ORCHIDS. 



565 



autumn, too much cannot easily be given, 

 but in winter a drier air is required. At all 

 seasons the supply of moisture should be regu- 

 lated by the weather outside. In bright sunny 

 weather much more water should be distributed 

 about the houses than in dull weather. In very 

 hot weather it is a good plan to thoroughly 

 damp down the house at mid-day, and at the 

 same time throw open every door for five or 

 ten minutes, which ensures a thorough change 

 of air about the plants. 



Syringing. — The use of the syringe in the 

 Orchid house, so far as syringing the plants is 

 concerned, has steadily declined, until now in 

 some of the best collections it is discontinued 

 altogether, as being mischievous unless limited 

 to the walls and about the stages. It may be 

 used for Dendrobiums when in full growth and 

 in a very high temperature, but even for these 

 it is not necessary, a more regular supply of 

 moisture, more beneficial to the plants too, 

 being kept up by liberal watering at the 

 root, and by frequently damping down. 



All Orchids when actively growing require a 

 liberal supply of water at the root if the drainage 

 is perfect, so that the water does not stay to 

 sodden the material about the roots, even the 

 most moisture-loving of Orchids being injured 

 by this condition. Tropical Orchids require 

 moist heat when they are growing, and even 

 the cool-house species are not easily injured 

 by it at that season. Hence it is that some 

 growers, who prefer high temperatures, get 

 their plants to thrive marvellously for a time; 

 but when the resting season comes, unless the 

 temperature is fitted to the season of repose, 

 collapse results. 



The season of growth for Orchids varies, and 

 in a large collection there are always plants in 

 full growth. Each plant gives unmistakable 

 signs of awakening activity to the thoughtful 

 grower, and again shows by its behaviour when 

 it would benefit by a rest. Growth having fully 

 matured, flowering taken place, and a more or 

 less lengthy period of rest having been provided 

 for, the next young leaves or growths which 

 the plants make will be known to be new 

 growth, and an infallible indication that the 

 growing season has arrived, when moisture and 

 increased heat should be given. Any advance 

 which the plant may be induced to make before 

 its time will result in a loss of vigour, growth 

 always being most vigorous after a full rest. 



Spring-time is, as a rule, the beginning of 

 the growing season of tropical Orchids, and 

 our winters being long and dull, it should be 



the object of the grower to use all the means 

 in his power to induce as many of the plants 

 as possible to finish growth early in the autumn 

 while there is yet sufficient sunlight to thor- 

 oughly ripen them. 



Resting Orchids. — Orchids may roughly be 

 divided into three large classes, viz. the decidu- 

 ous epiphytal, the evergreen epiphytal, and the 

 terrestrial. Of the deciduous epiphytal we have 

 examples in Dendrobium nobile, D. Wardianum, D. 

 crassinode, and all those species whose leaves turn 

 yellow and fall soon after the pseudo-bulbs are 

 matured. These should be rested in a perfectly 

 dry house in a light position, and in a tempera- 

 ture of 50° to 60°, unless the excess is by sun- 

 heat, and be kept dry until flower-buds appear, 

 when a little water may be given. A vinery or 

 other resting fruit-house is suitable for resting 

 Orchids. Should a suitable house not be avail- 

 able, and the pseudo- bulbs shrivel through 

 excessive drought, a little water ought to be 

 given, say once a week or so, in order to keep 

 the old bulbs tolerably plump. Catasetums, 

 Mormodes, Cycnoches, Galeandras, Ccelogynes 

 of the Pleione section, and all Orchids which by 

 the dying and falling of the leaves show that 

 they require a protracted dry and cool rest, 

 should be treated in this way. 



A large number of Dendrobiums, such as I), 

 thyrsiflorum and I). Farmeri, Cattleyas, Laelias, 

 Oncidiums, &c, are of an evergreen, or partly 

 evergreen, character, losing some leaves every 

 year, but not those of the preceding year's 

 growth. These may be rested in their own 

 house by a more free admission of air and 

 partial withholding of water. Aerides, Saccola- 

 I biums, Phalsenopsis, and all the species with 

 woody stems and distichous leaves, each require 

 a rest after the last made leaf is as long as the 

 others, and no more leaves are proceeding from 

 the centre, an indication that growth is finished 

 and rest required. 



Evergreen terrestrial species, after having 

 matured their growth and flowered, only re- 

 quire sufficient moisture to keep up the already 

 formed tissues until growth again begins. The 

 importance of recognizing the proportionate 

 seasons of growth and rest for Orchids under 

 cultivation is not far to seek. A year's work 

 in a twelvemonth is the imperative necessity, 

 not only for Orchids, but for every perennial 

 in the vegetable kingdom. Under natural 

 conditions the seasons and climate regulate 

 these periods of growth, maturity, flowers, and 

 rest, perfectly, although in many instances in 

 a manner quite different from that resorted to 



