106 orchid-grower's manual. 



on which they have a beautiful appearance by artificial light. As the 

 taste for table decoration is increasing, plants such as these will doubtless 

 be more sought after for that purpose ; and the subjecting of them to 

 exposure for a few hours in a warm room will do them little harni, 

 provided they have glasses over them with a ventilator at the top to let 

 out moisture, so as to keep the leaves dry. As they are generally grown 

 in small pots, they can be plunged in handsome vases with ornamental 

 glass tops, and when done vsrith, taken back into the heat. For room 

 work let the foliage be dry, and there should not be much moisture at the 

 roots. We should not, however, advise them to be used in the way just 

 described on a frosty night; but during mild weather it will not do them 

 any more harm than taking them to a flower show. It was for years our 

 custom, when living with the late C. B. Warner, Esq., atHoddesdon, to 

 show AnoedocMli at the Eegent's Park and Chiswick exhibitions under 

 bell-glasses, and we never found them injured by any such changes. 

 We, however, always took care to prepare them before starting, by not 

 giving them too much water, and by putting them in a cooler house, 

 which should be done with all plants of a tender kind before they are 

 taken to a show ; they will seldom sustain injury if treated in a proper 

 way before leaving a warm house. The plants in question were shown 

 for several years, and were grown without bottom heat and under bell- 

 glasses in the shade. We mention this to show how many years 

 AnoedocMli may be grown on, when subjected to the treatment best 

 suited for them. 



When they get out of health we have found that the best way is to 

 turn them out of their pots and examine the roots ; if in a bad state 

 below, wash the stem and roots, and repot in fresh soil. Thus treated we 

 have known them to improve an^ do well for some time, provided they 

 have not been allowed to get too much out of order before being seen to :, 

 if so, there may be little hope that the care bestowed on them will be of 

 any use. These plants, unlike some Orchids, have no thick woody pseudo- 

 bulbs to support them ;. their small fleshy stems require consta,nt 

 attention to keep them in a thriving state, but with care they majr be 

 grown to perfection. The flowers are small and unattractive, and their 

 development often injures the plants by weakening them, on which 

 account we always pinch them ofl" when they appear, and find that this 

 induces the stems to make lateral shoots freely. 



