124 GENERAL REVIEW OP THE ORCHIDE.^. 



very prevalent at that time but were not then known to be 

 fallacious ; for instance — he held that the climates (temperatures) 

 in which orchids grow naturally should be imitated as closely as 

 possible in the glass-houses in which they were cultivated — thence 

 leaving oiit of consideration other phenomena attendant on climate 

 and on account of which it is impossible to imitate artificially, and 

 in very many cases even approximately, the climate of a tropical 

 region in the glass-houses of a country situated in so high a latitude 

 as ours. He also accepted the common belief of that period and 

 which was only dispelled after a long series of losses and disaster, 

 that the supphj of fresJt. air required by orchids is hut small, and 

 he accordingly recommended that the houses in which they were 

 cultivated should be ventilated at the top only. 



In 1851 appeared a series of articles in the Gardeners' Chronicle 

 by Mr. B. S. Williams entitled "Orchids for the Million," adopting 

 a popular phrase of the period but which was not destined to be 

 realised in the sense intended by the author. These articles with 

 some additions and alterations subsequently formed the first edition 

 of The Orchid Grower's Manual which with the following editions 

 obtained a large circulation and exercised a considerable influence 

 on orchid culture for many years afterwards. The cultural details 

 recommended by the author and put into practice by him at 

 Hoddesdon approach more nearly the cultural routine followed at 

 the present time than any course of treatment that had previously 

 been formulated. They mark with tolerable distinctness the degree 

 of progress attained in orchid culture at the epoch of publication 

 and show the gradual transition that was being made towards the 

 more successful methods of the present time. With the view of 

 bringing this clearly before the reader we have put in a condensed 

 form the fundamental principles of orchid culture enunciated by 

 Mr. Williams in 1851. From the papers we are quoting it is 

 clear that the author shared in the prevalent belief that the 

 temperatures (climates as they were then called) in which orchids 

 grew naturally should be imitated in practice, the possibility of 

 imitating those climates in all their bearings not having been then 

 realised, and he accordingly gives somewhat higher temperatures than 

 those now generally maintained. To the following directions, however, 

 few exceptions can be taken by cultivators. 



