ioo PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



soddened. Water should therefore be given systematically 

 a thorough watering, and no more until the effect of it is 

 passing and the still moist material is sufficiently near the 

 dry point. After flowering, a lessened supply should also 

 be given for a time, but the plants must not be dried off. 

 At this stage it is a good time to repot any requiring to be 

 repotted. In the cool houses, and indeed all the Orchid 

 houses, observation should be made as to the rapidity of 

 evaporation of water from the floors and staging. If the 

 moisture evaporates too quickly and the floors and stages 

 become dry rapidly, it must be remembered that the con- 

 ditions are not favourable to sustaining the vitality of the 

 plants in the house, for, where rapid evaporation takes 

 place, a similar process affects the tissues of the plants. 

 Means should be taken, either by lowering the tem- 

 perature or checking the ventilation, to sustain a lasting 

 humidity in the houses. 



Oncidium. This is a large genus, most of the mem- 

 bers being suitable for cultivation in the intermediate house. 

 0. macranthum is a cool-house plant, and 0. crispum, 0. 

 Forbesii, 0. concolor, 0. Marshallianum (illustrated in Plate 

 VII.), 0. varicosum, and others also do well in the cool house 

 in baskets or suspended pans. 0. Papilio, 0. Kramerianum, 

 0. Lanceanum, and 0. ampliation should have a position 

 in the warmest end of the intermediate house. Pot the 

 plants as epiphytal Orchids. Withhold water for a time 

 after growth is completed. 



Paphinia. Small-growing epiphytes. Grow in baskets 

 or pans in a warm, moist house. 



Phaius. Strong-growing, terrestrial Orchids for the 

 intermediate house. Pot them according to the directions 



