AN^CTOCHILUS AND OTHER VAEIEGATED ORCHIDS. 75 



altogether. Some few plants which I had in bottom heat I 

 removed to a cooler house without it, and under cooler treat- 

 ment they improved very rapidly. 



The finest collection I ever saw belonged to the late J. A. Tur- 

 ner, Esq., of Manchester, and was under the care of Mr. Toll, his 

 gardener ; the plants were grown under bell-glasses in the stove, 

 but no bottom heat was applied. Mr. Turner purchased a plant 

 of each kind from me some years ago ; they had been grown and 

 propagated, and he had large pots full of them, many plants of 

 a kind being placed together. This shows how well they may 

 be grown without bottom heat. I have also seen them doing 

 well in other places without bottom heat, in short, they may 

 be grown without having an Orchid house at all, any common 

 stove will do, or even a well-heated pit. I have frequently 

 sold collections to gentlemen who have no other Orchids, but 

 who have bought these for the express purpose of growing them 

 for the decoration of the dinner-table, on which they have a 

 beautiful appearance by artificial light. As the taste for table 

 decoration is increasing, plants such as these will doubtless 

 be much sought after for that purpose ; and the subjecting 

 of them to exposure for a few hours in a warm room will do 

 them little harm, provided they have glasses over them with a 

 ventilator at the top to let out moisture, so as to keep the 

 leaves dry. As they are generally grown in small pots, they 

 can be plunged in handsome vases with ornamental glass tops, 

 and when done with, be taken back into the heat. For room- 

 work let the foliage be dry, and there should not be much 

 moisture at the roots. I should not, however, advise them to 

 be used in the way just described on a frosty night ; but 

 during mild weather it will not do them any more harm than 

 taking them to a flower-show. It was for years my custom, 

 when living with the late C. B. Warner, Esq., at Hoddesdon, 

 to show Anactochili at the Kegent's Park and Chiswick 



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