CHAPTER VIII. 



SHADING AND WATERING. 

 SHADING. 



ORCHIDS, with but few exceptions, should be care- 

 fully guarded from the direct rays of the sun from 

 March to October. The easiest and most economical 

 way to do this is to whiten the glass. A preparation for 

 this is made by mixing Spanish white in water, adding 

 milk in the proportion of a pint of the latter to five pints 

 of the former. This composition may be thrown over the 

 glass with a syringe on a dry day and is sufficient to pro- 

 tect the plants from the sun and will for a time resist the 

 rain. The coating should be renewed as it wears off, 

 which may be five or six times a year. 



Some growers paint the glass of Orchid houses ; the ob- 

 jection to this is, the paint cannot easily be removed, and 

 the Orchids are kept in perpetual shade. There are ob- 

 jections to using any wash applied to the glass, the chief 

 of which appears to be that the plants are shaded on 

 cloudy as well as on sunny days, and often the light given 

 is not sufficient for the health of the plants. 



Another way is to place an awning over the glass when 

 the sun strikes it. These, however, wholly deprive the 

 plants of sun j but as Orchids in their native woods grow 

 upon the branches of large trees, they almost always re- 

 ceive some of the solar rays, though always so tempered 

 by interposing leaves and branches as not to burn the 



