764 



HORTICULTURE 



May 21, 1910 



roof structure (ground glass) run- 

 ning north and south, each 30 x 58 

 feet, one of them divided olE in two 

 sections; these two ranges are con- 

 nected at the south end with a little 

 three-quarter span 18 x 24 feet. 

 Back of this and connected with it 

 is a little old fashioned house 

 11 X 31 feet, running north and 

 south. This is all the glass here 

 except some 18 sashes, but these are 

 seldom used for orchids. It is sur- 

 prising what a great variety of 

 plants are grown in these five small 

 houses outside the collection of 

 orchids which alone contains about 

 65 genera and 325 species and 



i varieties and altogether about 1500 



i plants. I will say right here that 



' all of them are not doing as well 



j as I would like to see them do, but 



I there is a good reason for it and 



i that is simply — too much work for 



: one man. 



' The little old house last men- 

 tioned is used mostly for calceo- 

 larias, primulas and like plants re- 

 quiring but little heat and during 

 winter no orchids are grown in it 

 except that when I want to hold back Coelogynes or 

 other orchids, it makes a good place for that purpose. 

 During summer it is well adapted for the cooler grow- 

 ing Cypripediums, Odontoglossums, Masdevallias and 

 many others requiring shade and a cool, moist 

 atmosphere. I have made lath shades for this house 

 out of firring strip and plaster laths, the laths being 

 spaced y^ inch apart. These give a nice shade and 

 have a cooling effect; in cloudy weather they can be 

 removed, being made in sections 4x7 feet. This 

 house is kept as cool as possible during summer, the 

 ventilators, both top and bottom, being left wide open 

 day and night. 



IN THE "rose" house 



From this house we enter into the % span or 

 rose house as we call it here. The temperature in this 

 house during winter is kept at about 56 at night with 

 a rise of from 5 to 10 degrees during the day. This 

 house has clear glass and a southern exjxisure and 

 makes an ideal place for resting Dendrobiums in winter 





Oncidicm Marshai.lianum 



COKLOGYNE CRISTATA, CHATSWORTH VaKIETY 



which are suspended from the roof, wires being- 

 stretched along the roof for that purpose. Vanda tores, 

 V. Kimhalliana; Renanthera coeeinea and a few other 

 things also find a home here and do well. The center 

 table of this house is occupied by eallas or carnations ; 

 the front bench by various flowering plants according 

 to the season. In a pit against the back wall are grow- 

 ing some climbing tea roses. After planting out time 

 the house is shaded some and then turned into a stove 

 to accommodate the fancy-leaved caladitmis of which 

 quite a number are grown here for the summer. The 

 extra heat required by these will also suit the Den- 

 drobiums which will be growing well by that time and 

 all that can be accommodated are grown here for the 

 summer months. Here they get plenty of heat, light 

 and fresh air and can be freely syringed without hurt- 

 ing the plants below. As nearly all Dendrobiums are 

 grown in small pots, they dry out quickly and should 

 therefore be syringed quite often and occasionally 

 dip]3Gd in a tub of water containing a small quantity of 

 some liquid fertilizer. 



Most any variety of Dendrobium 

 can be wintered in a house like this 

 with the temperature given above, 

 but during the summer, their grow- 

 ing season, some of them require 

 different treatment. For instance, 

 D. Phalaenopsis, D. superbum and 

 several others will do better if given 

 a little more heat and shade than 

 the D. nobile section; the thyrsi- 

 florum sections requires plenty of 

 lieat and light; D. moniliforme, D. 

 atro-violacca and several other dwarf 

 growing varieties wiU grow best in 

 the cool house all the year round, 

 giving them a light and airy posi- 

 tion ; D. formosum and its allies 

 grow best with the Cattleyas; so 

 one must look around and try to 

 find a sttitable place for each one. 



