FOREWORD 
HE constantly increasing interest in the cultivation of Orchids 
4 ie Australia, and my knowledge of the difficulty most beginners 
have in obtaining reliable information as to the natural conditions in 
their native haunts of the plants they endeavour to grow, have per- 
suaded me to commence the very ambitious task of tabulating, as 
far as possible, the data available relating to these plants, and to 
deduce from this data suggested cultural treatment for most of 
those species generally grown by Orchid lovers. The aim of every 
grower should be to give his plants as nearly as possible the con- 
ditions naturally ideal for their welfare. It must be remembered, 
however, that it is practically impossible to reproduce natural con- 
ditions in their entirety, and therefore each grower must strive to 
add by artificial means the factors which his available conditions 
otherwise lack. 
For instance, while most epiphytes can be broadly described as 
“air-plants” the fact is that, in their native state, their food sup-— 
plies are provided by nature through the agency of the sun, rain, 
dew, air, and by the nature of the bark of the tree which harbours 
them, and, what is often most important, by the insects and birds 
which frequent these trees. Many epiphytes are treated by us as 
semi- (or even absolute) terrestrials for the purpose of cultivation 
so as to provide that extra nourishment which nature gives through 
the agencies mentioned. 
I have found it profitable to give additional nourishment to prac- 
tically every genus by means of judicious applications of liquid 
manure. Personally I use a preparation named “Floraphos,” but I 
