Commercial Gardening 



Orchid flowers are sent to market in shallow boxes, and wrapped 

 lightly in an abundance of tissue paper. Cotton wool is sometimes used 

 to line the box, but every care must be taken to keep this from direct 

 contact with the flowers, because if it adheres to the blooms as it very 

 often will, owing to the slight stickiness of the flower stems it is objec- 

 tionable and will militate against their sale, or at any rate reduce their 

 value. 



For cut flowers the Orchids most grown are as follows: Cattleya aurea, 

 C. Bowringiana, C. labiata, C. Schroderce, C. Triance, C. Mossice, C. Men- 



delli, C. Harrisonice, and C. War- 

 sce^uiczi. Dendrobium aureum, 

 D. Ainsworthi, D. nobile (fig. 

 288), D. crassinode, D. Falconeri, 

 D. splendidissimum, D. Phalce- 

 nopsis Schroder ianum, and D. 

 Wardianum (fig. 289). Cuelogyne 

 cristata and its lovely white form 

 are "cool" Orchids of great value 

 for cut flowers, but, alas! they do 

 not travel well, and their blooms 

 are so easily damaged if at all 

 roughly handled, every slight 

 bruise soon turning to a brown 

 or blackish mark of disfigure- 

 ment. 



Among Odontoglossuins the 

 favourites are 0. crispum, 0. 

 cirrhosum, 0. ffarryanum, 0. 

 grande, 0. Pescatorei, 0. trium- 

 phans, 0. Rossi majus, and 0. 

 Wilckeanum, with such hybrids 

 0. ardentissimum, 0. Lam- 



as 



Fig. 29Q.-~Phalcenopsis amabilis 



beauianum, 0. Adriance, 0. 

 amabile, and 0. excellens. Of the 



Phalsenopsis the most useful are P. Rimestadtiana, P. Schilleriana, P. 

 amabilis (or P. grandiflora, fig. 290), and P. Stuartiana. The most 

 notable of Oncidiums for the purpose under consideration are 0. flexuosum, 

 0. varicosum Rogersii, 0. bractcatum, 0. crispum, 0. concolor, 0. sarcodes, 

 0. Marshallianum, 0. macranthu'm, and 0. incurvum. Cymbidiums must 

 not be forgotten, as their flowers are very lasting when cut; C. Lowianum 

 is the most popular and its green and brown flowers are known to almost 

 everyone. C. eburneum and the newer C. insigne (Sanderce) are also 

 valuable. 



The list may fittingly conclude with a selection of Cypripediums or 

 Lady's Slipper Orchids. The difficulty is to know where to stop, because 

 so many species, varieties, and hybrids are now so largely grown. How- 



