MANURES FOR ORCHIDS 39 



CHAPTER IX 

 MANURES FOR ORCHIDS 



IT should be distinctly understood that, in the case of true 

 epiphytes, there is no need for manures, and, that artifi- 

 cial chemical manures are almost certain to bring about 

 disastrous results, the final collapse being in proportion 

 to the potency of the stimulant used and the reckless- 

 ness of the grower. Where rain-water can be obtained and 

 stored for use throughout the season, it is safest and most 

 satisfactory to rely on this alone, except for some terrestrial 

 Orchids. The chief difficulty in recommending the use of 

 manures for any class of plants, Orchids especially, is in 

 the fact that, once the practice is commenced, even those 

 cultivators who begin cautiously frequently lose discretion in 

 the course of time and ruin their plants by excessive applica- 

 tions. It is for this reason that the growers of plants for 

 market purposes, whose secret of success almost entirely 

 depends on the use of manures, are careful to give out 

 the supplies to the men who have to use them, or, with 

 the very best intentions, they would often destroy a crop. 

 Indeed, it is not uncommon for foremen, or men in charge 

 of departments in large nurseries devoted to growing plants 

 for market, to resort to unfair means to get extra supplies 

 of manure for their plants, and frequently with bad results. 

 There is another curious feature about the use of manures 

 in market-plant gardens, namely, that all concerned observe 

 the greatest secrecy in the matter, and rarely admit that they 



