TROPICAL GRCHIDACER. 295 
mild, the plants should be allowed the fall benefit of the 
open air. / 
Tropical Orchidacea.—Till within the last few years 
the cultivation of epidendrous plants was deemed too diffi- 
cult to be attempted in private establishments, and was 
resigned to Royal Gardens. A great revolution in this 
respect has since taken place; epiphytes being now exten- 
sively cultivated. The collection of such plants in the 
principal nursery gardens near London is vast, particularly 
at those of Loddiges, Hackney—Rollisons, Tooting— 
Knight, Chelsea—and Low, Clapton. Some amateur cul- 
tivators eminently excel in them; such as the Duke of 
Devonshire at Chatsworth, where Mr. Paxton presides; 
Karl Fitzwilliam at Wentworth, where Mr. Cooper is gar- 
dener; Mr. Bateman at Knypersley, and Mr. Rucker at 
Wandsworth. More than 1000 species of epiphytes are 
now in cultivation They are all tropical productions, and, 
of course, need stove-heat in this country; but those from 
the Hast Indies require a higher temperature and more hu- 
mid atmosphere than those from South America. In Scot- 
land, the cultivation of tropical epiphytes is carried to 
great perfection at the Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh and 
Glasgow, and also at the Experimental Garden of the Cal- 
edonian Horticultural Society, Edinburgh ; and the prac- 
tices followed in these establishments are here recommend- 
ed. In some private gardens, likewise, such epiphytes are 
grown with great suceess; particularly at Dalkeith Park, 
under Mr, Mackintosh, and Bothwell Castle, under Mr. 
Turnbull. It has now been fully ascertained by exten- 
sive experience, that their cultivation is not nearly so diffi- 
cult as was formerly supposed. When pots or shallow pans 
are used, they should be well furnished at bottom with 
shivers, or broken bricks or tiles, to drain off superfluous 
