134 THK FLORIST. 



and moisture at first is injurious to them. The moss should be 

 oraduallv moistened, and when they begin to grow and make roots 

 they should be potted or put on blocks or in baskets ; but care should 

 be taken not to have the pots too large : over-potting is dangerous, 



" As soon as they begin to grow, those which come from the 

 hotter parts of India should be put at the warmest end of the house; 

 but thev should not have too much moisture at first. Those which 

 come from the more temperate regions should be kept at the coolest 

 part of the house, and they should not be allowed to stand under any 

 drip, as this frequently rots the young shoots as soon as they appear. 

 Such plants as Vandas, Saccolabiums, Aerides, AngrEecums, Phalsen- 

 ODsis, are fastened on blocks as soon as they are received, and I place 

 them so that the plants hang downwards, in order that no water may 

 lodsre about them, till they begin to grow and form new roots : this 

 is much the safest mode of treating these valuable Orchids. This 

 is also the mode adopted by Messrs. Rollisson of Tooting, who are 

 among the most successful growers of these plants." 



Many persons possessing a small collection of Orchids, and who 

 dislike enterins: a damp Orchid-house, will be thankful to Mr. Williams 

 for the following directions respecting the ''Treatment of Plants in 

 Flower, and the best Mode of protracting their Bloom. 



"There are many Orchids that may be removed when in flower 

 to a much cooler house than that in which they are grown, or even 

 in a warm sitting-room. The following are among the advantages 

 of keeping them during their period of flowering in a cool and dry 

 atmosphere, rather than, as is frequently the case, in a hot and moist 

 house; in the latter, the flowers do not last nearly so long as they 

 do when moved to a cooler house or a warm room. Perhaps there 

 are not many cultivators who have studied this point more than my- 

 self, and I never found the plants injured by this treatment. Some 

 imagine that if they are put in a cool place they will be injured ; but 

 this, in my experience, has not occurred. During the time they are 

 in a room the temperature should not be below 50". At night the 

 room should be kept quite dry, and before they are removed from 

 the stove they should be put at the coolest end of it ; or, if there be 

 two houses, those that are in the hottest should be moved to the 

 coolest for a few days before being taken into the room, and they 

 should be allowed to get nearly dry, and should receive but ven,- little 

 water — only enough to keep the roots moist. The flowers should 

 not receive any moisture. 



" I name a few that I have tried in a room during the months of 

 May, June, July, and August. I have kept Saccolabium guttatum 

 in this way five weeks ; Aerides affine the same time ; A. odoratum 

 or A. roseum, and some of the Dendrobiums, viz. nobile and cseru- 

 lescens, I have kept in a room four and five weeks. D. moniliforme, 

 D, macrophyllum, D. pulchellum, D, Ruckerii, and D, secundum, 

 last a much longer time in bloom if they are kept cool. Brassias 

 and Oncidiums, Epidendrums, Odontoglossums, Cyrtochilums, Tri- 

 chopelia tortihs, Lycaste Skinnerii, L. aromatica, L. cruenta, Maxil- 

 laria tenuifolia, Aspasia lunata, and all the Cattleyas, succeed well 



