THE ORCHID REVIEW. 139 
this was done. ‘‘ The last two winters I removed my large plants from 
the regular Orchideze house for wintering, and kept my smallest plants in 
aregular heat of from 70° to 80°, and had a good crop of cucumbers to the 
bargain.” Poor plants! 
With regard to potting, he observed—“ I never pot young plants until 
two years or more old, and well supplied with roots.” Here is his mode of 
treatment :—The young plants were fastened to a ball of moss, which was 
held together by copper wire and kept moist, but no water allowed to touch 
the plant. When the balls were well rooted, more moss was added, and 
the whole placed in a forked stick, formed by three diverging branches, and 
hung up in the house. Soon the roots monopolised both moss and stick, 
and now was said to be the time to pot. The stick was now placed in a 
pot so that the plant was just above the rim, and the interval filled up 
with turf (peat); or other material which might be supposed to answer 
the same purpose. The plants were not watered overhead during the 
winter, but the house was kept moist. 
Soon afterwards Beaton entered the service of Thomas Harris, Esq., of 
Kingsbury, Kilburn, and in 1839 he again wrote an article, which appeared 
in Loudon’s Gardener’s Magazine for that year (p. 552)- Here he states 
that he still follows the same practice with but little variation, and that 
the collection at Kingsbury shows as much evidence of successful cultiva- 
tion as any in the country. He further remarks that his aversion to pot 
culture has been increasing ever since, and that he is quite certain that no 
argument will ever induce him to reconcile himself to the present hideous 
method of pot culture—the plants placed on mounds of earth raised over the 
tops of large pots—and the still more frightful system of plunging these 
large pots in tan, to receive bottom heat. Bottom heat by hot water, he 
added, would probably prove beneficial, if it could be carried out, but even 
then he would use no pots. He recommends in preference flat-bottomed 
baskets of copper wire, placed on the tops of pots on some imperishable 
material over the hot-water pipes. Or they might be hung up, when the 
Soil would be less liable to become sodden. ‘They should be three to 
four, tarely six inches deep, lined inside with pieces of turf (peat) not 
= touching ; over this some rough pieces of turf were to be laid, and the 
Plants Planted. Delicate plants he recommended should first be planted 
ina small pot in the centre, round which turf and crocks were to be placed 
equal quantities. 
Some Species were grown on forked sticks, a method which he observed 
"as also Carried out by Mr. Fortune, in the Horticultural Society’s garden, 
and, in the case of Stanhopeas and others, with great success. 
= As regards treatment, he observed that Orchids must have their — 
eee they were wished to flower, but if not, they should be given 4 
Stimulus (i.e, of heat) all the year round, a method successfully adopted by 
