INTRODUCTION. 



do upon cultivation as a help to nature, the result can only be an 

 improvement, if success in the object aimed at has been attamed. 



Let us endeavour to make our meaning clear by a familiar example. 

 We have frequently seen some of our indigenous ferns, such as Soolopsn- 

 driiiins, Lastreas, &c., growing upon dry banks, sbony grounds, and old 

 ruins, where they have presented the appearance of short, stunted, ill- ■ 

 favoured plants, but still they were in a state of nature. Now, no one 

 would recommend the cultivator to imitate that phase of nature. No — 

 rather would the counsellor say, " Go to that shady dell, with the limj)id 

 stream flowing through it; there you will see the rich green, fully 

 developed, and graceful fronds of these gems in all their beauty." This, 

 then, we say is the phase of nature which cultivators should take as their 

 guide, and endeavour to improve upon. We submit that these consi- 

 derations are strictly applicable to the plants we have taken under oui: 

 special cognizance in this volume, and will exemplify this by an extract 

 from a letter of Colonel Benson. He says — " Dandroliium formosum, does 

 not appear to seek shady places for growth ; in fact, as far as my know- 

 ledge goes, few Orchids do, beyond what is given by the trees when in 

 leaf. During the months of February, March, and April, they are 

 exposed to an atmosphere of 110° in the shade. That the fresh-grown 

 pseudobulbs are by this means reduced in size or shrivelled there can 

 be no question ; and in some of the mountain Orchids this reduction 

 takes place to such an extent as to render it doubtful whether they are 

 the same plants when iirstseen at the end of rains." Now take the case 

 of these plants under culture ; the growing or rainy season past, their 

 supply of water would be gradually diminished, and they would be 

 exposed to the full effects of the sun, with plenty of air, but only so long 

 as they could withstand this treatment without shrivelling ; for, should 

 this condition ensue, or should exhaustion from any other cause arise, 

 the cultivator would step in, and by judicious treatment preserve the 

 strength and consequently the health of the plant, whilst the plants in 

 their native localities must bear the full power of the scorching sun, let 

 even death be the result. Here, then, we say is a proof that art does in 

 some instances assist nature. 



Nearly all epiphytal Orchids are subject to a period of rest, growth 

 taking place during the rainy season, while their resting period occurs 

 during the dry season. Under cultivation, ho-,vever, we have to alter 



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