158 



EASILY CULTIVATED ORCHIDS. 



in commencing the cultivation of orchids. At the same 

 time it should be remembered that in many particulars 

 such as soil, watering, and the regulation of heat and 

 atmospheric moisture, a considerable number of orchids 

 require peculiar and almost individual methods of treat- 

 ment, and it is always better for begin- 

 ners to commence with those kinds 

 whose robustness of constitution and 

 amenability to artificial conditions make 

 their cultivation a comparatively sim- 

 ple matter. They may thus lay a 

 foundation of experience which will 

 enable the more difficult species to be 

 mastered, and avoid those irritating 

 failures which have been fatal to the 

 enthusiasm of many a beginner. 



From the grower's standpoint orchids 

 resolve themselves into three classes : 

 1st, those that are so delicate or in- 

 elastic in constitution that even in the 

 most skilful hands they always prove 

 short-lived. 2nd, those that are widely 

 and successfully cultivated but require, 

 nevertheless, the care of one who has 

 some course of training in the work. 

 And lastly, those that are so easily 

 grown that the merest tyro in horticul- 

 ture, if he exercises an average intelli- 

 gence and has a love of his plants, may 

 confidently venture on their cultivation. 



It is a mistake to suppose that orchids 

 can only be grown, or even thrive bet- 

 ter, in special houses. In several Eng- 

 lish gardens I have visited I have seen 

 some of the finest 

 specimens of cy- 

 pripedium, c oe - 

 logyne, v a n d a 

 and many others, 

 that could pos- 

 sibly be grown, 

 and these in 

 mixed collections 

 of plants. Sepa- 

 rate houses for 

 orchids are of 

 value where a 

 large collection 

 of those kinds are 

 grown which re- 

 quire widely dif- 

 ferent conditions 

 at one season to 

 what are neces- 

 sary at another. Dendrobiums, for instance, should have 

 a hot and exceedingly moist atmosphere for several 

 months of the year, and a dry and much cooler one for 

 the remainder. The best results, therefore, could not be 

 obtained by growing them continuously with such a 



Fig. I. Cypripedium "Niobe." (See page 160. ) 



genus as phalaenopsis, which requires moist and warm 

 treatment throughout the year. But when once the 

 conditions under which an orchid thrives are known, 

 many ways suggest themselves of meeting its require- 

 ments. No better place, for example, could be found 



for dendrobiums 

 in winter than a 

 position near the 

 glass roof of a 

 vinery at rest. 

 In the following 

 papers I hope to 

 pass i n review 

 some of the most 

 ornamental 

 genera and spe- 

 cies which, be- 

 sides beingcheap 

 and plen t i f u 1 , 

 are best adapted 

 for begin n e r s 

 and for those 

 who are only 

 able to devote a 

 portion of stoves 

 o r greenhouses 

 already occupied 

 by other plants. 



Of the various 

 materials used in 

 the potting of or- 

 chids, peat is the 

 one in most fre- 

 quent use. The 

 best kind for the 

 purpose i s that 

 of a dark brown 

 color and full of 

 fibre. For the 

 terrestrial spe- 

 cies it may, if of 

 the best quality 

 be used just as it 

 is broken up, but 

 for the more 

 epiphytal kinds 

 it is always ne- 

 cessary by beat- 

 ing and sifting to 

 remove the 

 greater portion 

 of earthy mat- 

 ter, leaving it 

 very much like 

 shag tobacco in consistency. The next important item 

 is sphagnum moss. It should always be used in a living 

 state, and should be of short stout growth, in preference 

 to the long spindly kind which grows in very wet places 

 Loam is a valuable component in the soil of many 



