215 



VALUE OF COCOA-XUT FIBRE REFUSE IN THE 

 CULTIVATION OF ORCHIDS. ' 



EW plants have so exercised the intelligence of horticulturists, have caused 

 so much groping in the dark, or so many divers experiences, as Orchids. 

 At first it was thought advisable to place them upon the summit of a 

 little hill or mound, formed of little cubes of turfy earth, or even of 

 compact peat, and disposed in such a manner as to allow the air to cir- 

 culate among tliem, the whole being in pots. Then they fixed among the heaps 

 fine chips of wood, which traversed the said cubes, at the same time that others 

 placed vertically supported the pseudo-bulbs. 



To this primitive mode were added pieces of rotten wood, in order to furnish, 

 as was thought, a certain nouiishment to the roots. Very soon for the pots were 

 substituted large square baskets, formed of the branches of trees ; then pots more or 

 less pierced with holes. Later still, the little cubes of earth were replaced by 

 common moss, still intermixed with bits of rotten wood, and the detritus fouad in 

 the cavities of old trees. 



At the same time that these different methods were being largely practised, they 

 used also branches of trees with tlieir bark on (oak was preferred), upon which the 

 orchids were fixed, the rhizoraatic base being surrounded by a tuft of moss, in 

 order to hold a slight and proper degree of moisture. This method is still very 

 generally followed. 



Until very recently, pots, baskets, and branches of tree, have been suspended 

 liere and there in oi'chid houses ; and certainly the coup-cVml which they formed 

 was anything but agreeable, and served to inspire in many amateurs a sort of repul- 

 sion for the cultivation of these plants, which have otherwise every desirable merit. 



But latterly, without abandoning entirely the system of suspended branches, we 

 more willinglv cultivate orchids in vases, more or less ornamented and pierced on all 

 sides ; these vases are arranged upon the pounded dross of iron in a sort of amphi- 

 theatre, which presents to the eye, by the diversity of the habit and inflorescence of 

 the plants, an aspect truly ornamental, and very much preferable to the inelegant 

 suspensions. Some plant orchids in thick tufts of Sphagnum, disposed in ridges. 

 But in this last method these tufts sink down through the syringing and watering, 

 and become so compact that the roots of the orchids, which, as every one knows, 

 are essentially ethereal, penetrate it with diflBculty, which necessarily influences 

 them to the prejudice of their vegetation and iuHorescence. 



Struck by the inconvenience which has just been mentioned, several who were 

 interested in the cultivation of orchids set themselves to discover a substance more 

 suitable, more easily permeable by air and water, to replace with advantage the 

 SpJutymim ; and the individual who first discovered it must have cried out with joy 

 jfcwre^^.' an exclamation which has been preferred for discoveries far less happy; 

 and this m-aterial is cocoa-nut fibre. 



It is only recently that this new mode of plantation for orchids has been tried, 

 and it has been in every case followed with complete success. We regret that we 

 are unable to mention the name of the horticulturist or amateur who first used it 

 for the purpose. 



No substance is by its nature at once firm and spongy, so well adapted for the 

 cultivation of orchids. The air and tlie water will circulate in it with the greatest 

 facility ; the orcliideous roots can penetrate it freely in every way, and find easily 

 the humidity necessary to the life of these plants, with something more — a certain 

 humus, or sort of abundant manure which exists between the fibres and surrounds 

 them. 



All kinds of orchids, whether from America, India, or Africa, flourish in this 

 new soil ; and there is no longer a necessity for suspending them on branches or in 

 baskets, so displeasing to the eye. Prepare a ridge, raised high in the middle, with 

 sloping sides, and in it plunge tlie pierced vases, well drained and full of the said 

 fibres, in a round hillock ; the whole to be in a large stove with a low roof, and so 

 arranged that the tall-growing species are in the centre, and those of less elevation 

 at the sides. Against this method of cultivation it has been urged, and that certainly 

 without cause, that this substance gives birth to champignons; but even if it did, 

 which it does not, the champignons do not interfere with the orchids. 



