4 6 



THE FLOWER GROWER'S GUIDE. 



side lights may be arranged to open simultaneously or separately, and the advantage of 

 the latter plan is that there are often plants in a house perhaps freshly potted that do 

 not require air, while in small collections there is a distinct advantage in being able to 

 keep one end of the house cooler than the other. For tropical houses the screw system 

 of gearing or the ratchet levers are more suitable than the lever-and-pin arrangement, 

 for the simple reason that unless very carefully fitted and fixed it is impossible to 

 put on that little chink of air which is so effective and yet so safe in bright cold weather 

 with the latter system. 



For suspending plants grown in baskets a light iron or brass rod should run the 

 whole length of the house, this plan being far preferable to screwing hooks into the 

 rafters. The latter plan necessitates the plants being directly underneath the rafters, 

 and consequently in the line of drip. 



Blinds must be fitted to each house, the material used for these being strong but not 

 too closely woven. Tiffany is often used, but a much superior article is the white 

 " garden netting," a covering that is most useful for many other purposes besides 

 shading. The best of all blinds, however, for orchid houses are what are termed 

 lath-roller blinds, an arrangement something in the style of a Venetian blind, but the 

 laths are rolled up, instead of being drawn closely together. The laths when the blinds 

 are down are about half-an-inch or a little more apart, and through these chinks a 

 broken light reaches the plants with no fear of scorching. This will be further 

 referred to under " Shading." 



The three houses adverted to will be afterwards known by an initial letter descriptive 

 of the temperatures of each, viz., (H.) the first division, which will be the highest tem- 

 perature; (I.) the second, or intermediate; and (C.) the coolest. It is not wise to 

 adhere too closely or exactly to set figures, but the undermentioned in each case will be 

 a guide : — 



Summer Temperature. 



Winter Temperature. 



H. 

 I. 



C. 



Day with Sun. Dull Day. 



80° 70° to 75° 



75° 70° 

 60° (if possible) 60° 



Night. 



65° 

 60° 

 55° 



H. 

 I. 



C. 



Day. 

 65° 

 60° 

 55' 



Night. 



60° 

 55' 

 50° 



GENERAL REQUISITES IN ORCHID CULTIVATION. 



Pots. — These are largely used for all the terrestrial orchids, the majority of the 

 pseudo-bulbous division, and the stronger-growing of the distichous-leaved groups. It is 



