22 ORCHID grower's manual. 



temperature as that of the house. In fine weather, the 

 temperature from sun-heat will rise frequently as high as 95°, 

 or even more ; but I have never observed any injury to befall 

 the plants in consequence of this heat, so long as the house 

 was saturated with moisture. The house should be dried up 

 once a day, if possible, by means of ventilation. In syringing 

 be careful not to wet the young shoots too much. The syringe 

 should be furnished with a fine rose, so as to cause the water 

 to fall on the plants in imitation of a gentle shower of small 

 rain ; but this syringing should only be done after a hot sunny 

 day, and should never be carried to excess, for I have seen 

 the ill efi'ects of that practice with many Orchid growers. 

 The practice is indeed very dangerous, and growers often 

 wonder at their plants not looking so well, when it is entirely 

 due to over- syringing. Nevertheless water, judiciously appUed, 

 is one of the most important items in the culture of these 

 valuable plants. Those plants which are growing on blocks 

 of wood should be syringed twice a day in the summer time ; 

 and I also find it beneficial, during the growing season, to 

 take the blocks down about twice or three times in a week, 

 and dip them in water tiU the wood and moss are thoroughly 

 soaked. Plants in baskets should likewise be taken down and 

 examined, and if they are dry, they should also be soaked in 

 the water. This is a good mode of getting rid of many 

 hurtful insects that harbour in the moss, such as the wood- 

 louse and the cockroach, which, when the moss is plunged 

 and kept for awhile under water, will come to the top, and 

 then may be easily killed. 



Rain or pond water is the best, but if this cannot be 

 obtained, and water from a spring must be used, it should be 

 well exposed to the influence of the atmosphere before using ; 

 it should also be allowed to stand in the house for a con- 

 siderable time, previously to its being required for the plants. 



