ORCHIDS: 



HOW TO GROW THEM SUCCESSFULLY. 



THE writer of this little manual having, for many years, devoted 

 his attention to the study of Orchids and their cultivation, is 

 desirous of imparting to others whose opportunities may have 

 been less favourable, the results of a pretty wide and varied experience. 

 In so doing, it will be his aim to dispel some erroneous impressions in 

 regard to the subject which, if unrefuted, are calculated to diminish 

 the popularity of a most lovely and interesting family of plants, as 

 well as to deter many amateurs from attempting their cultivation. 

 Such a circumstance would be much regretted, for a delightful recrea- 

 tion is unquestionably lost by those who love their gardens, and attend 

 with pleasure to their greenhouse plants, if the aristocratic Orchid is 

 not included in their collection ; its beauty, if equalled, being but 

 rarely surpassed by that of any other plant, so that, once the grower's 

 interest is thoroughly awakened, he becomes so enamoured of his new 

 hobby as to prefer it to all others, however interesting. 



It is very important that it should be well understood how 

 successfully Orchids may be grown, side by side, with other stove and 

 greenhouse plants, such as I shall hereafter enumerate ; and it is 

 therefore quite unnecessary that the grower should devote his attention 

 to the former alone, there being many greenhouse favourites, at once 

 beautiful in flower and foliage, which he might easily select as fitting 

 associates, and which, under similar treatment, would thrive equally 

 well. Ferns, for instance, are particularly adapted for growing in 

 the same house. Orchids cannot fail to be a source of the greatest 

 pleasure to the cultivator, who soon finds himself deeply interested in 

 the growth of his plants, irrespectively of their beautiful flowers, and 

 watches with infinite satisfaction the development of the fine healthy 

 foliage, the shooting of the tender roots as they appear at the base 

 of the pseudobulbs and gradually take possession of the compost, 

 or the young pseudobulb as it forms and matures. 







