ORCHID-HOUSE. 



689 



air of a packing-case, are ill adapted to being at 

 once placed in fresh air and in the glare of 

 light. Since leaving the tropics they have also 

 been exposed to a much lower temperature than 

 that natural to them ; they have been long 

 deprived of their natural supply of humidity; 

 and, indeed, their vital functions may be con- 

 sidered as exceedingly low. To place them at 

 once in the light, heat, and moisture of the 

 orchid-house would be far too rapid a transition. 

 It is better, therefore, to place them on a bed of 

 dry moss in a close pit, the temperature of which 

 is not above 55° or 60°. Here they should re- 

 main partially shaded and slightly moistened 

 until their vital action begins to be excited, and 

 as this takes place they should be removed to 

 another close pit and potted, or attached to 

 blocks according to their nature, gradually stimu- 

 lated by increased heat, light, and moisture, until 

 they have become sufficiently established. In- 

 deed, it is a good practice to grow all small and 

 weakly plants of this order in such a pit, as in it 

 they will make far greater progress than in a 

 larger house. Orchids are best sent home in a 

 Wardian case, particularly from India, if not 

 forwarded by the overland route. We have 

 often received them by the latter merely packed 

 in light boxes, and packed loosely amongst dry 

 grassy material or inferior cotton. The larger 

 the plants sent home the better they travel, and 

 the more valuable they are. 



SELECTION OF ORCHIDS TO BE GROWN ON 

 BLOCKS. 



Barhena. — The whole genus thrive on blocks, 

 requiring abundance of moisture during their 

 growth, but being kept dry during their period 

 of repose, at which time they shed their foliage. 

 The temperature best suited to the Barkerias, 

 and also, we may state, to all the orchids of 

 Guatemala, is from 60° to 65° as a maximum, 

 and from 45° to 37° as a minimum. We are 

 informed by Mr Skinner, the well-known im- 

 porter, that often these plants are exposed to 

 several degrees of frost, and frequently in win- 

 ter covered with snow. Excessive heat, parti- 

 cularly during their season of rest, or giving no 

 rest at all, is the cause of many of them failing 

 to thrive in this country. 



Brasavola. — The whole genus is adapted to 

 blocks, and to the most exposed part of the 

 house, being found in open places exposed to 

 the fullest rays of a tropical sun. 



Broughtonia. — When in a growing state, this 

 genus should be kept in a humid and high tem- 

 perature, but afterwards kept cool and dry. 



Burlingtonia. — With the exception of B. Can- 

 dida and rigida, which thrive weU in pots, the 

 rest of the genus prefer to be grown on blocks. 

 They require a high and moist atmosphere and 

 partial shade, as they are natives of the dark 

 forests of Brazil. 



Camarotis purpurea. — Requires the same cul- 

 ture 33 Saccolabium, {which see.) 



Catmetvm. — Although usually cultivated in 

 pots, they grow equally well, if not better, 

 attached to blocks ; their natural place of 

 growth being on branches of trees exposed fully 



to the hot sun of Demerara, they require a tem- 

 perature equal to from 70° to 85° while grow- 

 ing, and a reduction of from 10° to 20° while 

 at rest, at which period their leaves are shed. 

 While growing, they require abundance of 

 moisture. 



Cattleya, Marginata, Bullosa, Oitrina, Aclan- 

 diw, and Pumila, prefer block culture, and less 

 heat and moisture than many of the genus. 

 To maintain them in health they also require a 

 pure and free air, and should be kept dry at the 

 roots during autumn and winter. 



Cirrhopetalum. — A rare and curious genus, 

 requiring a very moist atmosphere, and a tem- 

 perature during their season of growth of from 

 75° to 85°. During their season of rest the 

 temperature should be reduced to 60°, and little 

 water given. 



Loelia. — This is a splendid genus, requiring a 

 medium temperature even during their growing 

 season, and less water than is generally sup- 

 posed. In their state of rest, the temperature 

 of an ordinary greenhouse is sufficient, and at 

 that period they must be kept dry, but not so 

 much so as to cause their leaves to shrivel. 

 With us most of them flower during autumn and 

 winter, particularly L. superbiens, one of the 

 most magnificent orchids in cultivation. 



Oncidium. — This is a very extensive genus, 

 and for the most part fine flowering plants, and, 

 with the exception of 0. pulchellum, tricolor, 

 uniflorum, uroyphyllum, and triquetrum, are of 

 easy culture. The above exceptions, however, 

 require a warmer and moister treatment, being 

 natives of the West India Islands. They are 

 devoid of pseudo bulbs, and therefore require 

 attention to frequent syringing, as most other 

 orchids so circumstanced do. They require also 

 to be well exposed to light, and kept moderately 

 dry after their season of growth is past. 



Phalcenopsis. — A magnificent genus, natives 

 of the warmest climates, therefore requiring 

 more heat than the majority of orchids. They 

 require abundance of moisture during their sear 

 son of growth, and hence ours are suspended over 

 the water-tank in which the Victoria Regia is 

 grown. 



Benanthera. — Of this genus R. coccinea is by 

 far the finest. Eeing a native of China, it does 

 not require the same temperature as some of 

 the Indian ones do. It is, however, a capricious 

 plant as regards flowering, and was for years 

 after its introduction considered a difficult plant 

 to manage. It flowered for the first time in 

 Europe in the Royal Gardens at Claremont, into 

 which it was imported from Cochin-China the 

 year before we were appointed to the charge of 

 that establishment, and continued to flower pro- 

 fusely for several years before it did so else- 

 where. The plant was merely attached to the 

 stem of a dead tree set at one end of a stove 

 containing a general collection of tropical plants, 

 and no particular care was taken of it ; yet it not 

 only flowered profusely annually, but litimately 

 covered a great portion of the roof of the house — 

 so much so, that we were often obliged to reduce 

 its limits considerably. A portion of the same 

 plant we have in the collection of orchids at 

 Dalkeith, which, although established fourteen 



