168 THE ORCHID REVIEW. [TunE, 1908. 
on the Viaduct system, and they use cocoa-nut matting as a double staging, 
otherwise the Orchid houses are ordinary plant houses, and the Orchids do 
well, and the cost of such houses is about one-third the cost of Orchid 
houses in England. I think there would be a good many more Orchid 
growers if they knew that Orchids could be grown without having to 
build costly houses, and houses built specially for Orchids cannot be 
adapted for other plants without considerable expense, should they be 
required for another purpose at any time. In building a fancy house here 
the builder, asa rule, is not a gardener in any sense. Hegets the order to 
build the house, and he builds it to look nice, and when he has finished it and 
comes to hand it over to the gardener, it is often found impossible to grow 
anything decent in it. In using cocoanut matting for a double staging they 
can get their houses much better ventilated, without putting so much air 
on, than is possible in houses where solid stages are used, as the air and 
heat from the pipes can pass through the matting, and in the winter, 
instead of getting all the heat up the back and front of the stage, and the 
centre of the stage cold and wet, we get an even heat all through the stage, 
and get no rush of it anywhere. 
CATTLEYA GIGAs will be pushing up sheaths, and should be kept up as 
near the glass as possible till the buds get through the sheath. Plants that 
are not showing for flower will have a better chance to flower next year if 
they are well ripened. Do not hurry them, or they will make a second 
growth, and too weak to flower or to make a strong growth next year. 
Cypripediums will now require plenty of moisture. They should never 
be allowed to get dry at the roots, or thrip will soon make its appearance. 
With reasonable care in watering and syringing, they will grow fast for the 
next three or four months, and give abundance of flowers in the autumn. 
Almost everything that is well rooted will grow well for the next few months, 
if given plenty of water, both at the roots and overhead on bright days. 
Temperatures cannot well be regulated during the summer months. It 
is no use trying to work to a certain uniform degree, and so long as they do 
not fall lower than advised in last month’s Calendar, very little fire heat will 
be required to keep them to the proper temperature at night. 
SHADING will have to be carefully watched. It is no use letting plants 
scald in order to keep them hard, as we generally get a fairly good month 
or so about September and October, which will be quite enough to ripen 
them off for winter, and they ripen quicker during the autumn without 
losing the leaves than in the blazing sun we shall get this month and next. 
DampPinc should be done three or four times each day, as the houses dry 
quickly, even with only a little ventilation. In any case water is cheaper 
than Insecticides, and too much cannot very easily be put on the floor and 
walls, and the plants certainly enjoy it. 
