44 



THE FLOWER GROWER'S GUIDE. 



cipal species of dendrobium, thunia, many cypripediums, calanthes, and other less- 

 known genera, principally from the Old World. 



The Cattleya house will be used for the majority of Brazilian plants, and in this 

 case for the Mexican species of leelia, the general run of oncidiums, epidendrums, 

 brassias, and others, besides the bulk of the cattleyas and their congeners, the Brazilian 

 laelias. 



Odontoglossums from Peru, Ecuador, and New Grenada, the lovely little masdevallias 

 and j)leurothallises, cool oncidiums, and the glowing disas from the Cape, will be the 

 principal genera in the cool house, though there are others in each section, as will 

 be mentioned in due course. 



Span-roofed houses, running north and south, are best for the first two sections, and 

 the size will naturally depend upon the number of plants to be grown. A house 

 60 feet long and 18 feet wide, with a central and two side stages, will hold as many 

 plants as most amateurs will possess, and this should have a partition across the centre. 



Eespecting the heating, there ought to be two coils of 4-inch piping, one under 

 each side stage, with four pipes in each, and each of these coils should have an 

 independent flow from the boiler governed by a good screw valve on the flow pipe. 

 The East Indian house may have, in addition, a flow and return in the centre of the 

 house, the boiler being kept as low as possible, so that all necessary connections can 

 be made below the floor level. The plan of running the hot water-pipes through 

 water-tanks to heat the water sufficiently for use in winter has much to recommend it. 

 Yalves must of necessity be allowed, so that the heat may be turned on or off at 

 pleasure, for if the pipes were always warm the evaporation from the tank would 

 cause a saturated atmosphere, which in winter would be productive of harm. 



Elat, shallow tanks with pipes in them for raising moisture in the atmosphere are 

 in use in many private establishments ; also a few pipes of small diameter close under 

 the roof to prevent or to reduce drip. Both are useful for the purposes indicated, 

 but the latter plan necessitates the feed cistern of the apparatus being much 

 higher than is usually convenient. It must be above the level of the highest 

 pipes. 



The cool house may be span-roofed or lean-to ; if the latter, it should face the 

 north, but must not be shaded by trees or other buildings. This would be an advantage 

 rather than otherwise in summer, but in winter the orchids cannot have too much 

 light, and therefore an open position is desirable. The width of the house is not 



