148 ORCHIDS : now TO GROW THEM SUCCESSFULLY. 



to 70 or 80, perhaps more. No matter how careful one may be the 

 temperature in hot weather may exceed 80* and frequently go to 90. 

 It cannot be helped and, although on paper it looks tremendous, it 

 does no harm, for the simple reason that it is perfectly natural for 

 the plants, viz. : Heat by day and cool refreshing nights. It does no 

 harm providing that the ventilation and the moisture is present in 

 sufficient quantities to prevent a stifling oppressive temperature. 

 No doubt they get great sun heat on their native mountains, but it is 

 of course accompanied with abundance of fresh air as well. To day 

 the sun may be powerfully hot, to morrow it may be overcast and 

 comparatively chilly, but this should not compel us to light the fire and 

 heat the pipes so that the interior is as hot in the absence of the sun 

 as with ir. It is totally unnecessary, as well as harmful, to keep up a 

 high temperature by fire alone. Supposing then we have a few dull 

 days, as frequently we do, with no sunshiue to raise the temperatures, 

 we need not worry and force it up by making a large fire, but simply 

 give less ventilation and employ less moisture and jog along quietly 

 until the sun shines once more. It is perfectly natural for the tem- 

 perature to vary day by day in their native habitat, therefore it may also 

 do so in our houses. Of course during the spring time, and again during 

 the autumu, we may get a particularly cold night or day, and perhaps 

 a spell of a week or two, then, in order to prevent the temperature from 

 becoming too cold, it is quite another thing, and enough heat in the 

 pipes should be had to maintain the thermometer at about 60, or a 

 little more or less, and thus produce a healthy circulation of air 

 preventing it from becoming too cold and stagnant. 



From the beginning of March until some time in October it is 

 necessary to have some kind of shading for the purpose of protecting 

 the plants from the sun. Few orchids can withstand the powerful rays 

 of the sun falling direct upon them. If the house is a low built one, 

 necessitating the stages to be pretty close to the roof glass, a permanent 

 summer shading of whitewash may be used with a good deal of success, 

 especially if an additional shading be at hand for use when the sun is 

 particularly bright and persistent for a few hours during the days of the 

 summer months. Should the house be high built, as some of the old 

 fashioned structures sometimes are, the stages consequently being a good 

 distance from the roof, thon I should not recommend whitewash or 

 anything permanently affixed, but a roller blind that can be rolled up 

 during the afternoon when the influence of the sun's direct rays is no 

 longer felt, and again let down in the morning when its influence 

 becomes harmful. Some think that the shading should be removed if 

 the clouds obscure the sun for a short time, and be again let down when it 

 re-appears, but this is a great tie for the amateur who cannot always be 

 present ; it is also unnecessary, for orchids grow none the better for such 

 fussy attention. During choppy treacherous weather it is better to let 



