February  20,  lb02. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
161 
Calanthe  Veitclii  variety.  I 
One  commonly  sees  slight  variations  of  colour  in  a  number  of  i 
plants  of  Calanthe  Veitchi  (a  bigeneric  hybrid  from  Calanthe 
vestita  x  Limatodes  rosea),  but  it  will  be  admitted  that  such 
marked  differences  as  that  presented  in  the  illustration  on  this 
page  are  rare,  and  when  such  may  be  produced,  they  are  sufficient 
to  constitute  a  very  distinct  variety.  Our  illustration  of  a 
raceme  produced  from  a  plant  grown  in  the  Rangemore  Gardens, 
Burton-on-Trent,  some  years  ago,  shows  a  partial  reversion  of 
quired.  When  the  raft  is  badly  decayed,  it  is,  of  course  necessary 
to  give  a  new  one,  but  where  only  a  little  of  the  wood  is  gone 
this  decayed  portion  may  easily  be  cut  away  with  a  sharp  knife, 
leaving  the  sound  wood  beneath. 
An  excellent  plan  with  plants  that  are  easily  injured  by  dis¬ 
turbance  is  to  have  a  fairly  large  vessel  of  tepid  water,  and 
placing  the  plant  in  this,  work  all  the  old  compost  from  about  the 
roots  with  the  fingers.  Softened  as  it  is  by  the  water,  it  will 
come  away  easily,  and  the  syringe  may  be  used  to  finish  off  any 
chance  bits  that  remain.  The  plants  should  be  hung  up  after¬ 
wards  in  a  dry  warm  house,  and  when  all  are  thoroughly  dry  all 
decayed  roots  should  be  cut  clean  out  with  a  sharp  knife, 
also  any  old  and  worn-out  pseudo-bulbs  that  are  of  no  further  use 
to  the  plant.  Orchids  do  not  like  the  knife,  and  only  that  portion 
that  is  really  useless  to  the  plant  should  be  cut  out,  back  leafless 
shrivelled  bulbs,  and  decayed  portions  of  the  rhizomes. 
A  blunt  dibber  and  a  sharp  one  should  be  procured  for  fixing 
the  compost,  the  latter  for  use  under  the  roots,  and  in  places 
where  the  blunt  one  cannot.  A  few  pieces  of  crocks  and  char- 
'the  hybrid,  and  so  far  as  the  form  and  colour  of  the  sepals  and 
l>etals  are  to  be  considered,  the  Limatodes  is  more  apparent,  but 
the  lip  proves  the  potency  of  C.  vestita.  The  heavy,  clustered 
appearance  of  the  raceme  is  another  point  of  difference  from  the 
true  form  of  C.  Veitchi,  and  is  of  additional  interest.  Here  the 
lip  is  white  and  the  sepals  rosy. 
The  Week’s  Cultural  Notes. 
Laolia  anceps  and  similar  Orchids  that  now  need  repotting 
are  often  disturbed  more  than  is  necessary  at  the  roots  Avhen 
these  are  growing  on  the  trellised  rafts  used  for  this  class.  In 
many  cases  they  are  taken  off  and  transferred  to  new  oneS) 
when  a  little  new  compost  placed  about  them  is  all  that  is  re¬ 
coal  may  be  introduced  with  the  peat  and  mbss,  aiid  ^11  trimmed 
off  neatly  with  a  pair  of  strong  scissors.  This  plan  will  go  a 
long  way  to  prevent  that  troublesome  shrivelling  of  the  pseudo¬ 
bulbs  before  they  have  time  to  re-establish  themselves  that  is  so 
common  with  this  plant. 
Watering  must  be  very  judiciously  done  after  repotting  of 
any  kind,  and  with  those  plants  that  are  suspended  in  the  house 
a  few  light  dewings  from  the  syringe  just  to  keep  the  moss  alive 
are  all  that  is  necessary  until  root  action  recommences.  When 
the  new  roots  begin  to  run  in  the  peat  and  moss  gradually 
I  increase  the  supply,  and  as  new  compost  usually  dries  quicker 
I  than  old,  more  frequent  applications  will  be  required  than  for 
'  plants  with  old  compost  about  them.  Only  guard  against  getting 
