Potting Orchids 



principle. Under any circumstances, however, the 

 moss should be renewed when it gets sodden, 

 but with care, for it may probably be full of roots. 

 Often the moss will grow to an inconvenient length ; 

 in that case it may be shorn with scissors. 



I pass to the new system. Like other inventions, 

 it was begotten by necessity. Belgian peat is 

 useless for orchids, and the thrifty horticuUcurs of 

 Ghent and Bruges would have got no sleep o' 

 nights had they been obliged to pay English prices. 

 Looking round for a substitute, they tried the 

 cushion of moss and fern which clings to old walls. 

 It answered fairly, and it cost nothing. Very 

 gradually the most observant came to perceive that 

 plants did better when the cushions had been 

 gathered under the shadow of oak woods, where the 

 earthy matter in them was composed of rotten 

 leaves. Pondering this fact, some daring spirit 

 was led to try the earthy matter pure and simple — 

 tcrre de lru)/ere they call it. And so, gradually, 

 the proper treatment was discovered. 



This variety of terrc dc hrui/erc is leaf-mould, 

 but with a difference, or, indeed, several. It is 

 found only near the coast, in a district compara- 

 tively limited, swept by the lively breezes of the 

 North Sea. They are loaded with salt and fine 

 sand, much finer than that on our shores. The 



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