MANURES FOR ORCHIDS — 39 
CHAPTER IX 
MANURES FOR ORCHIDS 
It should be distinctly understood that, in the case of true 
epiphytes, there is no need for manures, and, that artifi- 
cial chemical manures are almost certain to bring about 
disastrous results, the final collapse being in proportion 
to the potency of the stimulant used and the reckless- 
ness of the grower. Where rain-water can be obtained and 
stored for use throughout the season, it is safest and most 
satisfactory to rely on this alone, except for some terrestrial 
Orchids. The chief difficulty in recommending the use of 
manures for any class of plants, Orchids especially, is in 
the fact that, once the practice is commenced, even those 
cultivators who begin cautiously frequently lose discretion in 
the course of time and ruin their plants by excessive applica- 
tions. It is for this reason that the growers of plants for 
market purposes, whose secret of success almost entirely 
depends on the use of manures, are careful to give out 
the supplies to the men who have to use them, or, with 
the very best intentions, they would often destroy a crop. 
Indeed, it is not uncommon for foremen, or men in charge 
of departments in large nurseries devoted to growing plants 
for market, to resort to unfair means to get extra supplies 
of manure for their plants, and frequently with bad results. 
There is another curious feature about the use of manures 
in market-plant gardens, namely, that all concerned observe 
the greatest secrecy in the matter, and rarely admit that they 
