CULTIVATION OF ORCHIDS. 



337 



COOL HOUSE. — Those who do not grow Orchids extensively confine their selection to 

 the species and varieties requiring a cool temperature, and amongst cool Orchids are many 

 beautiful flowers, most treasured of all the Odontoglossums. There is a warmer and cooler end 

 in all houses, and it is at the warmer end that the following plants should be grown : The large 

 yellow-flowered Anguloa Clowesi ; the ivory white A. eburnea ; A. Ruckeri, the inside of the 

 flower being of a deep sanguineous red ; and the pretty tinted and spotted varieties of A. 

 uniflora. Lycaste Skinneri is an old and useful species, with bold handsome flowers of many 

 colours, from the deep rosy L. Skinneri atrorubens to the pure white L. Skinneri alba. 

 Anguloas and Lycastes thrive well in pots, and should be potted in a mixture of peat, loam, and 

 Sphagnum Moss well drained. When repotting it is important to raise the base of the plants 

 well above the rim of the pot, for although moisture-loving plants, the young breaks easily rot 

 off if the plants are potted too low. The large ivory white Cymbidium eburneum is certainly a 

 handsome Orchid, so also are the well-known C. Lowianum and C. Traceyanum. There are also 

 two beautiful hybrid Cymbidiums, C. eburneo-Lowianum and C. Lowio-eburneum, both 

 deserving a place in the front rank' of Orchids. Other kinds well worthy of culture are: 

 C. affine, C. Devonian urn, C. elegans, C. giganteum, C. gran Jiflorum, C. Hookerianum, 

 C. Mastersi, C. Parishi (warm house), C. pulcherrimum, and the rare C. Winnianum. 

 Cymbidiums, having large fleshy roots, require plenty of pot room and good drainage, using as 

 a compost one-half good turfy loam, the other half peat and Moss, to which may be added a 

 little leaf soil and broken erodes. Instead of raising the plants above the rim of the pots, keep 

 the soil at least .\in. below it, so as to facilitate watering. C. Lowianum does not require 

 so much pot room as the others, and when properly potted and well cared for may remain 

 undisturbed for many years, and will produce its long arching flower spikes more freely when 

 kept in a pot-bound condition. An occasional dose of weak' liquid cow manure water will 

 greatly benefit the plants when sending up their flower spikes. C. Devonianum produces its 

 pendulous racemes from the base of the young growths, and therefore basket culture should 

 be given. 



No Orchids are more worthy of cultivation than the new Grenadan Odontoglossums, 

 especially the O. erispum and O. Pescatorei types. Most of them are easily managed, and yet 

 sometimes they give more 

 trouble than any other class, 

 the principal causes of failure 

 in most cases being too much 

 water at the root and keep- 

 ing the atmosphere of the 

 house always in a saturated 

 condition. It is advisable to 

 allow the atmosphere to 

 become comparatively dry for 

 a few hours each day, so as to 

 enable the plants to throw off 

 excessive moisture. Nothing 

 is more conducive to strong 

 sturdy growth than this. 

 When watering go carefully 

 over the plants, and thoroughly 

 water only those needing it, 

 as if watered like some aquatic 

 plants their roots will certainly 

 decay. It is also of great 



importance that plenty of fresh c - L - ALBA c.erulea. 



