ORCHID CULTURE. dO 



easiest culture, and can be gTOwn in the greenhouse. Its flowers, 

 which are large and showy, are produced at all seasons, but mostly 

 from January to April. There are man}^ A'arieties of this species, 

 from the purest white to the deepest purple. It is an admirable 

 house plant, and can be grown in perfection in any room not 

 heated by a furnace, where the air can be kept sufficiently moist, 

 but unlike other species, such as L. aromatica, the flowers are 

 unfortunately destitute of fragrance. 



Charles M. Hovey, holding in his hand a spike of flowers of 

 Phaius grandifolius (Bletia Tankervillece) , said it was a good old 

 orchid, not nearly so much cultivated as it ought to be. The 

 growth of orchids has been made too much of a special culture by 

 English gardeners, but much of the mysterj^ with which it has been 

 surrounded may be done away with. In this country we strike 

 out new methods. English cultivators, for instance, do not grow 

 flowers in quantities in beds in houses erected for that special pur- 

 pose as American commercial cultivators do. In growing orchids 

 the character of the pots and mould is important. While some 

 species are very fastidious, others can be grown in any open soil. 

 To pour on water in unlimited quantity and give no drainage, we 

 might expect to fail. Mr. Hovey said he had divided Cattleyas 

 and planted in ordinary potting soil, and had been surprised at 

 their vigorous growth. This Bletia may be grown in ordinary soil. 

 The plants must have rest and light to ripen their bulbs. He 

 had planted Peristeria elata, known as the Holy Ghost flower, 

 in the same soil, but was unsuccessful in flowering it until an 

 English gardener told him the bulb must be almost dried up, and 

 by withholding water for two months and keeping in the hot sun, 

 it was induced to flower freely. The Bletia may be bloomed in 

 perfection, 'with from ten to fifteen flower spikes, in an ordinary 

 greenhouse — not a cold house. Mr. Hovey desired to see the 

 love for this class of plants increased, and said that by beginning 

 with this Bletia and the Dendrohiums we might have an assortment 

 which could be easily cultivated in a gl-eenhouse. 



Mr. Barker spoke of three fine plants of Phaius grandifolius. 

 which he saw at Mr. Rand's, with from thirty to forty spikes of 

 flowers on each, and was gratified to find that they could be culti- 

 vated so easily. In his practice of orchid culture he had generally 

 adl^ered to the directions given in Williams' " Orchid Grower's 

 Manual," and with the exercise of common sense, had been prett}^ 



