320 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



air can be provided. This is as necessary for cool-house 

 Orchids in summer as the protection against frost during the 

 colder months of the year. With regard to the plants which 

 require intermediate and stove-house culture, the ordinary 

 conditions usually provided for warm greenhouse and stove 

 plants will be found ample to meet the requirements of these 

 sections of Orchids. 



Orchids as Town Plants. It is a most interesting fact that 

 many of the largest and best collections of Orchids in this 

 country, both in trade and private establishments, are in 

 London and other large towns and smoky districts. Fogs 

 and absence of light are drawbacks, causing loss of bloom 

 during the winter months, otherwise there is little to com- 

 plain of. In fact, the Orchid plants withstand the unfavour- 

 able atmospheric conditions above mentioned far better than 

 soft- wooded, greenhouse, and ornamental foliaged stove plants 

 generally grown by amateurs. The writer has been em- 

 ployed amongst Orchids in town districts for the greater 

 part of the last twenty-five years. It must be admitted that 

 the flowers are destroyed wholesale by fog, especially among 

 the warm-growing sections, but the majority of the species 

 and hybrids, which are the most suitable subjects for be- 

 ginners, belong to the cool and intermediate-house, and 

 are, therefore, not so susceptible to unfavourable atmospheric 

 conditions. 



Their Culture. A good collection of cool and warm-house 

 Orchids can be procured as cheaply and cultivated with equal 

 success as a house of Ferns or other plants. When, however, 

 the collection is large and expensive, a man of experience is 

 indispensable. Any enthusiastic plant cultivator who can 

 successfully cultivate other plants may prove successful with 

 Orchids also. To make the cultural conditions of the various 

 species plainly understood, particulars are given of each 

 species as they are referred to. 



Anguloa (The Cradle Orchid). This handsome Orchid in all its 

 varieties may be successfully grown in the cool intermediate-house. 

 The plants require plenty of moisture at the roots during the growing 

 season, but as soon as the growths have matured give only sufficient to 

 prevent the pseudo-bulbs from shrivelling. The flowers are produced 

 with the young growths in the early summer, and the best time to repot 

 is when the new roots are coming from the base of the young growth. 

 The potting compost required consists of two parts peat to one of 

 sphagnum moss. Ample drainage must be afforded. 



Cattleyas. These are among the best of the Orchids for beginners, 



