136 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[May 



down to keep off the heavy rains ; all the rest 

 of the time the plants were fully exposed. All 

 were in pots or baskets, and were watered every 

 morning and syringed overhead late in the 

 evening. The lot came from Van Houtte 

 and consisted of ^Erides, Vanda, Dendrobes, 

 Laelias, Oncids, and Cypripediums. Two or three 

 died, but I think they were in bad health when 

 put out. When taken into the house about 

 October 1st, all were in good health and very 

 clean. They had not made as much growth as 

 I have often seen made under glass, but it was 

 very solid. At another time I was altering one 

 of my greenhouses, and finding that some of 

 my orchids were in the way, I put them out in 

 the open air, where they were shaded from the 

 midday sun. I do not remember what species 

 I put out, but Sobralia macrantha, some Cat- 

 tleyas and Epidendrums bloomed very well, and 

 all did well. I am sure that many of our orchids 

 are too much shaded, and that growths are 

 slender and soft. Any one who has handled 

 newly imported orchids must have noticed that 

 quite small bulbs of difterent species have 

 bloomed, and this was no doubt owing to the 

 fact they got more air and sun and were better 

 ripened. The writer spent many years in 

 the tropics, and rarely remembers seeing or- 

 chids growing in dense shade, and Cattleyas, 

 Laelias and many Oncids seem to like plenty of 

 sun. I have seen thirty days together in Brazil 

 without a drop of rain, and the thermometer 

 stood all the time from 65° to 90°, with hot. dry- 

 ing winds. All orchids coming from elevated 

 points are subject to great change of tempera- 

 ture on the same day. I am sure I have seen a 

 50° change from 4 A. m. until midday. I have 

 lost more orchids by keeping them too hot and 

 damp than by dryness, and this is the cause that 

 so many newly imported orchids are lost. We 

 are so anxious to get them into growth that we 

 often damp off the young growth, and it may be 

 months before there is another new growth. I 

 believe that most orchids are better started on 

 blocks of wood, with a little moss, and then put 

 in baskets or pots when established. 



Gardener's Monthly of October, 1873, he will 

 find an article on page 303, written by myself, 

 on steam heating, and radiating in the same 

 manner he now thinks such a success ; in fact it 

 is a success. But as I added greenhouses, and 

 enlarged those already built, I found there was a 

 waste of steam in using two-inch pip)€, and 

 radiating the way I was doing. Consequently, I 

 take steam from the dome of the boiler in a one- 

 inch i>ipe, and heat the last-built houses, and 

 have taken out all of the two-inch pipe save 

 about twelve feet, and would have dispensed 

 with that had it not already been in the boiler. 

 From the two-inch pipe I take six one inch 

 pipes for the heating of the other houses. 



I grow and use more cut flowers for my busi- 

 ness than all the other greenhouses heated by 

 hot water in and about Chicago. My business 

 has frequently taken me to their houses for the 

 past eight years for cut flowers, and I can but 

 seldom find what I want to use in my business. 

 In greenhouses heated by steam, flowers are 

 more abundant. 



I think if florists were not so negligent in com- 

 paring notes of their experience and results 

 through the Monthly, we would advance more 

 in improvements, with better results. 



STEAM HEATING IN CHICAGO. 



BY W. D. ALLEN, CHICAGO, ILL. 



By what authority does Walter M. Taber, of 

 Detroit, Mich., state in the Gardener's Monthly 

 of February, 1882. that steam heating in Chicago 

 has not proved a success ? If he will refer to the 



RONDOLETIA SPECIOSA MAJOR. 



BY C. E. PARNELL, GARDENER TO W. D. F. MANICE, 

 ESQ., QUEENS, L. I. 



The showy Rondoletia — Rondoletia speciosa 

 major is a comparatively rare evergreen stove 

 or hothouse plant belonging to the natural order 

 Cinchonacese. It forms, when full grown, a 

 dwarf shrub of compact habit from five to seven 

 feet in height, the young branches having a 

 drooping habit, and produces its richly colored 

 flowers in large terminal corymbs in the great- 

 est profusion from September to January. The 

 leaves are of a glossy green color, and as the 

 flowers are remarkably firm in texture, they re- 

 main in perfection for a considerable length of 

 time. The individual flowers in size and shape 

 somewhat resemble those of a Phlox. In color 

 they are of a rich orange, gradually becoming 

 lighter towards the centre. 



It is unfortunately a plant of slow growth, and 

 many years must elapse before one can obtain a 

 satisfactory specimen ; but when once obtained 

 it will be found well worth all the time and care 

 bestowed upon it. It requires, and must have, 

 good drainage, and requires a compost com- 



