A FEW HINTS ON ORCHIDS. 21 



A FEW HINTS ON ORCHIDS. 



COMPILED BT THE CHAIRMAN. 



The plants included under the general name of Orchids are distributed 

 very generally over the temperate and torrid zones. They divide them- 

 selves into two classes, the terrestrial and epiphytal, or, more plainly speak- 

 ing, those growing upon the ground and from it deriving their nourishment, 

 and those growing upon trees or places removed from the earth and de- 

 riving their chief nourishment from the air, or the moisture therein contained. 

 This last characteristic is to be taken as the true type of the class, as many 

 truly epiphytal orchids, in their native haunts, grow upon rocks near water- 

 falls, deriving their means of existence from the constant moisture, and, 

 though upon the earth, having no intimate relations with it. 



In the temperate zones we rarely find any except the terrestrial orchids ; 

 in the torrid, all the epiphytal varieties grow in great luxuriance and num- 

 bers, and the terrestrial, though in some cases nearly related to those of 

 more temperate regions, assume more beautiful foliages, and produce more 

 gorgeous flowers. 



In a brief article, like the present, to condense a manual for orchid cult- 

 cure is of course impossible. Our experience is too limited to give more 

 than a few general hints. It is only our intention to open the subject now 

 beginning to attract some attention in this country, and to present, in a 

 few words, such useful directions as our reading has supplied. 



And, in the first place, to grow orchids successfully a house must be 

 devoted to them ; they cannot be grown with other plants. It is enough to 

 make one's heart ache to see, as we can in most greenhouses, a few half- 

 starved specimens of Oncidiums and Stanhopaeas, Cypripediums and Bletias, 

 (they being the most hardy of the tribe) struggling for a miserable existence, 

 with all the elements of their life, heat, air, moisture and rest wanting, and 

 occasionally sending out a stunted, weak flower spike, as if to show what 

 they might be, and that they were made for better things. 



Now before constructing our house we must look a little at the tempera- 

 ture, moistur^, seasons of growth and rest of the plants in their native 

 countries. These conditions will vary greatly, according to the countries 

 from whence the plants were originally obtained. It is impossible to make 

 one temperature suit all the species; but by care, many, coming from 

 regions remote from each other, may be grown in one house. 



To grow them in the greatest perfection there should be three houses, 

 the stove, the intermediate house, and the cold or resting house. The 

 degrees of heat and moisture necessary for these houses will be given as 

 we proceed. 



But few can indulge in the luxury of three greenhouses for one kind of 

 plants ; and to these we say, do not, therefore, neglect the plants, for they 

 can be grown with but little expense and trouble if you have one house, 

 the stove, and are willing to devote a portion of your greenhouse as a cold- 

 house for your orchids. 



