orchids: how to oitow thkm successfully. Ill 



TWENTY-FOUR 0KCHID8 RECOMMENDED FOR A 

 WARM, STOVE, OR EAST INDIA HOUSE. 



iERiDES ODORATUM. Froiii the East Indies. 



This is an old and famiHar Orchid, yet one of the best in 

 cultivation, and, like all of this species, is evergreen and has no 

 pscudo bulbs. The flower sjnkes proceed from the axils of the 

 l('av(\s, bearing a large number of wax-like Howers in the form of 

 a fox's brush (one of this family, A. Fieldingi, being termed the 

 Fox's Brush Orchid), looking verj' delicate and graceful, and has 

 a very pleasing fragrance. This plant is easily cultivated in a 

 Warm house with a moist temperatiu-e, these being essential 

 requirements for its successful cultivation. I prefer pot cultui'e 

 for it, although I have seen it well grown in baskets, letting the 

 gi-owth take its own course and ramble where it pleased. The 

 drainage hole in the bottom of the pot should be enlarged and the 

 pot filled to within three inches of the rim with broken pots and 

 charcoal, into which the stems of the plants should be placed, 

 securing them in an iipright position ^vith sticks, and all roots 

 which were previously beneath the surface should be carefully laid 

 out upon the crocks, or, if necessary, some may be placed into the 

 crocks, covering with sphagnum to the depth of about three inches, 

 pressing it down firmly, and sheaiing off the rough ends of the 

 moss with a pair of scissors, any serial roots remaining as before, 

 but all that can conveniently be bent down to the surface of the 

 moss should be pegged there by means of small pegs or sticks, 

 so that they may enter the moss of their own accord, for if 

 placed beneath the surface after being exposed to the air they 

 generally die. 



It is not necessary to remove the whole of the old sphagnum 

 every year, but a surfacing of new may be apphed at times, and it 

 should be kept well watered during summer, but not so much given 

 at the roots in the winter, yet never allowed to get too dry. This 

 Orchid exists chiefly on the atmosphere, and duiing its time of 

 flowering on no account should it suffer from drought, or an 

 imnecessary loss of foliage will occur, and it should be growTi on a 



