ORCHIASTRUM 



613 



ORCHIDS 



benches and no shelves care must be taken to make 

 their surface loose and open : loose materials, such as 

 coarse cinders, lime-rubbish from old walls, or bricks 

 broken into pieces in size from a nut to a walnut, may be 

 laid on them about 4 inches deep ; they may then be 

 forked over to about 9 inches in depth, well mixing the 

 above materials with the soil; you thus have two 

 borders not too far from the glass, and on which your 

 orchard will thrive admirably. It will appear odd to 

 read about trees thriving on instead of in a border ; 

 but when explained that this is to be an orchard in pots, 

 it will not seem so contrary to our usual garden-culture. 



ORCHIA'STRUM. See LACHENALIA. 



ORCHIDS are divisible into two classes, the Epiphytes, 

 or those growing upon trees, and Terrestrial, or ground- 

 orchids, which grow upon the earth. The two classes 

 require some difference as to the mode in which they are 

 grown, a difference pointed out in this work under each 

 genus in its alphabetical order. At present we shall 

 confine ourselves to such general directions as are applic- 

 able to the cultivation of both classes of Orchids requiring 

 Stove treatment. 



House for Orchids. As they require great light, the 

 house ought to be so placed as to catch all the rays of 

 light from the sun. A span-roofed one will do so, or 

 to the greatest degree ; and so low in the angle, that 

 the plants, whether in pots or baskets, or on logs of 

 wood, will all be near to the glass. We find the best 

 aspect is for the roof to fall due east and west ; then 

 the lengthway of the house will, of course, be north and 

 south. By this means the heat and light of the sun are 

 more equalised. In the cold mornings of early spring 

 the sun will sooner give light and heat on the east side, 

 and will be at noon in such a position that his beams 

 will be slanting to the angle of the roof, whilst in the 

 afternoon his power to give light and heat will be con- 

 siderably prolonged. Every plant in this house will 

 thus have its due share of light and heat. During the 

 hot months of May, June, July, and August, the shade 

 or blind can be let down on the morning side of the 

 house, drawn up at noon, and let down on the afternoon 

 side just as the sun shines ; thus giving the plants all 

 the light possible, and at the same time protecting them 

 from the burning rays of the sun. There need not be 

 any upright glass at the sides or ends of the house. 

 The walls ought to rise high enough to allow a comfort- 

 able walk and head-room. The rafters and lights ought 

 to be fixed, and to give air a few openings may be easily 

 contrived in the highest part of the house, and a few 

 sliding panels near the floor in the walls. This cold air 

 ought to flow in over the hot pipes, and to become 

 heated before it comes in contact with the plants. In 

 summer, when there is no heat in the pipes, the external 

 air is naturally so warm that no injury will accrue to 

 the plants by admitting it into the house without being 

 artificially heated. It is almost absolutely necessary to 

 have more than one house. However small the collection 

 may be, there will be some that require more heat than 

 the others. The orchids of South America will flourish 

 far better in a house of moderate temperature than in 

 a house highly heated. This house we would distinguish 

 by the name of " the Mexican house." The orchids, 

 natives of Java, Borneo, Singapore, the Philippine 

 Islands, and the hot jungles of India, require, on the 

 other hand, a much higher temperature, and close, moist 

 atmosphere. The house for these plants we would 

 designate " the East Indian house." By having two 

 houses a considerable number of advantages will be 

 secured. The Indian tribes, as soon as they have made 

 their growth for the year, where there are two houses, 

 may be removed into the cooler or Mexican house ; 

 and that removal or change of temperature will harden 

 their pseudo-bulbs, and concentrate the sap, causing 

 them thereby to become more healthy, robust, and free 

 to flower. Should any of the South American species 

 require a little more heat, they could be conveniently 

 removed into the Indian house to make their growth. 

 The cooler house will also be useful to place any of the 

 Indian species in when in flower, which change will con- 

 siderably prolong their season of blooming. The two 

 houses may join each other, divided by a partition either 

 of brick or glass. We should prefer glass, as being 

 neater, and showing off the plants, in both houses, to 

 greater advantage. 

 Heating. As these plants require, during the seasons 



of growth, a larger amount of moisture than most other 

 plants, the plan to effect this is to heat the houses with 

 , hot-water pipes, laid in tanks. The water in these 

 tanks should be deep enough to cover the pipes about 

 I an inch with water. The tanks need not be more than 

 i 10 inches wide, inside measure. The diameter of the 

 pipes should be 4 inches. At some convenient place 

 there ought to be a tap to let off the water out of the 

 tanks. This ought to be done frequently, in order to 

 obtain a sweet moisture. If the water be allowed to 

 remain in the tanks for a length of time it becomes foul, 

 and then, when heated, sends forth a disagreeable smell, 

 which is very unhealthy both to plants and persons. In 

 winter, when the plants are, or ought to be, mostly at 

 rest, they require a drier atmosphere. In order to induce 

 this, the tanks ought to be emptied during the winter 

 months, from the middle of October to the middle of 

 February. Should the plants appear to shrivel too much, 

 the pipes may be occasionally syringed early in the 

 morning of fine days. The number of pipes and tanks 

 required depends, of course, upon the size of the houses. 

 The large house at Messrs. Henderson's, of Pine-Apple 

 Place, has four tanks in it ; the width of the house is 

 18 feet. Two of those tanks are open, that is, have no 

 cover, and are placed under a platform formed with large, 

 thick slates, spaces being left between each to allow 

 the moisture to ascend amongst the plants. The other 

 tanks have covers to them, with holes to let out the 

 moisture. These holes have brass lids to them, so that 

 the moisture can be confined as circumstances require. 

 Now, this answers the purpose well during the months 

 of spring ; but we have too much moisture during 

 winter, so that the plants grow more than they flower. 

 Supposing, then, a house 18 feet wide requires four 

 tanks, a house 14 feet will require three ; 9 feet, two ; 

 and less than that, only one. The return-pipes may run 

 under the tanks to the boiler, or, if the tanks are placed 

 so near the floor that the return-pipes cannot be placed 

 under, they may be arranged to run on one side. The 

 best kind of boiler we know is one formed of several 

 round pipes, connected at each end by a square one. 

 From this square pipe the hot water rises into the tanks, 

 and the return-pipes bring the water back to it to be 

 reheated. Mr. Taylor, the hothouse builder at Kensal 

 New Town, is in the habit of putting up these boilers, 

 and they answer admirably. 



Shelves. In any convenient part of the house where 

 a shelf can be put so near the glass as to allow plants in 

 pots to be placed upon it, it is desirable to have them. 

 We have always found small plants in pots, that have 

 made a good start, do well in such a situation. The 

 plants, however, should not be too near the glass. The 

 extremity of the leaves should be at least 9 inches from 

 it. The shelves, also, should not be placed where the 

 water that overflows or runs through the pots will drop 

 upon any plants. 



Stages. The arrangement of these will depend upon 

 the width of the house. If the house is wide enough to 

 allow a walk all round it, and a walk in the centre, there 

 will be two stages. The centre walk should be elevated 

 as high as possible, to allow head-room for the manager 

 and visitors to walk comfortably. This elevated walk 

 is of considerable use, affording a good opportunity to 

 watch the progress and state of the plants, and to observe 

 when they require watering, repotting, and cleaning 

 from insects. An example of this arrangement may be 

 seen in the orchid-house at Kew. 



Shelves of the Stage. Every shelf ought to be a shallow 

 cistern to hold water. Blue slate is the best material 

 to form each shelf on the stage. The upright slate 

 forming the sides of each ought to be elevated at least 

 2 inches, and made water-tight. These cistern-shelves 

 may either be filled with small, pebbly gravel, all the 

 sand or other binding material being washed out of it, 

 to prevent its setting hard, or they may be left empty, 

 and shallow pots turned upside down, just high enough 

 to allow the plants to stand clear of the water ; for it 

 is intended that these cistern-shelves should be, during 

 summer, kept full of water. These shelves of the stage 

 must be as near the glass as the size of the plant will 

 allow. Several advantages to the health of the orchids 

 accrue from this arrangement. The most important is 

 a constant supply of moisture to the air, at a time when 

 the heat of summer renders the application of heat to 

 the tanks un advisable. Another advantage is the pre- 

 vention of the attacks of insects, such as woodlice and 



