C)c-t()ber, 1912.] 
THl-: ORCHID WORLD. 
9 
kind 
for the larger plants that 
have reached flowering- 
size. 
All plants, more 
especially Orchids, possess 
the power of adapting 
themselves, and this in no 
small way, to a changed 
condition of surroundings. 
But for this aptitude many 
of our finest plants would 
long since have perished 
and remain forgotten. 
The adaptation of the 
plant does not take place 
at a rapid rate, and, great 
as the possibilities are, all 
extreme changes must be 
carried out with discretion, 
or failure will be our only 
revv'ard. Thus we may 
learn the reason why poor 
results oftentimes follow 
the taking of a delicate 
plant from a soft compost 
of leaf-soil or moss and 
placing it immediately 
into Osmunda fibre. True it is that the plants 
eventually make sturdy growth, but if the 
compost had been gradually altered during 
successive pottings and the plant thereby 
allowed to slowly become accustomed to its 
better and more lasting compost a much more 
rapid reaching of the flowering condition 
would be produced, for the plant would 
receive the minimum amount of check. 
How often should water be applied is an 
important question frequently asked by 
amateurs. No definite answer can be given, 
for so many factors, such as size or kind of 
pot or basket the plants are growing in, the 
amount of atmospheric moisture present, and 
the condition or vigour of the plant, all have 
some bearing on the question. 
Excess of moisture at the root inevitably 
brings rapid decay of these organs of nutrition, 
while an overclryness frequently produces a 
stunted habit of growth. The happy medium 
is only produced by careful attention and 
The packing 
Messrs. 
of a large consignment of Osmunda fibre for 
Sander & Sons, State of New York, U.S.A. 
m 
studying the p.ants' natural requirements and 
climate. Stiff and fleshy growing species will 
stand and, m fact, delight in a somewhat dry 
compost, yet others with thin and delicate 
foliage require an almost constant supply of 
moisture. Of the former class a good 
example is Brassavola Digbyana, and of the 
latter Odontoglossum crispum. 
The porous nature of Osmunda readily 
admits of a larger supply of water being given 
to the plant than if the compost consisted of 
leaf-soil or soft peat ; but here again discretion 
is required, for much will depend on whether 
the fibre is loosely or very tightly packed in 
the pot. An overmoist condition encourages 
the growth of slime and other low forms of 
vegetable life which greatly retard the 
aeration of the compost, and nothing is more 
distasteful to a plant than to be kept in a 
sour, badly ventilated compost. 
Large solid masses of Osmunda make 
useful receptacles upon which to place certain 
