ORCHIDS : HOW TO GROW THEM SUCCESSFULLY. 113 



ZYGOPETALUM MACKAYI, var. INTERMEDIUM. From Brazil. 



This is a winter-blooming species, generally making a good display 

 about Christmas. It is a strong growing plant when in good health, 

 producing spikes about two feet in length bearing six to eight flowers, 

 the sepals and petals of which are of a greenish colour, spotted with 

 brown, the lip being white, exquisitely pencilled with blue lines. The 

 plant should be repotted during March, and the thick fleshy roots 

 delight in a compost of peat and coarse river sand and broken charcoal, 

 and a little fibrous loam may also be added. The pot should be half 

 filled with good drainage with a layer of moss on the top of it, and the 

 plant should receive water in moderation, never allowing it to be 

 continually saturated or to become too dry. The time when it should 

 be kept moderately dry is the short period after flowering until active 

 growth sets in. In potting keep the soil below the level of the rim and 

 press down moderately firm, afterwards standing the plants on the 

 stage of the house. 



Good established plants should be purchased for about 10s. per 

 strong leading bulb, and newly imported from 5s. to 7s. 6d. 



TWENTY-FOUR ORCHIDS RECOMMENDED FOR 

 WARM, STOVE, OR EAST INDIA HOUSE. 



AERIDES ODORATUM. From the East Indies. 

 This is an old and familiar Orchid, yet one of the best in cultivation, 

 and, like all of this species, is evergreen and has no pseudobulbs. The 

 flower spikes proceed from the stem at the axils of the leaves, bearing 

 a large number of wax-like flowers in the form of a fox's brush (one of 

 this family, A. Fieldingi, being termed the Fox's Brush Orchid), 

 looking very delicate and graceful, and has a very pleasing fragrance. 

 This plant is easily cultivated in a Warm house with a moist tempera- 

 ture, these being essential requirements for its successful cultivation. 

 I profer pot culture for it, and supporting the growth in an upright 

 position, although I have seen it well grown in baskets, letting the 

 growth take its own course and ramble where it pleased. The drainage 

 hole in the bottom of the pot should be enlarged and the pot filled to 

 within three inches of the rim with broken pots and charcoal, into 

 which the stems of the plants should be placed, securing them in an 

 upright position with sticks. All roots which were previously beneath 

 the surface should be carefully laid out beneath or upon the crocks, 

 covering with sphagnum to the depth of about three inches, pressing it 

 clown firmly, and shearing off the rough ends of the moss with a pair 

 of scissors, any serial roots remaining as before, but all that can 

 conveniently be bent down to the surface of the moss should be pegged 



