1879.] A FEW WORDS ABOUT ORCHIDS. 539 



Looked at from what may be considered a utilitarian point of view — 

 namely, the supply of cut-flowers for various purposes — some Orchids 

 stand unrivalled. Few if any blooms last so long in rooms after they 

 are detached from the plants. Apart altogether from their beauty, 

 this is a most important recommendation. Given a glass-house, what 

 can be grown in it that will yield a more plentiful crop of flowers at a 

 season when they are scarce, and valued, than such as Dendrobium 

 nobile, Coelogyne cristata, Laelia anceps, Lycaste Skinneri, Odontoglos- 

 sum Alexandras, O. pescatorei, Cypripedium insignis, Phaius grandi- 

 flora, Calanthe Veitchii, C. vestita oculata rubra, Zygopetalum Mackayii, 

 Pleiones, not to mention many others, none of which rank among the 

 very high-priced 1 Moreover, they can all be grown in the same house 

 — ia a most enjoyable temperature — by keeping those of them which 

 hail from the warmest latitudes at the warmest end of the house, and 

 those which are from higher and cooler quarters at the coolest end. 

 'None of them require a high temperature to grow them perfectly well. 

 Neither are any of them ranked among those which are difficult or 

 troublesome to manage ; and we have no hesitation in affirming that, 

 at the dead of winter, there is no other plants that are so useful for 

 cut-flowers, or more interesting in all respects. Most of those named 

 above last a long time in an ordinary sitting-room. Calanthes re- 

 main fresh, opening their unexpanded blooms, for six weeks, and the 

 Coelogyne for a month. Any one who has half-a-dozen good plants of 

 Dendrobium nobile can afford to cut an entire bloom-stem, and does not 

 need much besides a few sprigs of Fern to make a vase or glass look 

 charming for a considerable time. They have also the merit of packing 

 and carrying well; and no box or case of cut-flowers can be considered 

 complete without a few Orchids. 



Nearly all those named, and many more besides, thrive well in pot- 

 ting material composed of equal parts of the fibry part of peat and 

 sphagnum. The temperature required for Dendrobes, Phaius, Cal- 

 anthes, and Laelias, is a little higher than for the others, and they 

 should be at the warm end of the house, the Ccelogynes and Lycastes 

 at the middle, and the Cypripediums and Odontoglots at the coolest 

 end. In cold weather, 55° to 60° is sufficient for the former, and 5° 

 less for the latter. By a little difference in the extent of flow-pipes 

 next to the boiler, and by keeping the cool plants at the east end of 

 the house, a difference of 5° can easily be arranged without a division. 

 Of course it is always best when two compartments are at command ; 

 but these remarks are made in the interest of many who cannot have 

 two divisions devoted to Orchid-culture. 



Beginners would get most useful and sound instruction from such 

 works as Williams's ' Orchid-Growers' Manual ' and Burbidge's ' Cool 

 Orchids.' 



Subsequent to writing these remarks, we have eDJoyed an opportunity of 

 inspecting five collections, or rather selections, of Orchids, all of which are 



