viii PREFACE 



necessary for the Palms, Ferns, and other species usually 

 employed for the purpose. 



Orchid-growing in the past has been looked upon 

 too much as a craze. Ruinously high prices have been 

 asked for novelties, and " collectors " have been ready 

 enough to pay them in the hope of obtaining unique 

 varieties. This fact alone has frightened off average 

 people. 



It is hoped that the present volume will induce thou- 

 sands to commence the culture of the cooler species, as 

 it clearly indicates the simplicity of the cultural principles 

 whilst explaining in full all the principal details. 



Thanks to the experiments of former workers, we are 

 no longer dependent entirely on the introduction of plants 

 from other countries. Seedling Orchids are raised as freely 

 as seedling Fuchsias, and home-raised seedlings, as a rule, 

 thrive better than introduced species in the artificial cultiva- 

 tion we have to offer them. Readers will find the details 

 of cross-breeding and seed-raising set out in the following 

 pages at considerable length. 



The author is one of the greatest Orchid specialists 

 the world has known. As a practical cultivator in the 

 old Pine Apple Nurseries of Messrs. Henderson, he 

 had the good fortune to flower many species for 

 the first time after their introduction, and ever since 

 those early days he has continued to specialise in these 

 plants. He is secretary of the Orchid Committee of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society, and in 1897 he was included 

 in the first sixty horticulturists who were selected to receive 



