560 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



measurement given, a stage should extend 

 along both sides with a table -like stage in 

 the middle. If a house is built for Odonto- 

 glossums, &c., on the lesser scale, a stage on 

 either hand with the walk through the middle 

 are most convenient. Orchids like to be raised 

 above a stage covered with shingle, small coal, 

 ballast, or any other moisture-holding material, 

 the plants being the more easily supplied with 

 moisture and a free circulation of air. Inverted 

 flower-pots, which are often used, are unsightly, 

 and they harbour insects and slugs; the raised 

 open stage, higher at the back than at the 

 front, is therefore preferable. A proper and 

 convenient stage for Orchids may be described 

 as follows : — The upright supports and the 

 frame on which the stage proper is placed 

 should be of light iron, ordinary angle-iron being 

 b} T far the best. The front and back supports 

 should also be of angle-iron placed so as to 

 form a rim to hold the shingle or other sub- 

 stance to be placed thereon. The back support 

 should be at least an inch from the side of the 

 house in order to allow warmth and air to cir- 

 culate. Light iron bars running from front to 

 back should be placed to support the slates or 

 tiles to form the stage. Ordinary flat red roof- 

 ing-tiles a foot square do excellently well. Over 

 these a layer of shingle, ballast, or coke-breeze 

 is placed. This forms the lower staging, which 

 is to be kept constantly wet. Above this an 

 open or lattice wooden stage should be fixed ; if 

 constructed in three steps, the back one the 

 highest, it will be an advantage in watering, 

 &c. An excellent and convenient open staging, 

 to be removed or placed as required, can be 

 made of battens by any handy man, and if 

 made in lengths of about 12 feet it will be 

 found especially useful. The front lattice stage 

 should stand on single brick above the perma- 

 nent stage, the second on two bricks, and the 

 third on three. The bricks and the whole of 

 this upper staging can be conveniently removed 

 during cleaning or other operations, and re- 

 turned to its place as required. This is the 

 cheapest, cleanest, and most convenient kind of 

 open staging, and it can be whitewashed twice 

 a year Avith little trouble and the harmful effect 

 of painted staging avoided. The double staging 

 has this advantage also: the lower close stage 

 prevents the hot dry heat from the pipes from 

 ascending directly to the plants, and also pro- 

 vides a sure and regular supply of moisture above. 

 Some cultivators construct their Orchid 

 houses as follows: — The ground space except 

 the path is converted into tanks, which serve 



as reservoirs for rain-water, and also afford the 

 requisite atmospheric moisture through evapora- 

 tion. The open or lattice stages are fixed over 

 the tanks, which, of course, are all open, so that 

 the water that runs from the plants drops back 

 into the tank. For cool Orchids this is an ex- 

 cellent arrangement. It is, however, costly, the 

 tanks, if properly made, being an expensive 

 item. If an old plant-house is to be turned into 

 an Orchid house, clear out the inside, take up 

 the flooring if of cement or other hard sub- 

 stance, so that there be only an earth basement; 

 provide wooden trellises for the walks ; see that 

 the arrangements for ventilation, heating, shad- 

 ing, and other matters are suitable, and fit with 

 an open wood-work ordinary plant stage, graded 

 to bring the plants well up to the glass, and a 

 cheap and good Orchid house is provided. But 

 the ascent of the heat from the pipes, especially 

 in cold weather, must be prevented by placing 

 a row of slates over the staging where the heat 

 is likely to injure the plants, and unlimited 

 moisture must be forthcoming from the base- 

 ment, especially in warm weather. For the 

 flooring nothing is better or healthier in an 

 Orchid house than the natural earth, which, for 

 cleanliness and neatness, may be covered with 

 shingle or cinders. An oak or pitch-pine trellis 

 may be placed along the middle of the path in 

 houses where a wet walk would be objectionable. 

 Paths of Portland cement, tiles, or flag-stones 

 are sometimes used, but they are not so favour- 

 able to good cultivation. 



Water Supply. — Rain-water only should be 

 used for Orchids. Sufficient tankage should 

 therefore be provided in the basement of each 

 house to catch all the rain-water possible. In 

 former times it was considered necessary to 

 warm the water by running hot-water pipes 

 through the tanks. Such an arrangement, how- 

 ever, is often fraught with danger, especially 

 in winter, from the excessive moisture raised. 

 Water which has been stored in an unheated 

 tank for some hours in the house in which it 

 is to be used is warm enough for even the most 

 tropical species. When in summer the supply 

 of rain-water is in danger of running out, water 

 from a pond or rivulet which is not "hard" 

 should be brought into the house and mixed 

 with that in the tanks for use until rain comes. 

 Some allege that the rain-water of towns cannot 

 be good, by reason of the sooty deposits on the 

 glass and other surfaces on which it fell; but 

 this very soon settles in the tanks, and the 

 water is if anything the better for it. The 

 tanks should be cleaned out annually. 



