THE FLOWER GROWER'S GUIDE. 



Good ventilation and careless shading, or watering, will not do, but these three 

 essential operations must, so to speak, go hand in hand, and a well-balanced atmosphere 

 and temperature will be the result. Heavy damping in wet weather is as bad as full 

 ventilation when the wind is blowing coldly from the north and east. Observation of 

 the results of various modes is the only sure way to correct management. Orchid 

 culture, easy as it is to thousands of persons, cannot be taught by books alone. They 

 can lay down lines of guidance and point the way, but individual aptitude is necessary 

 for benefiting by the information imparted, and above all, watchfulness in passing 

 through the houses daily, and taking hints from the plants themselves ; and than this, 

 there is no more delightful occupation for those who have learned to love these most 

 interesting plants. 



Diseases and Insects. 



Every plant, orchid or other, is liable to infection by one or more diseases peculiar to 

 each kind, while all are subject to infestation by insects. It is the duty of the cultivator 

 to, as far as possible, prevent the attacks, and, failing this, to mitigate their effects. It 

 is observable that the most successful cultivators of plants are those from 

 whom the fewest complaints are heard of the virulence of their attacking 

 foes ; this is beyond doubt attributable to their skill and watchfulness, 

 skill in keeping their plants in the best of health, and watchfulness in 

 quickly detecting and promptly subduing any insects which by chance 

 they failed to keep outside the structures. 



"Damping" and "spot" are the worst diseases that affect these 

 plants. The former is often the result of too much moisture in the 

 atmosphere and at the roots, more especially during the dark months of 

 the year. The remedy is less moisture at the roots and a drier atmo- 

 sphere ; the malady, which is displayed in the form above indicated, 

 "damping," is largely brought about by injudicious culture, heavy 

 syringings, and careless ventilation, though even in the most carefully- 

 grown collection the disease occasionally makes its appearance. 



The cause of "spot" (Fig. 31) is not so easily determined, but there 



Spot in Obchids. r ° ' 



is no doubt that this is also hastened by too much humidity. The 

 disease takes a different form with different orchids; on some it spreads with much 

 greater rapidity than on others; but it is a disfiguring and troublesome disease in any. 



