PllOrAGATIOX OF ORCHIDS. 49 



PKOPAaATION OF ORCHIDS. 



The majority of Orchids are very readily multiplied; still 

 there are some that can only be propagated at long intervals. 

 The value of Orchids does not depend so much on the beauty 

 of the plant or its flowers as it does on the small quantity 

 imported, or the difficulty of its being multiplied in our collec- 

 tions. Dendrobiums are perhaps as easy to propagate as any 

 other Orchids. The old flowering bulbs of D. nobile may be 

 cut into lengths, the latter being inserted in a common cutting- 

 pan, covering them with a bell-glass, and plunging them in 

 bottom heat. So treated, they break freely. D. Devonianum, 

 D. transparens, and many others, may be propagated in a 

 similar manner ; or the old bulbs may be twisted round the 

 tops of the pots and pegged down among the sphagnum. It 

 is a good plan to have a close case in the Orchid-house, the 

 bottom being covered with a layer of living sphagnum. Then, 

 as back bulbs are cut from the plants, they should be labelled 

 and laid on the moss, which should be watered or syringed 

 occasionally to keep it fresh and moist. Nearly all Orchids 

 will break freely from the old bulbs in a close humid atmo- 

 sphere, provided always that there are latent buds on the parts 

 removed. Old back bulbs of Oncidiums, Odontoglossums, 

 Zygopctalums, Miltonias, Maxillarias, and Lycastes may be 

 placed in a cutting-pan, or laid on a layer of moss in a warm, 

 moist situation, where a large proportion of them will root 

 and break freely. Aerides, Yandas, and Saccolabiums can 

 only be propagated by lateral breaks. These last are pro- 

 duced very freely by some strong imported plants that have 

 accidentally lost their leading growth. The same remark 

 applies to Camarotis — a beautiful, though neglected, old Orchid 

 — and to the Angra^cums. Thunia alba and T. Bensonise are 



