ORCHID HOUSES 



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improved in strength, and look more healthy than when 

 in peat and moss, each growth or pseudo bulb showing 

 an appreciable advance on the preceding one. The 

 plants thus experimented upon are Cattleyas, Laelias 

 and their hybrids, Odontoglossums, Oncidiums, Cypri- 

 pediums, Calanthes, Epidendrums, Cymbidiums, Mil- 

 tonias, Zygopetalums, and many others. It is proper 

 to mention that only a few plants of each genus have 

 been tried, but, as other plants require repotting, many 

 more will be put into this new compost, and especially 

 those that are not growing satisfactorily in the old 

 material. 



There are always plenty of people ready to try new 

 things, but I would not advise anyone whose plants are 

 in a satisfactory condition to go in for the new culture 

 on a large scale, but rather to experiment with a small 

 number of plants, so as to find out the applicability of 

 the new system before adopting it generally, until its 

 value has been more thoroughly tested. 



Orchid Houses 



It may be well now to enumerate the various structures 

 in which Orchids are usually cultivated, and for the benefit 

 of beginners, I group them into four divisions, namely: — 

 East Indian, Cattleya, intermediate and cool houses. In 

 these houses or divisions the majority of tropical Orchids 

 will thrive satisfactorily, providing the ordinary require- 

 ments of the plants are attended to. At the same time, 

 where a large number of some particular class has to be 

 grown, it is an advantage to give them a structure to 

 themselves. Thus in many places there are besides 

 those mentioned an Aerides house, Dendrobium house, 

 Cypripedium house, Mexican house, and a Masdevallia 

 house. Where no such ample accommodation exists, 



B 



