant of the small batch 

 to flower received a First-class Certificate two 

 years ago. It is a hybrid between L.-C. 

 Dominiana langleyensis and C. labiata. The 

 fine L.-C. Invincible var. Orama, w^hich 

 received an Award of Merit, April, 191 2, is 

 now in sheath, and should flower well. The 

 parentage is L.-C. Dominiana and L.-C. 

 bletchleyensis. These two houses contain 

 several hundred plants in sheath, and on the 

 vigorous plants a fine display of bloom will 

 be seen in the spring time. A plant of L.-C. 

 Bola (labiata x callistoglossa) was in flower, 

 the lip being deep-purple and self-coloured, 

 while the sepals and petals were of excellent 

 shape, little trace of the Lselia parent being 

 in evidence. 



A number of albino Cattleyas were noted, 

 including C. Mossiae Wageneri, C. Gaskelliana 

 alba, C. Mrs. Myra Peeters, C. labiata alba, 

 C. TrianjE alba, C. Dusseldorfei Undine, C. 

 Skinneri alba, and Laslia pumila alba. In the 

 next two houses, which are also filled with 

 Laelio-Cattleyas and Cattleya hybrids, many 

 interesting and important crosses were 

 noticed, to which we hope to refer another 

 time. Amongst those in flower was a fine 

 Cattleya Oriel (Mantinii x Hardyana), of 



