The winter and spring flowering members of the Dendrobium family are among the most beautiful, and they are certainly the most enjoyable, as at this season of the year (March) the greenhouse is a very comfortable place. And even a few green leaves seem to give more pleasure to many visitors than the finest collection would in the hot summer months.

Dendrobiums differ very much in appearance. Some are evergreen, others deciduous; some have short, stout, club-shaped bulbs with only a few leaves at the top; others again have tall, erect growing stems clothed with evergreen leaves their entire length, while others are drooping and deciduous. They also differ very much in their manner of flowering. All are easily grown when given proper attention. Nearly all of them are very tenacious of life, and very rarely die outright, but will cling to life under conditions that would kill almost any other plant. Yet when given a little care and attention they adapt themselves to their surroundings wonderfully well.

The culture of the different species, and the mode of treatment best suited to each, can only be gained after some experience. The application of water has much to do with the thrift of this grand genus; some of the species require water to be given from the syringe every day and from the watering-pot two or three times a week. Such sorts as Devonianum, Pierardi, and many others, require this treatment during the growing season. These kinds have long, slender stems; others that have stouter and more fleshy stems require much less water, and seem to enjoy drawing subsistence from their own storehouse, the old pseudo-bulbs. Some require a much longer period of rest than others; this is true of densiflorum, farmerii, thyrsi-florum, and others of the same character, for unless they have a long rest they do not flower freely.

Many of the Dendrobes make fine growths in the winter or what ought to be their resting period. This should be avoided as much as possible, as it always prevents profusion of bloom, and the plants generally make two in the year, the last not as strong as the first. I used to think, that too much moisture in the house was the cause of this, and probably it has something to do with it, but I am satisfied that over watering in the fall just as growth is being completed has more to do with this winter growth than atmospheric moisture afterward; as growth nears completion water should be given sparingly and the plants should have full exposure to the sunlight, with airy quarters, to ripen up their growths. With such species as nobile, Wardianum, Devonianum, etc., this is most essential; if too much water be given they will start into growth again, before, or just as the season's growth is completed, it is then impossible to check them without injury to the plants, and enough water should be given to keep the old bulbs plump until the young have made roots, when a little more may be given. But plants growing in winter will not require a third of the water that growing plants do in the summer.

I never give water in the winter unless I see signs of shrivelling when a little water at the root and a gentle syringe overhead restores them to proper condition.

The following have bloomed with us here and made the house gay all winter: D. nobile, in succession, D. Wardianum, D. lituiflorum, D» Cambridgianum, D. primulinum, D. densiflorum, D. Pierardi (this with more than 600 flowers), D. crassinode, D. Devonianum, D. pulchellum, D. superbum. The three last are just beginning to open their flowers now. Sharon, Pa., March, 1885.