286 THE NURSERY LIST. 



Orchids, concluded. 



quired. Laelia, catasetum, coelogyne, lycaste, cymbidium, 

 zygopetalum, odontoglossum, oncidium, miltonia, etc., 

 are treated in this manner. 



Cuttings. This method is available for those kinds with 

 long, jointed stems, like dendrobium and epidendrum. 

 Just before the plants commence to grow, say in February, 

 the old pseudo-bulbs are cut up into lengths, and laid on a 

 moist, warm surface, such as a pan of moss in a propagat- 

 ing frame. Young offshoots will shortly appear at the 

 nodes, and when large enough are potted off with the old 

 piece attached. This plan may be used also for barkeria 

 and microstylis. 



It is well to remember that in any method of propaga- 

 tion where the pseudo-bulb is divided, the vigor of the 

 young plant is proportionate to the amount of reserve 

 material supplied it. However suitable the external con- 

 ditions may be for growth, it is for some time entirely de- 

 pendent for sustenance on the old piece from which it 

 springs. Dendrobium Phalcenopsis is a case in point. 

 If a pseudo-bulb is cut into say three pieces, it will take 

 at least two years for the young plants to reach flowering 

 strength, but frequently, by using the entire pseudo-bulb, 

 we can get in a single year a growth quite as large as the 

 old one. 



The treatment of young, orchids should be founded on 

 what suits the parents. As a rule, however, they require 

 more careful nursing, and some of the conditions must 

 be modified. Drought, intense light and cold draughts 

 must be avoided. For many orchids, especially those 

 from equatorial regions, where the atmospheric conditions 

 alternate between saturation and intense heat and dry- 

 ness, it is necessary, in order to induce flowering, that 

 nature, to some extent at least, should be imitated. With 

 young plants, by whatever method they may be obtained, 

 the supply of water must only be reduced in accordance 

 with the weather and season, and beyond that, no at- 

 tempt at resting made. In cases, however, where plants 

 have been divided or made into cuttings, a very limited 

 supply of water is needed at first ; but to prevent exhaus- 

 tion, the atmosphere should always be kept laden with 

 moisture. 



Oreopanax. Araliacecz. 



Seeds, and cuttings of the young shoots, or division of 

 well-established plants. 



