BOOK OF ORCHIDS 



Introductory 



Nothing that I am aware of has been more remarkable 

 than the rapid extension of Orchid culture during the 

 last quarter of a century, resulting no doubt from the 

 development of the public taste. Looking over the 

 first ten volumes of the Botanical Magazine which first 

 appeared in 1787, I find that out of 360 plates only two 

 Orchids were illustrated, whilst in the first ten volumes 

 of the third series of the same magazine, which appeared 

 between the years 1845 and 1854, a bout one hundred 

 different species of Orchids are illustrated, the total 

 number of plates being the same. Now, so numerous 

 are the species and varieties of Orchids in cultivation, 

 additions moreover being constantly made by new dis- 

 coveries and by artificial hybridisation, that it would be 

 possible to fill every part of that magazine with illustra- 

 tions of new Orchids. 



The earliest attempts to cultivate Orchids in this 

 country were unsatisfactory, which was not to be 

 wondered at, owing to the almost total absence of any 

 certain knowledge of their natural conditions, and to 

 the imperfect construction of the glass houses, with 

 their defective heating by flues and other contrivances. 

 With improved appliances and better accommodation, 

 and with a more accurate knowledge of the nature and 

 habits of Orchids in their native homes, their cultivation 

 has become as simple as that of most ordinary stove and 

 greenhouse plants. In growing a large and varied 



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