ORCHIDS. 



569 



fited too by the removal of the spikes as soon 

 as the flowers are fully matured. In some 

 collections flower-holders containing water are 

 kept in the Orchid house to receive the spikes 

 of flowers which it is deemed advisable to 

 remove, and which are not required for use in 

 the dwelling-house or for sending away. In 

 this way the plants are relieved, although the 

 house is not denuded of the flowers. Shallow 

 boxes should be used for sending the flowers 

 a distance, layers of crumpled tissue-paper j 

 placed between the spikes holding them firmly 

 without crushing them; cotton-wool should not i 

 be used, the crumpled tissue-paper being quite 

 sufficient. 



Foliage Plants with Orchids. — The Orchid house 

 is dull at certain times of the year unless a few 

 other plants are employed for its embellish- 

 ment. These may be grown on the edges of 

 the close stages, and on simple rockeries, not | 

 interfering with the heating, beneath the 

 staging. Adianium cuneatum, A. Capillus-Veneris, 

 and most of the other Maiden-Hairs, Panicum 

 variegatum, Selaginella denticulata and other 

 species, Begonia Bex, Sonerilas, Cyrtodeiras, 

 Ficus repens and minima, Isolepis gracilis, Cala- 

 diums, and such-like plants, are suitable for this 

 purpose. Climbing plants of all kinds should 

 be excluded from the Orchid house. 



Spot or Disease in Orchids is the result of 

 defective cultivation, generally too high a tem- 

 perature. It affects chiefly the evergreen, 

 fleshy -leaved species, such as Phalamopsis, 

 Aerides, Vandas, some Oncidiums, and even 

 Cattleyas and Coelogynes. Apparently healthy 

 plants suddenly develop dark-brown spots on 

 the leaves, which in the course of time present 

 dark dried-up patches of tissue. Plants thus 

 affected are difficult to restore to health, but 

 some good may be done by inducing them to 

 make good rapid growth in the proper season, 

 to be followed by a long rest in a cooler tem- 

 perature afterwards. In some cases the disease 

 is so virulent as to kill the plant outright. 



A single Orchid house may be worked to 

 perfection where there are other glass structures 

 devoted to fruit or plant culture. The Orchid 

 house itself should be heated and arranged as 

 an intermediate house, the other houses being 

 utilized for plants requiring special treatment. 

 When the Dendrobiums, for instance, are seen 

 to be about to grow, they should be placed in 

 a Melon or Cucumber house. Calanthes will 

 make very fine bulbs in the same quarters; 

 indeed, any of the Orchids requiring a rapid 

 growth in a hothouse should be so treated. 



When growth is completed, the plants should 

 be removed to the Orchid house. In the same 

 way, when the deciduous Dendrobiums, Thunias, 

 and other Orchids are losing their leaves and 

 about to go to rest, they should be placed in 

 a cool dry vinery, or greenhouse, where the 

 temperature does not fall below 50'", where 

 they will be properly rested, and the Orchid 

 house relieved of their presence at their shab- 

 biest season. On the appearance of the flower- 

 spikes they should be returned to the Orchid 

 house. 



Collecting Orchids. — In the matter of import- 

 ing Orchids, amateurs had better rely on the 

 importations made under the auspices of the 

 several trade firms who make a business of it. 

 But in these days of travelling both for business 

 and pleasure, an enthusiast may find himself in 

 a country where Orchids are growing wild, or 

 he may have friends abroad who would willingly 

 send him interesting specimens if they only knew 

 how to set about it. 



Newly collected Orchids need no preparation, 

 and very little packing. The time to collect them 

 is when the last growth is fully matured and the 

 new growth not started, in other words, when 

 they are at rest. This condition is when the 

 pseudo-bulbs are all of full size, and no young 

 growth is proceeding from the base. Aerides, 

 Saccolabium, Phalsenopsis, and those which 

 have no bulbs, when at rest have all the leaves 

 full-grown and no young leaf proceeding from 

 the centre of the plant; the root-tips are also 

 hard. If the packing-cases could be on the 

 spot, and the plants laid in them at once and 

 despatched, they would have the best chance 

 of travelling well. The cases should be about 

 3 feet by 2 feet by 2 feet, into which a layer 

 about an inch thick of dry moss or wood shav- 

 ings may be put, then a layer of plants with 

 their heads all one way, then another layer 

 of moss or even of paper, followed by another 

 layer of plants with their heads the reverse 

 way, and so on until the case is full; the plants 

 should be pressed in rather closely during pack- 

 ing. Moss or packing material of any other 

 kind may be dispensed with if not to hand. A 

 few light struts or sticks placed between the 

 plants about the middle, and secured by nails 

 through the sides of the box, help to keep the 

 contents from rolling about or shaking too close 

 together. A few small auger holes should be in each 

 box. Large openings should be avoided, or rats 

 may get into the box whilst on board ship. The 

 boxes should be forwarded by the most rapid 

 steamer, even if higher freight has to be paid; 



