ON SHOWING SEEDLINGS. 
253 
column, which is short, cylindrical, a little 
bent, smooth, and of a yellow colour. 
Rhyncopera punctata is the second species 
of" the genus that has been discovered. It 
differs from It. pedunculata by its smaller 
stems and leaves, and by the greater number, 
as well as the more delicate colouring, of the 
flowers. 
The habitat of Rhyncopera punctata is on 
the branches of various forest-trees in the pro- 
vince of Caraccas, in which situations it forms 
massy tufts of considerable size. The eleva- 
tion of the district in which it was found is 
stated to be from 5,000 to 7,000 feet. It 
flowers from August till October. 
It likes a dryish moderate temperature, 
vs^hich in its native habitat it obtains through 
the uninterrupted gentle east wind during the 
rainy winter season. In the culture of those 
tropical plants which grow in a shady situa- 
tion, great care must be observed to avoid 
sudden transitions in the moisture of the at- 
mosphere. The difference in the temperature 
which they require for their perfect and uni- 
form development is less definite. Tlie shade 
which is formed by the foliage of the trees in 
the forests not only produces a reflection of 
the light beneficial to the growing plants, but 
produces a more uniform warmth, while it 
lessens the excessive action of the direct rays 
of the sun and the evaporation. Tliis is, there- 
fore, the more to be borne in mind Avith those 
plants not having their roots in the soil, but 
growing on the surface of other substances. 
The effects of the direct rays of the mid- day 
sun for a few minutes, or the cold condensa- 
tion of one night, nviy be fatal to, or at least 
A-ery prejudicial to the health of, the plants. 
So also is extreme dryness very injurious. It 
happens that orchids, and epiphytes in general, 
are not uniformly (commonly) found on the 
smooth-barked plants, though the stem of a 
palm or other monocotyledonous kinds affords 
them such a position. For the most part, they 
prefer a stem (or branch) the bark of which is 
rough and cracked, in which the necessary mois- 
ture for the roots is retained, but w^iich affords 
them greater facilities for being nourished by 
the condensation of the atmosphere. 
ON SHOWING SEEDLINGS IN STANDS 
OF NAMED FLOWERS. 
As there seems to be a growing disposition 
to upset laws in Societies as well as govern- 
ments, and that, too, by parties who have not 
given themselves the trouble of considering, 
but who jump at conclusions of their own, 
and would mould everything to their own 
fancy, we think it nothing more than right to 
show now and then how very much they lose 
sight of one side of a question while they stare 
fully at the otlier. It has been suggested in a 
cavalier sort of tone, that there is no objec- 
tion, or rather there should be no objection, 
to a man showing a flower of his own raising 
in his own stand ; and then, as if there were 
but one point on w^hich the objection has been 
founded, it is rather vauntingly remarked, tliat 
with regard to the objection that a seedling 
known to be in only one person's hands marks 
a stand so that the judges would know it, it 
does not hold good ; and then there is a good 
deal about the honesty of judges, and men of 
honour', and gentlemen. The less that is said 
on that score, the better. We have known 
gentlemen, to whom prizes were no pecuniary 
object, do very shabby things to get them 
— for instance, drive round among their ac- 
quaintance to pick up fine blooms, and show 
them as their own ; and plant judges at exhi- 
bitions, to be appointed as if by accident, that 
they may secure prizes ; and there are many 
other things that give us a very poor opinion 
of the natural honour and honesty of a good 
many florists and amateurs. Therefore we 
must be pardoned if, in the face of these facts 
of dishonesty, we repudiate the twaddle about 
honour and honesty. This was only one of 
the objections, and there are many, but one 
of these is overwhelming. The very first 
object, and it is of the greatest importance, is 
the raising of new flowers, not to give the 
man who raises them the means of beating all 
others with them, for that would be destruc- 
tive of all the best feelings among florists, but 
to generally advance the flower. The second, 
and it is as important as the first, is the dis- 
semination of the flower among florists ; and 
the wisest and best rule that ever emanated 
from a Society of Florists was that of the 
Metropolitan Society, Avhich shut out seed- 
lings from being exhibited in stands until 
they were fairly sold among all who chose to 
buy. The proposition that a man who raised 
a flower, besides the credit of approval while 
a seedling, should be able to show it in a 
stand among named flowers, while nobody else 
could get at it — the selfishness and cupidity of 
one capable of keeping in really good flowers 
instead of letting other people have them, 
that he might enjoy the monopoly of his own 
luck — could not be better met than by the 
sweeping law which generally and judiciously 
prevails, that seedlings not let out to the public 
should not compete in stands of named flowers 
that were let out. We feel ashamed that any- 
body should be mean enough and selfish 
enough to wish to keep in his own hand a 
flower which is a decided advance upon what 
otlier people had got ; but we rejoice that 
there is a law to prevent the success of a 
