The Garden of British Wild Flowers. 239 



where they live in a wild state. I knew that the 

 surface dressing of stunted, storm-beaten grass 

 among which they nestle prevents the ground from 

 cracking, hinders a good deal of evaporation, and 

 also shelters the plants in winter — in short, keeps 

 the surface open, natural, and healthy. To plant 

 grass over a bed in a garden would never do, be- 

 cause the shelter and richness of the ground would 

 induce it to grow so strong that unless we were to 

 look after and shorten it very frequently there 

 would be no chance of keeping it within bounds ; 

 and if we did not do that, it would soon 

 smother all the Orchids. I found a substitute 

 in cocoa-fibre mixed with a good sprinkling of 

 silver sand and a little peat to give it some 

 weight and consistency. An inch or two of this 

 material was spread over the bed, and it suc- 

 ceeded perfectly in answering my ends, i^., it pre- 

 vented cracking and evaporation, and kept the 

 surface in an open, healthy state. Of course I 

 inserted the plants firmly and without injuring 

 their roots — a great point. Few people know how 

 to plant anything beyond a strong bedding plant. 



If one of these Orchids which are accus- 

 tomed to send their fleshy roots down below moist 

 accumulations of broken chalk in search of food, 



