ORCHIDS : HOW TO GROW THEM SUCCESSFULLY. 9 



whether a plant is healthy or not, and what its approximate value may 

 be. Then the buyer has some chance of success with the plants 

 selected to suit his greenhouse, and other conditions of culture, and 

 he will naturally look forward to the pleasure they will afford him 

 when in bloom. 



Bat as such advice is not always within the reach of those who 

 need it, I shall do my best to supply that want and make my meaning 

 as clear as possible. There is one word of caution which I here desire 

 to impress upon buyers, and that is, do not on any account buy rubbish 

 merely for the sake of saying, " I grow Orchids ! " and by no means be 

 tempted to purchase small, insignificant plants simply because they are 

 cheap. Orchids are rather slow growing plants, and if small and 

 weakly bits of back pseudobulbs or weak spindling plants are bought, 

 they require special care and attention, as well as the most judicious 

 treatment, and much time is therefore lost before they can be got into 

 a favourable condition and reach the flowering stage ; so that the 

 patience of the grower becomes exhausted, and the plants are either 

 allowed to linger on or are thrown away. Overcrowding is another 

 evil to be avoided, and when large quantities are grown in limited 

 spaces, it is one of the greatest difficulties an Orchid cultivator has 

 to contend with. Each plant should be accessible and easily seen by 

 the cultivator at all times, but more especially during the growing 

 season, in order that he may ascertain whether it requires water or is 

 not over watered, and to see that the young roots are unmolested or 

 destroyed by various insect pests, such as wood lice, cockroaches, 

 slugs, &c., and that the foliage is free from thrip or green or yellow 

 fly. In a large collection, where plants are counted by the thousand, 

 and a good staff of assistants are kept, it is, even then, difficult to give 

 every plant necessary attention, so that the small grower has here an 

 advantage in being able to give full attention to the few plants 

 under his care. 



CATTLEYAS AND L^LIAS. 



Presuming that Cattleyas, of such species as labiata, Trianae, 

 Mossiae, and Mendeli in their varieties, also various others, are 

 being purchased, good plants of these, with a leading growth, 

 can readily be obtained at 4s. each, and with two leading growths 

 at 7s. 6d. each, the price varying according to the strength of the 

 plant and the excellence of the variety. I advise amateurs to 

 start with such plants rather than those with a larger number of 

 leading shoots, as they are more easily managed. Fig. 3 represents 

 a newly imported plant showing the leading pseudobulb and the 

 back pseudobulbs. The back bulbs, after floweiing, are of no further 

 use for blooming again, but serve as reservoirs for the plants by 

 storing up nutriment during the growing or wet season for the use of 



