A FEW HINTS ON ORCHIDS. 23 



found in our experience that where painting was necessary a light cream 

 or straw color was productive of the most agreeable effect, and also more 

 conducive to the health of the plants. 



Opinions differ as to the advisability of having glass on the sides of the 

 house. It is not necessary, for the house being so low, light enough will 

 be admitted overhead. It, however, gives a house a neater appearance, 

 and may be adopted or not, at the fancy of the grower. 



There should be lights in the top of the house to give air, and also in 

 tlie lower part, so a circulation may be maintained when necessary. 



It is, however, advisable to allow the air from lower lights to pass over 

 heated pipes or flues, in order it may become tempered in cold weather, as 

 most orchids are very impatient of cold currents of air, which not unfre- 

 quently prove fatal. 



It is impossible to give full directions for arranging the interior of the 

 house, as each will have his own ideas, and will endeavor to please his 

 own eye ; a few hints may not, however, be unacceptable. 



In the first place, there should be a broad walk through the centre of the 

 house, or, if the width and height of the house will admit, two walks, one 

 at each side. 



The shelves of the stage (if a stage is used) should be shallow troughs, 

 about two inches deep; these should be made of some durable wood, or, if 

 possible, of stone or slate, and made water-tight. These should be filled 

 with gravel, upon which the pots should be placed. These shelves will 

 retain the moisture, which, in summer, is indispensable to the health of the 

 plants. A good substitute for stone would be hydraulic cement, which 

 might be used with small pebbles, upon boards, and would be perfectly 

 water-tight, very durable, and not expensive. 



Shelves may be put up in any part of the house, in order to bring young 

 and small plants near to the glass; yet the plants should always be kept 

 some inches from the glass, as they might otherwise be chilled by cold 

 winds, or by the ice, which in our climate will form very thickly on the 

 inner-side of the glass of an orchid-house in our cold winter nights. 



Heating may be by a variety of modes ; the best is by hot water, or 

 steam pipes, in tanks of water, as thus the necessary moisture can at any 

 time be afforded to the house; and, during the season of rest, when a moist 

 heat is no longer required, by emptying the tanks, the house obtains a dry 

 heat from the steam pipes. This method is much used in England, but we 

 do not know of its adoption in this country. A common brick flue may be 

 used with good success, though steam or hot water are much better. In 

 using any of these, however, it will be essential to the health of the plants 

 to maintain a constant moisture in the house, by evaporation of water 

 placed in the flue or pipes, in large shallow vessels or pans, which should 

 be made of zinc, as less expensive than other metals, and less liable to 

 oxidization. The water in these pans should be frequently changed, in 

 order the moisture may always be pure and sweet. 



The habits of many orchids require them to be grown on blocks of wood 

 or in baskets, which must be suspended from the roof of the house that the 



