364 GAKDEN PLANTS. PART II. 



by a seasonable fresh supply of water, for that which by evapo- 

 ration and drainage is so soon withdrawn. The difficulty is 

 removed of itself when the Hot season is over and the Eains 

 have set in : but then a difficulty of just the opposite tendency 

 occurs. The plants now do not dry soon enough : damp stag- 

 nates, and mouldiness and rot ensue. The remedy is obvious 

 abundance of fresh air, and all the ventilation possible. 



For watering Orchids, when the collection is large, a brass 

 syringe made for the purpose is all but indispensable. They 

 for the most part rest from growth during the two or three 

 months of the Cold season, previous to which watering should be 

 gradually more and more abstained from. 



But here I must not omit to mention what is perhaps the 

 most important point of all in the cultivation of these choice 

 plants, and that is absolute cleanliness. In their native homes, 

 upon the lofty trees of humid forests, very little dust can ever 

 find its way to them ; whereas in the verandahs of houses about 

 Calcutta they cannot remain many days before they become 

 actually loaded with dust and dirt. This as it accumulates must 

 be most scrupulously removed. It is a work of patience, but it 

 must be done. And no plan answers better for the purpose than 

 to use a sponge and soap and tepid water, washing carefully each 

 leaf of each several plant, both upper and lower surfaces, changing 

 the water frequently as it becomes dirty. The leaves of an 

 Orchid, particularly at the principal season of its growth, should 

 look clean and bright. Few seem to be aware how beautiful 

 these plants may be thus brought to look, even when out of 

 blossom. I need hardly observe that the cleansing work must 

 be done with a light hand, and the plants subjected to no rough 

 usage. 



The plants that I here bring to notice form perhaps but a very 

 limited portion of those now met with in Calcutta ; but they 

 include, I believe, the whole of those that are in any way 

 common, and may be cultivated with moderate care. There are 

 very few but do beyond measure better in a Betel-house than 

 elsewhere ; and the rarer and more costly ones will not even 

 exist any long time out of it. But for those who do not care to 

 incur the expense and trouble of such a structure, there are still 

 some very beautiful kinds which may be cultivated satisfactorily 

 without one. 



