AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



519 



Orchid House continued. 



amount of heat required, in threo separate houses, or 

 three compartments of one house having the heating 

 arrangements fully under command. When only a mixed 

 collection is grown, the several genera forming it must 

 be afforded positions as favourable to their well-being 

 as circumstances admit, and the temperature varied 

 Komewhat by giving a greater or less amount of 

 ventilation in different parts of the house in which 

 they are placed. The following are the names usually 

 given to the three different Orchid Houses, or divisions 

 referred to. Approximate temperatures for each, during 

 summer and winter, are also subjoined, as a general 

 guide for cultivators, and not with the intention of their 

 being rigidly followed: 



1. East Indian House. To this department are relegated 

 all Orchids requiring the highest temperatures, such as 

 those originally received from the Eastern, and also from 

 the hottest parts of the Western, hemispheres. These 

 plants need plenty of moisture in the air during their 

 season of growth, and also a circulation of air, some- 

 what cautiously applied, to avoid sudden changes of 

 atmosphere. Temperatures : Summer day, 75deg. to 

 90deg., with sun ; night, 70deg. to 75deg. Winter day, 

 70deg. to 75deg. ; night, 60deg. to 65deg. 



2. Brazilian and Mexican House. This provides ac- 

 commodation for Orchids which require an intermediate 

 temperature, as, for instance, the bulk of the Mexican 

 species and a number from Brazil, &c. These will 

 succeed in a drier atmosphere, generally, than those 

 already referred to, but shrivelling must not be allowed. 

 Temperatures: Summer day, 75deg. to 85deg., with sun; 

 night, 65deg. to 70deg. Winter day, 65deg. to 70deg.; 

 night, GOdeg. 



3. Peruvian House. A. division specially for cool 

 Orchids, natives of the mountains of South America, 

 India, &c., many of which never appear to have any 

 fixed season of rest. They are best suited with a cool 

 temperature, and a more or less genial, moist atmosphere 

 all the year round. Temperatures : Summer day, 60deg. 

 to 70deg. ; night, about 60deg. Winter day, 50deg. to 

 60deg ; night, 40deg. to 50deg., according to temperature 

 outside. 



The shape of structure most suitable for Orchid cul- 

 ture, generally, is a span -roof, or something very closely 

 approaching it, such as a three-quarter span. Lean-to 

 houses, with northern aspect, are well adapted for all 

 the cool species and varieties of such genera as Masde- 

 vallia and Odontoglossum, in summer particularly, as 

 these do not succeed in a high temperature, nor in 

 houses where, from sun heat or other causes, the atmo- 

 sphere is dry at any time of year. Where the ventilation 

 is properly arranged and managed, cool Orchids may be 

 grown as successfully in a structure of another shape as 

 in a lean-to. A span-roofed Orchid House, about 60ft. 

 long, 12ft. wide, and 8ft. high, would accommodate a large 

 quantity of small plants, which could all be arranged 

 on side stages, near the glass, or a large number might 

 be suspended from the roof. The side walls should 

 be carried about 4ft. or 4ft. above the ground, and 

 small doors or sliding ventilators inserted in them, about 

 half-way up. The top ventilation should be effected by 

 having a longitudinal flap, made to rise up from the 

 inside, or by small sashes attached with hinges to the 

 ridge, and arranged so as to open without admitting 

 rain in wet weather. Running sashes on the roof, and 

 side-sashes opening on a level with plants on the 

 stages, should now be recognised as things of the past 

 when new Orchid Houses are being 1 constructed. If 

 plants requiring various temperatures are to be 

 grown in . one house, a glass partition will be 

 the most convenient way of dividing one part 

 from the other, which might have more or less 

 heat and air applied, as found necessary. The dimen- 



Orchid House continued. 



sions given above would only be suitable for a house in 

 which small or moderate-sized plants were intended to 

 be grown ; for specimens of considerable growth, or for 

 large collections, proportionate measurements to any ex- 

 tent might readily be taken to meet requirements. Side 

 stages should be about 4ft. from the ground. A system 

 of having a double staging is sometimes adopted with 

 excellent results for Orchids, namely, a bed of ashes, 

 shingle, coke, or breeze, is laid on slates, which are 

 supported by upright iron pillars. This bed is continually 

 kept moist, and an open woodwork staging is placed 

 above, on which the plants are stood. In some of the 

 best-arranged Orchid Houses, the plants stand over a 

 water-tank, formed beneath the woodwork staging. Into 

 this the rain-water from the roof is conducted, and is 

 always close at hand for watering the plants. It is 

 most important that only rain-water be used for this 

 last-named purpose, if it can possibly be obtained. 

 Orchid Houses should never be built so high that the 

 plants, when arranged inside, will be very far from 

 the glass, or situated so as not to receive a sufficiency 

 of light, which the majority of them require. There 

 are few Orchids, except, perhaps, the Mexican species, 

 that are not benefited by shading in summer. This 

 should not, however, be thick, neither should it be per- 

 manently fixed on the roof. A thin shading, sufficient 

 to exclude bright sunshine, while, at the same time, ad- 

 mitting light, is best ; it should be tacked on rollers, 

 and kept up during dull weather. 



General Remarks on Culture, Sfc. The special cultural 

 requirements of all the important genera of Orchids being 

 given elsewhere in this work, under their respective 

 headings, it will be unnecessary to add more here than 

 a few brief remarks of a general character. At one time, 

 Orchids were limited to the gardens of a comparatively 

 few wealthy owners, who took an especial interest in 

 them, and spared no expense in obtaining such plants. 

 The same conditions exist up till the present, in respect 

 of rare specimens, or those of exceptional merit; but 

 some representatives of the more popular genera are, for- 

 tunately, now found almost everywhere. This is mainly 

 the result of enterprise, shown by sending collectors of 

 plants to remote foreign lands, where Orchids abound, for 

 the purpose of seeking new additions to the species, or 

 varieties, already obtained, and for transmitting, in quan- 

 tity, well-known and popular kinds, for distribution in 

 this country. The method of culture, too, has been much 

 modified, since it was found that the plants, in general, 

 did not really require so much heat as what was, at 

 first, thought necessary. Orchids are able (especially 

 many of the strong-growing species) to withstand a con- 

 siderable amount of ill-usage, compared with many other 

 plants; otherwise, so many thousands would never reach 

 this country and re-establish themselves in the way 

 they do. Heat and moisture afford nearly all the plants 

 need, consequently, the proper method of applying these 

 is, at least, one of the main points in successful culture. 

 Good fibrous peat, living sphagnum, and charcoal, form the 

 principal materials necessary for the majority of Orchids. 

 These are of more use for holding the plants in position, 

 and retaining moisture for the encouragement of the tender 

 roots, than for any particular nourishment afforded. It is 

 remarkable how some attach themselves to a block of wood 

 and succeed admirably with nothing else, save a little 

 sphagnum and the proper attention in watering. Pots 

 for Orchids should, with few exceptions, be quite half- 

 filled with clean drainage, and they should be used as 

 j small as possible, in proportion to the size of plant. 

 j Shallow pans, made in various sizes, either for suspend- 

 j ing from the roof or for standing 021 stages, have been 

 I rtsed very extensively of late, with most excellent results. 

 j Orchid baskets abculd be ijisde of teak wood, as it is 

 i Lard, and laats c. J~aj< tiia? Th/vy.inay be purchased in 



