10 INTRODUCTION. 



SECT. II. 



THE BENEFIT OF TWO OR MORE HOUSES. 



Orchidaceous plants being natives of tro- 

 pical regions, require, in their cultivation, what 

 is technically termed a seasonal treatment ; that 

 is, a period of active growth, and one of decided 

 rest ; during the former, which agrees with the 

 rainy season of the country of which the plant is 

 properly an inhabitant, every stimulative means 

 that the cultivator possesses should be applied to 

 the encouragement of a vigorous and full develop- 

 ment of the several increasing parts of the plants; 

 and after the completion of this seasonal growth, 

 the period of dormancy or rest should be brought 

 on gradually, when all excitement must cease in 

 order to give full maturity to the newly-developed 

 organs. Now, as it happens that Orchidaceous 

 plants are obtained from many and various cli- 

 mates and seasons, it is not reasonable to expect, 

 when we take the force of natural habit into con- 

 sideration, that they will all of them begin to 

 grow at one and the same period, bloom at the 



