14 COOL ORCHID GROWING. 



better class stove and greenhouse plants, while their cultiva- 

 tion does not cost more than that of ordinary greenhouse plants. 

 We find that gentlemen become so annoyed at seeing their 

 plants in bad condition that they refuse to purchase new or 

 rare kinds, and in many cases give up Orchid growing 

 altogether, simply because they have been unfortunate in the 

 choice of men to grow them. Only give Orchids rational 

 treatment, with plenty of moisture both at the roots and in 

 the atmosphere, and you will not have to complain of their 

 being difficult to manage. Orchids are the most difficult 

 plants to kill, judging from the diverse systems of treatment 

 to which they are subjected; yet for perfect success they 

 must, from their first introduction, be subjected to a course 

 of good culture, and then, instead of flaccid foliage and 

 shrivelled pseudo-bulbs, we shall have sturdy health, followed 

 by an abundant crop of large and finely -formed flowers. It 

 is impossible to kill Orchids by having too much moisture in 

 the atmosphere, though many hundreds are annually killed 

 by keeping the atmosphere in which they are grown too dry. 

 Never try experiments with valuable Orchids ; follow the 

 accepted treatment with these, and experiment if experiment 

 you must with common and cheap kinds. 



