TREATMENT DURING GROWTH. 9 



&c., which all draw their support directly from the ground. 

 The Epiphytal Orchids inhabit trees and rocks, from which, 

 however, they derive little or no nourishment. These are 

 by far the most numerous and interesting. Some are found 

 adhering to the stems and branches of living trees ; some of 

 them delight in elevated situations in lofty forests, while 

 others grow upon low trees. Some occur on rocks and 

 mountains, some on trees overhanging rivers, and some near 

 dripping rocks — the latter, of course, requiring a particularly 

 damp atmosphere to grow in. Those which are found in 

 dense woods, where scarcely any sun can penetrate, require 

 a shady moist atmosphere, whilst those found in more elevated 

 situations do not need so much shade as the last. A know- 

 ledge of the different habitats of the various species is essential 

 to the careful grower, in order that he may, as far as his 

 means permit, place them in circumstances similar to those in 

 which they make their natural gi'owth; and it is, no doubt, to 

 inattention, or want of information on this point, that the 

 want of success in the culture of some Orchidaceous plants, 

 by even the most successful of our cultivators, is to be 

 attributed. 



TREATMENT DURING GROWTH. 



E have in our Orchid houses plants from localities 

 which vary much in every respect ; some of them, 

 moreover, produce their flowers early in spring, 

 others in summer, and others again during the dull days of 

 winter. It will therefore be readily understood that the period 

 of starting into growth should vary also ; but as for convenience 

 sake we rest our Orchids in winter, the majority will begin to 



b3 



