APRIL, 1913.] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 107 
open market, they could not have been bought for less than £500. It is 
particularly gratifying to find that the national collection of plants is not 
overlooked by the great owners of private collections. Kew does much to 
foster a love of horticulture among the people, and the gift of Sir George 
Holford is certain to be greatly appreciated by the thousands who visit 
those popular gardens.—Gardeners’ Chronicle. 
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ORCHIDS: THEIR POPULARITY AND CULTURE, 
A PAPER read by Mr. H. G. Alexander, Orchid grower to Sir George L. Holford, K.C.V.O. 
at a recent meeting of the Bath and District Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement 
Association. 
The cultivation of Orchids, commencing over a century-and-a-half ago, 
has always been an extremely attractive subject, for in this tribe of plants 
we have the most exquisitely curious and beautiful of all Nature’s 
productions. The extraordinarily-formed flowers are rich in every shade 
and blending of colour, some of which possess fantastic habits, yet always 
elegant and often replete with the richest perfumes, or emitting the most 
refreshing and delicate odours. Orchid growing was at one time looked 
upon as exclusively the privilege of the few, and as a craze. This, like 
‘many of the old ideas associated with the cultivation of these interesting 
plants, was, as seen in the light of present-day knowledge, very extra- 
ordinary. Formerly, there were several reasons which caused many who 
admired them to hesitate before undertaking their cultivation. The high 
price which nearly all the showy kinds commanded was in itself a serious 
Matter, to say nothing about the uncertainty that existed as to their 
‘growing after large sums had been spent in procuring them. In the early 
‘days, Orchids, as soon as received, were consigned into houses wherein a 
hot, steamy atmosphere without ventilation was maintained at all times, a 
method adopted to imitate the damp, close jungle in which all tropical 
‘Orchids were then supposed to have their home. 
It was towards the middle of the nineteenth century that a change of 
system in growing Orchids under artificial conditions was brought about by 
Joseph Cooper and Donald Beaton, two of the ablest and most scientific 
gardeners in this country in those days. These cultivators, grasping the 
truth in the direction that more attention should be paid than hitherto 
to the climatic conditions under which Orchids grow at the various altitudes 
in the tropics, adopted their cultural treatment accordingly, by commencing 
to keep a more reasonable temperature, and admitting fresh air into the 
houses. Somewhere about the same time Mr. Paxton, afterwards Sir 
Joseph Paxton, adopted a similar treatment, and an improved method of 
Potting, with special regard to efficient drainage and extra attention to 
Toot development. These were the chief deviations from the established 
