168 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[June, 



Greenhouse and House Gardening. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



COOL HOUSE ORCHIDS. 



BY CHAS. H. SNOW, BALTIMOKE, MD. 



Since writing the Orchid Articles in the 

 Gardener's Monthly, I have received let- 

 ters of enquiry on the subject of Orchids, and 

 others requesting me to continue the articles. 

 I hoped that some of the older Orchidists would 

 have taken up the subject and handled it more 

 ably than I possibly can. Without going into a 

 detailed account of any particular species, I 

 will give a few notes on the general culture of 

 Orchids as particularly relates to them as ama- 

 teur's flowers. After nearly twenty-tive years 

 experience with every class of plants, I find 

 Orchids the most beautiful, wonderful, varied 

 in form, and easiest cultivated of all plants. 

 The odor of Orchids alone is a study. Some , 

 species, it is true, are odorless or unpleasant, | 

 but the greater part are fragrant at some time ' 

 in the twenty-four hours. The high price at 

 which Orchids are held in comparison with 

 most other plants has been a drawback to their 

 more extended culture, and has led too many 

 beginners into the error of commencing with a 

 lot of cheap, half established plants,— plants 

 that even in the hands of an expert would be i 

 hard to save, and would only come into bloom 

 at the end of three or four years. It is no use 

 to expect to get up a collection of Orchids 

 without spending some money, but at the same 

 time the money that it would take to buy one 

 fine oil painting would make a good start in 

 Orchid culture, and my advice would be to any 

 beginner to place whatever sum you decide to 

 spend in the hands of a reliable Orchid dealer, 

 and tell him to send you blooming [plants of 

 reliable kinds. These will give you flowers 

 immediately. Care should be taken not tofget 

 species that bloom all at the same time. 



I would say for those who are not up in Or- 

 chids, that a continuous bloom may be kept up 

 from the beginning to the end of the year 

 with quite a moderate collection of plants. I 

 would here remark, that I never made the ac- 

 quaintance of any one that had been successful 



in cultivating a few Orchids, who did not desire 

 to add to his collection, and there are plenty to 

 pick from. These may be bought, also estab- 

 lished -, or they may be bought more cheaply 

 newly imported. Starting newly imported Or- 

 chids requires considerable knowledge and 

 patience. I have had Orchids to make blooms 

 the first year, but it is oftener three or four years 

 before flowers appear in fine condition. In a 

 former article I gave directions as to the proper 

 mode of handling newly imported Orchids, but 

 as it is a subject of so much importance, I will 

 state it again. Most beginners err in keeping^ 

 all Orchids too wet, and especially those that 

 are dormant or not established. Most Orchids 

 have bulbs, and these contain the food for the 

 new growth until they put out roots to sustain 

 themselves. I have seen an Orchid make fine 

 growth for a season, depending on the old bulb 

 for sustenance, and then when it had made a 

 new bulb, send out roots from it. All dead 

 roots, bulbs and leaves should be cut off", and 

 pots used for most Orchids as small as the plant 

 can be potted in, said pot being filled two-thirds 

 with broken pots or charcoal. Then place 

 them in an half shaded place, and keep the 

 sphagnum moss just moist, — not wet, — and they 

 must be watched, and as they start, great care 

 should be taken that the young growth is not 

 rotted off" by water getting into it. They may 

 stay in these pots a year, and if well grown,, 

 should be repotted into larger pots^ care being 

 taken not to break the roots, and for this pur- 

 pose the pots have often to be broken in repot- 

 ting, as the roots will very often be so closely 

 attached to the pots as to make it impossible to 

 detach without spoiling them. 



Another cause of disappointment is the want, 

 of correct knowledge with regard to the coun- 

 tries from whence they come, also the elevation 

 at which they are obtained. This must be 

 apparent to any one who will take time to 

 think on the subject. Now, it is good culture 

 to keep all Mexican, Central American, and 

 the greater part of the East Indian Orchids, 

 coming from either high altitudes or latitude, 

 pretty dry and cool from November to March^ 



