IO8 ORCHIDS. 



This experiment is certainly worth trying in this coun- 

 try. Its success is of course questionable, for the inten- 

 sity and force of our summer's sun is so much greater 

 than in England, that what may be a success in one 

 country, may prove a disastrous failure in the other. 



There is another advantage resulting' from the dis- 

 covery of the cool treatment system. It is not imprac- 

 ticable to grow Orchids in cities where only a very small 

 space can be given ; the house must be small, and the 

 temperature need not be high. Both of these conditions 

 could be realized with but little trouble and expense. 

 An attic room, or a dark unsightly yard in the city, could 

 with a very slight outlay be converted into a miniature 

 Orchid house, and the magnificent Andean Orchids grown 

 with very little trouble. In London and other Euro- 

 pean cities this has been successfully done, and there is 

 no reason why success should not reward experiments of 

 this kind in our own large cities. Some Orchids have 

 been successfully grown in the house as parlor plants, 

 as we shall show in another chapter, and Odontoglossum 

 grande has even been bloomed in England in the open 

 air, but as yet we are not very enthusiastic in regard to 

 parlor gardening with Orchids, the result of all experi- 

 ments in England showing that the only plant very suc- 

 cessfully grown in the house was Lycaste Skinneri, which 

 roots more freely in peat than any other Orchid, although 

 we have been successful with others. 



It only remains to give a list of those Orchids which 

 experience has shown do well in a cool house. 



First, all .the Odontoglossums from New Granada for 

 the coolest house, those from Mexico and Guatemala 

 thriving with a little more heat, but doing well in a house 



