ORCHID HOUSES 



19 



to keep the temperatures as steady as possible, with 

 strong sunshine in summer the temperatures may run up 

 with advantage. Providing there is a circulation of 

 fresh air among the plants, they will flourish. At night 

 an abundance of moisture may be allowed if the 

 temperatures do not fall below those specified. During 

 the winter months these figures should be adhered to 

 during mild weather, but, whilst hard frost or piercing 

 winds occur, the warmth may fall a few degrees with 

 benefit to the inmates. The higher degree of warmth 

 named is proper during the evening, and the lower 

 degree of warmth is what the thermometer should show 

 in the morning. Fire heat at all times should be care- 

 fully made use of, and especially during winter, an 

 excess of fire heat being frequently the cause of the 

 plants getting into an unsatisfactory condition. In 

 houses where the proper temperatures cannot be main- 

 tained without making the pipes unduly hot, the 

 dessicating heat should be as far as possible counter- 

 balanced by the admission of fresh air, and the use 

 of water for sprinkling the paths. It is also good 

 practice during spells of severe frosts to cover the 

 houses with canvas mats, Archangel mats being cheap 

 and convenient. The ends of these may be neatly tied, 

 and several mats be sewn together in different lengths as 

 required for each house. These may be easily rolled 

 along the lower part of the roof, the coldest part of the 

 house, putting them on at dusk, and taking them off at 

 daybreak. As a safeguard, these mats should be made 

 secure in some manner, and when wet or frozen they 

 should be thoroughly dried before using them again. 

 The cultivator or his assistants, when banking up the 

 fires the last thing at night, should so manipulate the 

 dampers that there may be a fall of several degrees of 

 temperature in the houses by the early morning hours. 

 If the temperature of the various houses should fall 



