But
these gentlemen receive startling reports continually, honest enough for
the most part. Much experience and some loss have made them rather
cynical when a new wonder is announced. The particular case of Monsieur
St. Leger was complicated by the extreme resemblance which the foliage
of _Onc. Jonesianum_ bears to that of _Onc. cibolletum_, a species
almost worthless. Unfortunately the beautiful thing declines to live
with us--as yet.
_Cattleya Dowiana_ was rediscovered by Mr. Arce, when collecting birds:
it must have been a grand moment for Warscewicz when the horticultural
world was convulsed by its appearance in bloom. _Cattleya aurea_ had no
adventures of this sort. Mr. Wallis found it in 1868 in the province of
Antioquia, and again on the west bank of the Magdalena; but it is very
rare. This species is persecuted in its native home by a beetle, which
accompanies it to Europe not infrequently--in the form of eggs, no
doubt. A more troublesome alien is the fly which haunts _Cattleya
Mendellii_, and for a long time prejudiced growers against that fine
species, until, in fact, they had made a practical and rather costly
study of its habits. An experienced grower detects the presence of this
enemy at a glance. It pierces an "eye"--a back one in general,
happily--and deposits an egg in the very centre. Presently this growth
begins to swell in a manner that delights the ingenuous horticulturist,
until he remarks that its length does not keep pace with its breadth.
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